The Ramsey Show - App - This Is the Real Madness of March (Hour 1)

Episode Date: March 23, 2023

Ken Coleman & Jade Warshaw answer your questions and discuss: March Madness through the lens of college tuition, "Should I buy my wife a truck?" "Is this a scam?" Paying down debt after a layoff, "Should we take 6 months off work to travel?" Have a question for the show? Call 888-825-5225 Weekdays from 2-5pm ET Want a plan for your money? Take our FREE 3 minute assessment: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6 Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Pods Moving Storage Studio, this is The Ramsey Show. It's where we help you win in your life, specifically in your money, your work, and your relationships. I'm Ken Coleman, joined by my colleague, the fabulous Jade Warshaw, representing some killer specs today. If you're just listening, you're going to have to get to YouTube later to look at her glasses. They're all sorts of hot,

amazing. She's always bringing the, you're bringing the shoes, you're bringing the glasses, you got the accessories going. It's the second day of spring. We've got to put some pep on our step. Oh, I got it. I look at you in the face and I've got the pep. I have enough for both of us. I like that.

What do you call those, turquoise? Let's call them turquoise. All right, very good. Let's call them that. Hey, we are here together for you this hour, 888-825-5225. That's the phone number to jump in, 888-825-5225. Now, it is that time of year, Jay. It is March Madness. Now, even if you're not a basketball fan, and you're not, full disclosure, you like football. NBA. Oh, you like the NBA. Yes. All right. Not college

basketball. So college basketball is way better, but we won't debate that. But March Madness is where these 64 college basketball programs qualify for the NCAA tournament, and it has taken over our culture in that if you're not a college basketball fan, people still fill out brackets. In fact, I think this is true. I don't know if I can prove this, but it feels like the men and women who know the least about college basketball do the best in the office pool, in the brackets. They just kind of randomly pick out of 64 teams, and they go, oh, this sounds right. So I thought we would do our own March Madness, Jay. Okay.

But we're going to look at tuition. So we're going to look at the Sweet 16. Now, this is the 16 teams remaining. And if you're not a basketball fan, this fires back up tonight, prime time. The 16 remaining teams will begin to play, and we'll get to the weekend, and we'll be ready for the Final Four. Now, we're going to look at the 16 teams, Jade, and I'm going to lay these out first, and then don't look at that yet, because I've got a quiz for you. All right, so here are the teams. Alabama will be playing San Diego State University. Creighton will be playing Princeton.

Florida Atlantic University will be playing Tennessee. Kansas State will be playing San Diego State University. Creighton will be playing Princeton. Florida Atlantic University will be playing Tennessee. Kansas State will be playing Michigan State. Houston will be playing Miami. Xavier will be playing Texas. Arkansas will be playing UConn. That's University of Connecticut. And Gonzaga will be playing UCLA. Now, of those 16 teams, Jake,

how many of those teams represent colleges and universities that the tuition is over $50,000 a year? $50,000 a year? How many of the 16 have a tuition of over $50,000? I see your husband Sam trying to help you out. The price is right out there. I gotta believe

it's half. Half of them. Really? Alright. The answer is three. Oh! Only three of the 16 but but this is interesting to me they are no surprise here princeton i mean it's an ivy league school okay that makes sense they those people think they're smarter than the rest of us so they charge you more i get it it's the ivy league it's like buying a louis purse you know all right now here's what's shocking number two on the list i saw this miami i'm shooketh now you are from the that neck of the woods now miami is a great place to visit and live i would assume university of miami university

miami is only ready for this yeah three hundred dollars cheaper than princeton me thinks if you went to miami maybe you overpay my mother-in-law my mother-in-law went to university of miami i'm going to tell her what you said if you're paying 57 for princeton i'll tell your mother-in-law that i mean first of all it's too much to pay for princeton i'll get i'll get to that in a minute i'm shook that they're that i didn't understand that they were that close in comparison. All right, ready? Here's a quick quiz that you can follow along at home. Okay.

Of the schools, Alabama, San Diego State, Creighton, Princeton, Florida, Atlantic, Tennessee, Kansas State, Michigan State, Houston, Xavier, Texas, Arkansas, UConn, Gonzaga, UCLA, which is the cheapest? The cheapest. I'm going to give you multiple choice. Is it Arkansas? Is it Florida Atlantic University? Or is it San Diego State University, which is the cheapest?

It's not San Diego. You are correct. So now it's between Arkansas and Florida Atlantic University. Is Arkansas the one that's called Razorbacks? Yeah, very good. Then I'm not going to go with them because they seem very popular. So I'm going to go with Florida Atlantic only because I've seen that school. I used to live by it.

Tell her what she's won, James. Did I win it? She won Florida Atlantic University. Very impressive. A lifetime supply of rice-a-roni. Yes. So there you go. All right, so we won't comment on who's going to win the games.

Do you have a pick? Did you do a bracket? Now that I say we're not going to comment on it. I don't even know what language you're speaking right now, Ken. All right, we'll move on. So let's look at the bigger picture, all right? So we just set that up as a fun way of looking at college tuition, which has increasingly gone bananas. Tuition has risen

meteorically. As you know, the student loans attached to that tuition have gotten crazy. We have a great documentary called Borrowed Future. Please watch it. You got to watch it. All right, so here we go. Let's look at just colleges across the country and does the return make the investment worth it this is the million dollar question all right and i mean million dollar question we're talking trillions all right here we go most expensive tuition in the country usc university of southern california again to me it's all about the environment the branding is the louis purse actually better than the purse you get at dillard's i don't know i don't have a mid-sized brand i mean does it matter what you're majoring in is it like a better question who cares if you got a louis purse

do you have a purse that works hey come on come on right. Most inexpensive, again, we said Florida Atlantic. Cheapest private school is Grand Canyon University. Most expensive public school is the University of Virginia. And again, I'm from Virginia, but they think they're better than everybody else up there in Charlottesville. I'm just going to tell you, it's got some sizzle factor, right? Okay, okay. So this is what's going on. The point that I'm making, Jay, is when we look at return on investment,

I would say that no one, and I mean no one, including your employer, truly cares a great deal about where you got your degree. They care about can you do the job. What say you? I've never ever, my husband Sam and I were talking about this last night. I've never ever been asked for my degree. Yeah. Ever.

Yeah. Ever. Right. Nobody cares. Sometimes. You're a mama. Yeah. You just moved to this area.

I'm guessing you guys have got the doctors for the kiddos. You got the pediatrician. That's a big deal. Yeah. Did you think to ask your pediatrician about their medical training? I just looked to see, did it say MD next to their name?

You are such an irresponsible mother. I said, does it say MD? You ought to be ashamed of yourself. How come you didn't ask that pediatrician if they went to a really awesome school? I looked more at their years of experience. I looked more at their, the other things. Okay. Very good point.

You get my point? I get your point. Folks. I get your point, Kim. Nobody cares. If you gotta have the piece of paper, by the way, two-part question to absolutely be sure, is it the only way? If you're gonna be a doctor or a lawyer, as two examples, it is the only way you gotta get the degree. But nobody cares. They just don't care. You'd be better off as a lawyer going to the cheapest law school in the country and spend that money on some nice

looking suits because that's what they're going to hire you for. If you went to a big time law school and you're broke and you got a shark skin suit and you look like a skis, they're not going to hire you. These are the facts. Coming up, Jade Warshaw, Ken Coleman, The Ramsey Show, here for you to take your calls. Don't move. Transformations around the corner. The Ramsey Show continues. Thrilled to have you with us, America. We're here to help you win with your money. And when you talk about winning with money,

it's not just about the budget and just killing debt. You've got to understand that if you're not winning with the money, you're probably losing relationally. And you might not be doing your best professionally. It just impacts everything. Ken Coleman, Jade Warshaw with you. The phone number to jump in is 888-825-5225. So on this program, we do talk about relationships. We do talk about work. And I'm the work guy. In other words, if you've heard Dave talk about getting that bigger shovel to get out of debt

or to fill that emergency fund faster, that's the area that I focus. And I've got to tell you something, folks. I've been a Ramsey personality now for, I think, four or five years and very excited to announce I'm coming out on the road. It's a solo tour. No backup singers, Jade. And it's a little nerve wracking. I know, but I got to get out there. And this event is for people who feel stuck professionally and financially. And what I mean by that is, you know the baby steps, you've been checking in on the program, but you feel like you need to make more money or you want to start that side hustle or you've been checking in on the program, but you feel like you need to make more money, or you want to start that side hustle, or you've been overlooked for promotion,

and you're just feeling stuck. That's why we call the event Breakthrough. And I'll be speaking on the formula for courage so that you can actually break through. And then I'll be taking questions live from the crowd. Kansas City, Missouri, April 20th. That's coming up. That's the earliest date. Chicago, May 16th. Atlanta, May 18th. I'll be at that one. You're going to come to that one? I'm going to come to the ATL one.

Oh, well, then I want you to sing. We've got to talk about that. I thought no backup singers. No, no, no. I'll get out of the way. Oh, okay. You're just going to do a solo. Let's go.

That's going to be bonus content. All right. And then Dallas, Texas, May 23rd. Everybody that buys a ticket at ramsaysolutions.com slash events gets my very popular Get Clear Career Assessment that will help with the breakthrough process. We have VIP tickets where I'll meet with folks beforehand, spend some time with you. And these are fun, smaller venues because you know, we've talked about this. I just want the energy. Yeah.

And I want intimacy where everybody's together they're trying to make progress in their financial and professional life can i've seen you in this environment and in your element um you know some of you know the building wealth tour we've done and beforehand you've done something very similar where it's just a small group and you're really meeting the people where they are it's i can say it's powerful thank you well it's it's electric in there so i you know only a couple hundred seats at each of these so don't wait because they're going to sell out but i'd love to see you kansas city chicago atlanta dallas all the details and you can get your tickets at ramsey solutions.com slash events so

uh let's get to the phones shall we don't forget to jump in for Jade and I. We are here for you. 888-825-5225. Jordan is joining us in my old stomping grounds, the ATL, Atlanta, Georgia. Jordan, how can we help? Hey, Ken and Jade, thanks so much for taking my call. I will be there at that event. Oh, great. I have a career question. Bro, that's great. I just love to meet some Uncle Kenneth. Hey, ATL, shawty. I just got a new moniker, Uncle Kenneth. Uncle Kenneth. I'll take it. I'll take it.

I can't wait to high-five you there, Jordan. How can I and Jade help today? Okay, so I'll cut to the point. I'm engaged to be married. I'm 24 years old, and she's looking to get her dream car. Okay. What is the dream car? It's a Toyota Tacoma. Oh, okay. New or used?

Whichever way we can get it. So we're thinking used. Okay. That's a good, that's a very good starting spot all right is there anything else you want us to know about this yeah i mean so we're debt free and we are i believe we are a debt of baby steps millionaires in the making we have yeah i think everything is laid out and uh we have we have no debt how much do you have saved? We have, okay, so here's the doozy. We have $20,000 saved in like a combined savings account. Okay. And she loaned out about $13,000 to her mom. Her mom's paying that back.

Okay. Paying that back every month. And then I'm currently liquidating a crypto investment of $30,000. Okay. That's a good one. So right now your fiance's got like $7,000 to her name and you've got $30,000. Here's the thing. I have more questions about your income and that sort of thing and what sort of car that you drive.

However, when is the wedding? Because you're not going to buy a car with her until you're married. That's my first piece of advice to you. Okay, cool. I am finishing. I'm currently finishing school. She doesn't want to. She said we're not going to take any homework into this marriage.

So she's like, I got to finish school. Right, finish school, and then we'll go ahead and get married uh we're gonna do this we're just gonna do the courthouse thing okay so when is that which we said whenever i graduate school when is that oh sorry um that should be this summer oh so like may you're done in may uh no no summer school summer school okay so july sure okay so i stick with my first thought which is if she's willing to wait until you guys are married and you can start pooling together some money here's the thing i wait till you're married and then make sure you're keeping aside three to six months of expenses. What is the plan work-wise?

Because if you're not like in your real job and all that kind of stuff, I'm going to ask you guys to get six months of expenses, which might eat into what you've got here, the 30K with her 7K, 37. That might be your emergency fund. And so from there, you're going to have to save up to buy cash for this Tacoma. Is she up for that, that cash life?

Yeah. So that's funny because I come from a family, we all drive used cars. Her family's a little different. They take out some loans so she asked me yesterday she's like so uh what are your thoughts on taking out a loan on that oh boy all right so now this is where i gotta jump in here because that's what i was wondering is she be is she pressuring you to go get a new car to start this new life together where in the atlanta area uh are you because i used to live there so I know my way around. What area of Atlanta?

Kennesaw. Kennesaw. Okay, great. So here's the deal. I just did a quick search on the Google. I'm sure you're familiar with this. And I want to just give you a kind of a range here. We've got a used 2020 Toyota Tacoma, only 26,000 miles. That's low miles, Jadeade the sticker price on that at world toyota uh there's a local lot 39 990 all right that's too much yeah now we've got a used 2021 toyota tacoma with only 9400 miles so i'm giving you i'm getting real close to new but not quite new all right this is 47.9. No, no, no. What song you got for that? Is it got curse words in it? Yikes. It's gonna burn for me to say this. Yeah. Okay. So, okay. So now you start, you start going down. Let's go to a used 2016 Toyota Tacoma. That's what I'm talking about, Ken. 47.5. Wait, what? 47.5 miles. Sorry, 47,500. Oh, okay. And now that's 29. So we're still looking at $30,000 for a seven-year-old Tacoma, slightly under 50,000 miles. I'm just saying, Jordan, we're going to have to listen to Jade because we're saving up. You know we're not going to tell you it's okay to buy a new one.

There's another piece to this equation, Ken, and you too, Jordan. No Tacoma. Well, it might not it depends on your income because we don't want your vehicles to be any more than half of your annual take-home pay so that's why i kind of said it depends on what jobs you guys are in because if you're coming out of you know what do you expect to make when you get out of school and you're into your job yeah so uh i am currently the the Honey Baked Ham. Oh, I love me some Honey Baked Ham. Yeah, you should stop by when you're in Atlanta. You can bring one to the event. I'll eat it

afterwards. What's the pay for that, Jordan? I make $56. Okay, so you're making $56, and then what does your fiance expect to make? She is finishing up a test right now and she'll be making $26 an hour. Okay. So between the two of you, you guys have got $40,000 that you can

spend on vehicles. So $20 each. That's not a Toyota Tacoma unless it's like a... Oh, wait, wait, wait. I got one. Hit us with it, Kim. A used 2005 Toyota Tacoma.

Let's go. Two-wheel drive. 198,300 miles. $8,490. That's what I would pick. That's what I'm saying. That's what I would pick. Hey, sweetheart, I got you a really old truck to start our life. It's only $8,400.

That's a dream car. I love you. Yeah, I mean, why not, right? Hey, man, I'll see you in Atlanta, Jordan. I appreciate you, and don't forget to bring the ham. For the rest of you, hang on. More of your calls coming up. This is The Ramsey Show.

Helping you win with your money. This is The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman, joined by Jade Warshaw. We are here for you. The phone number to jump in is 888-825-5225, 888-825-5225. Let's go to Louisville, Kentucky, where Kelly awaits. Kelly, how can we help? Hi, thanks for taking my call.

I was calling because we just got a letter in the mail. My husband's grandmother had passed away last year in March, and we didn't actually know about it until January because we weren't close to her really, but we got a letter in the mail yesterday that's asking or that's explaining an option to get an advance on the inheritance. My husband is one of the heirs to the estate, but we know that it wouldn't be a lot, but I just thought this was really odd. You know, it's not like some, you know, basic letter to just anybody. Like it's, you know, has his grandmother's name, his name, so it's directed to him specifically,

but we've just never heard of it. So I didn't know if you guys had any insight as to what it could mean or what it could be. So when you saw the letter, your radar kind of went off that this might not be. Are you thinking maybe it's a scam? Maybe not that it's a scam, but, you know, anything that usually happens fast is usually not, you know, the best option all the time. So it just seems kind of one of those things that might be like too good to be true sort of thing. Yeah. What happened when you, did you call the number or did you contact the law firm? No, I didn't call because I, um, I asked, um, my mother-in-law if she had received it and she had never, you know, um, she hadn't heard anything. And my husband's brother and sister, they hadn't said anything apparently either.

But I just thought that it was it was odd. What I would do. I've not heard of I'm not heard of in advance. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I've just not heard of it. What I would do if I were in your shoes today is I would research the law firm first and find out if it's a real thing in a real place. And if there's any phone numbers on it, I always Google the phone numbers to make sure they're not scams. And are they requesting any money on your, are they requesting any money from you? No, it says though, it says that they can advance a portion of your inheritance directly to you within one to two business days.

I don't like it. I don't two business days i don't like it i don't like it i don't like it either i would uh whatever your initial letters were in that situation i would go back to those letters and call and say hey i'm receiving this did this come from you and again the the one that we think is a scam i would just do your due diligence on it i would google the numbers google the law firm i like that. Like you said, it sounds like a scam to me. But you did have a family member that passed away. But that's also public record. So anybody could scam on that. So I think you just have to really do your due diligence. It's good that you're getting together with your family and everyone else and kind of running this by them. Hey, did you get this and that sort of thing. uh find out you know who's in charge the executor of this will in this estate and that's

really who you want to talk to about all of that stuff and not uh a scammy letter that you received in the mail i it's it smells fishy to me ken yeah i thought there maybe there was a an attachment to that with the nigerian prince request remember that email that went around for a long time yeah it's it's quacking like a, so I'm thinking it's a duck. Yeah, I agree. Thank you so much for the call, Kelly. You got a lot of wisdom. Just proceed with that wisdom. Let's go now to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the city of brotherly love. John is there. John, how can we help? Hey, how you doing?

We're loving life. What are you doing? We're the same thing. Quick question for you guys. I have about $130,000 in cash, like $250,000 in 401K, $550,000 in equity in the house. Recently just laid off from my job. Oh, I'm so sorry. It's okay. Yeah, stuff happens. Corporate America.

We have about $61,000 in student loan debt. If we pay off, do we pay that student loan debt off? If we do, that leaves us with 12 months reserves for everything else. Okay. Because the 130 was about two years of savings? 130 was about a couple of years because we renovated our house and we paid off another $65,000 that time. So we probably... Before we get... So let me just ask real quick, what are your job prospects? What are you doing?

Because before we walk through this breakdown, I want to know what your income situation could be and what you want it to be. My wife currently works now. She makes about $75,000 a year. And I was making around $115,000, $120,000. All right. And so what are you actively looking for? Something in the same industry with the same earning potential? Maybe. Maybe not. I'm trying to maybe just revamp my life and try to do something totally different. Okay. And do you have an idea? I'm not trying to put you on the spot, but what I'm looking at here is what is your realistic income possibilities in the days ahead, and then what should it be in light of this question?

Probably digital marketing in that area, so somewhere maybe around $80,000. Do you have the qualifications for that kind of work now, or do you have to go get that? I do. I do have a side hustle where I own my own magazine company. So I have that feel. I just haven't really kind of as a hobby that I'm turning into a business. So I'm kind of going that route. Yeah. Well, the reason I asked this is because I'm always thinking about the bigger shovel, right? The income, as David said, for decades, your income is your greatest wealth building tool, and it becomes a wealth building tool after we get everything cleaned up.

And so I'm asking all those questions really for you, Jade, to go, all right, based on where he's at, I'm a little cautious myself while they're not struggling and they've been very disciplined. I kind of lean towards, I want him holding off on that until he gets a steady stream of income. What are your thoughts? Initially, I would say that. But my first question is, are you able to sustain your lifestyle on $75,000, which is your wife's income? Like, are you able to live off of that without pulling additional money out of your savings? It would be rough.

You know, I am going to be getting severance you know at the end of april but you know that's some type of income not sure yet but you know 75 000 is really not that much money so okay would be would it be a little bit of a struggle but it could be done okay short term not long term then here's here's a couple of options for you because um i think i mean you've got plenty of savings like you've got more than a year so there is money there that's at your disposal and you can still keep like a pretty hefty emergency fund if you feel like you know we can mostly live off of my wife's pay if i just add a little supplemental something to it to make that happen which while you're in your in-between time, it can't hurt to

still find ways to bring in income. I think you can pull this off. Typically, if there is a job loss and it was really catastrophic, we would tell you to pause your baby step. But this doesn't feel as catastrophic. You've got a lot of cash laying around. I'd probably go ahead and pay off the student loan. And then if I'm you, I'm finding ways to pull in a couple of thousand dollars a month, just making it work. I wanted to make sure I heard your take on this, because we want to work the baby steps is always the answer. But here's the deal.

It's not catastrophic, but I guess I'd pay it all off, but I would also be working. Yes. Like I would not be waiting on a severance. I would be replacing the income while I'm figuring out what my professional future looks like. So that's why I'm okay with you knocking it all out. Yeah. It's also going to light a fire. It's going to light a fire because once you see that 61,000 leave, that could be the spark that's like, all right, game on. And you know what I don't want, and I'm not saying that you're going to do this, John, but what I don't want is you to rely on that really hefty savings account.

Because that's not an emergency. You're able to work. And I get that's my concern. I want you to pay off the loans today. But I want you working and not relying on what is now a really robust Baby Step 3 emergency fund. It's quite robust. It looks like you've got several years there. So, by the way, good job.

You've done a great job with managing your money so far. Very, very, very good. Yeah, I mean, big shout out to my wife for that one, for getting me introduced to you guys and getting me hooked on this. All right, so, I mean, pay it off today. Like, don't sit there and discuss it. Knock this debt out of your life. That's a game changer.

And get to work. Let's not touch that amazing emergency fund. And boy, you all are going to sleep a lot more soundly, I think. I know. That's right. Very good job. When you manage your money right, you've got options. Yep.

Really do. I love it. You can buy glasses that look as cool as Jade's. You can wear the shoes that she wears. Because how much debt did you pay off jane a 460 000 but the glasses only cost me like ten dollars let's be honest because you kept the discipline but you retained the flair i did i love it she's jade warshaw i'm ken coleman and this is the ramsey show don't move welcome back to the ramsey show We're helping you win with your money,

which means you're going to win in your relationships and your work. I'm Ken Coleman. I'm joined by my colleague, Ramsey personality, Jade Warshaw. And if you're a new listener or viewer, and you're trying to figure out all this language and what does it mean, baby step this and baby step that, I'm interested, but I need to know more. We've got you covered. Go to ramsaysolutions.com and click on the Get Started button and just a very brief questionnaire

to kind of see where you are financially. And we're going to get you plugged into all of this so you know where you need to be and what you need to do. That's ramsaysolutions.com and click on Get Started. Let's go north of the border, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, a place I've wanted to go. I've yet to make it. You've been all over the world. Have you been there? No, it's too cold. Well, we shall see what David says. David, how can we help? Hi, Ken and Jade, pleasure to talk to you yeah you guys are all ours now is it too cold for jade to come visit calgary yes it's way way too cold it snows here it gets to minus 40 wind hurts your face i've heard enough i'll never be going i'm crossing that one off the list all right well

how can we help you while you shiver well i'm 25 my wife is 24 we're technically on baby step number seven whoa i don't own a house yet or have kids nice you said no house no house no kids yet that means you're super relaxed and rested i i assume that's Sleeping. We are wondering if it would be a good idea or what your thoughts are on taking six months off to travel in a year's time. That sounds fun. I love the fact that you're taking advantage of the no kid and no, like not tied down by a mortgage life. And they're 25 and 24. I feel like this is the right time. Your knees are good. You can climb. I got to ask a question here. When you say take off, do you mean not working at all, or will you be the digital nomads that I talk about on the Ken Coleman show all the time?

What do we mean? Not working at all, but hopefully it would turn into that digital nomad lifestyle. Okay, so what do you do now, and is it presuming that you would be able to jump right back in with the same company or the same type of work? What are you thinking? Yeah, I'd be able to jump right back in with my company. So I work for the federal government, and they would allow me to take the six months off and then jump right back in. Well, I don't have any professional red flags, Jade.

So you'd be jumping back to baby step three 3 because I'm guessing you'd have to pause your investing since no money is coming in. How much do you have saved for Baby Step 3? And then how much have you saved for the six months of travel? So we currently have $30,000 in my work pension. We have $40,000 in our TFSA. And then we have $20,000 in our fully funded emergency fund. And then we'd be over the next year saving up around an additional $20,000 to $25,000 to go for the six months. Okay. All right. Here's where I would just be very careful. I think if all these numbers pan out and you've got the $20,000 for your emergency fund, that's great. You're not going to have to touch that. Really plan this trip out because I find that traveling is always more expensive than you thought it was going to be. It's very easy to go over budget. It's very easy to think, oh, we'll just we'll just eat these types of meals. And then you get in the moment and it's and down. We do not touch the emergency fund because when you get out there and you're in Italy or wherever it is that you're going

and it's just, come on, let's just go do that one. It's a helicopter ride. We have to do it. You only live once. It's gonna be easy to go over what you've planned. So just, if it takes more time for you to save up more money so you can truly do all the things that you wanna do,

I'm not gonna lie, 25K sounds a little lean for six months. Now, you might be like minimalist travelers, backpackers, staying in hostels, that kind of thing. David, what say you? She brings up a good point. You sound like the guy, I'm going to take a stab. I don't mind being wrong. You sound like the guy that's got this thing planned out to the Jade expectations and that you guys aren't staying at five-star places. Am I right or am I wrong? You are right. It would be a budget trip for sure.

Okay, it's a backpacking type deal. Okay, and do you plan, do you have the reserves? Like, did you plan in reserves that this is actually more than what we're going to need? Because I want you to be there when you go. I would set the $25,000 as a minimum and then plan to save as much as possible because I have found that as well. Traveling always costs more than you think. Yeah. So let's do that. It's like if you had a building project, you wouldn't save up just enough to get it done. You'd make sure you had plenty of reserves just in case. Because one of the things, Sam and I travel, we've been to over 92 countries.

There are so many little things that pop up. Reciprocity fees and things that you didn't know you had to pay. You got to pay to use the toilet in Europe. Really? Did you know that, Ken? I wouldn't. I'd find a bush. I don't think David is a bushman.

I think he is. I think David is from Calgary. All right? I think David knows how to take care of business. I'll leave it at that. David, I think you do the trip, man. I think you guys have planned this out. Yeah.

I think you're very disciplined, and I applaud you. I think you've thought through every angle. It's going to be fun. And you made it through Jade. So if you make it through what she was thinking about, I think you'd do it. I think you guys enjoy it. The only thing I would say is I like taking Jade's advice and doing a little bit extra because I don't think you should make your wife stay in a really rough place unless she

likes to camp and that's outside. I'm a 700 thread count guy or higher. I don't know what she is, I just you know yeah you know what I mean make it a great trip and uh what a great experience that's fun that's gonna be a good time now you said this earlier and I want to bring it back to this you know we talk a lot to people who are trying to get out of debt this is a this is the total other side of this okay but when we we use terms like financial peace and we say it a lot and i think we miss we miss the real freedom part of that yeah this is the example yes a 24 and 25 year old couple no house no kids yet and they're gonna take six months and they're gonna go travel

the world i gotta tell you i think they're to be better world citizens as a result of this. And this is- 100%. What do you think their relationship is going to experience as a result of something like this? Look, I'm going to say this, and some of you might get me in the comments. That's fine. A lot of people do a lot of yakety yak, Ken, but they've never been anywhere. People want to talk about what's wrong with this and what's

wrong with that and da da da da da i'm like go travel i think go go see the way it makes you so much more well-rounded it's great for your relationships it's great for your self-esteem because you challenge yourself to do new things uh you taste new foods you're around more cultures it just it's really invaluable and if you can do what our friends david and his wife did and it doesn't matter you don't have to be young to go travel go travel in your 60s go travel in your 40s whatever but do travel and do pay cash to do it because it is very enriching it's a very important part of uh life and what i think is happiness because there's there's something that happens when you see all the

places out there and then you come back to home sweet home, you have a different level of appreciation, contentment. And by the way, you know, David said this for years, you know, don't bring your vacation home with you in the form of debt. And this is another thing. All the things we just talked about, plus while you're there, you go,, holy cow, we're not working. We've saved up for this. We can go do what we want within this freedom of this budget. And you just are allowed to truly be present. People that are strained and stressed by debt have a hard time being present.

Good point. Now, there's a humanness here to be, you know what? It's that exhale. Like, okay, we're doing something really exciting at the early part of our relationship. And you can truly soak in the moment. You can truly soak in the moment. And I just, it's, there's a team building that happens with that. Because like you said, she might be more of this 700 thread count and he wants to sleep outside on the grass in nature.

And you have to compromise and let each other experience those sides of each other. And then there's the money aspect. She wants to spend money on that. It's worth it. And then you experience those just amazing things together. Those views, those monuments. It's just go travel, but do it in cash.

I love it. Oh, so good. Well, listen, we got to get out of here. But before we do, I want to thank Jade, my co-host, Jade Warshaw. She's amazing. I want to thank James and the crew and you, America, for listening. This is The Ramsey Show. Hey, it's Ken. If you love the show and want a deeper dive on your money journey,

we have a weekly newsletter that gives you trending and helpful articles and tips on following the Ramsey way. Go to ramseysolutions.com today to sign up for our newsletter. Again, that's ramseysolutions.com to sign up for our weekly newsletter.