The Ramsey Show - App - What’s the First Step in Paying Off Debt? (Hour 3)

Episode Date: September 2, 2022

George Kamel & Ken Coleman discuss: Paying off debt while in college, Avoiding borrowing money for an engagement ring, What to do when you hate your job, Preparing to take over a business, Paying off the house or renovating.   Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6   Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy

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🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Pods Moving and Storage Studio, it's The Ramsey Show, where we help you get control of your money,

get ahead in your career, and get on the path to living well. I'm George Campbell, joined today by fellow Ramsey personality, Ken Coleman. And we are excited to take your call, 888-825-5225. We appreciate you listening in this afternoon, wherever you're listening. Which, if you didn't know, we are pretty much everywhere these days. You can find us, of course, on your local radio station. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeartRadio, SiriusXM, and the Ramsey Network app. So many places. I mean,

there's something for everyone here, Ken. Really is. Yeah. I mean, it's a buffet, a buffet of goodness, of hope. And over 600 radio stations now holding strong, and we just keep expanding as new platforms come about. We want to make sure that everyone has access, whatever their preferred method of listening or watching is. So thank you to all of you who are joining us around the world on all these platforms. We appreciate you. Open phones, 888-825-5225. Naftali joins us in New York City. How are you doing, Naftali? Hello. How's everything, George?

Is this the Naftali that I'm thinking of? That's me. Oh, it's so good to hear from you, my friend. Naftali is one of our amazing business owners that's a part of Entrez Leadership, our business playbook, and I'm excited to take your call today. How can we help you? Sure. I have a question. I'll give you a drop of background. I work in a not-for-profit organization called Hamaspic, which stands in this translate to provider, and we provide services, support, and hope to people going through challenges so they could lead a fulfilling,

productive life. My question for you today is, what comes first, people or systems? We hear so much about how important it is to have the right people. And we hear so much about how important it is to have the right system. Which one comes first? Interesting. Now, where is this question coming from? Is this a struggle in your own business? So this is a question I'm going around with in my head for about two weeks.

It's a philosophical concept that I'm trying to get to the bottom of it. It's a nice conversation. Every business owner that I meet over the last two weeks, I'm asking this question, but it's also a technical question that we have in the business. Every time we open a new position or a new department where we're thinking, should we invest a little bit, take it slowly, build the system, and then hire a regular guy following the system, or do we bring in the right person that could build the system, so on and so forth. I think you've begun to answer your own question. the right person that could build a system, so on and so forth. So I had a special last week. I think you've begun to answer your own question.

And the issue is how you define a system. So I'm curious to know how would you define systems in the way that you asked the question. How would you define systems? That's a great question and a great thought. So I would have found that we have a clear standard that is documented with a proven process that this is how we do whatever task or whatever project they have. Right. And so

I think that's a wonderful definition. And so my answer is that it is not an either or. I appreciate the question, but I think it's the wrong question. I don't think it is people first or systems first. Or systems first or people first. I don't think it's the wrong question. I don't think it is people first or systems first, or systems first or people first. I don't think it's a very clear choice like that all the time.

I think it is a function of there's a way that you want the business to run. And as we teach here at Entrez Leadership, as a part of Ravens, we teach about values. That values, what you, the leader, value is what you want to see the company value. And so values determine decisions. We make decisions based on values. And so on the systems question, it is a function of if we've got to create a new system, maybe around a new service or a new product, then you would take that case by case. You'd go, all right, maybe we get a person in here who's got experience with this, and they come in and we get going on this new product offering or service offering, and then we figure out the right system after we get going.

But that's a case by case basis, if that seems to make any sense to you at all. It makes a lot of sense. Of course, everything's case-by-case basis. It's not like the chicken and the egg situation where what comes first will change every time differently. But I've heard, and I finished reading a great book on system,

and the system is everything. And I'm like, it bothered me a little bit in my stomach because we all know that people is what's driving everything. And I'm like, it bothered me a little bit in my stomach because we all know that people is what driving everything. And that's correct. Even goes as far as explaining that. Of course we need people because we need somebody to create the system.

And I'm like, that's why you need people to create a system. We need people because we love people. We treat people like friends because friends is a service. So many good things about the people and the fun environment and the culture we want to build and serve the community the people and the clients and all that so i was like if there's a right why behind whatever we decide to do at that specific case and i think that's what it comes down to a little bit of my head and i want to hear what

you guys have to share on it it It depends why do you need a system? And the best answer that I got from a business owner, Drew Lancaster, is people comes first because systems are here to serve the people. Because if you have the right people and you give them the right tools and the right system, they will make an even better job and feel fulfilled and accomplished and do so much better. So it's always case by case after all. That's right. And that's the point that I'm making is that people are what the leader's number one responsibility should be focused on, is loving people. If we've learned anything from the 50 plus million people that have changed jobs over the last year, George, is that people want to be loved. And if they don't feel valued they're going to look somewhere else you know I just give one

further example because we're coming up on college football season and NFL football and even if you're not a football fan you can certainly understand this analogy if you look at a great coach like a Nick Saban even if you hate Alabama everybody relax I'm just using him as an example of there's someone who has had a long history of sustained excellence. And I've had the pleasure of interviewing him. And if anybody knows anything about Nick Saban, he is a system guy. He has the same thing for lunch every day at the same time. He is a very disciplined and as a result, a disciplined leader. He has a very disciplined program, but he would be the first to tell you that all of his

systems and all of his disciplined uh disciplined uh processes that he uh has employed over the years he'd be the first to tell you that doesn't win championships players do and that's why he puts so much effort into recruiting great talent and so it is as a a leader, your focus should be people first. But the way that that question is posed, never lock yourself into, oh, what do I do? Create a system first? No, it's we're going to make a decision based on the situation right in front of us. So hopefully that gave you some clarity and some confidence. Yeah, without that foundation of hiring the right people who care deeply,

that's what everyone wants to work with. And we just did an episode on this, Ken, on the Entrez Leadership Podcast, which I hope, How to Use Systems to Achieve Your Goals with Craig Rochelle. He breaks it down masterfully. So go check that out, Naftali.

Thank you so much for the call. It's good to hear from you, my friend. If you're interested in conversations like this, business and leadership, every single week, I'm interviewing the best leadership minds out there to help leaders grow themselves, their teams, their profits. And that is a free podcast on the Ramsey Network. You can listen to it, watch it on YouTube, wherever you want, the Entree Leadership Podcast. Go check it out. More of your calls coming up right here on The Ramsey Show. you've heard the news folks we are technically in a recession the stock market is falling

inflation's out of control all right everyone stay calm stay calm. Can I just say, George, it's an eensy, teensy, weensy recession. It's like a 0.1% recession. Everybody needs to relax. And when it comes to investing, this is no time to panic. Stay level-headed. Don't jump off the investing rollercoaster because of all the gloom and doom you're hearing. I'm getting DMs about this. People are wanting to cash out their 401k.

They're scared to jump into the market. Don't do this, folks. History shows us the economy recovers time and time again. It happened after the Great Depression, 9-11, the Great Recession in 2008. So this is actually a great time to invest because when the market's down, it's on sale. And who doesn't love a good deal? I love a good deal, George. I know you do. You're a Maxinista, Ken. A what? I've run into you at TJ Maxx one time.

Oh, my gosh. You can't just throw stuff like that out there. That can hurt a guy's brand. It's a deep cut. Well, you were with Stacey. Thank you. You were there for her. We were in the home goods section.

I was there because I had to. Can we clear that up, please? All right. You ran into me at TJ Maxx. I'm sorry. I will recover from that. I don't know how to recover from that back into this. Well, you can't say stuff like that. Okay. I apologize.

There you go. So when it comes to investing, you got to be smart about this and work with someone who can guide you through it. So if you need help finding an investing pro, check out our SmartVestor program. It's an easy way to find pros who actually serve with excellence. They're going to be there to help you figure out what's best for you and stay focused on your long-term goals. You can get connected with up to five SmartVestor pros in your area at ramsaysolutions.com slash SmartVestor. You can talk with these pros, interview them, pick the one that you want to work with, and make an investing plan that you feel confident about. Again, that's ramsaysolutions.com slash smartvestor. Open phones this hour, 888-825-5225. I'm George Camel. He's Ken Coleman, and we are here to help you with life,

money, career, whatever you're going through. We'd love to help you take the right next step. Jordan joins us up next in DC. Jordan, welcome to the show. Yes. Hello. Hello. Can you hear me. Yes. Hello. Hello. Can you hear me? Yes. We can hear you, Jordan. What's up?

Hi. Thanks for taking my call. My question was, how would I be able to pay for debt, well, pay off debt while cashflow in college? How much is college? $4,300 a semester. How much debt do you have? All together, $24,000.

What kind of debt is it? $16,000 in student loans and $7,000 on the car. All right. What's your income? $31,000 after taxes. That's your take-home pay? Correct. And are you going to continue working while you go to college? Yes.

At the same amount of hours? Yeah. I'm part-time. It's an internship. Okay. That's a $31,000. Yes. Okay. So you're asking, how do I pay off debt while in college? The goal right now, do you need to go to college? What's the purpose behind this? So I do have to go to college because it's part of the internship. Right now, like, my internship is helping me get real-world experience.

And, yeah, I do have to go to college for that. And I'm finishing three semesters, so I'm trying to get it done. How many hours do you have with your current rhythm of life that you could give to working more to make more money? So every weekend I'm free. So Saturday, Sunday, I have nothing to do. Well, there's the short answer. George can help you with the debt snowball,

but I'm going to tell you right now as the guy who focuses on work, I'd be working my fanny off on those weekends because you're a young guy you get you should have no life other than working like crazy uh because you can earn a really good chunk of change um over a weekend i mean just to give you an idea george and i i'm no i've i've been out of college a long time i know you you're shocked by that admission, all right? But even back in the day, I was doing room service at a Hilton hotel on the weekends. It was clearing hundreds of dollars in tips back in the day. I wish I could open the door and see Ken Coleman at the platter. I would room service, and I had the tray right there, man. It would make good money.

So, I mean, that's one thing right now. We want to work our tail off and make more money because what that's going to allow us to do is put more money towards the debt snowball. Absolutely. So, Jordan, I think you can do both of these. Your A1 is cashflow in college because we are not going to touch debt. And so if that means, hey, to cashflow this next semester, I'm going to have to pause the debt snowball and make minimum payments. I'm okay with that. How many more semesters do you have left? Three. That's it. Another thing with the, so with the weekends, I was planning on using all those for studying because I have five hard classes. So that was kind of why I was holding off on working extra. How much money do you have in the bank right now uh one thousand towards it's going

towards college okay well let me let me let me address that so uh i i hear you on that and i can't question you if you got to use that time to study i mean if that's legit and you have to use most of your weekend to study to finish well then maybe it's not realistic for you to pay off much debt while you're finishing school and and that may be okay, George. He doesn't have that much time left. I just want to clarify my advice on that. But, I mean, if you're not studying every waking hour, there's got to be something you can do. And we found that while folks are in school, you know, working 15 to 20 hours a week actually increases the GPA

because you've got to be real disciplined. You've got to have your schedule dialed in. We're not hanging out dilly-dallying. So I'm looking at the numbers here. You've got to have your schedule dialed in. We're not hanging out dilly-dallying. So I'm looking at the numbers here. You've got three semesters, $4,300 apiece. That's $12,800, right? Yes. So the question is, how quickly can we cash flow that $12,800?

And once we know that school's paid for, now we can use any extra money to start attacking debt. And if that happens after we're done with these semesters, I'm okay with that. Okay. So you can do both of these things. And hopefully once you're out of, out of college, how much are you going to be making? I'm a computer science major, so I'm kind of hoping for 70 plus. Love it. Yeah. So now think about you're out of college, you're making 70K, school's done, and now we just need to attack this 24. That's a doable situation. Do you have financial peace?

Have you gone through it? I have not. Okay. That's going to be my gift to you as you finish out this college experience. So hang on the line. Austin's going to pick up. We're going to gift you one year of Financial Peace University, and I think that will keep you motivated along the way. Don't take your foot off the gas.

I know you've got a lot going on. You're juggling a lot right now, but we're going to get you debt-free in no time. So hang on the line. Austin will gift you one year of Financial Peace University. Watch all the lessons. Use the every dollar budget and be very diligent while you're in college so that you can step out into that career with some freedom on your hands. We're pulling for you, man. Phillip joins us up next in Atlanta.

Phillip, welcome to the show. Hey, how's it going? Great. What's going on with you? So I'm 19 years old, and I plan on getting engaged soon. Wow. And so I plan on buying an engagement ring and a wedding band. And the one I'm looking at is about $3,500, and I could pay for it in cash, but I've only had a credit card for about three months, and I really want to build credit. So I was thinking, I mean, I've been paying on my credit card every month, not charging over 40%.

And I was wondering if it would be wise to get a personal loan through my bank. No. And pay on that to build credit. No. No. We're wrong on all accounts here, Phillip. If you've been listening to the show for any amount of time, you know that we'd never tell you to go into debt. And so if you're going to do this, we're going to cash flow everything.

How long have you been with this girl? About two years, almost three. Okay. When are you going to pop the question? I was thinking if I could get the ring, I would do it maybe this December. Yeah. All right. Okay, Phillip, I would do it maybe this December. Yeah. All right. Okay, Phillip, number one.

You got the cash. Cut up the cards. We don't need that. And if you need more information on that, check out my podcast, The Fine Print. We do a whole episode on the dirty truth behind your credit score. And you're a young guy, and this is how it starts, man. It's like the gateway drug to debt. You don't need a credit score because we're not going to go

into debt. And when it comes to a house, to get a mortgage, you can do manual underwriting without a score way later down the road when that time comes. We're going to cash flow the ring, cut up the credit card. You don't need to worry about your stupid credit score and live your life debt free. If you start off your marriage debt free and stay that way, man, that is a peaceful way to live. And we know that money fights money problems, one of the leading causes of divorce in America today. So take your time, do this with wisdom, don't take out the loan, and maybe looking at getting a cheaper ring. That's my advice for you. This is The Ramsey Show. Субтитры сделал DimaTorzok welcome back to the ramsey show i'm george camel joined by ken coleman

this is the ramsey show our question of the day comes from blinds.com. Their 100% satisfaction guarantee means even if you mismeasure or pick the wrong color, as Ken and I tend to do, they will remake your blinds for free. You get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promos they run every month, you'll save even more. Use the promo code Ramsey to get the best deal. Today's question comes from Jesse in Iowa. I absolutely hate my job. I'm married with four children, completely debt-free, including our house, and have plenty of savings, but I'm not passionate about my job, and it's not something I ever wanted to do. It's a career that I was offered by a family member, and I've been in it for 10 years,

and I've hated it every day. I want to take some time off to explore other options. Would it be irresponsible for me to quit my job and not start another job right away? We will lose half our household income, but we will get along just fine with only my wife's salary. Yeah, I'd quit tomorrow. In this scenario, this is one of the rare scenarios by which I'd say, yeah, walk today, walk tomorrow. And it's the power of following the baby steps.

It is. They have zero debt, huge amount of savings, and he's not even going to touch the savings because he said they're just fine on his wife's salary. And I think in a situation like this where you heard the word hate at least two times in this question, it's time for him to walk away and get some real clarity. And I think that a guy like him who's very disciplined,

he and his wife clearly, to get to this financial peace status, he's going to find something pretty quickly and get pretty excited about the path. So in this case, abso-freaking-lutely, take the time off but explore and take your time. I'm not worried about him sitting at home a year from now. I'm just not. Because when he's that kind of burnt out on this career, he's going be like oh my gosh i feel free for the first time yeah and i would also

tell you that just from experience i know that he has some pretty clear ideas about what he's interested in and i think he's the time off is going to allow him to to do what i call clarify and verify and that just if you're kind of listening you're new to this uh this type of content for me here at Ramsey Solutions, clarifying is like doing the good old-fashioned research project, learning everything you can, the highs, the lows, the good, the bad, the ugly from people who are actually doing the thing that you think you're interested in. That's clarify. And when you do that, your brain is gathering information, and then your heart is considering the information,

and that's the verify. And if your heart's going, eh, you know. Ken, this is a common scenario for people to just sit in a job they hate for a decade. It's very common. What's behind that? Are they just kind of paralyzed by the unknown? Yes. And what it's going to take to step into something new?

Well, yes, and the reason is because we as humans, our natural tendency is to accept being miserable as opposed to stepping into the uncomfortable. We just would. Because the miserable, we know it. Yeah, I know I got to go deal with the jerk that sits next to me all day long. He does nothing. I'm busting my hump. He's over there playing words with friends you know what i mean whatever the situation is

you don't like your leader right or in this case you don't like to work at all and there's zero passion and it's just a job and you're bored out of your mind and your spirit has slipped out of your body a long time ago well we would we're just more comfortable accepting that because we go, I know what to expect, and I can grin and bear it, if you will, to use the old phrase. The uncomfortable is attached to the unknown. And so that's really scary, so we'll put up with something

as opposed to going, all right, let me go dig and go get answers to the things that I'm not sure about. And in doing so, I haven't committed. I haven't left. I can still be miserable while I go get some answers. But that's really why. Fear and doubt.

Fear and doubt. And I also believe, and you just nailed it, so that's the fear part. The doubt is, I doubt that I can actually find something that I love. Who's going to want to hire me when I haven't been doing this job and it's a new thing? Yeah. I'm afraid that I might fail or I doubt that I can actually find it. Those are the common voices. Well, it takes me back to the old proverb. The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago. The next best time today. Get after it. Start today.

Best time to quit that job was 10 years ago. The next best time today. And that's what you can do when you're at baby step seven, no payments in the world. Thanks for the question. Open phones, 888-825-5225. Mike joins us in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Mike, welcome to the show. Hi, Ken. Hi, George. Thanks for having me. How are you guys today? Doing great. What's going on? Okay. So I work for my uncle at a family business where we engrave and install tombstones. And my plan and his plan is for me to buy the shop off of him

when he retires in 10 to 15 years. I was looking for guidance as far as what college courses should I be taking in order to prepare me more for the administrative side of running a business. There's actually, like, there's no degree required to do what I do, but the administrative side is the part I'm looking for. So why do you think college is the only path to do that? Well, additionally, I'm in the Army Reserve, so I have access to military aid for college. And at the rank I'm at in the reserve,

college credits give us promotion points, which makes it easier for us to promote faster. Would it be free then for you to go take these courses? Not free, but it would cover a substantial amount if I was to go part-time and start taking courses. Would it also apply, the military discount or credit that you're referring to, would it also apply to certifications? So non-traditional college courses, but still education? Um, that's something I would have to look into.

I'd look into it. Um, because I'm curious to know what specific administrative skills you feel like you need to either acquire or sharpen. So when my uncle took over the business, he had to hire somebody and continues to employ somebody to do all books, accounting, all that stuff, because it was something he never knew. And that's something, while I will still likely hire somebody to do it, I don't want them taking a week off work to prevent that work from being done. Well, but that's a, okay, appreciate the thought, but that's not going to happen. Just because you hire someone to do accounting work and they take a week off, it doesn't mean that they're, you know, somebody there, there's going to be somebody where they're disciplined,

multidisciplined issues or whatever. And they can keep doing basic accounting while that person's on vacation. Because here's the real question. As you see yourself eventually stepping into the CEO role, what do you want to spend most of your time on as CEO? I asked you, what do you want to? What do you want to be spending your time, your days doing most of? Probably very similar to what my uncle does. He does all the design work and the sales. Great. So you don't need to go get administrative courses

and skills for something that, A, you don't want to do. It's not even best for the company anyway and you can hire people to do that and you can come up with systems to where when they're on vacation it's going to be okay bills will still be paid like really sharp accounting people the right people and you get the right systems in there everything's going to keep running smoothly even then when they're on vacation. Okay. This comes down to opportunity cost, right? Yeah. Do you understand what I mean when I say that? Yeah. I mean, you spending time and money, your two most precious resources, to acquire a skill that you really honestly don't even need, and you can learn the basics of accounting right now because you're working for

your uncle. Go, hey, unc, do you mind if I spend a little bit of time, you know, hanging out with our accountant and just learning how they do it just so I understand the ins and outs of the business? That doesn't require any college course. That's just you being diligent and being intentional. Okay. Yeah, I think you spending time getting mentored right now in the business is going to be more beneficial than a theory that you learned in a college class. Now, I will tell you, we have Entree Leadership, which is our business playbook, and we have a whole team over there that unpacks how Dave has built this thing from a card table in his living room to now this massive company. And what I want to do for you, Mike, is gift you three months of Entree Leadership Elite. This is basically our online membership. There's courses in there.

More importantly, there's this thing called advisory groups with one of our business coaches and business folks like you, leaders who want to grow and they're learning from each other. So I'm going to give you a three-month free trial. I got that cleared by our team to do that for you. Generally, it's just a one-month free trial.

So dig into that. Join an advisory group. Watch the courses. Take advantage of those resources. And I think that will give you the confidence to step into this new role way more than any college environment could do. So thanks so much for the call, Mike. Appreciate it. We love small business.

They are the backbone of this economy, and we love helping leaders like you. This is The Ramsey Show. Our scripture of the day, Deuteronomy 31.6. Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Frank Sinatra once said, The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything. There you go, Ken.

A little Sinatra for you. I feel like if you're going to read a Sinatra quote that's got baby in it, you've got to try to take his voice on. Give me that for a second. I feel like it's offensive to all people groups if i try to sinatra impression the big lesson in life baby is never be scared of anyone or anything that was pretty good not bad i picture him with the bow tie done he's got a cocktail martini in his hand good enough for government work ken yeah nice nice impression thank you james is thrilled with that that's. It'll be in show notes afterwards.

It occurred to me that... He'll be heading to the principal's office for that one. I've only heard him sing. I don't know what his voice sounds like. I've heard him in a few interviews. That wasn't bad. I'm not going to give it a good impression, and it certainly wasn't great, but it was serviceable. That's exactly the commentary you want. It was serviceable. Well, I'm trying to keep it real. It might have been bad. Well, let's serve Christina, who's in Washington, D.C. That's what we can do.

All right, Christina, how are you doing? Good. How are you? Thanks. Very good. How can I help? So my husband and I are in steps six and seven, and we're planning on moving in a couple of years, but our house needs, well, it could use some updating. And so I guess our question is,

should we continue to decrease the mortgage with the extra money that we have every month or start making some minor and major updates to the house to potentially increase the value that way and make it more marketable? Okay. So you're in baby step six, seven, we've got a paid for house at that point and we're building wealth and good. Oh, okay. So you're squarely in six. What's left on the mortgage? We got about 515 on our mortgage. 515,000 left? Correct. Yeah. What's your income? So our growth is $280,000. Awesome.

And tell us again, did I hear you say you're planning to move and sell this house in a couple of years? Correct. Our kids are all out of high school by then. We don't really like the county that we're in, so we'd like to move at that point. So why not just move? The kids don't. The kids. so how many years are we talking just two years okay they just they don't want to switch schools and what are the renovations going to cost um we're thinking about 40,000. We have two bathrooms and that would be the major, well,

bathroom shouldn't cost that much. I was going to ask you these days. It might, everything's crazy expensive right now. Yeah. But when you say major renovations, are you talking about the master bath is one of those? Master bath is one,

but to be honest, we're in an old colonial from the eighties. So our master bath is one, but to be honest, we're in an old colonial from the 80s, so our masterbath is not that master compared to what houses are these days. There we go. What's the house worth? We think about $750,000, $800,000. Okay. And if you put this $40,000 in there, do you think it would then sell for $790,000 to $830,000? We do, and we think that it would make it more marketable. The area that we're in has a lot of high-end builders, and they're putting in a lot of 500,000 square feet plus houses. So just the area is changing, and we want to make sure that

we have buyers for the house that i mean i would do your homework i i've my father-in-law is a custom home builder and does a lot of renos and so i learn a lot from him and i've done some reading too and you can do this on your own but you know you look at kitchens and you look at like a master bathroom those are those are two areas that you can get real value from also backyards i saw so recently we're doing stuff with your backyard and outdoor living that can certainly add a lot of value so i would just do your homework you know what are some of the minor changes versus the majors and i would really only focus on the majors because you're just trying to make this thing more marketable

so for instance you got an old colonial home What could you do to make that master bathroom actually a master bathroom? I think that would certainly add some value. So I think if you just do your homework there, George, is that where you're leaning? Because they're not going to pay the house off even with their aggressive payments by the time that they sell and move anyway. I'm leaning towards do what the necessary renovations are, necessary repairs. And as you go to list it, you're working with a pro, and let the pro help you go, all right, if you want to sell this for this asking price, here's what we're going to need to do,

and here's the value you're going to get. That's good. So I might pause on that and just do what's necessary right now. I want it to be livable. It doesn't sound like you guys are miserable over there. Sounds like a cool property. No. Okay.

Yeah, we have about four acres. It's pretty cool. I got to ask, you're not in D.C.? Oh, we're in the suburbs. Yeah, we're actually suburbs in Maryland. Yeah. How much money do you guys have in cash outside of the emergency fund? We have about $70,000 outside of cash. We are, we drive 20 year old cars that we're getting ready to replace, um, because we keep breaking down and we have never taken a honeymoon. So we're going, whoa, so we have, we have some money set aside. I would upgrade the cars and go on the honeymoon before making these renovations. I agree with George. You got two years, and George is right. When you get closer to selling the house, I'd have one of our real estate pros give you some good advice on what changes to make. But right now, yeah, replace the cars and go on a honeymoon, for heaven's sakes.

Yeah, I think you can do both of these things, and we'll just put them in order. So let's upgrade the cars. Let's go on the honeymoon. Let's start to make some renovations that would make it really pop for now for us to enjoy and then begin, start to knock off some of that mortgage so that you can build more equity, and you're going to only gain that back when you go and sell it. And so you should have, you know, if you're at $515,000 and you sell the thing for $850,000, you're going to have a good $300 in net profits out of that. Yes, and then hopefully we can just get a house for cash,

which is our goal. That would be amazing. Now, you'll probably need a downsizing house at that point, right? Yes, and we're ready to do that. You're moving to a different area that's more affordable? Yes, exactly. Awesome. Well, thanks so much for the call, Christina.

Appreciate it. Yeah, that's exciting. Ty will close us out here in Santa Ana, California. Ty, let's get right to the question. Hey, what's up, gang? Hey, how you doing? Good, good. Hey, so I know we're short on time. I'm just going to get right to it. That's what they told me. So I need to know if I should sell my business or sell my houses to pay off my debt. How much debt? I got $1.2 million in debt.

Whoa. Is that all business debt? No, it's two houses, one in Hawaii, one in California, and then about $200,000 in whatever, the basic, everything else. I would sell the houses before the business unless you're trying to get rid of the business anyways. What could the business sell for? If it's a business, I had two companies reach out to me that want to buy the business. So if I sell the business, then I wouldn't have to sell the houses. And you're okay selling the business? Not really. Yeah, I was going to say, do you own your job here in this business?

What would you do if you sold it? Well, the business is in Hawaii, and I live in California. And there's no hassle there for you to if you sold it? Well, the business is in Hawaii and I live in California. And there's no hassle there for you to run it from California? Well, there's two options. So one company wants me to sell them the business and move back to Hawaii. And then the other company wants to buy the business and have me stay out here in California. Or I can just sell the houses, pay off all the debt. What's your heart telling you today? Which one gets you the most excited? I don't know. I'm just torn. I don't know if I want to move to Hawaii.

A year ago, I was born and raised in Hawaii. You know, We just got out here to California. Do you want to go back? I don't know. Yes, you do. Ty, I've got to tell you, we're short on time, but I think you are leaning one way. So why don't you just tell us which way you were leaning when you called to get our advice? Because I know you were leaning one way.

What was it? I think I, so both companies want me to work for them after the sale, and I think I do better in Hawaii. That's where I'm from. All right. So then I would do that. There it is. Appreciate the call time.

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