The Ramsey Show - App - When You Get Married, I Becomes We (Hour 2)

Episode Date: June 14, 2024

From Ramsey Network, this is The Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create amazing relationships. I'm George Campbell, joined by my my good friend Dr. John Deloney, and we're taking your calls at 888-825-5225. We'll do our best to help you take the right next step for your life and your money. Sarah's going to kick us off this hour in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Sarah, welcome to the show. How can we help? Hi. Thanks so much for taking my call, first of all.

I have an opportunity cost question. Okay, lay it out. So the situation is that I'm a cancer patient and it's metastatic. So I have an 85% chance that I'm going to die within the next five years. Sounds very dramatic, I know. But I also have a very specific life dream. My husband and I, when it comes to the Baby Steps, I would say that we've really moved into Baby Step 7, and we had made plans as partners that we were going to now pursue very

specific dreams to give back to the community. And my dream is to charter a federal credit union. It really requires a specific college degree. With so little time left, I'm debating, is it time to just kind of put that dream on hold? Because it's going to take a couple years of college or pursue it so that I can finish strong if these are my last five years. And I really just don't know which direction to go. For those people who are listening to this going, wait, wait, what, what, what? How is she talking so clearly? You've been wrestling with this for a long time, haven't you? Yeah, the past year year ever since the diagnosis okay so is the smoke cleared are you still walking around kind of in that that shocked phase where everything feels pretty good and it's hard to wrestle with even

though it's sitting out out there i can get emotional from time to time but i think i i think i know what i want to do i just need need to know, like, which direction to take. I want to, again, make that if this is the last chapter of my book, I want it to be a really good chapter. And I don't know. I don't want to rob my husband of our last few years together. I would have to be a full time student and work full time. But I also don't want to not do something with my life before i go okay so when it comes to when it comes to price point like we can afford it no it's nothing to do with that nothing to do with that um tell me about your dream of what would it like if you

had a magic wand and you went ka-ting on a local park bench and this credit union emerged, what would it be doing for the community? This federal credit union would be chartered specifically for my Native American tribe to basically, there's just so much poverty and so much lack of both resources and training within my tribe that I want this federal credit union to give them access to a specific type of loan and the coaching that they need to be successful so that they can begin having that opportunity. I think that's beautiful. And I also think you can accomplish a huge chunk of this. Or let's snap your fingers. You spend five years imagining what life is going to be with your husband.

Because here's the deal. Y'all made plans, and those plans are now over as you knew it, right? Your marriage as you know it is over. Your life as you knew it was over. And now y'all are going to build a new life for the last five years. Okay? And so you care and love for this tribe, and you want to give them resources. You want to give them information.

You want to give them coaching. This is just me. I would hate for you to live the last four years of your life taking a counting three. Right? It does sound kind of miserable. I know it is because I used to watch my roommates would come home and just stare at a blank wall, right? So here's the thing.

If that's what you want to do, because I'm somebody who loves a college classroom. I love being surrounded by people and arguing and debating ideas and a professor who's walking us. I love that. So if you tell me, John, that I've always had this dream, I don't want to go out without an accounting degree. I'll tell you right now, go sign up today. You got four years.

Go make it happen. I would tell you to go do that. That doesn't sound like your dream. It sounds like that is a step you have to take to create this vision of how am I going to help and love my tribe. I would love to see you just bypass that whole thing and just love your tribe. Is there a way to accomplish that mission without being a charter of a credit union? Start a weekly class. Because if the goal is to give them resources financially, there's all kinds of ways to do that, right?

Set up a program on teaching them how to apply for college, teaching them how to get jobs. You could create an entire ecosystem so that 150 of them can band together and build a whole string of credit unions down the road.

And one of them will name it after you one day. You see what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah. I think I hear the direction that you're going with this um then one of the things that i'm afraid of is how do i get that um that um you know that kind of that investment that cultural group investment if i don't have their credentials because i don't

have a whole lot of charisma either so i don't think they're just going to sign up so what would be a way to substantiate i don't i disagree with you i disagree you do have charisma i can hear it on the phone well i talk on the phone for a living there you go right i mean i you're doubting yourself and you've pigeonholed the only way I can leave a lasting mark is to create this brick and mortar thing. And George and I are telling you. You could start an Instagram account and reach way more of those people. Millions. This year. Yeah, of our native friends.

So we're just saying I want you to dream of different ways you can accomplish the mission so that you don't pigeonhole yourself and do, well, if I don't sit in a classroom for the next four years, this isn't going to happen. Cause I think there's, there's more than one way to do this. And I also want you to enjoy, let's say there is five years left. How do you still enjoy time with your husband and still create memories and

also accomplish your, your career dreams? Yeah. Can I challenge you on something? Yes. Do you have, do you have kids or just, just your husband? No kids, just the husband. Yeah. Can I challenge you on something? Yes. Do you have, do you have kids or just, just your husband? No kids, just the husband. He's an amazing guy too. One of a kind. No one,

it's actually notated in my doctor's notes how much he stood beside me. So definitely a heck of a guy. That's awesome. So if you decide, um, y'all two alternate making dinners for each other and you wake up every morning and watch the sunrise and have coffee together for the next five years and you pass away that's an extraordinary last chapter an extraordinary last chapter I don't want you to

conflate a life well lived with big neon flashing signs that say I left my mark Because what you're going to find is yes, it is cool to put a mark on something. It's cool for me to have the number one best selling book. But I tell you what, when my son stands up and George, my son's here today and he's like, man, he called me. Yes, sir. And I'll take that every day of the week. Right?

And that comes from having morning breakfast and hanging out and walking alongside and teaching and riding bikes together. And so I want you to reimagine what a life well lived looks like in your last chapter. And I promise if you chase some big, huge, dramatic thing, it's not going to feel like you think it's going to feel. I want you to be honest about what does a life well lived look like in the last five years and you're in this ride or die with your husband. You all sit down together and decide what is this going to look like and it might be serving indigenous people. That's amazing. I love that.

But let's serve them in a way that's not going to require you to spend three-fourths of your remaining time in a classroom. And let's figure out other ways to do it because I promise you're smart enough and you are captivating enough to do that. Best of luck to you. We love you, love you, love you. Call anytime. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show.

I'm George Campbell, joined by Dr. John Deloney. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Today's question from the day. Question of the day. It comes from Zach. From the day. It's from the day. It's of the day.

It comes from Zach in Kansas. What does Zach have to say? I'm looking for it here. All right, let's see this. Oh, boy. Is this a real question? This may be my favorite question of all time. This is my number one favorite question of the day ever.

Zach from Kansas writes, I want to buy an Alex Van Halen drum set at auction. It's his last played tour set. It's likely going to be $100,000 to $150,000, and I want to use some of my 401k money to pay for it. Dude, I am with you so far, Zach. I love drums, and I love Van Halen. Most importantly, that was awesome,

I think it will go up in value rapidly, more rapidly than my 20% increase in my retirement fund. That's how much it's gone up so far this year. I think it's a good investment because it's rare. I would like to hear your thoughts and insights. Oh, man. Easily. Number one, favorite question of all time.

Should I cash out my 401 to buy Alex Van Halen's drum set? I'm going to have to go with a yes on this one, Zach. I'm going to have to go with a yes. A big yes. I feel like Deloney in his heart of hearts would actually be like, yeah, bro, do it. Worth it. Oh my gosh.

Zach, for all that is holy, please don't do this. Yeah, in case someone stops the call here, do not do this. Please don't do this. For anything. No. Especially not an Alex Van Halen drum set. I think it will go up in value more rapidly than my 20

okay let me explain it's a good lesson in compound growth john you want to play the game well you're gonna bite there's there's two two investment lessons here you teach the one on compound growth i'll teach the one on stuff okay so um i remember when they asked warren buffett about crypto and he said i wouldn't buy all the crypto for 25 Buffett about crypto and he said, I wouldn't buy all the crypto for $25. And they said, why? And he said, because no matter how much it goes up in value, that value is not real. It's a proxy. It's a guesstimation. It's a bunch of people saying, I would pay that for that. I'd pay that for that. At any given moment, 24-7. Right. And what he said was, I would have to sell it to be able to buy anything that I need.

That has value. That has value. Like wood or oil or water. Or a Van Halen drum set. Or a Van Halen drum set. Now you see where I'm going. So if you're buying a, dude, I like buying guitars. I love them.

I love them. I love them. And once I sell X number of books, I've got my eyes on a very particular guitar that I've no business buying, but I love them. I love them. I love them. And once I sell X number of books, I've got my eyes on a very particular guitar that I have no business buying, but I can't wait to get it. I get that. But to say that I'm doing this for an investment

would mean at some point I have to sell this and hope that somebody will still buy this for this much money down the road. And so I do not think it will appreciate more than 20%. I just don't see it. So when you're thinking about buying things that are going to go up in value, beanie babies, baseball cards,

do they go up in value temporarily or over a shorter period of time? Yes, of course they do. But I'm not going to, Mickey Mantle rookie card, it's gone up a jillion dollars. I wouldn't use that as an investment vehicle. And I wouldn't spend money.

I wouldn't borrow money for myself to buy something that I'm going to have to resell to do anything with. Good point. You ready for the math lesson? Bring it. Bring it. Okay. Mathematician. So taking money out of your 401k as a withdrawal has not only your income taxes but also penalties

so it's like borrowing let's say it's fifty thousand dollars he wants to rob his 401k of uh it's a hundred and fifty thousand dollars he said he wants to use some of his 401k money to pay for it i don't know if he's saying he has you know so let's say he's gonna use 50 grand as an example well he's gonna pay upwards of 30 35 percent for the pleasure of using that money not only that but he's also unplugged the future growth. So I have an example here. Let's say he's 37 years old. He's going to use 50K. That money from 37 to 67, if he had just left it in the 401k, never added a dime, would have turned into over a million dollars with compound growth. So if you're trying to tell

me that this drum set is going to be worth over a million dollars one day, now we'll talk. He's one of the best drummers of all time, George. I'm not going to lie. Well, why isn't someone else bidding this up for him? That intro to Hocker Teacher's pretty amazing.

Why are they only selling it for $100,000 if it's actually worth a million? It's just not there yet. Don't do this, Zach. No, Zach, Zach. This is a real question guys is this really that we no one fake this in the booth okay

people always assume John that we fake this stuff for like entertainment I could not have written this question in an improv creativity group I couldn't have done it it's too good alright back to real people with real problems hopefully John in New York city what's going on

hey guys thank you so much for taking my call sure how can we help hey so i have a business i had for roughly about 15 years and finally decided to run it it's um you know i'm gonna need some cash i have about two hundred thousand dollars i'm sitting on and i you know the business itself doesn't have any money because the way i ran it up to this point. But, uh, so the question is, do I, um, use the money to finance it or do I apply for a line of credit or, you know, what should be the next step for me? So explain, you said you've been running the business for 15 years. I had it for a while, but I had such a nice job. I never really thought about ever quitting the job, which I did a year ago to actually run it. So it was basically, you know, I never really thought about ever quitting the job, which I did a year ago to actually run it.

So it was basically, you know, I was paying really well, whatever the money was coming in, it was going right back out. I started at $346 a month and fast forward. It's at, um,

close to 800,000 right now. And on contract, I have now a top line of 3.2. Uh, wow. That's where I'm going to be at this time next year. So top line is $800,000 a year? Right now, but I'm under contract right now, starting July 1st.

So at this time next year, my top line is going to be 3.2. And what is your net profit? 30% on that. 30%. Okay. So why are you needing to finance anything? Why can't you just pay cash for whatever you need to do to scale the business? That was the question. See, up to this point,

I've been running it in such a way that I never even bothered to, I took a very tiny salary. And so now that I quit my job a year ago, I decided I'm going to grow this business. We're going to build something for the family, like a brand new legacy. But I have $200,000 I've been sitting on because I come from nothing. And just the fear of going back to nothing is to be sort of holding off the cash. And so that was the question. Do I go into debt for the first time in my life? Or do I, well, not the first time I actually have a house and investment property. But again, that's not really part of the equation right now. I'll tell you the best way to run a business is debt-free. And that's how Dave Ramsey started this company,

the studio we're sitting in, this building we're sitting in, all was done at the speed of cash. And it's how we teach all business owners to run their business in Entrez Leadership, which is our business arm of teaching people how to grow and run a business. And so I would highly recommend you continue to run this business debt-free,

move at the speed of cash. Don't get ahead of yourself. Don't get starry-eyed. Don't, you know, go finance a million dollars to try to scale this thing. You've done an amazing job doing it with cash. There's no reason to turn to a lender now. Good enough. I've been actually having to turn business away because I don't have enough cash for the,

you know, what I'm going to need in terms of buying equipment. And I'm okay with that. Just so you know, what kind of business is it? It's like a, it's cleaning, cleaning service, property management,

uh, deal with a lot of large, uh, um, uh, commercial properties. That's all I deal with. And everything's with contracts,

um, for a year at the very least. Uh, we don't, you know, we're doing well and we project to do even well and grow even more, but I haven't happened to turn business away

because I don't want to do it after, you know, I'm hesitating. I found you guys about a year and a half or so ago and I'm late to the principles, but again, I don't have any debt. I don't. Listen, John, listen, here's what you just did. You've been moving and moving and you just signed the big one. You just signed one that's going to bring in millions of dollars.

And so I want you to step out and look at 10 years from now. If you nail this one, it's going to put millions of dollars in your pocket, and that is going to be what you buy the new equipment with. So if you can hold your lifestyle one more year, and you can hold the way the business operates one more year, you're going to be flush. And I'll tell you, you're in New York City, so you get what I'm about to say. Imagine the meetings we had here in 2020 when the world shut down. We had not one creditor to pay. 100% of the energy in this building was going to make new business and help people who were hurting. It was not trying to back pay money we'd already spent.

And I want you to be ready for that moment because there's going to be people in your field that are desperate to pay off their cleaning equipment and their vans and whatever. And you're going to owe no money. And you can come in and give people a base price during the middle of a crisis. And you will take the entire market over. You are right where you need to be, my brother. You're on track. On track. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show.

I'm George Campbell, joined by Dr. John Deloney. Open phones at 888-825-5225. We're going to keep the show rolling onto Cincinnati. What's going on to Ambrose in Ohio? How's it going? Hey, how's it going? I just had a question for you guys. I am getting married in August.

Yeah, I know. And basically, both me and my fiancee, I'm 27, she's 26. And I'm just kind of wondering how to combine finances. So I have a house and about like $100,000 net worth. And she was a traveler for a while, so she's got a really high cash net worth of almost $200,000. And I'm just kind of wondering, how do you guys suggest like combining finances? Obviously, I mean, I have been married before, so first time doing this, I don't actually know how you guys did combining finances? Obviously, I mean, I haven't been married before, so first time doing this, I don't actually know how you guys did it when you did it.

So I'm just looking for that type of help. Awesome. When I got married, we were so broke. Yeah, I had eight cents, and so it was pretty easy to combine it. We combined it in the ashtray, the cup holder in our car. And Ambrose was like, I have a million, she's got two million, just want her to the best way to combine these things. No, that's great. I love that you're thinking about this. So you own a home, what's left on the mortgage? It's about a 200,000, or it's worth, I don't know,

estimates. It goes from 220 to 240, and I have 140 left on it. Okay. So you got about 100,000 equity there. And is she renting right now? No, she's at home with her parents. Okay. So once you guys get married, is the plan for her to move into your house? Yep. Okay. And do you guys have any debt other than your mortgage?

No, no debt. And she has $200,000 in cash? Yeah, she was a travel nurse during all of COVID, so pretty good. This is amazing. And you have cash as well? Yeah, I've got about a 15K cash set aside besides the stuff. So 15K, and then the rest of it's going towards the wedding. Okay. You guys are cash flowing the wedding. Have you figured out who's paying for that? Yeah, we already got that covered. Great. And honeymoon? Yep, got that covered too. All right. So here's what I did.

Here's what I recommend anyone do. Once you guys are back from the honeymoon, combine your bank accounts to one. And what I did was I had my checking. I just made it a joint checking and added her to it. So it's not like you both have to close down your accounts. You can just create out of yours a joint checking, add her to it.

She can shut hers down. And then you guys have a shared joint your accounts. You can just create out of yours a joint checking, add her to it. She can shut hers down. And then you guys have a shared joint checking savings account as well. That can be a high yield savings account with an online bank. And that's really all you need as far as the tactics. Are y'all going to live in this house for a long time? Ask your question again. Sorry. So basically also there's like no tax implications of combining

finances and considering no no no this is y'all's money um are you going to live in your house is this going to be your permanent place yep i'm going to probably be there for about five years and she's excited about living there oh absolutely yeah she's gotten the garden beds picked out a bunch of stuff is updating it painting the rooms She's definitely nesting a little bit there, although she's not pregnant, that's all I'm saying. But no, I can imagine moving in after you've lived in your house by yourself, it's going to need some work. I would recommend considering taking some of the cash that y'all both have and pay this

house off. It'd be pretty amazing to start your new marriage without a house payment. Yeah, you'll have $215,000 going into it if nothing changes, if you don't add anything to it, and you pay off the mortgage of 140, you still have 75,000 left as your emergency fund, savings, vacation, slush funds, what have you. And that would put you in the Ramsey baby steps at baby step seven at a very, very young age, which boggles my mind. Now, the question is, what is she going to think about using her $200K toward this mortgage? I don't know. It's going to be hard to convince her. She doesn't want to invest in that because it's kind of just sitting in cash right now. Pay off your house. That's the best investment you can make. A forced fixed savings rate.

You don't have to worry about what the market did with your money. You guys are sitting pretty. What's your mortgage right now? What's the monthly payment? $1,200. Okay. So you'd free up probably about $1,000. Obviously, you still got to pay property taxes and homeowners insurance, but that's an extra $1,000 you guys now get to invest on top of your amazing incomes what are you guys going to be making together once you're married uh 180 or sorry 160 okay can i recommend something before you do any of this stuff y'all need to go out and have a dream about money a conversation about money because i'll tell you what you're going to start off and you're already going to you're going to drive out of the church parking lot with two flat tires if that money is still her money and if your house is still your house.

Yeah. When y'all drive out of that church, that's y'all's money and that's y'all's house. And so if y'all decide we're going to pay your house off, and if y'all decide we're going to live a life where we owe nobody anything forever and our entire destiny is up to us moving forward i can't even imagine how amazing that would be i'm just like trying to put myself in your shoes thinking about the fights and the discouragements and the near call on it quits me and my wife had the first few years and so much of it was over money and jobs and where we're going to be y'all will have

all of that behind you if you wish. But y'all need to get on the same page with this is going to, all of this becomes ours and just practicing talking about that and deciding what kind of life do we want to have? You get what I'm saying? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Okay.

That's the most difficult part because she worked really hard to save up $200,000. And so it can be very jarring for you to come in and be like, all right, sweet, we're married now, so you're going to pay off my mortgage. And you need to change the language around all of this. This is now our money. This is our mortgage. This is our house, our dreams.

And what is our best path to wealth and peace and joy? And 100% of the time, that is debt freedom. That's a part of it. And you'll have plenty of time to invest. I'm not worried about the fact you guys will be multimillionaires if you invest from 27, making high six figures all the way up to 67. It will boggle your mind. But for now, in the meantime, while you guys are young, I'd rather free up a mortgage payment and enjoy that money, invest give some spend some go on some trips how does that hit you awesome that that makes a lot of sense i appreciate the advice all right go get them brother goodness gracious what a wonderful problem to have

and here's the other side if she came in with two hundred thousand dollars of i don't know medical school debt that would also be our our debt be our debt that's right it's a lot less fun than coming in with 200 grand of net positive cash flow but it's the same principle where you have to swallow your pride and go i did so well saving and she came into this well that's her debt to pay off and so she's gonna work on that well that's a one-way ticket to a real sad marriage. Yeah, and it's also tough to so often when you are able to and you're blessed enough to build up some pretty significant cash reserves,

you almost don't realize how much you start leaning on it. Like as an identity, as a safety crutch, like I'll be okay. I can do anything, right? And so when you get married and of course you don't want to have a house payment, but I mean, I need, I need my, I need my, I've been leaning on this for years. Like this is my $200,000 that I can do anything at any time with. And it's like, no, no, no, now it's us. Right. And that's a hard transition to make. I get that's really tough. Yeah. Probably one of the hardest conversations as you combine lives together is just getting

over that hump of what are we now going to build together because there's some compromise it's not like you marry the same exact person who's like oh my gosh i was thinking the same thing you should definitely do that there's going to be some arguments and spirited debates over what there should be there should be but when it's born out of the same values right well now we can get somewhere we can actually compromise and not lose our principles and i think it asking, what do we want our house to feel like at the end of every day? I want it to feel warm and hilarious. And if we just want to watch TV, we can watch TV.

If we want to just go for a walk, we can do whatever we want because we don't owe anybody anything. And that's how you reverse engineer that. Oh, then I'm just going to go and pay the house off because we have this money sitting in this account. That will be better than, all right, let's buy a duplex. And we're going to arbitrage it. Jeez, Louise. Well, we know money fights and money problems are still one of the leading causes of divorce.

And so when you can start out your married life with zero debt, I'm telling you it's going to decrease the amount of money fights and money problems you have. You're going to have to go look for some problems. Oh, that's good. That's good encouragement. They'll find you. They always do. They'll find you. Well, I found, John, that even though my wife and I don't argue about money a lot,

still a lot of arguing, you know? I'm like, why did you have to buy so many throw pillows? Well, I have to see which ones look good, then I'll return the rest. America, if you can help solve the problem of how many pillows are on my bed right now Why are there so many pillows?

I will never ever understand that You're not even allowed to put your head on them I have two doctors and I don't understand why we need so many pillows on our beds, George For the aesthetic that no one sees except you Help America, help Send help This is The Ramsey Show. This is The Ramsey Show. I'm George Campbell, joined by Dr. John Deloney.

You know, a crux of this show is making the most of your money. And the only real way to do that tactically through a daily habit is by budgeting. And we've got the tool to make that happen for you. It's called EveryDollar. It makes it super simple to plan your spending, track your expenses, save for what matters most to you, all in an easy to use app that fits into your busy life. So you can download it, you can get your spouse to download it, you can both be logged in, have accountability, and know exactly where EveryDollar is going instead of hoping that you have enough money in the account at the end of the month. So go download EveryDollar for free in the App Store or Google Play today and get that budget rolling. All right, Maya's up next on the line in New Orleans. What's going on, Maya? Hello. So essentially, my question is, should I put my credit card debt on hold to pay for my summer classes?

And then how can I best prepare myself for my loans as I graduate with my MBA in December? So I know there's going to be a new monthly cost overall. I did do a breakdown with all my debts, so I'm trying to be quick, but I can run you guys through what I'm working with right now. Okay. So how much more? Your school's over in December. How much more do you have to pay? So I'm paying for my summer classes right now. I'll be taking out a loan in August, only five grand. But right now I paid $1,600 at the beginning of this month, and then I owe $1,600 at the end of July.

As far as my credit card debt on one, my total is $879, and $300 is due by the end of July. My next credit card, $358, that's due at the end of the month. I can easily pay that off now, actually. Hold on. If you could easily pay it off, why did we go into a few hundred bucks of credit card debt? What happened? This is kind of crazy. So I normally put my gym workout on the credit card every month. It's just kind of like a reoccurring thing. But I got a little willy-nilly and ran it up higher than it should be. So it's normally about $75 a month.

Ran it up through extra spending? Correct. Okay. Maya, you're getting an MBA. Are you going two classes or is this an online program? This is an in-person. I'm doing an accelerated program.

So it's nine months, but this summer I'm taking some additional courses or some, I guess, online classes. So it's about three grand for the summer and it's normally five grand a semester. So I've only taken out one additional loan. Have you gone through all of your

services and fees? Yes. Well, I looked at what they're charging me. Yeah. So if you go through your services and fees, I would be stunned if you're not paying a rec fee. You're not paying for an amazing gym.

No, no, no, that's separate. I'm sorry. The gym membership is coming out of my own personal. I know, that's what I'm saying. I'm saying you're about to have an MBA. You're about to have a master's in business administration. And as a part of this $5,000 tuition that you're paying, that comes with counseling services and medical clinic

and access to the university gym. And over here, you're paying for the gym again. That's what I'm trying to get at. I'm paying, yeah. I have trainers that I go to, and unfortunately, I just don't want to give it up. I know, but you don't have the money for it. So you're going to go into debt at

who knows what interest rate so that you can have multiple gym memberships? Could you cash flow this otherwise? You're about to be a master of business administration. So, okay, you make a great point. So I actually started listening to you guys in January. I was doing great, and then in March, I kind of stopped

listening to you all, I'm not going to lie. And I got myself back into credit card debt. I'm seeing a correlation here. When you don't listen to what John says, bad things happen. And if you don't have George Campbell in your ears at all times, don't do it. Here we go. You guys are back into my morning routine. Are you in great shape? Are you in great shape

physically? I need to get it fully there. You'll be alright for a few months. Okay, for real, here's the deal. Let's try to stop the bleeding. No more loans. So if you took debt off the table, what would it take for you to cash flow the rest of the schooling? Okay, so... How many thousands of dollars? Cash flow, okay, by the end of July, I'll, I mean, 1600, I'm still going to get a grand back for my taxes. So I was going to throw that to it and I already have a total of 1400 saved up today. Done. So July's coming, right? Let's check off July. What's the next bill?

Yeah. Five grand. And then they do payment plans. So it'd be a grand a month. Done. Can you cash flow a grand a month to avoid going into debt? Done, yes. So I make $55,000 a year. Thankfully, my dad pays for all my car expenses, and then come August, I'll pick up at my part-time job again. I work at that same gym. You work at the gym and it's not free?

So the gym membership is free, but the part where I get training is $75 a month. Oh my goodness. Okay. Yeah. Here's the truth. You make 55 grand, you can cash flow a thousand bucks a month. Truth? Okay.

So. Yeah. Yes. You got to cut things. You're in graduate school. Debt is not an option. That's your new mantra. So do I stop investing in my 401k?

Stop investing. That's my 401k for both of them. Pause investing down to zero. We're going to cut our lifestyle down a little bit so that we don't have to go further into debt. Because the truth is you don't need this. You don't need a lender. You have Maya.

She works her butt off, and she has the money to pay for this. And so here's the deal. That's my thing is I'm young. So I'm like 23, and my goal is just to pay off the debt by the time I'm 30. I don't think you're taking out more debt. I was thinking like the end of the year. But that's why I was going to take out the debt because, you know, it's only about right now I'm sitting at $57,000.

How is someone who's so driven and so disciplined, so lackadaisical about their financial future, going, well, seven years from now, maybe I'll pay off a few thousand dollars? Or somebody who's getting a credential that is going to give you access to teach people how to run their businesses. And you're like, I know. Maya, if Maya was running Maya Incorporated, she was running the books, what would you grade her right now?

Honestly, I would give myself like a two. But ask me two months ago and I would have gave myself like a six. Is this out of 10? Yeah, out of 10. I want to rate you 10 out of 10. And to do that, we're going to cut the debt. Because you know how business works, right? Revenue goes up, expenses go down. That's how it works. Right. And one of the expenses right now is debt. Because you know how business works, right? Revenue goes up, expenses go down.

That's how it works. And one of the expenses right now is debt. So if you can cut that, then your revenue, your income is going to be all profit, right? This is business 101. And so that's how I want you to live your personal life. Because you know this from a business standpoint, but it's easy to get sloppy in your personal life. Because we are infallible humans who have emotions running the show. And Maya, why are you getting an MBA? This is kind of a bad question. So I have my undergrad in healthcare management.

I actually graduated in December of 2022 with my undergrad. I graduated a little early to save some money. I did not like working in the healthcare field, so I switched over to HR, and I work for a car rental company. I like doing what I'm doing, but if I'm going to be honest with you, I really don't know why I'm getting the MBA. I tried to get a master's in a different, like, area, and essentially the counselor I met with was like, no, you need to get an MBA. It'll do good things for your career. I'm just getting it right now because I know that I'm young.

I don't have kids, but I have time to get it. I'm able to, like you said, cash flow it cheap right now. But you're not cash flowing. You told us you're going to go into debt for it, and you already owe $57,000. Yeah, I do owe $57,000. I'm going to attempt, like you guys said To cash flow it, actually I think that that's possible

Well, you promised me it's not going to be an attempt Can you just say, I'm going to cash flow it? I'm going to cash flow it I'm going to cash flow it Okay, we will be watching, we will find you on the internet And we'll know, Maya, so don't lie to us Yes, no, no, no I am, I'm going gonna put a plan in place

i just need to figure out i guess how to best budget like all my my stuff there we go that's a solution hey maya how far how far along are you in my in your program um i have five classes left so i'm taking two classes in the summer and i'll have three come August and I'm done. Okay. So you're already headed way downhill. Because otherwise, honestly, if you were just one semester in, I would have told you to stop. It's too expensive and it's too hard of a credential. And at 23, you're going to get out with an MBA and you're going to put yourself in a strange position where you're over-credentialed. So people can't hire you at some of these entry-level positions at these big companies, but you're going to be not have enough

experience to run the company or be a senior leader. And so you're going to find yourself in a no man's land. So I want you to start now networking, networking, networking, networking, so that when you get out, you'll have a job or multiple job opportunities with this new MBA that you don't even know if you really won. Good God almighty college counselors. We got to do better. That puts us out of the Ramsey show in the books. We'll see you next time.