The Ramsey Show - App - What's the Best Way to Use My Income? (Hour 3)
Episode Date: June 5, 2020Retirement, Education, Home Buying, Career Tools to get you started:Â Debt Calculator: http://bit.ly/2QIoSPV Insurance Coverage Checkup: http://bit.ly/2BrqEuo Complete Guide to Budgeting: h...ttp://bit.ly/2QEyonc Interview Guide: http://bit.ly/2BuGnZE Check out other podcasts in the Ramsey Network: http://bit.ly/2JgzaQRÂ
Transcript
Discussion (0)
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.
You jump in, we'll talk about your life and your money.
It's a free call, 888-825-5225.
That's 888-825-5225.
Owees is with us in Omaha, Nebraska.
Hi, Owees.
How are you?
I'm good.
How about you?
Better than I deserve.
What's up?
Thank you.
I just want to say thank you for everything you do.
I have a little bit of a situation that I thought I could come to you and meet your advice on.
Okay.
So I am 23 years old.
I just recently went back to school, and I just got a house, and I'm paying it off by March of this month, so I'll be debt-free.
And the purpose I bought for that house was for my family.
They don't make good money, and they don't speak any English.
And basically, I'm living with them, and I got married.
So my wife wants to move to another state because she doesn't like here.
And I just want her to know, is it wise for me to move to a different state?
Should I get my first solutions degree or should I get my full college degree,
bachelor's, and move?
Okay.
And you're moving to another state.
Why?
Because my wife, she doesn't like Nebraska. She doesn't feel comfortable here. Okay. Where does she want to move? Kentucky, where her sister is. Okay. And where she grew up, I
guess? She grew up in Omaha. Oh, in Omaha. Hmm. Yes. Okay. Um, how long have you been married?
I've been married about three years, two years so far. Three years. Okay. So, so this has been,
I mean, you got, you and your wife have been talking about this for a long time, right?
Um, not a long time, about, about a year or so because she, because she's pressuring me right now.
I want to move.
But I have a good job here, you know, and finally I'm getting things together.
The house is going to be paid for.
And I was thinking about moving to an apartment for us to be together.
It's just that she wants to go to a different state.
So is she trying to get away from your family?
Not exactly.
She likes my family.
It's just that she thinks it's better for us to be independent,
like in a different state, instead of me.
Like the house I bought is an apartment, about six beds, two.
So it's like two beds up and four down.
And we live in a two-bed one.
What is your country of origin?
It's Somalia.
I'm from Somalia.
Okay.
And so she grew up in Omaha.
You grew up in Somalia.
The way you're living in this home is much more normal in Somalia than it is in Omaha.
So it's blowing her mind that you have people stacked in there six deep.
Exactly. And I actually recently moved from Boston, Massachusetts, two years ago.
So I moved from Boston, Massachusetts to Omaha, but I met her in Omaha after we left and we got married.
So now it's like she wants to move out of Omaha.
Okay.
I'm still, the thing, if I'm in your shoes, it's hard for me to advise you on this because I still don't understand why she wants to go to Kentucky, other than I kind of sympathize with her on the living situation.
So, you know, just I want to leave Nebraska as a vague general statement.
I don't get that.
OK, I'm going to have to have a little more information than that if I'm in your shoes.
And so I do think you need to.
What I would say is this.
We might move to Kentucky.
We might make that decision.
But for right now, for at least six months, let's try it here by going and getting an apartment this weekend.
This weekend.
Go get an apartment and set up your own household on the other side of town.
She is not used to having people all over her the way the family is set up with you.
And so you need to give her some physical space, some distance.
And then let's see how that works, because her leaving the city she grew up in is unusual unless she's going to something.
But I don't even hear that.
There's nothing.
I mean, the only thing in Kentucky is your sister.
I mean, there's nothing wrong with Kentucky.
Go to Kentucky if you want to.
It's not a you know, it's a wonderful state.
But I just don't I want to hear that you guys actually have.
She has some kind of a plan
other than i don't want to be in nebraska that's not much of a plan okay so let's just talk this
through and say where are we going why are we going and what what is our game plan overall
and then develop a plan and over time you may make the move to kentucky that would be okay
but right now i don't hear any reason to do that.
So I do hear a good reason for you to get an apartment this weekend.
Darlene is with us in Annapolis, Maryland.
Hi, Darlene.
How are you?
Hi, Dave.
I'm wonderful.
Thanks so much for taking the call.
Sure.
How can I help?
I appreciate all that you do.
I've got my two sisters and my two sons.
We're all doing our total money makeover,
and we're really excited about changing our family history.
Very cool.
Our legacy. But that being said, I'm kind of in a bit of a pickle,
and I think I just need some reassurance from you.
Okay.
So I'll be 53 this year.
Mm-hmm.
I have very little in retirement.
Mm-hmm.
I'm in baby step two.
Mm-hmm.
I've got about $66,000 of debt to knock out.
And then I've got to do baby step three, which is to, you know, get my emergency fund. I'm nervous about not starting any retirement contributions for another three to four years.
What's your income?
I'm at about $122.
Okay.
Why would it take three to four years?
Why would you not be debt-free and have your emergency fund in two years?
My living expenses are really high.
Why?
So I rent my home here in Annapolis, Maryland, and that's like $2,100 a month plus all the utilities and things that come with.
Are you single?
I am single.
Children?
Adults.
Okay.
So go rent something cheaper.
Well, so I'm contemplating that.
I am contemplating that.
The other piece that kind of snags this for me a little bit is I have a father, an elderly father, he's in his mid-70s,
who lives in a family home that many years ago I mortgaged to cover some business debts that he had.
And he's also kind of in those beginning stages of dementia and things like that.
So he wants to stay in his home.
I'm still covering the mortgage on that.
And as well as living here where, of course, I'm closer to my employment, et cetera.
So I am going to try to move some things around, but I'm kind of lucky.
Here's the thing.
If you start moving, the more afraid you are about not being in retirement, the more you
ought to be dramatic on moving some of these things around.
Because I think you ought to be debt-free in two years, and that is going to mean you move to a
cheaper place. And it may mean that dad has a different living arrangement. There may be some
dramatic things like that. But you make $122,000 a year. If from 55 to 65, you save 15% of that,
you'll be okay for retirement.
But you can't screw around with this for another six or seven years.
You do need to get on it.
Most people's money problems come from not paying attention.
That's why before I spend a dime of my money on something,
I do the research and make sure it's going to live up to what it claims.
Recently, I got a great pair of sunglasses from a company called Shady Rays.
When you're looking for sunglasses, it feels like your options are limited.
Name brand sunglasses cost too much and the cheap knockoffs are ugly and really don't protect your eyes.
Discovering Shady Rays is a game changer. With Shady Rays, you can count on premium sunglasses that protect your eyes and are affordable.
They give people the best overall value in sunglasses.
They also replace your shades with a brand new pair if you lose or break them from day one of your purchase.
And they guarantee your sunglasses for life.
Plus, they offer an exclusive for Ramsey Show listeners. Go to ShadyRays.com and use the code RAMSEY for 50% off two or more pairs.
That's ShadyRays.com, code RAMSEY. Thank you for joining us.
Matt is in Chattanooga.
Hey, Matt, welcome to The Dave Ramsey Show.
How are you today, sir?
Better than I deserve.
What's up?
I wanted to ask about paying off a mortgage versus taking money and investing it.
I'm only going to be in a house for, say, another three to five years.
Okay.
So the balance on the mortgage is less than $100,000.
I have been adding additional principal to get it paid off sooner.
And other than a car loan that's instant free, I really don't have any other debt.
How much money do you have in savings, not counting retirement?
About $20,000.
And how much is owed on the car?
Nine. Okay. The way I answer questions on this show, Matt, is knowing what I know about building wealth and the shortest path to building
wealth is to be debt-free. What would I do if I woke up in your shoes? I would take $9,000 and
pay the car off in 20 seconds, regardless of the fact that it's interest-free.
And I wouldn't fall for that crap again, because the only way you get a zero-interest car loan is
you buy a new one, and when you drive it off the lot, you just lost a ton of value. That's called
interest. So you did not get an interest-free car. That's a joke. Anyway, then from there,
I would go ahead and start paying
off the house as soon as you have your emergency fund of three to six months of expenses in place.
So I want you to have three to six months of expenses. Above that, be putting 15% of your
income into retirement. That's what we call baby step four. And then, of course, start pushing and
pushing and pushing towards that house,
even though you're going to be moving.
Here's the thing.
There's no harm in paying off the house.
You're making your mortgage interest rate as a return on your money versus sitting in
a savings account making a 0.09% or something like that, right?
And so you pay off the house, you make 3%, 4%, 5%,
whatever your mortgage rate is on your money,
and the money's not gone.
When you sell your house, they give you a check for your equity.
You get the money back at closing.
And so it's a great way to stabilize your financial situation
while you're making the decision if you're going to move.
But now that you're going to move, or when you decide to move,
if you have paid it off or you've almost paid it off,
you just sell the house, they give you a check at closing,
you move the money to the next deal.
But I'm always working towards having your everything paid off,
including your house, because think about it.
If you don't have any payments, oh, baby, you got money.
It's a pretty simple formula.
And if you got money because you don't have any payments, then you can give more, save more, invest more, enjoy more, instead of sending it to the bank.
And we get caught up in this country like a rat in a wheel where all the money comes in all the money goes back out to some
stupid bank it's like we work for bank of america we work for ford motor credit and we shouldn't
spend our lives working for them we should spend our lives building a financial legacy so we retire
with dignity and so that we can change our family tree. Tyler is with us in Fresno.
Hi, Tyler.
How are you?
Hey, how's it going, Mr. Ramsey?
Better than I deserve.
What's up?
All right, so I'm a senior in high school right now,
and I'm actually taking a financial literacy class through an ROP program.
And I recently just got accepted into UCLA,
but my family and where I am at right now,
I won't be able to afford it unless I get student loans.
So, I mean, I know you say, like,
because my teacher actually uses a lot of your principles
in teaching about credit cards and how it's, like,
it's better to set more money aside to save
than to go through the hassle of having to pay off these credits
and possibly getting into more and more debt.
So I was wondering how you think I should go about getting a student loan or paying off school.
It's $32,000 a year, approximately.
Gotcha. Okay. And do you have any money at all?
I do have some, but it won't be much after the first couple semesters.
How much money do you have?
It's about $40,000.
Okay.
$40,000.
All right, good, good.
So that gets you through a year.
Yeah.
Okay, that's good.
Where'd you get that?
I've been going there for about four years.
Yeah, I was planning that.
I knew that.
I knew UCLA was a four-year school. And so what do you plan on going there for about four years. Yeah, I was planning that. I knew that. I knew UCLA was a four-year school.
And so what do you plan on studying?
I plan on studying aeronautics and jet propulsion.
Okay.
Because I know they have a very good space program there.
Gotcha.
Okay.
And have you looked at what your curriculum looks like the first year?
No aeronautics or jet propulsion in your curriculum for the first year?
Yeah. No aeronautics or jet propulsion in your curriculum for the first year? Yeah, well, the first year is just going to be a lot of general ed.
I know.
I'm coming straight out of high school, as well as aerospace, dynamics, and physics.
Yeah, you'll pick up most of your things specific to your field of study in your junior and your senior year,
maybe a tiny bit in your sophomore year.
But your first two years are primarily general studies in most degree fields, okay?
And that's pretty standard with most four-year universities.
Okay, there's two or three things to think about.
Number one, I'm never going to tell you to borrow money.
The 30-year-old version of you is going to borrow money. The 30-year-old version of you is
going to be pissed at the 18-year-old version of you if you go deeply in debt to go to UCLA to get
a degree in jet propulsion. This is not going to turn out well, okay? So let's just start with the
premise we're not going to borrow money. Now, how in the world can we get through four years of
school with $40,000 if we're not going to borrow money. The number one thing that causes people to go in debt is their choice of school.
You wisely have chosen an in-state school.
However, you can do one or maybe two years of community college, get your basics out
of the way, and in California, that's free.
Free. Okay? in california that's free free okay not what you wanted to do you wanted to go to ucla move in the
dorm play some beer pong on the weekends but i'm wanting you to go to community college since
you're a broke guy i've been a broke guy i don't want you to be a broker guy the second thing i want you to consider is how
much work you can do between now and the next five years and i'm not talking about flopping whoppers
at minimum wage i'm talking about starting a real legitimate small business idea or doing something
in the jet propulsion field or getting into an apprentice program of some kind
or considering, you know, the military as an option or something along these lines
to where someone gives you so much money for working that you just work your way through college,
and you can do that, especially with a $40,000 head start, okay,
because you've got two years before of work to build up the next $40,000, and you can make
that delivering pizzas. Now, you're not going to have party life. You're going to be working. Dude,
I worked 40 to 60 hours a week when I was in college, and I did not die from it, and I graduated
in four years. Most people work while they're in college, at least the last three generations up until now. Now people go $150,000 in debt and call it a necessity,
and it's not a necessity, okay?
So where you go to school, how you go to school, how much you work.
The next one is your new part-time job, in addition to your other job,
is applying for scholarships.
I want you to apply for 1 000
scholarships in the coming 12 months i want you to scour the internet for anything having to do
with your race creed color national origin your heritage your uh uh jet propulsion scholarships, aeronautics scholarships,
scholarships from American Airlines or Boeing for people that want to,
because they want people sharp like you to be ready to come into their field
and having studied it.
And if you will get turned down for 950 scholarships and get $52,000 scholarships
and you go to community college for one year for free
or two years for free and you work your butt off all the way through school, ta-da, you don't need
a loan. It'll work. Now, the question is, are you really going to do that? Are you going to take
what you think is the easy way out, which is a student loan?
And you'll find out when you're 30 it wasn't the easy way out.
This is the Dave Ramsey Show. You know, most of us are spending a little more time at home than we used to.
And with that extra time comes cleaning out closets, working in the yard,
and if you're smart, protecting your family with term life insurance,
especially when Zander makes it so easy.
Look, Zander is open for business.
Their whole team is equipped to work from home at full capacity,
and they are ready to help you find the best rates
from the top insurance companies in the industry.
Their commitment to serving their customers, even through uncertain times,
is just one of the reasons that I am a client
and why I have recommended them for over 20 years.
Don't hesitate on this, folks. No matter where you are in the baby steps, if you don't have
your term life insurance, then move this to the top of your to-do list. Visit Zander.com or call
800-356-4282. While rates are low, now is the time to get this taken care of. That's zander.com or 800-356-4282. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions, Phillip and Wendy are with us.
Hey, guys, how are you?
Good.
Good.
How are you?
Better than I deserve.
Welcome.
Where do you guys live?
Somerville, Alabama.
Oh, just over the line, just south of here.
Yes, sir.
Very cool.
Welcome to Nashville.
And up here to do a debt-free scream, huh?
Yes, sir.
Love it.
How much have you paid off?
$63,000.
All right.
How long did that take you?
Ten months.
Good for you.
And your range of income during that time?
$62,000 to $82,000.
Okay, cool.
What kind of debt was the $63,000?
A little bit of everything.
We had a van.
We had van payment, car payment, truck payment.
We had credit cards.
John Deere lawnmower.
Yeah.
How much did you owe on the lawnmower?
That's embarrassing.
$8,000.
What did you owe on the cheapest car?
Probably about $7,800.
You owed more on your lawnmower than your car.
Let's see.
That is embarrassing.
I love it.
It's a great tractor, though.
It's a great tractor.
I love it.
Fun.
Good for you.
So what happened 10 months ago that got you on this get-out-of-debt journey?
We bought a brand-new van.
Uh-oh.
And when we got home, I'm like, we have three car payments.
And one of them was, I don't know, it was just stupid.
We have three car payments, three cars and two of us that drive, and a John Deere payment.
Oh, my gosh.
And so that kind of freaked you out?
Yes, sir.
Okay.
Then what happened?
Well, we started just kind of YouTubing some of your stuff, and then I guess a couple months in,
we finally ordered some of your program and your daughter-hmm. Live Your Life, Not Theirs.
And we finally, we sold the van.
Oh.
The brand new one.
The brand new one.
Okay.
And the truck.
Whoa.
Sold two of them.
Now he's driving the John Deere.
Yeah.
Well, we bought me a cheap van.
Okay.
Good.
And.
So what did the van sell for?
$22,000.
What did the truck sell for?
About $73,000. Was it $73,000? $7,000. What did the truck sell for? About $73,000.
Was it $73,000?
$7,300.
Okay.
So that's like $30,000 of the $63,000 is boom, just those two cars gone, right?
Yeah, and then we just got on fire.
Okay.
If we were going to drive junk, we might as well.
If we're going to live like nobody else, we've got to get out of debt so we can live like nobody else later, right?
Yes, sir.
Okay, cool.
So what do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is now that you've
done it you just have to not care what other people think and know that you're doing this now
for you to have something better in the future got it did you keep the john deere oh yeah oh yeah of
course yeah all right good good man good man all right good deal. So what do you tell people, Phillip, the key to getting out of debt is?
Working together.
You know, contentment.
And that's a big struggle point for me especially.
So tell me the conversation, what it's like sitting at the kitchen table.
You two are sitting there talking.
You're kind of in freak out mode.
And when does it come up?
Who brought it up that we have to sell the new van
she did she did what'd you say i wanted to keep it okay i wanted to keep it i told her
we would just treat it like a house payment and pay it off over time you know
but she she wanted to buy she wanted to get out of debt so bad, she wanted to sell it and my truck to get out of debt.
So not only did you lose two battles that night, you got your truck sold too, right?
But it worked out good because the van that we bought when we sold those two was still worth less than my John Deere, so it kind of worked out.
Got to keep our priorities straight here.
It was terrible.
That is so fun.
You guys are a blast.
That's fun.
So what was the hardest part of the last 10 months for you all?
I guess seeing people with brand-new vehicles and stuff,
especially at Christmastime, time everybody got one it seemed like and just knowing that it's just what we did for our family
that made you that gave you a reason to get through it then yeah yeah was it worth it oh yeah
you're glad you're here now oh yeah will you ever go back in debt oh no she says he's grinning
you guys are fun this is great and you brought the kiddos with you and their names and ages are what
olivia is six emily is four and micah is 18 months oh Oh, wow. Okay, cool. So have they been practicing their debt-free scream
all the way up from Alabama?
Yes, sir.
Oh, so they know how to do it then?
We believe that unless they...
We'll see if they don't get camera shy then, huh?
Yes, sir.
Okay, cool.
Very good.
Very good.
We've got a copy of Chris Hogan's
retire-inspired book for you.
We want that to be the next chapter in your story
that you're debt-free
and now you move on to millionaire status and outrageously generous along the way.
It looks like you've got three colleges to plan for, too, right?
Yes, sir.
Very cool.
Congratulations, you all.
All right, it's Phillip and Wendy, Olivia, Emily, and Micah.
$63,000 paid off in 10 months, making $62,000 to $82,000.
Count it down.
Let's hear a debt-free scream.
Three, two, one.
We're debt-free!
Yay!
The Happy Breakfast.
Well done.
Well done.
That's how it's done right there.
Man, I love it.
I tell you what, it's terrifying to start selling everything you own like that.
It shakes the core of your life, but it gives you your life back.
They got their life back.
You don't have a payment in the world.
Kind of feels good, doesn't it?
I promise you it does.
Our question of the day
comes from blinds.com. Brand new custom blinds from blinds.com are the easiest and most affordable
way to give your entire home a facelift. With blinds.com, you get free samples, free shipping,
and with the new promos they run every month, you'll save even more. Use the magic word,
the promo code Ramsey, and you get the best possible deal.
Blinds.com.
Today's question is from Glenn in Arizona.
My wife and I are 25 years old, debt-free, have an income of $140,000.
We want to buy a house, but we're worried about buying at the height of the market.
Should we wait for the market to crash or run the risk of buying at an inflated price now.
Glenn, I don't know what makes you think the market's going to crash.
The real estate market has gone down dramatically one time in the last 70 years.
One time.
I don't, I mean, i think these prices are white hot i think the market might slow down but i was selling real estate in 1980 when interest rates were 17 percent
prices of real estate did not go down substantially. The market froze.
Nobody was buying houses at 17%.
You couldn't give them away, but the prices, the appraisals, did not go down dramatically.
Crash.
Should we wait for the market to crash?
I think you might be waiting the rest of your life for it to crash.
At least that's the historical data that's out there.
Now, there's a lot of feelings around this, but I'm talking about facts.
The Phoenix market where you live is wide open.
The Arizona market's hot, hot, hot, no pun intended.
And it was a bit of a bubble in this last
crash it was a little bit i mean it was up there pretty high and so it took a pretty heavy hit but
it's back whatever it lost in 2008 and 9 has regained and then some uh and it didn't take
until now to do it either by the way it's been back for quite a while and going on up north of where it was before.
So, agreed, the market is hot, white hot in some markets. It's very difficult to get in on
because it's selling so fast and prices are going up. Does that necessarily mean there's
going to be a crash? There's no historic data that says that. It's just a feeling and uh i try not to make my financial decisions based on
only feelings it'll get you burnt so my answer is i'm by if i was ready to buy a piece of real
estate i'd buy today if you're out of debt you have your emergency fund in place you got your
down payment and you're ready to buy on 15 year fixed rate where the payment's no more than a fourth of your take-home pay,
I'd buy.
I don't know what the market's going to do.
Historically, it's gone up all but one time.
This is the Dave Ramsey Show.
Hey, folks.
Father's Day is just around the corner. If you're looking for the perfect, unique gift to give dad, I've got it.
Grip 6 belts.
If dad's like me, he's not a fan of traditional belts.
They never fit right and they're uncomfortable.
Grip 6 belts are exceptional.
Owner BJ designed a truly modern, minimalist belt made of high quality materials with no
holes, no flap flap and no bulk
and the buckles come in really cool interchangeable designs i personally own these belts in different
styles and talk about affordability grip six belts come with a lifetime guarantee that means
if your dad no longer likes the fit or style of his belt he can replace it for free plus these guys do business right they
make their products and source their materials in the u.s so show dad you love him and get a grip Our scripture of the day, 1 Corinthians 15, 33, do not be deceived, bad company ruins
good morals.
George Washington said, it is far better to be alone than in bad company.
Well, there you go.
You do become who you hang around with.
You know that, right?
I was in New York the other day, and I noticed all those people up there have accents.
You become who you hang around with, don't you?
Yeah, you do.
I mean, people even within a certain area of the country, there are different dialects.
If you're really attuned to listening for it, you can tell someone who is born and raised in Middle Tennessee versus East Tennessee.
The dialect is slightly different.
Different twang, different southern, different sayings.
Yeah, you can hear it.
You become who you hang around with.
Did you know your income will approximate, be within 10 to 15 percent of the average
of your 10 closest friends' income over a period of about 10 years?
If you hang out with people who make good money, you will start to make good money
because you learn to think like they think.
You learn to see the world like they see the world.
If you hang out with people who are victims, oh, you can't get ahead.
If you come from our side of the tracks, you can't get ahead. The little man can't get ahead if you come from our side of the tracks you can't get ahead the little man
can't get ahead you hang out with people who eeyore is their spirit animal yeah you'll be a victim too
if you hang out you know and i'm serious because what happens is is it becomes an echo chamber
in a good way.
You're hearing back things that you need to hear over and over and over again,
like you can do it or you can't do it, and that's obviously not a good way then.
So be careful.
Choose carefully who you spend time with. Now, I'm not suggesting you be snobby to someone, or I'll talk to anybody.
I mean, I don't even care if you're from Kentucky.
I'll talk to you.
I'm kidding.
I mean, I'll talk to anybody.
I'll talk to any religion or anything.
I'm not going to argue with you,
and I'm not going to allow you to be belligerent to me about something,
but I'll sit down and talk to anybody.
I love people.
I like the give and take.
I like the variety of life.
I enjoy seeing things and listening to someone passionately be wrong.
I'll talk to anybody.
You know, I'm fine with that.
That's not what I'm saying.
I'm not suggesting you shun people or you're too good to have a conversation with someone.
I don't go over there and that's sort of the tricks.
That's not what I'm saying at all.
But I'm talking about who your crew is, who your internal circle is, your tightest five or ten people.
Those are the people that have influence in your life.
Your speech patterns will approximate them.
You will watch the same movies and read the same books.
You will develop eventually the same belief systems and value systems.
If they go to church, you will.
If they read the Bible, you will.
If they pray, you will.
If they're improving their character, you will. If they're improving their character, you will. If they are working out and taking care
of their body, you will. If they're watching their food intake, you will. The closest five or ten
people that you spend the most time with that you can see, who's going to carry your casket? Those
six people. That's who I'm talking about.
The ones that are in your life, your crew, your posse,
whatever you want to call it.
You're going to be like them.
You cannot keep it from happening.
Do not be deceived.
Bad company ruins good morals.
1 Corinthians 15.33, George Washington said,
it is far better to be alone than in bad company.
If you hang out with whining victims, you will begin to see the world through the eyes of
whining victims. If you hang out with triumphant victors, you will begin to see the world through the eyes of triumphant
victors, people who are victorious.
They're champions.
They're what we call successful.
In whatever area of life that it is you want to emulate and cause that to happen. Now, again, I'm more than happy to talk to anyone, but I'm talking about who I spend
enough time with that they influence everything down to my speech patterns.
We know this because we don't allow our children to run around with juvenile delinquents because
our children will become a juvenile delinquent.
If little Johnny down the street's a weed head, your kid runs around with little Johnny,
your kid's going to be a weed head.
Now, maybe that's okay with you.
It's not my value system.
I didn't want to raise weed heads.
So we didn't let our kids run around with weed heads.
Pretty simple, isn't it?
You're going to become who you hang around with.
You're going to become who you hang around with.
Choose.
John is with us.
John is in Sioux City, Iowa.
Hey, John, how are you?
I'm good.
How are you?
Better than I deserve.
What's up?
Well, my wife and I grew up with a great inner circle like you're talking about so we're very fortunate and we are on baby step number seven right now wow look at
you everything's paid for yes how old are you 29 and she's 27. And you have a paid-for house. Yes.
What's your house worth?
Paid $120 for it.
It's worth $185 right now.
Good for you, man.
What's your household income?
$135.
Way to go.
Boom, boom, man.
You're on fire.
How can I help? So we have just under $100,000 in the bank, earning pennies.
So we're trying to decide if we should take that money and buy a new home with it
and sell our current home with the increase in value.
And pay cash for it?
Yes.
Yes?
Okay, because we don't want that money just sitting there in the bank,
not doing anything.
But we also don't want to get into rentals.
We don't want to be landlords.
And we don't want all of our eggs in the stock market either.
Okay, fine.
I mean, if you have a paid for three hundred thousand dollar house instead
of a paid for two hundred thousand dollar house and you're 29 years old making 135 000 that doesn't
make me anything but happy for you okay go do it all right no debt this is an awesome plan knock
it out man you got this mike's with us in Minnesota. Hey, Mike, how are you?
Good.
How are you, Dave?
Better than I deserve.
I'm short on time.
Go fast.
So I'm just wondering, I'm 24, I'm working on a family farm, and I'm at the point where I don't know if I should stay in the business or get out.
Why would you get out?
Because I don't have very much control.
I do a lot of the labor, and there's a lot of debt.
Okay. And why would you stay?
Because it's what I love to do.
So you love the land and you love farming, but you don't like the situation.
Correct.
So what if you just did your own deal?
Well, it's kind of hard because if I leave, I'm going to leave my dad, or my mom and dad, in a deep, deep hole.
Mm-hmm.
You didn't put them there.
Well, no, but... At 24 years old, they're not your
responsibility. Correct, but he always says, I bought this parcel of property so that you could
farm with us. Okay. Yeah, but did he ask you? Well, no, I was too young at the time.
All right.
So he made an assumption of what you were going to do with your life. So I think you sit down and say, Dad, I know it's always been your dream for me to take this farm over,
and I love farming and I love working with you.
I'd love to do that.
I am unwilling to do this on the way we're doing it,
so we're going to have to work to get this place out of debt,
and we're going to have to work to get where I'm not doing all the work.
And I know I'm only 24, and I'm not trying to tell you what to do,
but I don't want to plug in to what's going on here.
So we've got to change what's going on here if you want me to plug in
and just have a kind, calm, clear conversation.
That puts us out of the Dave Ramsey Show and 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.
In the middle of these uncertain times, Ramsey Solutions wants to give you some hope.
For the very first time ever, we're giving you Financial Peace University free for 14 days.
Go to DaveRamsey.com so you can watch from home.