The Ramsey Show - App - What You Should Ask During an Interview (Hour 1)

Episode Date: July 26, 2019

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I am Dave Ramsey, your host. This is your show, because we talk about you. It's a free call at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. We're going to start off this hour with Gabriel in Tampa, Florida. Hi, Gabriel.

How are you? I'm good. How are you, Dave? Better than I deserve. What's up? Yeah, I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate your program. I went through FPU, and I loved it. And I'm getting kind of nervous because I had some family issues that happened in my life, and now I just need some encouragement.

I have $67,332.99 in debt, and I make $65,000 a year. I just wanted to know how long it should take me to pay that off. Well, not counting family issues, which sometimes are known as a speed bump or two or a rock wall in your way or something like that. I mean, I just do big math when I'm here on the air, like $67,000 in debt and a $60,000 income. Is that what you said? $65,000. $65,000 income.

Okay. So if we pay some taxes and we eat, how many kids you got? Zero. Okay. And are you single? Yes. Okay. got zero okay and are you single yes okay so if you pay some taxes and you eat out of 65 000 and let's just say you put 22 000 towards the debt in three years that would be 66 000 and you would be debt free right yeah yeah if you put 30 uh what thirty three thousand dollars thirty four thousand dollars towards the debt out of your 65 000 you'd be debt free in two years right

yeah so that's how i do it i mean it's not any more sophisticated than that when i'm talking to somebody on the radio now what you're going to do is you're going to sit down with your actual budget on every dollar and say if i live on beans and rice rice and beans the good news is i don't have a bunch of kids to feed and i don't have a husband to control so all i've got to do is just control me right and so i'm going to control me yeah the danger is you got nobody griping at you okay no accountability built in but the good news is when you're single you just got the person in the mirror get her done you know yeah and so you just you just shut down life and tell all your friends i'll call you when i'm done or come over and we'll throw frisbee in the backyard

do you think i should get another job well the more money you make the faster you get out right and the faster you get out by the way the more likely you are to get out and so i really want you on a two-year plan for your sake. And, you know, gosh, if you got an extra job making $20,000 a year on the weekends, you'd be done in about 18 months or less. Right, right. That's how I'm doing it. Well, there were some opportunities.

Go ahead. I'm sorry. Okay. There were some opportunities for me to move from where I am and make an additional like $10,000 to $15,000. What are your ties to where you are? I mean, I kind of just started there. I haven't been there for, I haven't even been there a year yet. I left public accounting to go to an opportunity.

And, you know know it's not quite what i thought it was so okay oh so when you mean move you mean just change companies you don't mean move physically just change companies yeah yeah yeah yeah just change companies as long as it's not a bunch of toxic jerks you're going to work for for a lousy 10 grand difference that'd be a cool thing to do i mean maybe, maybe it's a move up anyway, regardless of the debt, right? Right. Yeah, definitely. I mean, an extra $10,000, $15,000 for the same job or a different job or a better job that's moving you up the ladder, that's not a bad thing.

How old are you? I'm 29. Okay. And what's the family issue? Well, I was actually engaged, and we went through FPU together. Mm-hmm. And so we had like a 20-month, like 19- to 20-month plan to get out of debt. And now it's like, you know, I really want to, you know, still accomplish this goal.

But, you know, it's kind of nerve-wracking to do it on my own now. So the engagement blew up? Yeah. Have anything to do with money? No, actually. Okay. Okay. my own now so so the engagement blew up yeah have anything to do with money uh no actually okay okay no cool so uh so you're free and it's just you controlling you and you get after it and the more you work the faster you're out but i would say somewhere between 18 to 24 months you ought to be done depending on how cheap you live and how much extra work you do. Okay. That's the math you and I just did together.

It didn't sound unreasonable to me. No, it sounds perfectly reasonable. The good news is you're going to be 31 years old or, you know, 30 and a half or something and debt-free. And, man, what a great place to be. And, you know, at least something good comes out of this uh heartbreak of the broken engagement at least you got financial peace university and you got the knowledge and you can do this right absolutely you call me let me know how you're doing okay okay thank you so

much i think you can do it i do too all right mike's on the line mike's in las vegas hey mike how are you hey i'm doing quite well. How has your morning been so far? Better than I deserve. What's up? Well, I'm 18 years old. I have no debt. I make about $1,100 a month with expenses such as rent and my phone bill and gas.

But I'm not sure where to go from here. I decided college wasn't for me, and I'm really not sure what I'm doing with my money because I only have $1,200 saved up over this year of working. Okay. Well, the biggest problem that you've got on the personal financial front is your income is very, very low. So the first thing, my mind gravitates to, of course, you're 18 years old.

You're just getting started. That's okay. It's not the end of the world here. But the question I would want to ask you is, hey, when you're 38, what do you want to be doing that makes $100,000 a year instead of $14,000 a year? Right. I understand. And how do you get there?

What to do one of those things. And I'm with you. College is not for everybody, and it's sure not if you go get a degree in left-handed puppetry for $250,000 in student loan debt, right, which would be called stupid, and people do it every day. So you don't want to do that stuff. If you're going to go to college, for God's sake, study something that can be used. But you can get a degree.

I mean, you can get lots of tech degrees. I mean, you can get lots of certificationsifications do all kinds of things without a college degree that make you very very wealthy so um it's very very possible uh the question is just you need to start really start thinking about you what are you good at do you like details do you like people um you know are you inclined towards the technology sector are you inclined towards the technology sector? Are you inclined towards the art area? What is it that makes you smile and you think, gosh, if I did that for 20 years, I'd feel like I've been on vacation the whole time? Then go do a whole bunch of that and become the best in the world at that and train and take classes and read books. If you read 25 books on

a particular subject by the best minds in the world, you'll be one of the leading experts in the world because nobody knows how to read anymore. Huh. I mean, just go do that. So let's work on the income side of your equation because you're basically living at the poverty level. But again, I'm not shaming you.

There's no shame in that. I made less than that myself over time when I was your age. But let's point at something because you don't accidentally become successful, dude. That's the big thing. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. We'll see you next time. options? Do you wish you could find an affordable biblical solution to your healthcare costs? Based on New Testament principles, Christian Healthcare Ministries, or CHM, helps Christian families, churches, and ministries join together as the body of Christ to share their major healthcare costs. Christian Healthcare Ministries is the original health cost-sharing ministry. A Better Business Bureau-accredited organization, CHM members share to pay

each other's medical bills. It's not insurance. It's Christians financially and 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.Y. is with us in Athens, Georgia. Hi, T.Y., how are you? I'm doing well, Mr. Ramsey. How are you?

Better than I deserve. What's up? So I'm currently a college student, and I'm pursuing a degree in management information systems. And my university gives me great opportunities with being set up with businesses and companies through internships, but those internships are incredibly, they're very, very, I'm sorry, I'm losing the word right now, competitive. Hard to get one, okay. Yes, extremely. And so I'm trying to just set myself apart as best as I can. So I'm wondering if you could give me any advice on what questions I can ask them specifically, because I know they're going to ask me questions, and I prepare for those very well. But I've been told by our career center that I need to be asking them questions as well.

And I was just wondering if you might be able to give me any advice on that. I've never been in that situation, so I'm a little bit ignorant of it. and we don't have interns here, so that makes me also a little bit of ignorant. So the only portion of knowledge I could pull from would be that when we're hiring someone to work here for a regular, you know, someone who is articulate and can converse and can express ideas in the form of questions is a huge advantage because it shows that they're relational and that they know how to work with others. You see what I'm saying? Right. And so I think what your leaders are suggesting to you makes a lot of sense. And so I'll take a stab at it. I probably would ask a couple things.

One is I would ask something like, tell me about the best intern you guys have ever had, what they did. Okay. And let them tell you, and then you go, if that is you, you say, well, I've got to be straight with you. I'm not that and that, but I am those other three things. You know? They tell you five things that made that guy a superstar. You go, I can work on those other two things, and I'll add value.

But I think, not being arrogant, I would work to add value to your organization while I'm there. I'm not there to take. I'm there to add value to your organization while I'm there. I'm not there to take. I'm there to give. I got to tell you, very few people go into any interview trying to figure out what they can give. They always go in figuring out what they can take. And if you'll just go into it, if you'll go into interview for somebody and tell them you're bringing something rather than taking something, it's freaking refreshing. Yeah. You know?

And so how can I add value? How can I be worth more than I cost? Because you're going to invest in me while I'm there. I'm going to learn a lot. I'm going to come away a winner if I'm an intern. But what's going to make you smile when you think of my name two years after I left? Right, right. And that's exactly what I'm trying to think of because a lot of the companies do offer full-time jobs after internships. I'm trying to get to the point where if I do get that internship

they remember me after a year. Well, in the way you do, that's what you do once you're there. We're trying to get you in the door in the first part of this discussion. But once you're there, I mean, you come early, you leave late, you work while you're at work. Hello, that'll get you ahead. Because most people don't even work while they're at work and so if you just work while you're at work you're a big deal and smile and be easy to get along with but get stuff done oh my gosh you become completely invaluable then because you're you're a unicorn you know right and so if you smile get stuff done work while you're at work get there a little early leave a little late but you know you're not a crazy man you smile, get stuff done, work while you're at work, get there a little early, leave a little late.

But, you know, you're not a crazy man. You're not throwing stuff and cussing at people and mistreating people and saying the wrong things to the wrong people the wrong way. Oh, my gosh. Just behave. You know, good Lord. Some people are raising a zoo. So if you just go in there and don't be a zoo animal, it's helpful, you know. And I'm really not being much sarcastic.

Some of the crap I've dealt with over the years with people, I think they're raised by wolves. And so, you know, you go in there and do that. That's how you add value once you're there. But we want to get you in the door. And so the question I'm going to ask is, when I'm here, I want to be the best possible. When you bring me on, just do an assumptive close it's called in sales okay assumptive closes you assume they're already bringing you on with your verbiage and so you say so when you bring me on as an intern what is it that i'm going to do that's

going to make you smile when you think of me it's going to make me one of the best interns you've ever had and let me see if i am that guy and if this is a fit because if it's a fit you're going to be really glad i came if it's not a fit i'm just going to tell you right now right and just yeah that'd be kind of refreshing and different and not uh too plastic if you're looking for plastic corporate answers for plastic corporate people i can't help you because i don't know how to do that stuff i'm just right what i always do is just try to get a little bit visceral and a little bit, in other words, be real, be authentic. That's the millennials term, isn't it? Be authentic, right?

We used to say get real back in the day. It was the same thing, right? Just be a real person and go, I'm a little scared in this interview, and I've got to tell you, if you'll tell me what it's supposed to do, I'll tell you the truth if I'm the guy or not and but i really would want to know what it is that's the best i don't know i i don't know if that's really good advice or not it might not be uh but if you'll go in and just tell the truth and be authentic and ask them how you can bring more than you take in different questions and different verbiage. Then you will be unusual. And then once you're in the door, work while you're at work.

Smile and get things done. Be the guy that you go, hmm, that guy, everywhere he goes, he leaves a wake. There's stuff in his wake. There's something got moved. And look, and everybody likes him. And he gets stuff done. Oh, my gosh. That's really rare.

So that kind of stuff will get you moved, get you moving up and moved in. Sarah's with us. Sarah's in Portland, Oregon. Hi, Sarah. How are you? I'm fine. How are you doing? Better than I deserve.

What's up? We bought a house in May, and come to find out, the disclosure statement was lied on by the seller, and the seller's realtor was not honest, and the inspections we got were not good inspections at all. We've had more inspections done, and the house is unsafe for us to live in. So we have quite a legal battle in front of us right now. What is the nature of the problems?

Dry rot and mold. And it had been covered up by the cellar with siding, so it had been done about 11 years ago. The dry rot, excessive moisture came out, and then the cellar had it re-sided over the top, and so we had no idea getting into this. And we don't buy a lot of houses. This is kind of a new process to us. So we've kind of gotten stuck in a rental now and we're facing legal issues. We have an attorney. My husband and I have worked hard to get out of debt and we had over 20% down. So we have some,

we're doing pretty good financially, but legal fees are going to be probably up there because it's looking like we're headed to mediation, possibly arbitration. I don't know how much of our emergency fund we should spend on legal fees or what we should do. What would be your other option? Homeless. Well, we have about $14,000 left over from the sale of our house before we bought this one, and then we have $10,000 in our emergency fund. So we have our attorney said worst-case scenario, we could be pushing $30,000 in legal fees.

Okay. How many different attorneys have you talked to? One. Well, why don't we talk to more? Okay. Yeah, because if this is a winnable battle, if you win at the end of this, what does winning look like? A settlement that will fix the house.

Okay, so you're trying to get how much money? We are starting at $65,000, but we don't know how bad the damage is. So you're going to spend $30,000 to get $65,000 over the next five years while you rent? Well, we should have all our legal fees paid back. That's what was in the sales agreement. Oh, on top? Yes. Okay.

You're going to spend $30,000 hoping you get $65,000 if you win. Right. That's going to take you years. I think I want a new attorney. This doesn't sound like a good ROI to me. Okay. I think I want somebody who's going to punch them harder than this. If you really have a case, you start suing that realtor.

They've got errors and omissions. You start suing the home inspector. They probably have errors and omissions. You're going to have some people jump in. I don't know if I'm going to spend that much on this. I'd probably fix the house before I do that. Sorry you're in this mess, though. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. They're here in the lobby of Ramsey Solutions.

Nick and Gene are with us. Hey, guys, how are you? Doing great, Dave. How are you? I am better than I deserve. Congratulations. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Where do you guys live?

We live in Nashville, Tennessee. Oh, we're neighbors. Absolutely. Right around the corner. Very cool. We live in Nashville, Tennessee. Oh, we're neighbors. Absolutely. Right around the corner. Very cool. We live in Antioch. Oh, do you really?

Yeah. All right. That's fun. Well, welcome. Good to have you guys. And so you drove all the way across town to do your debt-free screen. That's right. That's right.

How much have you guys paid off? We started out at, let's see, what did we pay off? $240,000 it was? Mm-hmm. Yes, sir. And it took us about four and a half years. Okay, cool. Good for you. And it took us about four and a half years. Okay, cool. Good for you.

And your range of income during that time? Well, we started out at $90,000, and then we went all the way up to $165,000. And we also did side gigs, whether it was Uber, Airbnb, or going on game shows and consulting for like an additional $20,000. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Wow. What do you guys do for a living? I'm a marketing consultant.

I used to be a marketing director, but last month, because I'm debt-free, I quit my job. There you go. Just like that. I love it. And what do you do, Nick? And I actually run a barbecue restaurant in downtown Nashville, and I brought you four bottles of sauce as well from my restaurant. Oh, my mouth just watered. There you go.

I see it. What's the name of the restaurant? Jack's Bar yeah yes sir big time yes very cool good for you man that's good stuff how long you've been doing that uh i've been doing rest well jack's for five years but i've been doing restaurant managing for over 20 years okay all right well you're in the middle of a hot restaurant scene around here for sure yes sir no pun intended yeah excellent man very cool so tell me about this what kind of debt was the 240 000 uh it was a car lease oh man car lease uh some credit card and a house oh you paid off your house yes of course i'm looking at weird people the weirdest how old are you two i'm 32 uh-huh andhuh. And I am 41. Wow. And you have a paid-for house.

Yes, sir. You're totally weird. What's this house worth? Probably about $310,000. $310,000? Yeah. $310,000? Okay.

What part of Antioch? Right outside, right before Smyrna, like on that old Hickory Boulevard exit. Gotcha. Right off of 24. Right close to Laverne. The old Starwood area. There you go. Okay.

Wow. Good for you guys. Look at you. Yes, sir. Ding, ding. A paid-for. Did you ever think Okay. Wow, good for you guys. Look at you. Yes, sir. Ding, ding. A paid for. Did you ever think you'd have a paid for house in your life? It wasn't even a priority until five years ago, right?

What happened four and a half years ago that lit your hair on fire? I mean, you guys have been after it. Losing a job. Ooh. Right? I mean. Scares crap out of you. You know, you always think that paycheck's going to come in.

Mm-hmm. And, you know, seven years ago, and this kind of started the initial conversation of it, but like seven years ago, I lost a job that I thought I was going to have forever. And, man, I just never wanted to have that feeling ever again. Amen. Amen. And that's when we kind of decided once we got everything in order that we were never going to be like that ever again. Because I was never going to let anybody else dictate the way I felt. There you go.

Yes, sir. I love that. Okay. So you lost the job and then you got the new jobs. Got the new jobs. And everything's going. And then what did you do? So we moved to Nashville about five years ago.

And that's when we bought a house and we had all this debt. And I kid you not, the month we moved moved in our hot water heater broke of course and it was like 1200 bucks of course and that's when we were like we cannot live like this we make really great money and i'm not going to be one of those people that makes good money and is in debt so we um we actually were having fights about it because i kept wanting to go on vacation and shop, use my Amazon Prime membership. And we were fighting about where our money was going. It was like we were in a car with a full tank of gas and we had no idea where we were driving

to. We were just driving. We had money in the bank account, but we didn't have a common goal. So our preacher, Barry, at church recommended that we read your book. So we read a chapter every night and then we would sit down and discuss it together. And from that- How brutal was that? It actually, I feel like it kind of saved our marriage. It really put us on the same page, on the same path. And so as we were doing that, both of us, we were like,

let's do this. Let's just pay off the house and not completely give up our lifestyle. You know, we listen to your show a lot. We hear about people on rice and beans and taking their budgets down to nothing. Giving is so important to us. And we wanted to continue giving to people and having people into our home and being hospitable and being active in our church. And so from that, we decided to do extra things like Airbnb our house on weekends. Oh, okay. So you offset that with extra work.

With extra work. Okay. That's what we did. In one year, we had five W-2s between us. I mean, we were out there just working. Hustle and grind. That's it. That's what you got to do.

Yeah, absolutely. Yes, sir. Very cool. Very cool. Very cool. How's it feel? You don't have any debt. I'm going to tell you, it really, let me say, it is amazing. Don't get me wrong.

But when you've been working so hard for something, it's like you know what's going to happen. And, you know, you didn't want me to tell the story, but I think you'll like this. So I'm going to tell it anyways. You're in trouble. So here's how it, yeah, well, you know. So here's what happened. So we decided we had a lump sum that we were going to do and write a check, okay? And so we had a check for like $80,000 to pay our house off.

And the bank lost it in the transaction to get it to the bank. So that totally killed it. It was like, I mean, we cried for two days because it took like over 24 hours to find the money. It's a buzzkill. When they did, yeah. And so, like, it just sucked all the wind out of the sails, man. And so, you know, we're now recovering from that. But we're enjoying it.

I mean, it's great. I mean, you know, we don't have to, we just don't have to worry as much, you know, and like I said, it might be another month before it settles in after that bank thing. Right. Absolutely. But could you imagine? Cause I'm sitting there thinking like, man, I'm ready to kill somebody. That's a lot of money. Are you kidding? Yeah. Where I come from? Absolutely. Oh my gosh. Yeah. That's incredible. Wow. So what do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? You know, the key to getting out of debt is? You know, my key to getting out of debt is to stay humble. Even when you're making a good income, you've just got to hustle.

We stayed literally in roach motels while we were Airbnb-ing our house. And when you make a combined income of close to $170,000 and you're sleeping at this roach motel. Literally, there were three roaches in one of our motels. I kid you not. I've stayed there. I know the place. It's just about putting your head down and honestly working together. That was the thing. We were on separate paths and just picking up any

extra job you can. I will tell you, two years ago, it was our 10-year anniversary and I've been begging Nick to go to Hawaii since we you can. I will tell you, two years ago, it was our 10-year anniversary, and I've been begging Nick to go to Hawaii since we got married. I was like, I'm going to Maui. And he's like, no, not until we pay off our house. That's right. So I applied for a game show, and I got on, and I won some money.

And I was like, we're taking that money, and we're going to Hawaii. So if it's not in your budget, figure out a way to make it in your budget. Go pick up an extra job. So what did you win? I won $7,500 on a $100,000 pyramid. All right. Yeah. Look at you.

There you go. But, you know, communication is big. And you're right, staying humble. As a matter of fact, right now, even though we are debt-free, I still start my car with an ink pen, the one that we drove over here, because the reverse wouldn't go down. So I had to stick it in there, you know, and prime there and has 230 000 miles on it and yeah we still drive not really great cars but um we're going to be able to upgrade that soon because we have a paid for house then you make you make 150 000 a year you can buy a car but it's hard but you know it's hard to get out of that mindset of like sacrifice so much you'll work your way out absolutely but that

was that was the hardest part for us i know you asked that but the hardest part for us was not seeing her paycheck for five years like thinking man we've made we've made all this money and we don't even see it and so it was out of sight out of mind we were just making a mortgage payment every week you know and it's over now and it's over now wow yeah yes sir congratulations well thank you so much i really appreciate it so proud of you guys and way to go pastor barry yeah absolutely and i'm gonna tell you you know the first time i ever heard of you was in 1997 like right when you were kind of you know getting in your fourth fifth year or whatever and there was this old man i used to wait tables at this restaurant. This old man came in, gave me your very first, the financial peace book. And I wish, man, 20 year old Nick,

I wish I would have done, because the thing that stuck with me, I don't remember that book, but I always remember Ben and Arthur. I will never forget that. And that always resonated with me. So thank you so much for that. Powerful, good stuff. Well, congratulations. We've got a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you, Retire Inspired. That's the next step for you guys to be millionaires. $240,000 paid off in four and a half years. Hustle and grind. Humility.

Get her done. Gene and Nick, count it down. Let's hear it. Debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! Freedom! Freedom! Boom! Thank you. Thanks for joining us, America.

This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Lynn is with us in Los Angeles. Hi, Lynn. How are you? Hi, Dave. Fine. Thank you for taking my call. How are you?

Better than I deserve. What's up? Okay. So my husband and I, well, I just recently discovered you, and since about the last two months, I've been hooked to your show, and I've been trying to see if I've heard any callers with my same situation, but I haven't. So I wanted to find out what you thought about us possibly selling a rental income that we have.

We've had it for eight years. It would sell for about $240,000 to $250,000 right now, and our balance on it is $146,000. The reason why we're considering selling is because we have a HELOC loan, which is $93,000. It's basically for being dumb and stupid. I know that was your next question. So we're wondering, would it be wise to just sell that off, get rid of it, even though we would incur capital gains and taxes? Should we do that in order to help us with our debt snowball? Do you have anything in your debt snowball except that HELOC?

No, other than... So you have a first mortgage on your home, you have a first mortgage on your home, you have a HELOC, and you have a rental property. Do you have any other debt? None, other than a car. Okay, how much do you own your car? $21,000. Okay, and what is your household income? $110,000 net. Okay, and what is your household income? $110 net. Okay. And what is your first mortgage amount on your home? The first mortgage on our home is $2,600. No, no, $2,600. No, no, no, the balance.

Oh, the balance, let's see. The balance owed on our first mortgage is $241,000. Okay, all right, plus 90. And so you owe $330,000 on the house. What's it worth? Okay, so you're talking about our home. Because the question that I had was on our trip. I know, I know. What's your home worth, though?

So our home is worth about $740,000. Gotcha. Okay, cool. And our interest is $3.125. Okay, cool. All right. Well, the reason I'm asking around your house and stuff is I'm trying to figure out how much equity you had there, not to sell your house, but to try to figure out what to do with this HELOC.

Because basically we tell folks the HELOC, if it is a second mortgage on your home, if it's more than half your annual income, which yours is, we move it to Baby Step 6. And in Baby Step 6, we would either plan to pay off the HELOC there, or we would refinance to roll it into a new first mortgage to make it where it's more controllable, because HELOCs have really bad terms on them where the interest rate is infinitely adjustable, and many of them have calls and balloons on them and so they they put your home at risk i don't i don't like them at all um so in in this case what i would do because of all of that is um if you want to keep the rental if you really like your rental and your plan long term is to

keep it you've always wanted to have that and you know you're you enjoy being a landlord you think it's a good idea all all those kinds of things, then I would refinance my home and take out the HELOC that way on a 15-year fixed. If you don't want to refinance your home, then you do need to sell the rental. Okay, so I'm thinking I don't want to refinance the home. Why? I like it where it is. I like the interest where it is. It's totally doable to me. This rental was more, I was thinking at that point, my husband and I

thought we would keep it for the kids for later to help pay off college or other, you know, investments down the way. But then since listening to your show, I've learned more about mutual funds, and I think that would be a better route to invest for our kids rather than keep the rental. And don't you think that if I sell the rental then... California real estate is a wonderful investment. Real estate in general is a wonderful investment when it's well-placed and well-managed and so forth. So I invest in both mutual funds and real estate. So if you're really excited about rental real estate and you want to do some things to keep

that, but that HELOC is so large as a percentage of your income. I mean, it's almost one year of your income. And so, yeah, you need to do something to get rid of it and get it stabilized. And so either refinance and, you know, your interest rate will probably come up a little bit and roll it into that, or I would sell the rental and pay it off. And you need to get the car paid off, too, in Baby Step 2 immediately and or sell it, too. So if you want to sell the rental and pay off the HELOC, that's fine. Then knock the car out as fast as you can. That'd be fine, too. So if you want to sell the rental and pay off the HELOC, that's fine. Then knock the car out as fast as you can.

That'd be fine, too. All of that's good. Otherwise, I would refinance your first and roll the HELOC into that, keep the rental, and then just use your cash flow in your budget to pay off your car as fast as you can. Either one of those is fine with me. Leaving it as it is? No, I wouldn't leave it as it is.

It's going to take you too long to clean it up. Thanks for the call. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Dante is with us in Orlando. Hey, Dante, how are you? I'm doing great. How are you? Better than I deserve.

What's up? So I just finished. I got completely out of debt. Finished step two, and I've got my emergency fully funded. As I got completely out of debt in step two, and I've got my emergency fully funded as I was getting out of debt. I noticed my credit score jumped up to an 800 credit score. Really? I know you recommend, yeah, getting out of debt it did.

And I know you recommend a zero credit score, but I've been saving up for a house, and my question is if I recommend a zero credit score, but I've been saving up for a house, and my question is if I have a zero credit score and I go and I still get a loan through Churchill Morgan, does that give me a credit score after that? Oh, yeah, it probably will. Yeah, your credit score will come back. As long as you've got a mortgage, you're going to have – as long as you have any debt interaction that's active and open in any way on your credit bureau report,

it's going to maintain. So I'm not sure how your credit score went up. Have you closed all the accounts? I have closed all of my accounts except for one at this point. Oh, what's the one? The one was that credit card, and the only reason I hadn't closed it out yet was because I didn't know if I wanted to bring my credit score all the way down to zero. No, if you're sitting at 850, I'd jump and get my mortgage at 850.

It makes it easy. There's no problem with that. But my whole thing around here is just don't worship at the altar of the credit score because it's a false measure of winning. But I don't set out to destroy it. That's not my goal. I just teach people that you can live without it and don't go in debt just to have one.

But while you got one, I would use it. $850 is pretty strong, dude. And so, yeah, if you can jump out there and get you a mortgage right quick now, if you're in a position to do that, if you're following the baby steps and you're ready to go, then, yeah, I would go ahead and do that. Our question of the day comes from Blinds.com, the number one online retailer of custom window coverings.

You get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promos they run every month, you'll save even more. Use the promo code Ramsey to get the best deal at Blinds.com. Questions from Guinevere in New York. She says, I'm a newlywed and I've dug into the Total Money Makeover book. I've started baby step two, but I'm struggling to get my husband on board to combine our finances and to commit to our budget. How do I get my husband to fully commit to combining our money and creating a budget? You're a newlywed.

You take his two hands and yours. You look deeply into his eyes, and you say, this is extremely important to me. Therefore, it is extremely important to me. Therefore, it is extremely important to you. Yeah. Yeah, that'll work. I can promise you. But also, you just start talking about what you've learned and why you're excited about it and not what you're doing, but what you're excited about.

Why are you excited about debt-free? What made you excited about the Total Mate makeover? And I've got to tell you, he's in love with you. And when he sees that the girl he's in love with is excited about something, he's going to go along. He's not going to dig his heels in. Unless he's some kind of crazy jerk. And that's just not the case. Hey, that puts this hour of the Dave Ramsey Show for the show. You know you can listen or watch anywhere with the Dave Ramsey Show app on your smartphone.

Catch the full show or watch the highlights and check out Dave's upcoming guests. Head to the App Store and download it today.