The Ramsey Show - App - What’s the Right Way To Ask for a Raise? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: June 26, 2024

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. Ken Coleman Ramsey Personality is my co-host today. He's a best-selling author of several books, including his latest, Find the Work You're Wired to Do. The Get Clear Assessment is included. Now, we're going to be talking about your life, your money, your income, your outgo, and anything else you want to dig into. We're here for you. The phone number is 888-825-5225.

Nathan's in Springfield, Missouri. Hey, Nathan, how are you? I'm great, Dave. I'm surprised I got on your show. My wife will be thrilled. Well, we're honored to have you. How can we help? Well, I'm having trouble trying to figure out how to best ask for a raise or a promotion at work. I've been there for 13 years.

I've been promoted twice, but it's a little slower than other people. I'm in after-hour support, and I work at 16-hour availability. So I need to either, you know, I need to get more income somehow. And it's kind of hard to get a second job with that kind of availability. What do you do? I'm a senior technical support engineer for a fintech company. What do you make? I'm about 90.

And have you done any market research just for some of your experience, that particular work to where you know if you're in the bottom, middle, or higher end of salary range? I have. From Missouri, it seems like I'm on the lower part of the middle end of the range. Okay. When was the last time you got promoted? You said you've had two in 13 years. Just over two years ago. Do you have an annual review process or some type of quarterly meeting with your leaders so that you kind of know where you stand?

They're giving you things to work on? Any of that happening for you? Yeah, we do have an annual performance appraisal. When is that or when was the last one? any of that happening for you? Yeah, we do have an annual performance appraisal. When is that, or when was the last one? The last one was last August. Okay, so you're due for another one in August. And what was the feedback you got, and did you get a raise last August? Yeah, so I score really well.

They love me. I usually get the best raises. But this year, they changed our raises to January's, and they kind of capped everybody at a 2% raise this year. Okay. Okay. All right, so that's good information to have, because here you are going into August,

and you've already been told that for 2024, everybody's capped at 2%. They've got their reasons for that. I hope they've communicated that. That's good information for leaders to let people know because, you know, people understand sometimes you've got to make changes. So if, in fact, the company's healthy and there's a good outlook, then, you know, the race conversation isn't happening in August if it's been made clear

that they're not doing that this year. So now it's, what does it take? What do I need to do? Where do I need to grow? What skills can I add to my tool belt in order to be a candidate for a promotion and for more responsibility? That's the question you have to ask. That's a humble question. That's not in any way arrogant because it's got to be about, hey, as my leader, where do you see that I have an opportunity to add some more tools to the tool belt? Which one specifically could be valuable to this company? As you look at me and my 13 years here, my last review, I want to be a guy who is growing and that's in my skill so that I can add responsibility,

and with added responsibility, we hold more compensation. So if you come at it that way, you're not going to look like a jerk. You're not going to look like a pinhead, and you're going to find out if you've got a pretty healthy leader that has some margin in the company to go, okay, here's what you can do. That's what you're looking for. Now, if you don't get a good answer there, meaning there's not a whole lot of things you can do, there's not room for growth, that doesn't mean that you throw your hands in the air and leave. What it means is, is you've got a couple of options. You look for a place where you have some room for growth. And the other thing is, is in your line of work, my friend, freelancing is a really viable option for you.

As long as there's no conflict of interest or a non-compete, this is above board stuff I'm talking about. They got him on 16 hour, right? Yeah. So my point is, is even though he's got those crazy hours, he's got to look for something to where he goes, all right, this is how I could maybe supplement. I get off of that 16 hour by working somewhere else, and then I add two. He's got to look at his options for financial growth.

So one may have to give in order to get somewhere else. So, Nathan, it is not ungrateful to have a logical reason to be paid more. There are two that Ken has mentioned. One is, how can I add value that you'd be willing to pay me more because I added value. What can I do that I'm not doing now that's valuable to the company? And two is what are you worth in the marketplace? And so the reason they put a 2% cap on raises is either they're not making money

or they're trying to run their stock price up before they take it public or something. Okay. They're trying, because payroll is your largest expense in any business. So they're trying to limit the increases. However, they have another problem. Let's say that you were in one of the explosive areas of technology and your marketplace value went from 90 to where you'd have 20 different companies offering you 150 well their two percent raise idea that memo is worthless because everyone that has your job is going to leave if they don't violate the two percent rule that they put on that they made up out of thin air.

Okay? And so if a marketplace is dictating that you are worth $120,000, $150,000, they're going to lose everyone that's in a similar position if they don't adjust to market. And so, you know, and they may be willing to do that. I don't know. But, you know, one way when you're in a job, one measure is always what can they replace you for? If you leave and they have to pay somebody $120 to come into the role, then, you know, their replacement cost on you is $120. Then they have a real reason to do that.

That's right. That's what I'm saying by marketplace study and so i would go in like ken said with some actual comp studies and go look guys here's what this is happening and i'm willing to work with you i want to i'm not trying to blackmail anybody i'm not trying to be ungrateful i'm just saying that this position now it looks to me like am i looking at it wrong tell me if i'm looking at wrong But it looks to me like this position is paying $120,000, $150,000 somewhere else. And they may say, well, go take it, in which case I would. I would if they say that. But they may also just not be informed because the technology sector,

we've experienced it here at Ramsey, the comp studies, we do them quarterly, and it moves rather rapidly up and down. And there was a time that it was just shooting straight up, and then there's a time where it kind of adjusted backward a little bit. So, you know, just look at it and ask them, this is what I'm seeing. What are you all seeing? And they're probably not even looking at it. I agree.

And that's why this is a great lesson. When you go in with a salary range based on real marketplace numbers, you don't look like a I deserve. You're just simply going, hey, here's what I'm seeing. And they may not have any idea where their compensation is on that scale. And it really helps you because, again, you're dealing in facts, not I just deserve. And the I deserve, the entitlement thing is where ingratefulness comes from. It's like, hey, I love being here.

I'm just looking at this. And what are you all seeing? Tell me what's happening here. And, you know, how can I help and how can I add more value? I'd love to be a blessing to this place. And very few people get mad at you when you're doing that. This is The Ramsey Show. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today.

Thank you for joining us. We're glad you're here. He is the author of the book, Find the Work You're Wired to Do. It includes the Get Clear Assessment. Now, the Get Clear Assessment has helped almost 100,000 people that took it learn what they are good at and what they love and how to put all that together, who you are, the way you're wired, and what you want to do professionally, how to get there.

All of that comes out of this assessment. And the book is there to help you read the assessment and properly apply the findings from it. It includes the Get Clear Assessment. So you don't have to buy the Get Clear Assessment separately anymore. The best way to do it is buy the book, and it comes with the Get Clear Assessment. It comes with a code. And, Ken, you can take the assessment in, what, about 20 minutes?

15 to 18 minutes if you're just instinctively taking it. Which is what you ought to do. Don't try to game it. That's exactly right. And after that, you're going to get a really great report. And it's going to give you a detailed report on the things you're good at doing. We're talking about in the world of work, the type of work that you really enjoy, and then the results that motivate you. And then the book itself is like me coaching you with your results. Now you know who you are. So the book comes along and says, all right, now let's see where we can do this thing that I'm really good at,

the stuff that I love. Where in the world will it work? So it helps you with the where and the how. And it's a really fun little project. So super simple. It's a bestseller. It is. It is.

It's no longer a little project. That's right. Well, you know, I say little. It's turned into a big, hairy deal. Because we write books that are longer than this, and this was one of those things where it was like, if I was going to coach someone with their results on what to do, now how do I go turn this into money and freedom? This book does that with the assessment results. Just go to the store at RamseySolutions.com.

You can find all of our products and books and assessments and all kinds of things there. And it's the Find the work you're wired to do. The get clear assessment is what we're talking about. Be sure and check it out. Grant is with us. Grant is in Tampa, Florida. Hey, Grant, welcome to the Ramsey show. Hey, Dave.

Thanks. I appreciate it. Sure. How can we help? Uh, I am calling with questions about, so essentially my main issue, my brother and I are starting a construction company, or we actually already have a construction company started. I am currently working for another company right now until that takes off, but I do plan on leaving this company I currently work for to pursue that full-time. And I was just curious, you know, how much money would you recommend saving before taking that leap? Do you think or do you anticipate that you're going to be paid very similar

or less than or more than what you're making in your current job when you go work with your brother? I would assume less. It's still growing, and that's something, obviously, I would wait until the income was somewhat worth my while. But, yeah, I would definitely do less. What's the reason for jumping? Yeah, why would you do that?

Why don't you get it? Why don't you make more? Well, I've worked for this company for quite some time um yeah it hasn't been too bad i just i know deep down you know it's something i've always wanted to do is be my own boss make less money is what you always wanted to do no sir obviously in the beginning okay you know that would definitely be the case but i don't know why it has to be. It doesn't have to be. So here's the thing. You said, I'm going to take the leap. I'm going to recommend you don't leap.

Yes. I'm going to recommend you step. Get the boat closer to the dock. Maybe even an electric slide right into that. You know, a little style. Here's the point that we're making, Grant. Yeah, go ahead and get this construction company kicking butt, and you guys are working 80, 100 hours a week,

and you're about to collapse from fatigue, and you're making more money at the construction company than you are at your old job. Then it's a no-brainer to quit your old job, and you're not asking me about emergency funds because you're not in the water. You stepped into the boat. You didn't leap and miss. Yes, sir. It's going to be there.

That's what you do. That's how you do it. All that requires is patience. Yes. You're all excited about this, and you do. That's how you do it. All that requires is patience. Yes. You're all excited about this, and you just want to go over and do it right now. Yeah. But grownups have to wait. Yeah, I'm finding that out more and more as I get older.

Yeah, it's a pain in the butt. Yeah. But I tell you, when I look at it that way, if I'm in your shoes, then I got to go really pour the gasoline big time on the fire over at the construction company because the faster I get that thing up, the faster I can go back to a normal set of hours working a normal job at a place I own, and I don't have to leap. Okay? Yes, sir.

Yeah, and then your emergency fund doesn't come into play because you're not creating an emergency you create one when you leap you there is no emergency when you step and so let's get this thing going you guys go over there and just really really work on the jobs and let's get them going man here's a really important mindset shift right here for people that are in grant situation that are listening or watching. Grant, you have to switch from looking at this day job as this job that's holding you back from doing the thing you've always wanted to do. And you got to flip it to this day job is the stability and the boat that is going to get me to the bigger boat. It's a mindset shift. And if you

do that, you'll find that the patience is extended, but it is a complete mental game right now for you. And that's what will keep you patient. Otherwise, if it's all emotion and I keep thinking about how much I want to work for myself and be with my bro and never work for the man again, you will never be able to wait your emotion will rule the day you've got to read that's what shape this deal that's wisdom that's good good work good work brandon is in boise idaho hey brandon what's up in your world hey how's it going better than i. How can we help? So I have a question. The best way to put it into words is,

how do we take advantage of a larger income that's more likely than not shorter term? And what I mean by that is, my wife is making a larger amount of money than she has been for a few years, but we know that approximately in the next four to five years, that's going to go down. And then my situation is I'm a disabled veteran and have a medical retirement, but I can no longer work and I will no longer be able to work. And so our concern is how do we set ourselves up over the next four or five years to ensure long-term financial independence?

Yeah, that's a good question. Thanks for your service. I'm sorry you were hurt. Thank you. service i'm sorry you were hurt um thank you the uh uh well the answer is uh and then we can dig into a little bit but the answer is the the baby steps that we teach brandon are the fastest right way to build wealth where you don't have a problem later. But if you strike a chord of desperation, oh, God, this is going to run out, so we've got to go do something stupid.

Right before I get stupid, I'm usually desperate. So let's don't get desperate in here. I hear wisdom right now. I don't hear desperation. But if you start panicking about it, then you're going to go do something stupid in an effort to try to leapfrog, right? I should tell you a little bit more. So what I would do is I just work the baby steps. How much debt have y'all got?

Um, we have $60,000 in a car, a car part of, so she has has social media it's part of the business though um so i grew up listening to you middle sense as well as born and we've done actually pretty well um so the vehicles are only debt we've kind of went backwards a little bit because we use it she uses it for social media so her her income that you think is short term is the social media income yes sir why is that short term it's it's influencer and that industry is very um it's dying volatile it's up and down you know it's dying it is it is i mean we're seeing we're seeing it everywhere yeah i mean it's uh it's not what it was 18 months ago, for sure, yeah. Okay, so it's hard for me to speak intelligently because I don't know what she's doing.

But I will tell you this, I think you rationalized your butt off on this car. You need to get rid of this car, man. That's bogus. If the only way she can have influence is to be stupid and $60,000 car, then that's a bad idea, man. So we got it. We got to be thinking about some other way to get at this and start getting

rid of this car debt. I don't know what kind of money she's making, but if she's making a couple hundred grand or something, pay the stupid thing off and keep it. But we're not going to finance our way into influence. That's a way to make this temporary for sure. Um, because your influence is based on hypocrisy then so um no you don't want to go there ken coleman ramsey personality is my co-host today in the lobby of ramsey solutions you can

come by and watch the show anytime you want we We're on every day, Monday through Friday, from 1 to 4 Central Time. Usually have 50 to 200 folks out here eating our free homemade cookies, drinking our free coffee, and watching the show for free. And it's worth every dollar you paid, too. I'm just saying. So in the lobby also is the debt-free stage, and that's where Kyler and stephanie are because they're debt-free way to go guys congratulations thank you dave well done where do y'all live chattanooga

tennessee chattanooga just down the road nice little trip day trip up to nashville then and how much debt have you guys paid 123 000 very good and how long did that take? Just over two years, Dave. Good for you. And your range of income during that time? About, I think it started at 90 and now it's 160. Cool. What do y'all do for a living? We have two of the most boring jobs ever. I love it. I'm an accountant. And I'm a data analyst. And Ken actually gave great advice and helped me move into this role about a year and a half ago ago what were you making before you made that move uh about 40 whoa yeah 120 now make what 120 uh we combine make 160 oh what do you make about 70 okay she almost doubled your income because of ken coleman yep well what's your cut ken it's pretty good man i'm telling you right now i like hearing those

stories that's great man congratulations really go heroes i don't care if they're boring or not you're making bank and you got out of debt you did some data analysts and uh and and some accounting and figured out 123 000 sucked how long y'all been married uh just over two years okay so by the time you get married you looked up and said this has got to go tell us the story how's your I've had it moment unfold well so I was kind of it took me longer to get on board the accountant yes I know but um Kyler had actually found your podcast before we got married and then we kind of talked about it before I didn't really think he was serious. You hoped he wasn't. Right. I was like, maybe he'll forget about it.

But we got married, and then we tried to cash flow a wedding, and it was super expensive. And then we were kind of at a point where he was really pushing it, and I kind of was like, well, I've kind of worked a lot, and I kind of just want to enjoy it at first, if I'm being honest. But then I was like, I was remembering when we were trying to cash flow our wedding, and I was like making good money, but I was like living paycheck to paycheck, and I was like, this is miserable.

So I kind of thought back on that time, and I'm like, we make good money. We don't have kids yet. Like, why don't we just go for it? So with his help, we kind of started it. There we go. It took a lot of difficult conversations, but also, you know, a lot of graciousness from both of us to be able to come together and really develop that budget. And that was the cornerstone of it all. Yeah, and as soon as you turn that corner and join arms, boom, game on, right?

Exactly. I mean, but until then, it's like it's pushing the boat pushing a rock up hill exactly yeah yeah way to go very cool what kind of debt was 123 000 uh just normal stuff credit cards car loans student loans um and the wedding of course some of the wedding day yeah gotcha okay very cool very cool did you guys sell anything or was this just all hustle I mean honestly we were graced with like great we were blessed with like great promotions at work and I feel like if you keep your head down and you keep working at it like you're bound to have something great happen to you and that hard work's gonna pay off so we like tried Uber Eats for a while too we did that for maybe a few months but honestly we were just both pretty blessed with promotions and you know instrumental moves

in our career and just dialed in the numbers and said we're going to stick to it yes dialed in the numbers yes because i mean you blew up i mean you did 60k a year for two years that's pretty impressive uh probably the larger in the back half as you got some raises and stuff but but still the average on that strong uh starting out at 90 and now to 160 way to go y'all way to go uh i get this question a lot uh and and i want you to answer it um kyler what was it like to kyler yeah what was it like to change jobs in the midst of paying off debt? Because a lot of people go, man, I don't know if I want to do that. And you did it and you upgraded, which helped you get through quicker. I'd love for people to hear what the psychology was for

you going through that switch. Sure. So it wasn't an easy transition just because I didn't hate the job that I had. It just, I knew what I wanted to do and I knew that I had to get qualified to do what I wanted to do and where I was wasn't going to allow me to do what I wanted to do so I had to make the switch so it was a little bit easier for me in that regard but like I said the job I had I didn't hate whatsoever but I'm very blessed with the job that I have now but you you weren't it wasn't scary you were able to just prepare and get qualified and step right into it yeah and I had a lot of support from Steph as well so it was it was easy he's gracious in that regard i was kind of hesitant more so but he like blew it out of the park he you know got a certification in the process and i really saw like his determination

through it so i guess when you go through like scary stuff like that i think the best comes out and your partner so that's cool very nice very good good for you guys so what are you going to do now that you're debt free we're going to actually take a vacation oh good where are you going uh we're going on a cruise in september and then disney in october wow very good he hasn't been to disney yet okay so where's the cruise i think it's to mexico okay we're just going with a few friends it was a pretty cheap cruise that's what we're doing too this year okay that's great good for y'all well done that's fun that's fun so you started the whole thing off stephanie saying in a sense i make too much to be this broke there's a little bit disgust was your why i'm disgusted with this

i'm not gonna live like this and that's what finally helped you turn the corner now that you're the other side of it is does that does it feel like you thought it was going to like you're free I think it feels better it's like we have so many opportunities in front of us now that we wouldn't have before I mean right now we're we're a dinkwad family no income no kids with a dog so like that puts our like future family in a better position too. And like the next move is for us to purchase a house. So it has opened that door greatly. And it's just like lifted a whole different burden off our shoulders for sure.

You can for sure stack cash right now. I mean, you're in a great place. Absolutely. How's it feel to be free? It feels, well, freeing it's you know it's really nice it's it's reassuring that all the the hard work is paid off and we can confidently go into our future and know that we don't owe anybody anything right now and once we do buy a house i'm sure that will be paid off as quick as possible too yeah we didn't want to like you know

we kind of got i was what 27 when we got married and I kind of felt like that was a little like later on in life but having like this pause and this reset to like get us on the right track was better and we knew like we wanted to set our marriage up for success and we saw the like statistics on like finances being like a huge contributor and divorce and we were kind of like that's not going to be us here yeah we're gonna we're gonna go ahead and tackle the number if that's the number one thing let's get that off the plate yeah yeah i agree very very good all right stephanie talk to the person out there who just got married and their husband or their wife is a little ramsey crazy and they're driving them nuts.

Tell them whether they should do this or not. 100% yes. Or I wouldn't be here, but I mean, I would say just hear them out because truly like you guys are on the same team. If you're married, you're on the same team. If you're working towards that,

you're on the same team. You have the same goal or you should. Right. So like when he was trying to convince me, I kind of had to put like my internal like thoughts aside. And I was like, okay, Kyler just wants the best for me. He wants the best for us. And if I can put that aside and really see like why his why on it and his why was just

to set us up better financially, then it was like a note-brainer at that point so just kind of get all the outside voices out whether that be yours or like people who think your other spouse your spouse is crazy just get it out the door and look at because truly it's going to come from a place of like he has your best interest at heart or they have your best interest at heart so way to go very mature good word good word well done well done you guys are heroes way to go man touchdown yeah all right kyler and stephanie chattanooga tennessee 123 000 paid off in two years newly married and set baby 90k to 160 was the income range count it down let's hear a debt-free scream three two one

we're debt-free yeah baby this is the ramsey personality is my co-host today he is the author of the book that is a recent bestseller his third one find the work you're wired to do it includes the get clear assessment today's question comes from brian in washington dc i have done the get clear assessment and it was both rewarding seeing how accurate it was about me, but also discouraging as I feel hopeless on where to go from here. I want to provide more for my family, give my wife the opportunity to be a stay-at-home wife. I earn $100,000 a year in a stable government job, but it's not enough to sustain

the cost of living. To be honest, I don't enjoy my job and I'm not motivated to grow in my career or pursue other higher paying opportunities in this industry. I would much rather scrape on by doing the minimum at work and get a second job that pays $50,000 a year. The problem is, I don't think that's sustainable long term. I'm not really sure where to go regarding my work-life balance and taking care of my family and doing something I enjoy. Okay, this is one of those tricky situations where it's almost impossible to answer this question the way it's worded. On one hand, Brian, I'm glad that you saw that the assessment was accurate, but you quickly went from the self-awareness that the assessment provides, the clarity, to you actually got so

focused on your circumstances that you've taken your eye off the ball. So the way that the assessment is designed to work and what actually needs to happen for you in your life is you've got to see other opportunities for you to step out of government work. This is sucking your soul out of your body. I mean, it's very obvious to the way you're wording this. And you just are at a point, though, where you're so exhausted, you're so demotivated, there's some other stuff clearly going on to where you just want to stay there and get some other gig and scrape by. And you're accurate to say that that is not sustainable. That's a dangerous mental and emotional place to

be, and that's going to only end up causing destruction in multiple areas of your life. So what you have to do here is you have got to get back to your results and go, all right, where in the world of work can I do what this purpose statement says that I'm supposed to do? And by the way, it's a job description. And so if you apply that, you say, okay, I can get out there and do this. Now, what qualifications do I need, if any, and then begin to make the connections and you get out there. But this is going to take you kind of shaking off this really horrible experience that you've had. And really, Dave, I feel like there's some depression going on here, but it's just really hard to read in a lot to what's really going on.

Is this a classic case of, if I do what I love, I must make less? I don't know. It's hard to say. I know what you're talking about. We get that from people who say, well, you know, I just kind of want to do this thing and make less money. Because I always throw the work-life balance crap in there, too. Right, right.

Yeah. I don't hear work-life balance questions from people who love what they do and are bringing bank home. That's true. You know why? Because there's no such thing as work-life balance. The actual idea of balance, if we were to take two old scales, right, and we were to tinker with the rocks to see which one we could get it to even, that doesn't exist in work or life. Just from the sheer amount of hours we spend at work, it's impossible to have a balanced schedule. So you make a very good point there. I think what's going on is this is a guy who, he does not want to do any more hard stuff. And it's hard to

transition out of government if that's all you've ever done. But, you know, let's just say that the skills that he has, that he's using in his government job that he hates, if he applied those same skills in the marketplace, assuming he could do that within the context of what the assessment told him, okay? That's right. But most government jobs pay less than marketplace jobs. And are full of bureaucracy and red tape, a lot of frustration. So, I mean, if you just went and did the same thing in the private sector, usually you get a raise.

Yes, and it would be slightly more enjoyable just from the environment change that you're pointing out. But let's say that he's in a government job. Let's play this out. And I were to say, okay, what are you really good at? And he says, I'm really good at process stuff, detail stuff. Okay, great. Well, do you enjoy solving detail problems? He's probably going to say yes.

Then I'm immediately going into the private sector, and I'm going, all right, maybe look at project management, which is a viable career path that can lead you all the way up to a C-suite. That's how versatile project management is. It's just one example. Yeah, exactly. I mean, like, seriously, almost all government positions are pay more in the private sector i did find one without question i did find one that was the exception you know the highest paid government

employee in history was uh anthony fauci oh boy oh boy eight hundred and ten thousand really was that through grants or was that the actual budgetary line i think and pay that's more than the price and you don't want to when you're tired we we idiots gave him civil service at a high percentage of that salary so just by the way just go ahead and piss you off about something else jennifer is in pensacola, Florida. Hi, Jennifer. What's up? I don't know if I can follow that. I know. I know. Jennifer, how do you even try to follow that?

Oh, well, not with that much money, let me tell you. I've been divorced after an almost 30-year marriage since 2020, and that was a fallout from COVID. Anyway, I received $1,000 a month spousal support and I will until November of 27. And I'm also going to be the payee of an annuity that's currently worth $100,000. And when I'm 65, it's supposed to double on paper, and I'm supposed to be able to receive a 6% per month payout, which is supposed to be about $1,000 a month approximately for the rest of my life. Is that all in place already, the annuity part? Yes.

Yeah. My ex-husband received a large inheritance, and we hadn't done anything for me retirement-wise during our marriage because we didn't anticipate not being married. And so kind of like in my view. So the annuity, the actual purchase of the annuity was part of the divorce decree? It was, he had it in his name and then. Oh, they just transferred it to your name. It's in both of our names currently, but I'm the payee on it.

Forever? Yes. Okay, go ahead then. What's your name? It's in both of our names currently, but I'm the payee on it. Forever? Yes. Okay, go ahead then. What's your question? So last week I received a call from my ex-husband and he said he wanted to make me an offer that he thought was going to make me happy and what he wanted to do was to pay me out of the annuity and give me $100,000 now and then to stop the spousal support. He thinks I'm in a new relationship where the new man in my life is, quote, taking care of me financially, which is far from the truth. My new friend rents a room from me in my home, and the money he gives me goes towards monthly expenses and annual expenses of the home.

But he doesn't, quote, unquote, take care of me. My ex says if I don't take his offer, it just shows how greedy I really am. I don't give a crap about what he thinks. That's not an issue. This is a math decision. That's right. I would make this decision 100% on math, not anything on broken hearts or emotions or anger or revenge or anything, okay,

or name-calling or anything, okay? So it's pretty simple so you get twelve thousand dollars a year till 27 so you got 36 000 coming there right right and then this annuity is worth what it's gonna it's supposed to pay you what he says a thousand dollars a month starting when i'm 65 i'm 60 now starting when i'm 65 for the rest of my life. Okay, so that's $12,000 a year. And so the amount of money that would take to create that would be $100,000 at 12%. Okay. Okay.

So if you had $100,000 invested at 12%, that'd be $12,000 a year, right? Mm-hmm. That'd be $1,000 a month. And so it takes a hundred thousand dollars to replace that but it doesn't kick in for five years so we would need a hundred thousand dollars five years from now and 36 000 so his offer is not bad oh okay it's not bad because here's the thing the 66 the 36 000 we could just call it uh dollar for dollar okay there's a concept in money let me walk you through here here's what's going on in my head, okay?

The concept in money, would you rather have $100,000 today or would you rather have $100,000 five years from now? Well, you'd rather have it today because of what you could earn on it during that five years, agreed? I understand, yeah. That's called present value and future value. And so you can take $100,000 in the future, like say five years from now, I understand. That's called present value and future value. And so you can take $100,000 in the future, like say five years from now,

and you would discount that to a present value, and that's probably $66,000. So if you get $100,000 in your pocket now and invest that now with a good SmartVestor Pro, you're probably going to end up with more money. I might go back to him and say, I think I might be close to doing this if you go a little higher and just see if he'd come on up to $100.50 because he might because I think he's trying to get you distanced. I'm going to try to negotiate it up and then go to a SmartVestor Pro. We'll see you next time.