The Ramsey Show - App - What Should We Do With a Large Settlement? (Hour 1)

Episode Date: July 15, 2021

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🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show. The 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. Christy Wright, Ramsey personality and number one best-selling author of the book Business Boutique, is my co-host today as we take your questions about life and about money.

It is a free call at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. You jump in, and we will talk. Rachel is going to start off this hour. She's in Washington, D.C. Hi, Rachel. How are you? I'm good, Dave.

How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? So my question is, I have a rental home. It used to be my home, and then I moved out when my husband passed away about almost five years ago. And so it's been about three years I've been renting it. So now I'm at a point where I'm trying to decide do I get rid of it or do I still keep it? I owe about $338 on it.

It's worth about $525. And where are you living? I bought another home. You bought another home? I did, yeah. And how's your career going? Well, right now, in October of 2019 or so, I started a business, a tax accounting for small businesses,

a type of business. Not doing too well right now. I'm kind of deciding to jump back into the workforce. Okay. So that little bit of pinch on the income side makes you look at this rental? Yes, yeah. I think you can see why. Because after all the smoke clears with the occasional vacancy and the occasional repair, you're not making a ton on this thing.

Not really. I mean, it's covering the mortgage and just a little bit over that, and that's about it. Yeah, there's not much wiggle room in this deal. So it just sounds like there's not a lot of reasons to keep it. Yeah, I mean, I was kind of holding on to it for a sentimental while, but, you know, it's a home that we shared with my husband. But, yeah, at this point, I'm at a crossroads a little bit. Well, I understand.

And, you know, part of that holding on to it went away when you rented it, right? Yeah. I mean, that's like, you know, you're moving it from the home where we did life to now a business transaction. But that gave you a little further time to put some distance between you and his passing, a little bit more healing, right? Right, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, emotionally letting go of it today is different than it would have been four years ago. Yeah, at the time, I wasn't ready. Yeah.

I definitely wasn't ready, yeah. So, Christy, I wonder how her business would be affected if she didn't have this strain. Yeah, I'm just thinking about just the progression, even as you're describing this, Rachel, from like you're saying five years ago and then now. Because even if you do sell it now, it doesn't mean it's going to be easy. You're still going to have that emotional pull. It'll be easier than it was five years ago, but it's still not going to be easy. But I just wonder what could be freed up if you did let it go. What could be freed up in your emotions, in the headache of having to deal with it?

I mean, having a rental is not just free money coming in. Like that's work on your part. It's maintenance. It's the dealing with the day-to-day of it. And so I think that while it might be difficult to walk through that to sell it, what would be on the other side would be worth it. I mean, you have a couple hundred thousand dollars in your pocket. I'm just wondering if your business might, if you took a little strain off of you

and just leaned into that business, if you can make that business turn the corner rather than head back into the workforce. Sometimes stress and the weight of several things on you keep you from focusing on the business, and I think there might be a release there. So I'm definitely selling it. I have no reasons on my list after talking to you to keep it. You're going to be free. I mean, there'll be some sadness, but it doesn't make you any money.

It's really, at the end of the day, from a financial standpoint, it's really not a blessing at this point. And having the actual money in the bank out of that equity would be. And that would give you some options. And stay on the line, Rachel, because I would love to send you my book, Business Boutique. I cover a lot of different aspects of business in this book. It's your plan to win. But it also might help you identify what's not working. Is it your pricing?

Is it your customers? Is it your customers? Is it your marketing? What hasn't been working in your small business that you could, like Dave said, improve, fix, iterate to be able to make that thing work in this new season? So stay on the line, and Kelly can send that to you. Absolutely. Yeah. All right. Noah's with us in Fort Worth, Texas.

Hi, Noah. How are you? Good. How are you, Dave? Better than I deserve. How can we help? Great. So I am having a hard

time trying to decide between saving up for a down payment on a house or investing. I really want to start investing more into my retirement income. Okay. You can do that. Great. So I am 23 years old.

I just finished Baby Step 3. I really want to start investing more into my retirement just because I see the potential outcome of that. I really don't have housekeeper right now, but I also want to have enough for a down payment. Totally, I guess, if I ever wanted to get out. Well, what are you making? I make $70,000.

Good for you at 23. What do you do? Business intelligence. Very good. Yeah, and that's going to go nowhere but up from there. Where are you living now? I'm living at home right now, but I got an apartment. I'm moving into it next month.

Okay. That's a good plan. I think that's a really good first step. And if you're putting 15% of your income away and baby step four into retirement can you not save towards the house above that no yeah i can and that was my original plan but i didn't know if i should be setting because it's like almost an extra six thousand dollars a year i could be saving for a house but you know well i mean and you know three years from now you'd have 18 000 you'll be 26 years old that's not the end of the world.

Or at any point, you want to dial back baby step four and do what we call baby step 3B, which is a reduced or temporarily put on hold baby step four while you save aggressively for a down payment, more aggressively. That'll be fine. But you're making good money. And here's the thing. Three years from today, you're not going to be making $70,000 in business intelligence. That's exactly what I was going to say. I was like, you're going to be making more so you're already going to make that

goal faster. Yeah, I think you can put 15% away and still have a house in two to three years and I think that's a fine plan. There's nothing wrong with that at all. Awesome, thank you. I really appreciate the help. Hey, thanks for the call. We appreciate you joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225.

So, Christy, when you're running a business or your own budget, projections are good. Looking out in the future and projecting your numbers are good. The first thing we tend to do is we tend to just take what we know today and extend that. Yeah. Linearly. Assuming it's going to be the exact same. Like in his case, he's going to make $70,000 for the next three years. And you and I are looking at each other going, he's 23, he's making $70,000 already.

Right. Business intelligence is a hot topic. A lot of stuff happening with data right now. It's one of the hottest career fields you could possibly get into in the tech world. Right. And if he's good at it and leans in, which he apparently is because he's already landing stuff, then it's very possible, folks, that he doubles his income in three years. Right, right.

And so you don't take your business income or your personal income and necessarily project it on a line. Like whatever I'm making now, I'm always going to make that. It's very seldom you do that. Now, some jobs you're in, you get cost of living raised, and that's it. But other jobs you're in you get cost living raise and that's it but other positions you're in wow you can really be on a curve the same thing's true with your business with a product line or anything else that's right this is the ramsey show Ever wondered how to save more money or pay off debt faster? What about the right way to invest? Listen, I've been there asking the same questions with no idea where to turn for answers.

But here's the good news. You don't have to keep searching for answers. Ramsey Plus shows you every step of the way so you know what to do with your money. Get the plan and the tools you need to make consistent small wins with money, and even some big ones so you can see exactly how you're making progress then we can help you turn all those wins into better habits that last you can be confident you're doing the right thing with your money and that means no more debt cash in the bank for emergencies and a plan for your future. To start your free trial of Ramsey Plus, text TRIAL to 33789.

That's TRIAL to 33789. 33789. Christy Wright, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Carly's in Buffalo, New York. Hey, Carly, how are you? I'm well, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up?

So my husband and I recently, he was in an accident in September. We recently received a settlement of $100,000. Wow. Is he okay? Yes, actually. He is nearly fully recovered. So we got really lucky on that one. Wow.

Sounds like it was a bad accident. It was a very bad accident. He broke his leg, surgery, all of those. And all those bills have been paid? Yeah, it was covered, yeah. Okay, so in addition, you got $100,000 clear and he's okay now? Yes. Okay, I'm with you.

I have to work my first. All right. And we're just not sure what to do with it. I know there's worse problems to have, but this feels kind of burdensome. I don't want to mess it up, you know? Like, I feel like until we don't know, I don't know, I don't know, like real estate or what to do. I understand.

Yeah, you want to be careful with it and wise. Well, we would apply it wherever you are on the baby steps. So let's walk through that a little bit. Do you have any debt other than your home? No, no home debt either. No home debt. Okay. So you're completely out of debt, house and everything.

What's your household income? About $33,000 a year, $32,000. Okay. And do you have an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses? Yeah, yeah. Good. It's closer to nine months good good you're in really good shape it was lucky to have that when he got hurt i bet i bet yeah you're you've done a great job you're in great shape congratulations well um you know yes you could buy a piece of

real estate if you want to buy that and pay cash for it, might be pushing it to find a $100,000 property in Buffalo. I don't know. Yeah, I think they're going pretty high. Yeah, maybe you could. But I would not want you to go into debt for a rental property. I think that would be a bad plan. And so if I'm in your shoes, then that's going to put me in mutual funds probably. Okay. And you need to take your time and understand that investment and move through the process of learning on that before you actually make the decision.

A good way to do that is to connect with one of our SmartVestor pros. Click SmartVestor at DaveRamsey.com or at RamseySolutions.com. Click SmartVestor. Too many changes for me. Remember all this crap. No, it's a lot. And anyway, so yeah, ramsaysolutions.com. Click SmartVestor, and it'll drop down a list of the SmartVestor pros in your area that you can connect with.

Sit down. In order for them to get our endorsement, they have to have the heart of a teacher. They have to be willing and able to sit down and teach you because you should not put money in something you don't understand. And so, you know, when you're doing something new like investing, it's intimidating. Yeah. That's why you need someone that knows that specifically. And I think some people feel like, oh, I'm supposed to know this. No, even inside this building, we use investment professionals for our investments because they are experts. That's what they do all day, every day. But to your point, you want to go to someone that is trustworthy, that's in line with what

we teach, because if not, they could explain things in a way that you don't understand and you end up making some mistakes. So you want to go to someone you trust. Yeah, I just sat down and spent an hour with our tax professional that handles the Ramsey family, oh God, tax bill and uh all the stuff and and you know there is no way i'm going to understand freaking 10 billion words that the irs wrote and know them all that's his job uh but i do need to understand enough of it that when i put my signature at the bottom of that return that i know what it's saying right i may not know every

little nuance and every little thing perfectly but i need to get the gist of what we're doing so that i'm not just blindly signing things and not looking at them yeah exactly and that's the same with investing it's the same with doing your will these are things that you don't have to be you know you can put an expert in your corner but even somebody working on your car they come in and go well you know it's going to be eighteen,800 to fix the jimmy gag. And I'm, what the flip's a jimmy gag? You know, you're going to have to tell me what the spark-a-mana flaps are. I mean, I'm going to have to get a figure out.

Start over, please. You know, $1,800, you just got my attention. So now I want to know what the flip's going on here and so you know you have to be taught and and you don't blindly trust anyone not because we're cynical but because it's our job to be responsible for our decisions where you get screwed on anything from car repairs to investing anything else it's when you don't understand what you're doing and you just went oh that's my guy he takes care of me it's my guy or you're too or you feel like you're going to look stupid if you ask questions. Like, this is your money. It's $100,000 or whatever you're doing.

It's your car. It's $1,800. Ask the question. Say, now, what does that word mean? Matt and I just sat down with our investment guy a few months ago to kind of do a reset on where we're going, what we're doing. And there were several things he said that I go, what does that word mean? I don't even know what that word, like, and he explained it to me. I was like, okay.

So don't be scared to ask questions. This is your money that you're investing. You can ask those questions and really good people will answer them in a way you can understand. An attorney a few years ago, we were working on not litigation, but on just a contractual situation. And he's like, you know, because I said so. And I went, hey, dude, you just got really confused. Let me help you with this. You work for me.

And I'm getting ready to fire your butt. Try again. Oh, my God. Because I said so. What do you think you are, my dad? He doesn't know you. He didn't know not to say that. Bless his heart.

Yeah, right. He knows now. Irene is in San Antonio. Hey, Irene, what's up? Good afternoon, Mr. Ramsey. Thank you so very much for taking my call. My pleasure. How can we help?

I've been listening to you for about five years now, and I've followed all your steps. So I have totally eliminated all my credit card debt. I've eliminated all my student loan debt. I have two vehicles. I have absolutely no car payment. I have $105,000 left on my home. And my question is, I want to go back to school to pursue my PhD. And I was wondering if that's a wise thing for me to do.

The reason why I want to do that is because I've become absolutely passionate about my field of mental health, and so I want to teach on a university level. Very cool. That's awesome. First of all, congratulations. Way to go. Yeah, paying off all that debt, that's amazing. Yeah, way to go.

Thank you. I followed each and every step of Mr. Ramsey, and it completely transformed my life over the past five years. You're amazing. That's awesome. So completely transformed my life over the past five years. You're amazing. That's awesome. So you're paying cash for the PhD. Well, what I'm going to do is I still have $40,000 left over in grant money that I can put towards my education, and then I'm going to take the rest of it out of my savings to pay off the rest.

So not that much, but I have enough to cover it, so I'm not going back into debt ever. Good, good. And you're not dipping into the emergency fund to do this? No, absolutely not. I have plenty left over. I'm just making sure I understand what we're talking about. It's okay, it's okay, it's okay.

I'm just making sure I understand. So you're going to pay cash for a phd with a grant and the excess savings and it's what you want to do well why wouldn't you do it because i couldn't find it anywhere in your book why don't you write a chapter on that that's your fault yeah i don't write a lot about PhDs. The only one I've got is in DUMB. So I was like, I'm going to call because now I've done all the steps basically and I just need to ask. Well, education is not really one of the steps other than pay cash for it. For your kids, education and Baby Step 5 and in any purchases you want to do, we're paying cash for it.

And this is not a luxury. It's career advancement. You're going to move into a whole new phase of your life and you've positioned want to do, we're paying cash for it. And this is not a luxury. It's career advancement. You're going to move into a whole new phase of your life and you've positioned yourself to do it. This is fabulous. You want to do it. You have the money for it. And it's moving you in the direction of where you want to go.

It checks all the boxes for me, Irene. You got it. That's awesome. Touchdown. Touchdown. Score. Well, thank you. Thank you so much.

I appreciate it. Awesome. I appreciate you're asking our permission, but I think you're all right. You don't need it. That's right. Yeah, you're a rock star. Absolutely amazing. Yeah, and that is one, you know, if you're going to teach at the university level,

then, you know, that is permission to play. That's table stakes. That's right. You've got to have that to teach at that level. And it's a wonderful field, too. I mean, we've got John Deloney around here, and he's got two PhDs. He's fairly normal. Most days.

Most days. Some days, not so much. Questionable. But most days. Yeah. We keep him fairly much in line, James and Kelly do on his podcast, but it's a full-time job. This is The Ramsey Solutions on the debt-free stage, Michael and Angela are with us. Hey, guys, how are you?

Good. Great. Awesome to have you. So here to do a debt-free scream, where do you live? Faribault, Minnesota, just south of Twin Cities about an hour. Okay, very cool. Good. Good for you guys.

Well, welcome. How much debt did you pay off? $313,285.06. Love it. How long did this take? About 40 months. Whoa. And your range of income during that time?

We started at $90,000 all the way up to $230,000. Good for you. What do you guys do for a living? I'm an optometrist. And I do agricultural research. Very good. So what kind of debt was this $313,000? Well, we had $300 in a bed, $30,000 between two vehicles, and the rest was Sally Mae.

Lots of Sally Mae. Sally Mae did a number on y'all. Yeah. A big one. Wow. So tell us the story. What happened? It was a few months after our first daughter was born.

We were sitting there, and we were talking about retirement and paying off these loans early and saving for college for our daughter. And I said to Michael, this is overwhelming. We can't do it all. We were going 10 different directions everywhere. There wasn't a plan. And then I remember my best friend in college, her dad had mentioned a book the total money makeover and so i caught i called her and said you know what's this book we read it i was on board right away i i thought there were a lot of great ideas in the book

and that we we you know we could use some of these principles, and it might really help us. And then we had our first budget meeting, and there were some things going on with the job. And we wrote everything down, and we realized there's a lot of debt. That was the first time we put all the debt on paper, and it was terrifying. Terrifying. Terrifying. Basically, we realized we were coming up 800 bucks short every month just on debt. That wasn't even... Whoa.

That wasn't even... Groceries or gas. Groceries or gas. Whoa. What'd you do? How'd you get that fixed? We moved. Yep.

Found a new... Sold your house. Well, we moved out. We found a new job opportunity. Okay. So, basically, Angie was able to get a job where she was making the same where we both were. We went.

I was able to find a job. From there, Angie was able to pick up more jobs, extra jobs. Game on. That's what kept this income. You tripled almost your income. Yeah. At one point, I think we were I don't think I had a day off.

A couple months. Yeah. Every day. Every day, every day. But that's when the snowball really, really rocked. Yeah. Yeah. The problem is you work all the time.

The good news is you make a lot of money. You're darn right. You can clean up a mess pretty quick if you get bigger shovels. Yep. And then you don't have to do it forever. It's just a part-time thing. I mean, it's a temporary process to work like that. But you were working like maniacs.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you can only tweak the budget so much. You know, we were able to get everything out of the budget we could. At that point, you've got to up the income. Yeah. Did you sell the cars or keep them? We kept them. Okay. Worked your way through it yeah very cool so this really came down to moving to a different city and changing your income potential and then stepping into that

potential yep yep okay two and a half long years three and a half three and a half. Three and a half. Oh, no. We wish. I added it up. He's like, this guy can't do math. The whole dividing by 12 things a problem. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. That's incredible. So I'm curious because I know a lot of people are scared of that moment you just described when you wrote it all down.

They don't want to face it because it is scary, right? Like, I think you said it was terrifying when he first faced it. We were blissfully unaware. We had no idea how many people are unaware that is a great phrase how many people are listening right now that are blissfully unaware and they're scared to face it what would you say to them on this side now having faced it been terrified busted your behinds to get out of it and now you're debt free speak to that person that doesn't want to write it down, that doesn't want to face it. You can do it.

You can do it. You can do it. We had a gold chart from zero up to our $300,000 debt load, and it seems overwhelming, but you can do it. You can. I mean, when we found this plan, this is the greatest thing. Everyone needs to do this. Why isn't everyone doing this? And then we try to explain to people, and they're just like, oh, you know, we can't

do that, or it works for you. You know, you guys make a lot of money. I mean, that's why we wanted to come here. You can do it. We can do it. You can do it. You can do it. Go to work.

Go to work. Great place to go when you're broke. Tell work. Amen. That quote went in my head almost every Saturday and Sunday. You're working like a maniac. This is impressive. Very impressive.

So how old are you? I'm 34. 32. Okay. And you paid off $313,000 in 40 months, and you're done. How's it feel? Liberating. Just we're free.

We're free. It's different going to work that first day after I paid it off. It's, you know, I'm going to work because I want to. Yep. It's totally changed the way I am at work, and it's awesome. Yep, me too. You get your hours back to a normal grind now, Angela. Yes, not a Saturday or Sunday ever again. Yeah. Never again. If you work like no one else later, you can work like no one else. If you live like no one else later, you can live and give like no one else. That's right. You guys are incredible.

So it was worth it. Absolutely. 100%. What do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? I would say the biggest thing, getting on board with each other, writing everything down, that was huge for us.

The budget, I mean, we, every month we were going through that. And the biggest thing for us, I would say, is you have to stay motivated. Three and a half years is a long time. It's a very long time. And we had, like I said, our big gold chart. And every 10%, Michael and I, we would go out on a date night.

And then every time, every month when we paid off things, we would have a dream meeting and we'd say, why are we doing this? What are our future goals? And basically that was our motivation. You'd fill in the chart and it's like, okay, that's another 2%. Here we go.

You could see the progress. And that was probably, I mean, one of the hardest things is because when you have that much debt, 1% is three grand. Yeah. That's a lot of money. That's serious money, yeah. And, yeah, those I would say are the biggest things.

Yeah. That's powerful. Yeah. I love that you guys did that. I love that you celebrated those mile markers because most people getting out of debt is a marathon. Yours really was a marathon. I mean, three and a half years is a long time. That's a lot of money. But to see that progress and celebrate that progress,

it probably motivated you, okay, let's get the next 30,000. Let's get the next 10%, whatever that was. And you stuck with it because of that. Well done. And it was tough too, because we had consolidated all the loans. So it was one payment. We weren't knocking little loans off as we went. So that motivation, it was key. Yeah, yeah. Very cool, you guys. Well done, well done, well done. Very proud of you.

Very proud of you. We got a copy of Rachel Cruz's latest New York Times bestseller, Know Yourself, Know Your Money, as a gift. We appreciate you coming all the way down from Minnesota to do your debt-free scream and share your story. It's inspiring what you've done. You're rock stars. Very, very well done. You're free!

You did it! Michael and Angela from Minnesota. $313,000 paid off in 40 months, making $90,000 to $230,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. 3, 2, 1's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one.

We're debt-free! Well done, you guys. Very well done. That's awesome. This is The Ramsey Show. Thank you. Christy Wright, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Jared is with us in Sacramento. Hi, Jared.

Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Hi, Christy. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up? So basically, I was wondering if I could get a little bit more info. I've completed step one through four.

I have my six-month emergency fund. I've been starting to invest around 15%, and I have no debt. But I also don't have a house, and I've already completed the college that I'm looking to complete. So I'm kind of looking for a next step here, if that makes any sense, because I don't necessarily think I'm going to be buying a house anytime soon. I would pile up cash for that purpose beyond the 15%. Okay.

15% of your income into retirement, and then we're heading on to baby step six, which is pay off your house. And in your case, you're not ready to buy yet, so you're just piling up cash. How old are you? I'm 21. Good. Okay, Jared. First of all,'m 21. Good. Okay, Jared.

First of all, great job. Yeah. That's amazing. What's your degree in? Thank you. So I have an AA in communications, and I'm not necessarily looking to get my bachelor's quite yet. But I just got that finished up about a month ago. Cool.

So what are you doing, and what do you make? So I make $50,000 after tax right now, and I live off of about $1,200. So roughly, I'm putting about $2,800 into savings every month. So that's exceeding the 15%. So right now I have $10,000 for an emergency fund, $20,000 liquid, and $5,000 in stock. So I've kind of just been working on growing the money, but I didn't really know where to go from here. Phenomenal. Well, what I would be doing is putting 15% into retirement plans.

Do you have a 401k at work? Is that what you're using? I don't. My work doesn't have a 401k. I'm just... Okay. Are you using a Roth IRA? I am, yeah.

Okay. I've done my full amount for the year. Okay. All right. So you're maxing that out. And then beyond that, what you're saving is for a future house purchase. If you think it's going to be five years, three to five years, then, you know, you could use an index fund, just an S&P 500, no commission, no load fund, just to throw some money in. It'll grow at whatever the market does.

Since you're playing some stocks and stuff, that might be a better route than playing those stocks. And it might be a better route than just a simple savings account. But if you're going to buy it fairly soon, three years or less, then I really wouldn't do that. I'd just pile it into a savings account. But it sounds like you're just kind of, you know, you're just a guy who lives frugally.

Yeah, and doing awesome, especially for that young. The other thing, Jared, about a house purchase that is so great, if you start early, then it's less stressful and you can put more down. So you're just in a better financial position whenever you do decide to buy a house. You've got more options. You've got more that you're putting into it. So starting now is not a bad thing. Yeah, I mean, if you do $30,000 a year for three years, you're going to be bumping up to $100,000. And if you did it for six years, you could probably pay cash for something.

Yeah. And it just depends on what you want to do here. That's not a bad play at all. Great job. Yeah. Great job. Lori is in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hi, Lori.

How are you? I'm good. Thank you, Dave. Good. How can I help? Okay. I i'm 36 single mother of three no village completely on my own um in the past nine months i've paid off 17 000 a little over um in debt using taxes and stimulus you know um i relocated here from alabama Alabama just to get out of the situation that I was in. And I'm kind of stuck now.

So I'm kind of needing guidance on where to go. What do you mean you're stuck? I have a house. I have a mortgage. So in Alabama, I have a house. I have had it since I was 19. I purchased it when I was 23. And it has a leaky roof.

The roof is only seven years old. It's due to installation error. I've had three contractors come out and say the same thing. So I'm kind of like, you know, here I live paycheck to paycheck, just like I did there. What's the house worth? I'm going to say about $80,000. It's actually about to be a price. Okay, so here's the house worth? About $30,000. I'm going to say about $80,000. It's actually about to be a price.

Okay, so here's the thing. I'm trying to get it refinanced to get that leak fixed, to get the roof done. No, just sell it. That's my question. Well, I don't want to sell. I knew you were going to say that. My child doesn't want to sell. It's also my safety net if something happens here.

I mean, I am here renting. It's not a safety net. It's got a leaking roof, and it's in Alabama. Yeah. Well, I don't plan on staying in North Carolina forever. I guess I'm just keeping it because it's safe. Well, when you go back, you can buy something then. Yeah, it's not.

That's an illusion, honey. It's not a safety net. It's a problem. It's a headache. Yeah. Even if you go back to alabama who knows what you're going to do what's it what do you owe on it uh 49 okay well let me tell you what a safety net is thirty thousand dollars cash in the bank and no hassles and then in three years five years

ten years twelve years you want to go back to alabama go back to alabama and do something then you're not going to want to go back to that house anyway, necessarily. You're going to have a different plan at that time. Okay. I think you're holding on to something. There's something in your head that you're holding on to. You connect that to something else. This was the first success you had after a bunch of failures. Buying this house was like a triumph. It's all I've ever known yeah i mean but it was your it was your first big win right yeah and turning loose so it feels like you're like you're not going to be winning anymore because it was your first big win but my point is it was your first not your last

and you know whether you own a home somewhere in the past is an indicator of winning but now it's not now it's a problem it's causing you headaches you know and you do whatever you want to do kiddo but you call me and you're gonna get what i you know you're gonna get my opinion when you call here that's why we call it the ramsey show so um if if you're my little sister and you are i i would tell you it's a stupid house get rid of it and you know you don't need it it represents something emotionally that it'd be good for you to figure out how that is because you can hear it in her voice yeah and it yeah even just the language of like i'm kind of stuck or here's the problems i got rid of this but i think that if you ask yourself the most basic question, the benefit and the cost,

what are you getting from that house right now? Nothing but headaches. It's not doing anything for you other than this attachment you have to the past. But you could have $30,000 in your bank account, which would give you an actual cushion with options. And then in the future, you decide what you want to do then,

wherever you want to be, Alabama or anywhere. And you do that at that time. Lori, the irony is, is your safety net leaks. You are so ready for that. I can see it. You had a twinkle in your eye. You are getting excited about that one.

Your safety net leaks. That's a problem right there. And, you know, you left Alabama. You told us, but you didn't tell us. There was crap going on there. Yeah. I had to get away from there. I think she'll feel free if she sells it.

She doesn't imagine that, but I think she will feel free after the fact. She has the cash in the bank, and then we're going to close the door on that headache and that season of life in a very positive way. There's a reason the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror. You need to look forward more than you look backward and it's this is going to be good for you um you have placed emotional value of some kind on this house that it doesn't deserve that it's not worthy of yeah your secret sauce laurie is not this house it's you put the money in your pocket and sell the stupid Alabama house. It's a stupid house and the roof leaks. Get rid of it.

That's what I would do. You can do whatever you want to do, and we'll still be friends. But that's what I would tell you to do. And I just did. You know, it is so, I mean, you were raised by single moms. Single moms are warrior princesses, man. I mean, they fight scratch claw and to finally get that accomplishment i got to buy a house right that's what i've kind of felt

like that that's right right sorry and i think it represents too this source of stability of like i own this and i don't own something here so that's even the word safety nets like it feels like that feels more stable because i own it but it's a source of problems. You know what I mean? This is a new season, and it's time to reevaluate what's right for us right now. That may have been right then, but what it is now is a headache. I tell people all the time, when things change, things need to change. So things change.

It's time to change. That was deep. Thank you. Stitch that on a pillow. Stitch that and put it in a frame in the kitchen. When things change, things need to change. I mean, it's true. This is why we get the big bucks.

I love it. Christy Wright, my co-host this day here on The Ramsey Show. James Childs is our producer. Kelly Daniels, our associate producer and phone screener. I am Dave Ramsey, your host, and we will be back. Hey, guys, this is Kelly, associate producer for The Ramsey Show. Did you know that over 16 million people listen to The Ramsey Show every week? And a lot of those people listen on one of our 600 plus radio stations across the country.

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