The Ramsey Show - App - When Can I Afford To Buy a Car Just for Fun? (Hour 3)

Episode Date: October 19, 2023

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. Jade Warshaw, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. 888-825-5225 is the phone number. Jet is in Phoenix. Hi, Jet. Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

Hi, how are you doing, Dave? Better than I deserve. What's up? Hey, not much. Hey, we've been doing all the baby steps, gosh, as long as I can remember. I'm 25 now. The only one we're not on is step six because we don't have a home. I recently got married and kind of told my wife we're going to rent for a couple of years,

save some money to put a down payment on a house and waive the PMI. Been very blessed recently. She got a new job. I got a huge new job, and our household income has doubled. It's not tripled right now. Yay! Way to go! It's a blessing. It's not tripled right now. It's a blessing. It really is a blessing. Um, but my question for you, you know, we were looking in the house range of 300, $400,000.

And now with this huge promotion, we have our lease ending in two months. Do we sign another lease, save up another, you know, a hundred, $200,000 and now jump into the housing range of $700,000 to $800,000 and see what the interests are doing. And so I just don't know, hey, is it better to just get in the housing market now, get a $300,000, $400,000 house, or wait another year where you can put 20%, 25%, 30% down on a house and get a bigger house that we've been wanting that we're going to fill children with and our dog will finally have a yard? It's kind of the question that I have for you, kind of the housing market and what you see happening i don't think either plan is bad

i think it's just a matter of personal preference right so you buy the 300 what's going to happen is in two years you're going to sell it and move up yeah which is fine you'll make money you'll make money on it. You'll make money on it. I mean, Phoenix is a wonderful market. It is. I'm competing with a lot of people coming to Phoenix from the West. You'll be all right. They have a lot more money than I do. You'll be all right.

You're 25. Did you say you already have kids or you will have kids? We're starting to look to have kids. The Lord provides that and awesome, but I really want to get a house. She really wants to get a house before we start trying to have kids. The Lord provides that and awesome, but I really want to get a house. She really wants to get a house before we start trying to have kids. That's fine. The little ones don't take up much room.

Especially in the beginning. They're like this big. Yeah, they're tiny. When they come out, they're little. The only thing I thought of off the top is just moving is a pain in the butt. So you're thinking, okay, I'm moving from this house to that house

and then that house to the next house. Moving is a it's kind of expensive that was the first thought i had i am not afraid to rent for a year longer and call that patience i'm not afraid to do that if i'm you i have done that so i know i'm not afraid to do it. Okay. I'm also not afraid to jump in, buy something, and, you know, plan on flipping it, flipping out of it, and moving up a notch two or three years from now. So either one is fine. It's a matter of whether you, like Jade said, I hate moving, but I mean, I grew up with a real estate, my parents were real estate business. When I was a kid, our furniture was trained to jump on the truck. So, you know, we moved all the time, right? So it was just part of it is real estate.

People trade houses like nothing. So, um, you know, uh, you can do that. Or if you hate moving and you really want to sit there and go, I got this very specific thing. What does your wife want to do? You know, listening to you guys, especially the last segment, she's very trusting in me in this situation. We don't mind the renting.

We would love to be in a house. She's ready to be in a house. I'm ready to be in a house. Of these two choices, what does your wife want to do? I really think that she's fine either way way i think she's ready to get into a house is where i think she is not telling me that she is why don't you ask her oh i have she's like whatever you want to do i know that's not an answer ask her to pick yeah whatever you want to do is i'm going to bring it up later if you do it wrong i don't want to go with that one okay no whatever whatever i want to do is what i want to do is i want you to say it out loud and

then we'll discuss whether we do what you want to do let's that's okay you know i mean ask her because i mean when i get sharon actually doing that called talking the problem through that's when i get gold in the relationship and i get gold in the financial wisdom of working together as a married couple but yeah yeah she was the worst in the first seven years we were married man she's like whatever you want to do honey which is southern for later i'm gonna kill you you know i mean it's like whatever you want to do honey you know it's like oh god you're killing me with this passive-aggressive stuff right so but that was the first seven years of our marriage and then i went and did some i went

and did whatever i wanted to do you did i thought she meant it she didn't mean it i found out later it's like you know what's wrong with you nothing see she didn't mean that either there was something you know that's why you threw a pan across that dad company anyway all right jacob is with us jacob is in nashville hi jacob how are you hey i'm doing fantastic how are you guys we're having way too much fun and getting paid what's up that's great to hear hey uh i'm a long time listener and this is my first time talking to you and um i have uh heard you guys discuss this with folks that are a little older than me, but I'm in my 20s, and I'm asking about buying a toy, specifically a play car. Cool. What is it?

Well, I haven't ironed it down yet, but I like muscle cars. Like what's your favorite, too? Mustang, Camaro, Corvette. What's your favorite two that what's your favorite two uh either mustang or camaro not necessarily a ford or a chevy guy um like a 60s vintage or 70s more newer newer oh like new camaros okay yes yeah like a 50 or yeah oh wow okay cool all right so what's that what's that thing run how much you know buying used not new and um thinking in the 30 to 40 range okay and and what do you make so uh i'm married household income no kids uh we're between 150 and 200 a year okay and how much money do you have uh 40 right at 40 um uh for the past four or five years

you have forty thousand dollars uh yes sir that's all the money you have in the world oh no no no sir no just set aside for the car i said how much money do you have not not for the car total how much money do you have okay um for the car. Total. How much money do you have? Okay. Probably between $80,000 and $90,000. Is that including an emergency fund? Like, do you have three to six months of emergency set aside? Yes. So that includes the emergency fund, and then we've got a little extra liquid cash, and then I have a car fund that has $40,000 in it.

Got it. Okay. Number one rule for toys is pay cash. Okay? Yes, sir. it. Got it. Okay, number one rule for toys is pay cash. Okay? Yes, sir. They don't matter. Number two rule is I use the burn it in the middle of the living room floor rule. Okay?

If I take that much money and I burn it in the fireplace tonight, $40,000, I'm going to burn it in the fireplace. Does my life change? In your case, that would be an ouchie. That would hurt. If you've got $100 million, it's not an ouchie. Right? You don't notice. It's like buying a biscuit.

Yeah. Right? For sure. That's the rule I use. I don't think yours passes that test. I think it would take your breath away if you burned up $40,000. I mean, that's what a toy is. You just poof.

Yeah. The money's not gone. You can sell it with a car again. I don't mean that. But that tells you if you're putting too much money in things that don't matter. Yeah. I think you're over the line on that. That's what it smells like to me.

You do what you want to do, but that's how I measure it. Jade Walsh, all Ramsey personality, is my co-host today. Gray's with us in Cookville, Tennessee. Hi, Gray. How are you? Hey, guys. It's a pleasure to speak with you. How are you? Better than I deserve. How can we help?

Good. So about a month ago, I learned that my mom actually passed away suddenly. Oh, I'm sorry. My dad's still alive, so I've never had to be in this situation before. I'm the oldest brother of two, and so I'm kind of taking care of everything. She has a car that still has a loan on it, and I Kelly Blue Book the value. She's upside down in it, so I still have possession of the car, but I'm kind of lost as to where to go from here. Okay, stop a second.

I'm sorry. Okay. How old was your mom? She was 54. I'm sorry, Greg. She turned 54. I'm sorry. What happened to her?

Don't really know. I just kind of found her asleep. Okay. And she and your dad aren't together correct okay so she was a single lady divorced and you're her that you're her oldest son and so you'll be taking care of the estate but there was no will correct and she doesn't have a lot the car was pretty much the only major asset that she had up in just some small accounts here and there. So no property or anything like that. Um, all right, here, here's the thing. When you pass away, what you own stands good for what you owe. What assets minus liabilities is called net worth

with what you've described to me, the car is upside down more than all the other things that your mom owned, so she had a negative net worth. Does that make sense? Yeah, I haven't gotten any information on any accounts that she has as far as death benefits, life insurance, or anything like that. Life insurance is not included in the equation. Okay, gotcha.

But, I mean, so what is owed on the car? About $12,000. And what is it worth? About $9,000 or $10,000. Okay, so it's $3,000 upside down, we'll say. Okay. Does she have more than $3,000 of assets anywhere else in accounts or anything else? Do you think?

No. I don't think she does either. It would be close if so. Yeah, I don't think she does either. So here's the thing. You don't have an estate to settle. You do not owe any money. Her estate has to stand good for what she has. And so there's not, if there was a

$10,000 CD before you could put that in you or your brother's pockets, you'd have to cover the deficit on the car, the hole in the car, but there's not a $10,000 CD. So what this means is the bank gets the car and that's all they get. So call them and tell them to come get it and give them a copy of the death certificate. You can order that from the state and it takes about two weeks to get the death certificate in, but you can just tell them what's going on. Okay. There's no will. The lady died without a will. That means intestate without a will in the state of Tennessee, which is where you are. And there's no assets. She doesn't have anything.

And so you can have the car. You need to take the car back, folks, because it's all you're going to get, and no one is going to pay you the balance on the loan different because no one is liable. Okay? So is it a local bank, or do you know? I think it's, I think, no, it's not. It's corporate. Okay. So is it a local bank or do you know? I think it's, I think, no, it's not. It's corporate. Okay. All right. I'll just holler it. Try to get a phone number. I'll tell them what's going on. Say, I'm trying to do the honorable thing. How's the easiest way I can get you the car?

Because there's no assets in this estate. There's no estate going to be probated. There is zero. And so, but no one's going to pay for the car no one pays twelve thousand dollars for a nine thousand dollar car so you guys need to come get it you're not liable for it you understand me gray i understand okay you don't pay you do not pay a payment do not pay any insurance do not renew the tags do not put any of your money in this black hole whatever money you put into this is gone don't do it just tell them to come get the car and and and you know if they want some help it just to make it easy we'll get them a copy of the death certificate so they know what's going on but that's all there is don't but you don't need to hire an attorney you don't need to do anything

it's just done it's sad i'm so sorry i'm sorry the bad that's the bad news the good news is you don't have to do anything yeah there's no big rigamarole you know there's no big probate court hearing and trying to figure it out with your brothers because there's six thousand dollars we have to try to figure out how to split up or something good lord thank you you would have spent almost almost you spent more time on that than it was worth because the it's great news that that there's nothing you have to do except just get you know get rid of the car and let people know where they can come get it and please don't spend any of your money on this you are under no moral or legal or financial obligation to take care of any of this. You're letting the folks that have the car loan know where the car is is a courtesy on your part.

And that's the extent of it. Otherwise, if he did not do that, they would have to basically track this down on their own. Yeah, they just have to come try to find the car. But it's going to be sitting somewhere where the tires go down and somebody's going to tow it and it's going to end up in some impound lot or whatever i mean it's just going to disappear into the ether you know into the nothingness that is our world but yeah um so yeah that's horrible yeah so it's really good folks for you to remember out there if um you're dealing with an estate uh because people get this stuff screwed up all the time like dad had credit cards in his name you're not liable for those people think they have to pay

for it yeah you're not liable for those but he had a paid for sixty thousand dollar car oh well now now the car has to be sold to pay the credit cards oh we want to keep the car well then you're going to pay then you're going to pay the credit cards because the assets have to stand good for the debts that's how that works you can't just take the assets and let the debts be you can't yeah it's not how it works but in his in gray's case there's just not any not enough assets to cover the debts yeah that's the whole process so ouch that's tough. Wow. All right, Adam is in San Antonio.

Hi, Adam. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up? So, I've got a little bit of land, and I'm looking to put some light industrial space on it. You know, those garage doors roll up and a small office space inside of it.

Love it. Um, right now, uh, I've got a total of 225,000 to 230,000, uh, broken down that's 40 K in cash, 130 K in taxable non-retirement investment and 55 in Roth. My question is, do I cash out the taxable non-retirement or do I sell my house to be able to pay for this construction to go into place? Because my mentality is the housing market went up in 2022. I'm sitting on the 3.75% interest rate. I don't think we're going to have a giant jump in rates in homes anytime soon, but my accounts, they're still not where they have peaked back about a year ago. So I still think there's some upward mobility on that so just looking through your insight you don't sell your personal residence to do investing okay i mean i'm a single guy so an apartment wouldn't break me uh no but

you're being you're pushing it too far you need to keep your investments separate from your just because you're single doesn't mean you don't need to keep your investments separate from your, just because you're single doesn't mean you don't need to keep your investments separate from your personal. And so, you know, yeah, I mean, you could build an apartment over the top of one of those roll-ups and go live in it. That's a cool idea. If you want to do that, but I wouldn't do that. No, I wouldn't either. I would just, I mean, you can put up a building for 140.

No, no, I've got the other cash and then I've got some funds for this. I'm sorry. You just told us all the funds you had. I've got another investor getting in on it. This is my house. Okay, no. This is different. You own the ground.

You don't need a partner. Slow your butt down. You are going at 100 miles an hour. You're going to run in the wall, man. Slow down. Slow down. It's okay. You've got plenty of time. How old are you?

32. Yeah. You're going to be okay. You're going to be okay. Yeah. So what's it take to build the building? I was going to phase it, and so we were going to do— What's phase one?

Phase one is going to be one building, five units with a slab. How much? And then I think the road getting to it. So about... You're not ready. You're not ready. You're not ready. You don't know your numbers either.

So that's another reason you're not ready. No, you don't bring in partners. The only ship that won't sail is a partnership. You're going to get yourself in a mess, dude. Don't do that. Slow down. Don't sell your house. You got time to do this. Do it right. Hey, you guys, health insurance costs are only moving one way and that way isn't down. And if higher costs aren't enough, the wait times to see your doctor are longer, and it's harder than ever to get anything approved through the bureaucracy. So if you feel like the system is working against you, try a biblically-based alternative to health insurance, Christian Healthcare Ministries. CHM is a health cost-sharing ministry that's helped hundreds of thousands of families like yours take care of over $11 billion in medical bills since 1981.

And CHM has also helped them stay true to their values and avoid miles of red tape. And CHM support goes far beyond meeting financial needs. They'll also help meet spiritual needs. Members become part of a family who will pray with them and for them when they experience a medical event. So listen, y'all, there's no better way to take care of health care costs. CHM programs start as low as $98 a month. So learn more today and join at chministries.org budget budgets at chministries.org slash budgets. Jade Walsh, all Ramsey personality is my co-host today. If you didn't know, you can come and watch this show happen. We're on the air from one to four central time every day. Our lobby is a fun experience. You get to see a lot of cool ramsey

things and those of you that are plugged into this stuff there's a great bookstore there's free homemade chocolate chip cookies and free coffee yum yum yum and see if you people don't come visit jade and i have to eat all those cookies it's a rule so yeah it's completely free a lot of folks while they're doing some kind of drive-thru or by nashville put us on one of their stops thank you for doing that we get to meet all of you come out take a picture with you and all that kind of stuff in the lobby also right across the glass from jade and i we're looking at these beautiful people grant and christine are with us standing on the debt-free stage which can only mean one thing they're debt free welcome guys welcome good to have you

where do y'all live st louis missouri oh fun cool well welcome to nashville and how much debt have you two guys paid off 288 000 love it how long did that take about 10 years good for you and your range of income during that time um we started out at about $100,000, and we're at $160,000 this year. Good for you. What do you guys do for a living? I'm a nurse practitioner. And I'm a psychotherapist. Private practice.

Very cool. Very cool. And 10 years, $288,000. Is that your house? Yes, indeed. Looking at weird people. Knocked out the big dog. What's the house worth? About $240, indeed. Looking at weird people. Knocked out the big dog. What's the house worth?

About $240,000. About $240,000. So the $288,000 included more than just the house. Okay, we'll come back to that. And how much is in your nest egg? About $1.4 million. I hate meeting millionaires. Look at you, baby step millionaires.

You said it with such a straight face too oh she's she's very calculated she's been calculating uh-huh yeah grant he's dancing around but she's been calculating all right very awesome man way to go guys she's a free spirit with a calculator i love it so how much of this money did y'all inherit, by the way? None. None. Okay. So you're worth $1.4 million. No, plus the house. Or that's a total. That's a total. Total net worth including the house.

All right. Very good. So what was the rest of the debt? We had $168,000 in consumer debt. About $110,000 of it was... The house. Your student loan first. Yeah, our student loans. And then a lot of stupid with credit cards and cars.

Yeah, we've all done stupid. That's what keeps me in business. And thank you very much. You guys, you're fun. All right, so what started this whole journey, and how did you get connected to this Ramsey stuff a decade ago? Well, we were at church, and in the bulletin it said Financial Peace University. And so I thought, because our church's name is Peace, I thought it was the pastor offering it.

So we went over there and you jumped out on stage on the videos. Like, this is not what I thought it was. This is not what I thought it was going to be. I went in kicking and screaming. Oh, did you? Your line of, you know, I saw the heel marks in the parking lot. Yeah. That was me.

That was you? All right. That's going to be a stuffed shirt sitting in front of a wall of law books or something like that. You know, suit and tie. And when you came out in jeans and a shirt, I was like, okay, this might be okay. Ah, okay. I like this guy. All right.

All right. Well, I used to come out stuffed shirt, but I learned a lesson over the years that it's not very relatable. So I quit doing the stuffed shirt thing. I didn't like it anyway. All right. So how far into the lessons, Grant? I mean, what lesson were you on when you went, I think this is going to be okay? Because it wasn't just the jeans at the front.

I mean, come on. You still were sitting there with your arms crossed. But what, the first lesson get you or a couple more in or what? Absolutely. I remember tearing up when i saw the uh the gazelle you know you got to run you got to run you know and just that feeling of that's that's what it takes you know you are literally running for your life and when that hit when we had all this student loan debt we both have graduate degrees and uh you know that that was when it really got real yeah well you're in the psychology world i mean the psych i uh what i mean psychotherapy you know that

transformation does not occur without a visceral experience true yeah it requires it's not an intellectual i think i want to transform no i mean you got there's stuff has to break you know and you see it all the time i I'm sure, in your practice. But you guys did it. I'm so proud of y'all. Way to go, heroes. I feel to have no debt of any kind. It's phenomenal.

Absolutely fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. I love it. So what was your first act after paying off the mortgage? What did you do to celebrate? What was that moment? We're here. This is it.

This is pretty much it, yeah. Okay, now you've got to upgrade. What are you going to do? What are you going to do that's cool now? Well, now we have a whole bucket list going. Okay, what's the first thing on the bucket list? I would love to do an Alaskan cruise. Oh, yes, ma'am.

We've got some Alaska people sitting here, yeah. Yes. They'll tell you. I've done a couple of them and i'll tell you put the train ride over to denali and hang out at denali a couple days and go up on the glaciers that's even better than the cruising love it we did that on our last one it's a little expensive but you got the money yes that's right that's right oh i'm excited that's fun very cool very cool i don't think they call it Denali. I don't know. Anyway, I don't forget.

But it's whatever. I can't keep that stuff straight. But way to go, guys. Way to go. What do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? I mean, you kept at this 10 years. You did this the appropriate way. The first four were really intense.

And then, like you say, we went intentional with investing and paying off the house. Yeah. What's the keys to getting out of debt planning talking to each other have to be on the same team yeah it's our money and going through financial peace university made you get that connected up then yeah and then we facilitating it a more than a dozen times oh wow you can't not do it if you're the facilitator i did i brought it into my practice one time and made the mistake of putting it on Facebook and stuff like that. We had people on the stairway. We had to bring in extra chairs and stuff like that.

So it's like, oh, maybe we probably should find a bigger venue to do this if we're going to do this like this again. Wow. Very cool. That's very cool. And when you coordinate it, it's motivating for you as well, right? I mean, there's something about that. Absolutely. Yeah. It really reminds you of, there's something about that. Absolutely. Yeah.

It really reminds you of all the details that are important. Yeah. And every time you come back to host a new class, you're further ahead too. So it's like you get to see your progress over and over. That's wonderful. So good, guys. Way to go. Seeing that light bulb come on for people when they're like, ooh, I can do this.

Who was cheering you on outside the two of you lots of family and friends were a little bit naysayers but they like you know once she sets her mind to anything she's gonna do it so yeah they knew i didn't have a choice they're like watch watch christine's dust exactly here we go exactly and our grandson gavin uh when we would be driving him around to get him to take a nap he's in the back seat out cold and at the end of the desk free scream you'd see him come alive from the back seat yeah so just remembering that's that face on a two-year-old that's so perfect oh that's great way to go you guys hey we've got the Live and Give box for you.

It's got the Baby Steps Millionaires book in it, which you guys are there. Way to go. Ding, ding. Baby Steps Millionaires. I love it. And, of course, the Total Money Makeover book as well. You'll be able to give that to one of the folks that needs some help that you'll run into. And a Financial Peace University membership.

Also something you'll probably give away, I suspect. But that's the live and give box. And our way of saying thanks and saying we're proud of you. Very cool. Look at you, man. You just did it. You just did it. That's so fun.

How old are you two? I will be 65 next summer. All right. And she's not. Okay. That's a great answer. She's not even 60 yet. That's a great answer. Well played. 60 that's a great answer well played well played you got

me out of that grant and christine st louis missouri 288 000 paid off in 10 years making 100 to 160 baby step millionaire in it did it baby count it. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Go ahead. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! Yeah, baby! Yeah! That's how that happened. I just saw it. Love it.

Wow, I love that story. This is the Ramsey Show. Our scripture of the day, Isaiah 58, 11. The Lord will guide you always. He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Mary Kay Ash says, For every failure, there's an alternative course of action.

You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour. I'm in. Angelo is with us in Fairbanks, Alaska. Hi, Angelo. How are you? I'm doing great. How are y'all doing today? Better than we deserve. What's up in your world? I'm calling because me and my wife have a question for y'all. I'm 20. She's 21. We both work full time. We've been wanting to

have kids for a while now. It's something we're super excited to be parents. How old are you? I'm 20 and she's 21. Okay. But I've been having some concerns about it because I realized that having two full-time incomes right now is pretty sweet and it makes paying the bills a lot easier. Once we have a kid, if she, we agreed she'd be a stay-at-home mom and it is something we could definitely afford, no problem. But i'm concerned because it would slow down some of our financial goals that we want to do great trade make the trade the trade best thing on the planet is babies okay so we've just been worried because i know it's kind of weird for people this young to be excited about having kids yeah uh i don't know who you're running around with but

i mean i mean your life is going to look different and that's okay i mean she's going to be at home you're going to go down and come you've done the math you've looked at it i think that maybe more so than the numbers i think you're getting your head around how your life in general is going to look and how things do slow down. If your wife had a baby and she's 21 or 22 years old, she's going to be the youngest room mother over at the elementary school. The coolest youngest room mother ever. Yeah. I mean, yeah.

And the others will be a decade older than her. That'd be awesome. You know? So, yeah. Have at it. I mean, you do whatever you want to do but i'm just telling you uh if you're going to trade money for something the best thing you trade money for is babies it is a trade it is a trade i've been over analyzing it i guess now no you're not over analyzing it you're just analyzing it but i'm just telling you it's it's a value-based

judgment is what it is on one side of the the scales, baby. Other side of the scales, some money. Yeah. Which one tips the scales? Baby. And also, I mean, we have a bunch of positives that come out of it from it, too. Like my wife, she's going to college right now, and she'd be able to do more college work and get her degree faster so she could boost her income once she does come back to work. Yeah. Yeah.

What do you make? So I'm active duty Air Force, so my pay is a little weird after my housing allowance and my food and all that good stuff is taken out my retirement i make 1500 paychecks yeah but all that other stuff's worth another couple thousand right yeah i think if you include all that it comes out to like 60k something like that that's good thanks for your service well you know it's up to you you there's no heart there you did nothing wrong if you said we want to stack cash high before babies but you did nothing wrong if you said we want to start our family while we're young or and uh we're going to stack cash a little more slowly because babies are here there

is nothing wrong with either one of those answers nothing improper it is a value-based decision absolutely and um i just as we look back the best things we ever did were babies the next are actually the best thing was if i'd have known how great grandkids are going to be i'd have been nicer to their parents but um yeah that's grandbabies are the best because was if I'd have known how great grandkids are going to be, I'd have been nicer to their parents. But yeah, grandbabies are the best because if one of them is broken, you just hand it back. This one's apparently broken. It smells. You need to take this one.

So I don't know what to do with that. That looks like Rachel needs to fix that. That's a good discussion because it is very based on your values. It's based on your values it's based on what you want to do as a couple because sam and i we had so much debt it was like we couldn't fathom starting a family in that place so we were like way to do you had you got out for your kids we were married 10 years before we had kids okay yeah paid off all our debt first but that's not to say that somebody else would ever have to think to do that you know what i'm saying it's really he's not in debt he's just saying ever have to think to do that. You know what I'm saying? He's not in debt. He's just saying, I'm going to take less wealth.

Yeah, exactly. I'm going to have less income. That's a little different than a little different. Well, it weighs heavier on you, I think. The debt does. Yes, absolutely. I mean, I'm going to get wealthy slower is different than I'm overwhelmed with debt. Right.

Yeah. But I mean, you could be a couple and you're in whatever amount of debt and you could still choose to have kids. Yeah. Yeah. You could. You could. Yeah. kids. Yeah. Yeah. You could. You could. Yeah.

Good. Yeah. Yeah. That's my point. There's not a wrong choice. It's like never have children. Always have. No, neither one.

Neither one. Right. But it's just my personal experiences that the best thing I've ever done. I've done a lot of fun stuff in my life, done a lot of stuff of note, but the three Ramsey kids are the best things I've ever done. I feel that. I second that sentiment. There we go.

All right, Lee is in Lubbock, Texas. What's up, Lee? Hey, doing well. How are you? Better than I deserve. How can we help? Okay, so my wife and I, we are, we're getting ready to pay our house off in the next couple months. Um, I make base salary 60,000, she makes 50. Um, but

then at the end of every year, my bonus will be anywhere from a hundred to 130,000. And so what we're wanting to try to figure out how to do is now that we're getting ready to pay our house off um we want to start trying to max out our 401ks and roth iras but once we if we were to completely max our 401ks and our iras out um that would leave it a very slim margin to live off of before the bonus comes in. And I'm just kind of wondering your advice. Do it out of the bonus. Yeah, can you lump sum it out at the end of the year?

Oh, no, no, no, no, no. The 401K is payroll withheld, and you don't own the company, right? Exactly, yeah. And so I can't, my bonus pay can't go towards the 401K, I guess. No, it can, but it would just be late in the year before it got there. You can have the same percentage of your bonus going in the 401k if you do the rest and add it up to where you get to the $19,000 or $28,000 or whatever it is right now. Oh.

Yeah, your bonus, you can have bonus go to 401k. It just has to be payroll withheld. Okay. I did not realize that i talked to our payroll lady and she um made it sound like i couldn't do that well because she doesn't know how to do it but that doesn't mean it can't be done yeah gotcha yeah it definitely can be done because we do it here so i know it can be done you know we have folks that that you know they uh and what i do here in ramsey which is what i was leaning towards but you can't do that is um i just load my 401k out of my first couple checks at in january every year and then i got and i'm done for the year i max it out yeah what if what if you did that so when do

you get the bonus well he can't because he can't control that like i can't like how it's dispersed i own it so i can make that happen he has to just take a percentage of his income putting into 401k it's the only way they'll do it and so it's the only way they're allowed to do it but i'm not doing anything illegal but i'm saying because i own it i can choose to fully fund mine early and quickly um and i've got the flexibility of you know the accounting people like work for me and stuff so that's you know that that's that changes the whole equation versus the payroll lady that doesn't even know how to do the deal so um yeah i think you're probably gonna just figure out you got you're making 200 and you want to put uh whatever your max is in and figure that out

as a percentage of 200 and then just make that the percentage of your check okay all the way through and then of course we're making sure you got 22 fives your max so if you made two and a quarter you put two percent ten percent in you follow me yes i do yep but you're gonna have to also make sure payroll lady gets this figured out because it'll screw it up if she screws it up exact yeah i'll have to have a conversation with her. Okay. Yeah. But you can do that. You may have to do a little bit of research and bring her the actual documentation and

showing her that not only can she do it, she actually has to do it if you ask her to. There you go. She's better. Yeah. That's the best play on it. Yeah. And then you can do that. Now, if it's Roth IRAs, you can load those on January 1st for the whole year.

And you can load them on January 1st for the year before as well. That's right. Yeah, that's right. The year before, because as long as you put the money in prior to filing the taxes for the year before, you can do that and you can also go ahead

and do the next year while you're at it and just knock it all out and just max the thing up. That's what we do. Again, we just, January is just a big savings month for the Ramseys

and that's cool. Good job, Jade. Well done. Well done, Booth boys. The men in the booth. The Booth dudes. Well played. We'll be Booth boys. The men in the booth, the Booth dudes. Well played. 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. Hey, what's up, guys? It's Jade. Look, if you like what you heard in this episode and want to know more about getting started on the Ramsey Baby Steps, go to ramseysolutions.com and click the Get Started button.

We'll help you figure out the best next step for you based on your specific situation. That's ramseysolutions.com and click Get Started.