The Ramsey Show - App - We Need to End the Student Loan Mess NOW! (Hour 3)

Episode Date: May 20, 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. Open phones this hour at 888-825-5225. You jump in. We'll talk about your life and your money. Well, it is all over the news today that Robert Smith,
Starting point is 00:01:00 doing the commencement exercise at Morehouse College, billionaire, probably I think multi-billionaire is actually correct. Robert Smith did an incredibly, outrageously generous, wonderful thing. In the middle of his commencement speech, he announced he was going to pay off all the student loans of all the graduating class for Morehouse for the year 2019. To say that he's the most popular commencement exercise speaker ever in the history of man will be an understatement. This guy is incredible.
Starting point is 00:01:33 Way to go. Don't know Mr. Smith, but I am impressed. I love generous people. Generous people make me smile. Generous people make you smile smile sometimes they make our eyes leak generosity is incredible outrageous generosity is incredible apparently from all the news reports his family of course is going to do grants to cause this to happen as the way he announced it and apparently they are going to pay off some 40
Starting point is 00:02:06 million dollars worth of student loans for the graduating class of i guess that's his alma mater probably and uh pretty incredible what a wonderful thing and what a wonderful day to be sitting there as a student with student loan debt around your neck, maybe hopeless, maybe overwhelmed, and all of a sudden it's just gone. Well, not yet, but it's going to be. I mean, wow. Absolutely very, very cool. I mean, we the people taking care of we the people. I'm getting more and more and more disturbed about our do-nothing Congress on the student loan debt.
Starting point is 00:02:51 And every time I talk about you can go to school debt-free, and if you choose the right school when you work while you're in school, choose an inexpensive school, in-state tuition, you work your tail off while you're in school, you do the things i get hate mail and i've been getting a lot of hate mail from left-wing people who are feeling the burn who just want the student loans to all be forgiven and you know i instead i've got millennials coming in here every day doing debt-free screams paying off their student loans you see i think the federally insured and i'm really kind of getting tired of you know people saying well it's because
Starting point is 00:03:29 you're white or you know oh my god you don't know how i grew up you know the federally insured student loan program is a fraud it was concocted by washington dc politicians who are such idiots that they could screw up chocolate cake now you got to work at that one now these politicians are the worst kind of ivy league tofu eating snobs on the planet they're trying to buy the vote of the everyday hard-working man or woman and that's how the student loan program was born they wanted to buy your vote and that's why the stupid thing even though it's brought more harm to people than just about anything to come out of dc that's why it's staying in place oh they want to talk about some of the left-wingers want to talk about forgiving the loans or providing free college by raising taxes
Starting point is 00:04:22 on rich people but no one wants to talk about just ending it because it's bringing harm. You see, the people that the student loan program are screwed the most are people like me, people that grew up like me, people that grew up like Anthony O'Neill, Ramsey personality. See, we didn't grow up in a neighborhood with college people. The neighborhood I grew up in, my parents, my neighbors my neighbors good hard-working tell the truth grind it out kind of people they could teach us how to work hard and they did they could teach us how to tell the truth and they did they could teach us how to stretch a dollar because there weren't many and they did and they were to teach you how to be the best friend or the worst enemy
Starting point is 00:05:04 a man ever had and they did but what they couldn't tell us you how to be the best friend or the worst enemy a man ever had. And they did. But what they couldn't tell us how to do was get a four-year degree because almost none of them had one. I counted up the other day out of the 15 kids in the neighborhood I grew up in, three of us got a four-year degree. And we had no freaking idea what we were doing when we went off to college. We weren't from that side of the tracks. People like us believed in getting an education was important, but it was kind of like when I visited France a couple summers ago,
Starting point is 00:05:32 I accidentally ordered potatoes at lunch because I didn't know how to speak French. That's what happens when you go on a college campus and you don't know anything about it and you're from that side of the tracks. People like me too often wander onto a college campus with virtually unlimited funds guaranteed by the federal government to purchase an education with virtually no knowledge of what matters in an education and no limits on how much stupid damage we can do to our life, all brought to you by a culture that says education is important, so get you some.
Starting point is 00:06:07 We well-intentioned four-year degree seekers were well-funded government ignoramuses. We didn't know what we were doing. We had a pocket full of money brought to you by your Congress, federally insured student loans, giving people that don't know what they're doing the keys to Ferraris. Worse than the lie we were told that all degrees will make you rich and famous was that the expensive, was the expensive prestige school lie. Because people like me didn't even know anybody. I never knew a soul growing up that went to an elite private school with Ivy on on the wall unless it was my daddy's boss or my daddy's boss's boss
Starting point is 00:06:49 i didn't know anybody like that we call people like that sunburned on the upper lip because they had their nose in the air we were told two lies by this culture one that education is worth whatever it costs because education is the way up the socioeconomic ladder. And two, if you want to make it big, you need to go to an elite muckety-muck school with ivy on the wall. The only ivy we knew about was poison ivy. The people I talk to that have made the dumbest mistakes here on this show, that have been screwed the most by the federally insured student loan debacle are people like me. Sometimes they're black.
Starting point is 00:07:27 Sometimes they're white. Sometimes they're Hispanic. But they're always people like me. The people that call this show that have the biggest, dumbest student loan messes are people like me. They call with $200,000 in debt from a prestige private school to get a master's degree in sociology. What were you thinking?
Starting point is 00:07:48 Oh, you weren't. You just ordered potatoes because you don't know what French is. Have you lost your freaking mind? What job can you get with that degree that justifies that expense? I'll help you. None. Or let's get $325,000 in debt from a ripoff prestige school because I changed my major three times and end up with an undergrad in art because the moron guidance counselor said to follow my passion. That's malpractice. I'm not against
Starting point is 00:08:20 art degrees and I'm not against a master's in sociology, but I am against a do-nothing aristocracy congress with a snobbery of the worst kind continuing to fund this lie that is destroying people like me. We need to end this student loan mess now. It needs to stop. We need to stop federally insuring student loans. We're harming our citizenry. This is stupid. Are high health care costs getting you down?
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Starting point is 00:09:31 spiritually supporting each other. It's what Christian Healthcare Ministries has done for over 35 years, and our members have shared over $2.5 billion in medical bills. To learn more, visit chministries.org. That's chministries.org. Christian Healthcare Ministries is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. chministries.org. Thank you for joining us, America. We're glad you're here. Clarissa is in Boston. Hi, Clarissa. How are you? Hi, Dave.
Starting point is 00:10:15 How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? So I have been working on my baby steps, and I paid off my car, and all I have left is my student loan and a credit card that is in collection. This credit card recently got sold to another debt collection agency, and they're offering me a settlement of about $2,000, so $1,900. And I still technically owe about six thousand on that credit card so i'm not sure if i should go ahead and settle and then all i have left to pay
Starting point is 00:10:54 off is my student loan um if that's a good idea or not and how that would affect my credit score well i assume your credit score is pretty pretty screwed up now because you've already gone into fault on this loan right credit cards in default right it's i've been paying it off no wait a minute they didn't offer you a settlement if you were current did they i am well it's in collection but i pay every yeah how long has it's in collection, but I pay every month. Yeah, how long has it been in collection? For maybe two years. Okay, all of that time it's been dinging your credit. You know that, right?
Starting point is 00:11:34 Yes, I do. Okay, so, yeah, I'm not real worried about your credit at this point. Okay. And so I'm going to take that deal. Now, here's the thing. You get it in writing from them, the offer of $1,900, not verbally over the phone. You can get it by email. I don't care.
Starting point is 00:11:52 But you need a written document that you can keep in your file. Okay. That says $1,900 settles this in full. Settlement in full. Okay. The second thing is you do not allow them to have electronic access to your checking account they will clean you out okay so no checking account information you can either pay them by wire you can pay them with a money order you can get a prepaid debit card you
Starting point is 00:12:20 can do whatever you want to do but do not allow them to get into your checking account. Okay. Okay? And then, yeah, I would settle that. Now, that is going to damage your credit, obviously. It's already damaged, but you didn't pay the bill in full, and they didn't get all of their money, and so that's going to leave a ding on your credit. So what? You're trying to get out of debt.
Starting point is 00:12:39 You have a mess. You're behind. Just get her done. I'm with you, okay? Let's do this. Okay. The second thing is that debt that is forgiven is considered taxable income. So they will send you a 1099 for the difference.
Starting point is 00:13:00 So you're going to get an extra $4,000 of income that you have to pay taxes on next year. Likely that they're going to turn that in. They usually do. Who was the original credit card with okay yeah they likely will 1099 you then for the difference and so you'll know that you're going to have taxes on four thousand dollars next year extra income and so it'll eat in to increase your tax bill next year. But, yeah, I still would do it in all of those cases. Sean is with me in Phoenix, Arizona. Hey, Sean, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Thanks, Dave.
Starting point is 00:13:32 It's a pleasure to speak to you. You too. What's up? So I was released from prison about eight months ago. I was in prison. They had FPU on DVDs, so we got to watch it, and they had a little mini class, and I really like to learn its principles. Great.
Starting point is 00:13:46 And when I got out, which was last year, my dad gave me a car, which was a real blessing. But my grandma also passed away, and I inherited $10,000, which I had not spent. I put it in a CD because I didn't really know what to do with it. That way I couldn't touch it. It could learn a little bit of interest. But my car is on its last leg. I've spent $1,600 in repairs the last month and a half. And I can afford a new car, but I know how you feel about new cars.
Starting point is 00:14:16 I know how you feel right and left about new cars. So I guess my question is, do I just buy another beater that I'm going to put more money into? And then this money I've got sitting there, I don't really know what to do with it. Gotcha. So what's your career? What are you doing? Right now I just work in a call center. It's a real simple job, but I have a great potential job opening up that's going to be working for the state of Arizona. It's going to offer me a potential for retirement in 20 years. It's a career. So right now I'm just doing a job because it pays my bills.
Starting point is 00:14:51 I get to put 15% of each paycheck in a savings account. That's why I had the money to fix my car. I'm really smart about my money, Dave. I really am. But I'm kind of at a standstill, and I'm kind of at a fork in the road because my car is, I'm losing more money than I know what to do with it. I got you. And I drive 60 miles a day to and from work, so it puts massive miles on it. Okay.
Starting point is 00:15:11 Yeah, I think you probably need to move up a little in car, but I, of course, would pay cash for that. And so what will the car sell for? I'm going to be lucky to get $1,000. My dad thinks I can get two for it, but I'm lucky to get $1,000 for it. Your dad's probably right. Maybe you can get two for it. And if you took $5,000 of your $10,000 and put that with it, you could get a $7,000 car.
Starting point is 00:15:33 That would be a whole lot better car than you've got now. It would. That would be a really good car. And no car payments. You know that. And it's certainly not a new car. You know that. And then I'm going to continue to save.
Starting point is 00:15:44 And now you're debt-free at that point, and you've got a better car. Am I correct? Yes, sir. And then I'm going to build your emergency fund up. You know the baby steps. You've watched the DVDs. Build your emergency fund to three to six months of expenses. And then I'm going to start saving towards my retirement long term.
Starting point is 00:16:04 And as you said,'re moving into hopefully into that state job and uh so forth how long were you in prison 17 years wow for what long time uh long story i don't really want to get into it on the radio but fair enough it was a long story made a lot of choices but i guess when we're in in when talking about the baby steps i don't have a house payment but a huge dream of mine don't have a house payment, but a huge dream of mine is to have a house. Yeah. So, like, where do I put that in my baby steps?
Starting point is 00:16:30 Because if I start investing in retirement now, then I'm not putting anything towards the house because right now I'm just paying rent. Well, you've got to get your emergency fund of three to six months of expenses built above getting this car purchased. So after you bought the car, you're kind of down low on cash. You're down to $5,000, right? Correct, yes, sir. Yeah, then we need to build that back up,
Starting point is 00:16:50 that cash back up to three to six months of expenses, and then from there you would start saving for a down payment if you want to. I would not buy a house until you get the state job, though, or until you get a better job and you get landed in your career. It's okay to rent for a little while, get yourself established, and so forth. So how long ago was it you watched the DVDs? About three years ago. They offered a little mini class, and it was 12 weeks.
Starting point is 00:17:16 I took the class three times. They laughed at me because I kept going back, but I get on my notes when I have questions, and I took copious notes. I've taken the class many times. Gotcha. Okay. Well, I want you to go through it again, and I'm going to pay for it. Okay.
Starting point is 00:17:29 I'm going to pay for it. I'm going to give it to you. Thank you. I want to be part of your future, because I think you've got a bright future. It sounds like your past you've got in the rearview mirror, which is where it belongs. And the windshield's bigger. That's why we call it grace. So you move forward, and the past is in the past, and that's good stuff.
Starting point is 00:17:46 So hang on. I'm going to have Madison pick up. We're going to get you signed up again to go through Financial Peace University. By the way, that's the nine-week class now, and we give you a one-year membership to Financial Peace, which is all the classes online. Financial Peace University is all online, audio and video. All of the Legacy Journey is online, which is the follow-up class.
Starting point is 00:18:12 Smart Money, Smart Kids, for those of you who want to teach your kids how to handle money, is all part of it. Streaming to a bunch of our live events is part of it. The Every Dollar App Plus, which the plus is hooking up to your bank, that's all part of it. The EveryDollar app plus, which the plus is hooking up to your bank. That's all part of it. It's about $600 or $700 worth of stuff we give you in that first year of access to the membership. And then people renew their memberships year in and year out because they want to stay plugged into the community. They want to keep using the EveryDollar Plus, and they want access to new lessons that we continue to add on different subjects as we shoot new videos and put them on there from Rachel Cruz, Chris Hogan, and me.
Starting point is 00:18:53 And you'll be seeing some in the future from other people like even Ken Coleman. We'll put some career stuff in there. It all falls under the heading of financial peace. So be sure and check it out. Good stuff, folks. There's a community in there, that is rock solid a great online community there and in the financial piece so be sure you check that out too so hang on we'll get you signed up for that brother and we're proud you got your future's bright that's as good times this This is the Dave Ramsey Show. about eight out of ten amer Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
Starting point is 00:20:07 That's 8 out of 10 houses on your street have too much month left at the end of the money. And most can't cover an unexpected $1,000 emergency. Most people make money, but they're broke. And we've got a program that has taught over six million people how to not do that it's called financial peace and we have a program that will teach you how to help people win with money as a coach it's called financial coach master training our coaches come from all kinds of different backgrounds and we're looking for people who just have a willingness to learn and really a heart to serve other people.
Starting point is 00:20:50 Our financial coaching team is giving away one free enrollment in the Financial Coach Master Training during our next webinar. That is this Thursday, May the 23rd at noon Central Time. All you got to do is register for the webinar. No purchase necessary, and you'll be in the drawing for the Financial Coach Master Training Free Scholarship. All you got to do is register. To do that, for the May 23rd webinar, text the word COACHING to 33789. That's COACHING to 33789.
Starting point is 00:21:34 Today's question of the day comes from Blinds.com. They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. That means even if you mismeasure or you pick the wrong color, they will remake your blinds for free. You get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promos they run every month, you'll save even more. Use the promo code RAMSY to get the best deal.
Starting point is 00:21:52 Trey's in Kentucky with our question. I'm a rising senior in college. I'll graduate in 2020 with my bachelor's in music. When I graduate, I'll be around $100,000 in debt. I'm going to be employed in the performing arts industry, and that means my pay will likely be small and inconsistent. How am I ever going to make my payments on time and get ahead on my debt? I don't want to compromise by working outside of what I love, but I don't want to be a starving starving artist my whole life. Well, most starving artists have a side hustle. We have a saying in Nashville where country music is born,
Starting point is 00:22:32 and many other music genres are born. How do you get the next country music star's attention in Nashville? Waiter. Everybody here plays and sings and wants to be. And all of them work a side hustle until they don't have to work a side hustle. Hopefully, you can get some studio stuff. Hopefully, you can get some other work around the business that are within your area. But the idea that you're going to go out here and be in a garage band with a hundred thousand dollars in student loan debt is not going to happen trey
Starting point is 00:23:09 well it could happen but you're not going to pay your bill so you're going to be working sir while you work on your dream i don't mind you working on your dream somebody's got to you know be famous and make money in the music business might as well be you i'm up for that but but in the meantime let me tell you what they all do and i know a bunch of them they can all tell you a story of their side hustle um all the famous ones i mean there's none of them just arrived in town and it was just over and they instantly someone just said oh you just came out of school. You're exactly who we were looking to make a star. Never happens, dude.
Starting point is 00:23:49 So there's a lot of dues to be paid, a lot of working on your craft to do, and a lot of, you know, bad gigs that you're going to do, bad pay. And in the meantime, you're going to have side hustle. You might even have a full-time job while you're doing this and that wouldn't be a bad thing either so i don't think the word compromise by working outside of what i love is the word i think it's called common sense you chose this path and with this path is the standard process in this path is the side hustle so i i guess you're gonna be cutting grass for a while dude i don't care whatever you want to do but
Starting point is 00:24:33 you're gonna have to make some money because you made a mess mike is in buffalo new york hey mike welcome to the dave ramsey show hi d. Thank you so much for taking my call. I appreciate it. Sure. What's up? So here's kind of my situation. I've got three small kids, five and under. I work three part-time jobs as a stay-at-home dad because daycare is crazy expensive.
Starting point is 00:25:00 And my wife has been working the, you know, nine to five. She's been more the breadwinner. But she had a stroke about two and a half, three weeks ago. Oh, my goodness. So, yeah. Praise God. How old is she? Well, she's 36.
Starting point is 00:25:16 How severe a stroke? Well, they managed to catch it quick enough, and she's young enough that she's bouncing back really well. She's got basically all of her speech back, and she's going through some rehab and everything to kind of catch back some of the physical side of things. She's able to get around, and she's very functional. It's just she gets wiped out really quick. Well, sure. I mean, just a few weeks ago.
Starting point is 00:25:43 Wow. I mean, the fact that she's doing all this already she's superwoman man that's amazing oh yeah she is she's uh she's something special for sure well thank you god for bouncing her back yeah that's cool what does she do for a living um she works for the state um makes what kind of money she works in um somewhere around gosh i don't know off the top of my head, somewhere around 50 or 60. Yeah, and what did you used to do before you were a stay-at-home dad? Before I went stay-at-home dad, I worked at a bank, customer service stuff. Did pretty well for that line of work.
Starting point is 00:26:20 I was making close to $20 an hour, but i realized i could stay home with our at the time two kids um doing uh teaching english as a second language part-time um and actually keep more in our pocket at the end of the month i mean that pops into my head it sounds like you're going back to work and she's going to be at home with the kids well that's just it i mean part of the reason i would stay at home dad and she was full-time was that she had a hard time, you know, spending or, you know, taking care of the kids by herself. Like one of my three jobs is I'm the worship director at our church. So when I go off to worship, uh, to practice, um, you know, she's stuck with the kids by herself, and she had a hard enough time with it before having a stroke.
Starting point is 00:27:07 So, you know, I know she's not going to be – Well, you know, we're weird. No, I mean, it's strange that the dad or the mom would have a hard time taking care of a kid. Well, it's not just one kid, though. I mean, my kids have three kids and either the dad or the mom even papa dave can put up with them for a few hours well you know i i i don't disagree with you but um uh you know i mean that not to throw her under the bus or anything but after having had a stroke you know i don't even want to do one of my part-time jobs, which is driving for Uber and Lyft, leaving her by herself.
Starting point is 00:27:49 Well, I mean, medically, I might not want to leave her by herself right now until we get recovery. But I'm just saying long-term, her ability to work that job may not be there. Well, yeah. Which means you're going to work. And I have no problem with that. That's kind of where I was trying to figure out, you know, does it make more sense to stay home and take care of my kids and take care of my wife and take care of the house? And use what for money to buy food? That's exactly.
Starting point is 00:28:23 Yeah. That's kind of where I'm running into. It's like, all right, well, what do I do? Like I said, she's supposed to be able to go back to work part-time within a couple of months, theoretically. I mean, you guys do what you want to do. I mean, you're going to, if, if that's the path and she wants to go back to work and you want to go back to work, it's your own decision. You can do whatever you want to do. You don't have to do what I say.
Starting point is 00:28:40 That's for sure. But you're going to have to fill in the gap with the food with the food money in the meantime i assume she's got some sick leave from the state state job so she's probably being paid right now it's probably not like you all have a huge income gap um but you guys need to reassess this and it might be time for you guys to switch roles again uh i'm just looking in from the outside on two minutes. I'm not an expert on your family. You're an expert on your family. You guys decide what you want to do.
Starting point is 00:29:11 I think the thing is I don't think there's an option where she stays home and you stay home. I don't think no money is being created then to eat with. I don't think that's probably going to be a play. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. our scripture of the day isaiah 43 1 do not fear for i have redeemed. I've called you by name. You are mine. Babe Ruth said, never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game. Zach is in Durham, North Carolina.
Starting point is 00:30:13 Hey, Zach, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave, how are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Nothing. So I am currently a teacher making about $45,000 a year. I'm in the middle of Baby Step 2, and I was just informed last week about an opportunity to get my national board.
Starting point is 00:30:36 And so basically my question is, do I stop my Baby Step 2 for a month or two to build up the money to do the certification? Now, it's going to cost about $1,900 to do it, but the return is going to be 12% increase in my income. And you make what now? $45,000. Okay. So the return is $5,000. Year one.
Starting point is 00:31:05 Yes. Okay. And how long does $5,000. Year one. Yes. Okay. And how long does it take to get the certification? Just depends on how hard I go at it. It could be one to two years, depending on how much of it I want to do, how quick. So it's a self-study program. Yes. Okay.
Starting point is 00:31:24 And it's $1,900 up front for the whole thing? It's $475 per piece of it. There's four pieces. Okay. All right. I would just put the $475 in your budget. Mm-hmm. And then when you start knocking that piece out, put the $475 in your budget again.
Starting point is 00:31:44 That doesn't stop your baby step two. It slows it down by $475 on the months that you do this four times. Right? Right. But, I mean, if you do this over two years, it doesn't have an effect on your baby step two to amount to anything. But if you do it over two months, it could have a pretty good effect, right? Right. So how fast do you think you're going to run through this thing?
Starting point is 00:32:13 From everybody that I talked to that went through the process, they said it's pretty much like getting your master's. So they said it's possible to do it in one year, but for my own sanity, they said take two. Interesting. Just because of all the paperwork. Interesting. Okay, I don't know anything about it, so I don't know how to comment on it. The only thing I can comment on is whatever everybody else does is usually not what I'm going to do.
Starting point is 00:32:40 Okay. And I never heard of anything the size of a master's degree costing $1,900. That's the other thing that pops into my head. But, again, I don't know anything about that world. So I'm completely talking out of school because I'm clueless. So I would do it as fast as I could do it because you're going to get the $5,000 a year faster. Right. And so as fast as you can humanly pull it off and not destroy your life
Starting point is 00:33:05 or something i'm gonna do it but as far as the 475 is pay as you go and just put it in your budget you're the money yeah it's just you know just that month you're going to put 475 less on your debts right right that's all it is so yeah i think, I think you do it. I'd go for it. But sooner rather than later, man. Band-Aid off quick, right? Snap, snap. That's what I'm going to do if I'm in your shoes. Hey, thanks for the call.
Starting point is 00:33:33 Open phones at 888-825-5225. Rob is in Orlando. Hey, Rob, how are you? I'm doing okay, Dave. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. What's up? So, Dave. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. What's up? So me and my wife went through financial peace.
Starting point is 00:33:49 Great program. I got to the point where we actually made the extra payment on our mortgage, was looking to pay off our house, and then my daughter got diagnosed with chronic Lyme. And since then, it's been kind of a downward spiral financially for us and taken on a lot more at home that just I can't figure out how to financially afford this. Health insurance doesn't help pay for a lot of it, and so we end up spending a lot out of pocket the cost for the medical care that she's
Starting point is 00:34:25 getting so what have you paid out of pocket so far 50 000 a year for the last three years for lyme disease for chronic lyme chronic lyme disease yeah regular lyme is you get bit and you go to the doctor they give you doxy and, and you're cured in six to eight weeks. Chronic Lyme gets all infected. The Bartonella and the Babesia gets into your blood. It goes into all your different systems, start affecting it, and it's hard as heck to try to get out of your body. First year and a half, we tried pharmaceuticals,
Starting point is 00:34:59 and now we're going homeopathic, trying to get this eradicated from her body. Wow. 50 grand for how many years have you done this? This will be my third year. What do you guys make a year? I make $175,000. Okay. Well, that's the best news I've heard in the story so far.
Starting point is 00:35:19 Yeah. Okay. So, yeah, you're not making any progress because you're fighting a disease that your kid has. I'm with you. I'd do that. Yeah. Okay. So, yeah, you're not making any progress because you're fighting a disease that your kid has. I'm with you. I'd do that. Yeah. But, I mean, you could pay $50,000 out of $175,000. You shouldn't be in debt from it.
Starting point is 00:35:34 I wasn't until this year, and it just seems like I can't get caught up. Wait a minute. Stop. Stop. Stop. Explain to me how you can't pay $175, making $175, how you can't pay $50. Well, my wife can't work anymore. She has to take care of my daughter.
Starting point is 00:35:51 Do you make $175 still? Yes, I do. Okay. So what's your wife not working? That's why I keep scratching my head. Well, let me tell you what happened, okay? You're emotionally exhausted from fighting all of this because watching your baby suffer drains your gas tank.
Starting point is 00:36:12 Yeah. And so, you know, what looks like easy math to me, your brain is in a bit of a fog, is not easy math anymore. But I'm going to stand back and just be your coach and say, it's easy math. You should still be able to do this. Don't let this derail you. You make enough to pay these bills.
Starting point is 00:36:29 Thank God. Right. So take a cold shower, clear the fog, and sit down and do a budget as if this wasn't your kid and you were helping somebody else put the numbers together. Right. And you can work through this. How much outstanding debt have you got now? It's close to $14,000.
Starting point is 00:36:51 Okay, good. So, again, the ratio of $175,000 a year to $14,000 does not bother me much. Right. That's a doable thing. Once you're organized, once you're focused, and once you get your eyes back on that part of the game because you don't want to get to the end of this and your child be healed, which is wonderful, and we do want to get to that part of it,
Starting point is 00:37:13 but you look up and you've got $100,000 in debt only because you were disorganized and didn't pay attention. Right. And that just makes you a good daddy. I mean, you know, if this was my kid, my brain would be in a fatty. But I give you permission to be human, but I'm also going to be your coach and say, hey, I know you don't feel real good right now, but get back in the game.
Starting point is 00:37:36 You've still got to finish the game. Gotcha. Because that's what the daddy does. Yep. If I can help you, you call us, okay? If you want one of our coaches to sit down with you and walk with you guys through this we will okay i appreciate that amen sorry for what she's going through that's an amazing tale um the great news of the whole story is you've got the money to take
Starting point is 00:37:58 care of her i mean you you know that you can do this. That is just great news. So, hey, thanks for calling. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's how it's done. Sarah is in the Ramsey Baby Steps community, which is a private Facebook group. You can join if you want to. It's the largest Ramsey community on Facebook. Please tell me your opinion on wills and trusts.
Starting point is 00:38:29 How do I know which one is best for me? Everyone needs a will. Most people don't need a trust. If you've got some money, you have a special needs child, you've got serious money, like $10 million or more. You might need a trust. If you have a special needs child, you might need a trust. If trust you have minor children you might need a trust that's formed upon your death the special needs trust is formed upon your death but you don't need a trust to manage your estate unless you have an estate north of 10 or 20 million dollars and then you still may not
Starting point is 00:38:59 so need a will though everybody over 18 needs a will. As I've done detailed research, you're going to die. Yep, it's a fact. Me too. There you go. That puts us out of the Dave Ramsey Show in the books. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus.
Starting point is 00:39:30 This is James Childs, producer of The Dave Ramsey Show. Did you know you can now listen to The Dave Ramsey Show on Pandora and Spotify? For all the ways to watch and listen, check out our show page at DaveRamsey.com slash show. How do you buy a home you love and can actually afford?

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