The Ramsey Show - App - Why You Should Never Borrow Money From Family (Hour 1)

Episode Date: August 29, 2023

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the pods, moving and storage studios. It's the Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. Thank you for joining us, America. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, number one best-selling author of the book Paycheck to Purpose and host of The Ken Coleman Show, talking about your job, your career, how you make money,
Starting point is 00:00:55 and finding work you love and that you make more money than you ever made in your life. He's my co-host today, so if you want to talk about any of that, you jump in. We will. Phone number is 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Robert is with us in Alberta, Canada. Hi, Robert. How are you? I'm doing well. How about yourself? Better than I deserve. What's up? All right. I'm looking to buy my first house with my wife. We have about 150,000 saved and my in-laws are being generous and lending us about 100,000 help with the down payment.
Starting point is 00:01:32 That's enough for us to get a decent town home in our area. And that way we would only owe family. But at that payback rate they want with my in-laws, we have room for about $100,000 mortgage while staying below your recommended 25% limit. We're wondering if it's a good idea to take the mortgage, if as a result we might stay in the home longer. Or am I just trying to talk myself into debt? Well, it sounds like all of these decisions are made except the last one,
Starting point is 00:02:02 so I'm not sure how much i'll be able to influence this um because you all aren't going to like my answer i would recommend you don't take out a loan with your in-laws oh really yeah the borrower is slave to the lender and when you owe your father-in-law money thanksgiving dinner tastes different yeah all right uh this is how families end up not speaking to each other and it's a it's a uh they they are not necessarily um they probably aren't because you didn't bring it up they're probably very kind not controlling people um that will all change the first time you miss a payment and suddenly where you went on vacation, the brand of the kids' clothes matters. They're looking at every decision you make with money as to whether they get paid or not.
Starting point is 00:02:55 They can't keep from doing it because they're human beings. Now, how bitter they are, angry they are, or toxic they are in response to those situations could be different depending on how wonderful people they are. But it doesn't matter to those situations or could be different depending on how wonderful people they are. But it doesn't matter. You're going to feel different. Your wife won't feel as much of it as you will, but you're going to feel it. And so that's my speech.
Starting point is 00:03:16 I would not do that. I would highly recommend. I will never loan my children money ever. Now, I may give them some money if I've got some extra money. If I do something like you're talking about, I would make that a gift personally. But that's pretty bold to ask for that on your part. But anyway, all of that to say, yeah, I would buy a house that your down payment plus your mortgage that you can afford would purchase, not an in-law loan. But again, Robert, I have no expectation for you to follow that advice because you guys
Starting point is 00:03:51 have already kind of discussed it. You're comfortable with it. You threw it out there like I'm picking out a shirt. You didn't think about it at all. Yeah, and I hope people don't miss what you just said because the dynamic changes when you start talking about your in-laws doing anything for you. I remember before we got married, we were doing some counseling. We came back from a counseling session, premarital, and Stacey's father met us at the door and he had been working
Starting point is 00:04:18 through her finances before she came into our marriage. And she had not a huge amount, may have been about fifteen thousand dollars as a student loans and i was ready to take it on we had already talked through it i had no student loan debt at the time all that to say he surprised us and he said i'm gonna we want to give you this we want to start you all off you know and it was just really really wonderful very nice yeah but even though it was a gift dave it was still in the back of my mind. It still touches the pride button. Yes, and that's what I'm glad you called it that because it still felt like, and it wasn't my debt, but it was going to be our debt.
Starting point is 00:04:53 And it was in the back of my mind like I owed him something, and it didn't turn into any kind of tension because I got over it. It was a gift. It was a complete gift. But if you had to pay that payment, that would have really been. It been already jacking with me just because it was a gift and i think that's what i want people to hear why would you want to do that exactly exactly i i i have trouble um just as a general category in my life i'm not as bad at it now receiving gifts yeah i always have i'm a giver i'm generous'm generous, but I'm not real good at
Starting point is 00:05:25 receiving. I'm not even as good if you pick up the tab at dinner. I always want to be the guy. Where do you think that comes from? I don't know. Pride, probably. But I am much more able to do that than I am. The only time I've ever gotten in this situation personally, Sharon's dad is an absolute saint. He is an incredible, easy toto-get-along-with guy on the planet. Never said an unkind word since, and 40 years, I've been married to her. I've never heard him say anything unkind, except the opposite political party. Occasionally, he'd say something. And he's wrong about that.
Starting point is 00:05:58 But he's a wonderful guy. And when we went bankrupt, he loaned us a little money to get the house caught up and do some things. And, man, he never said a single thing. It was all paid back. But my stomach was not the same until I got that cleared. Yeah. It just, you talk about, like you said, jacked with you, messed with you. Yes.
Starting point is 00:06:22 And the old joke is anybody you loan money to, it the relationship it does it changes a friendship it changes your roommate it changes your you loan money to your girlfriend oh that screwed that whole thing up you know uh anybody you when you loan money to someone you change it from whatever this mother-father relationship to master-slave, friend to master-slave. And the old joke is if you loan your brother-in-law $100 and he never pays it back, but he never speaks to you again, is it worth it? You know, but that's the kind of thing you can get into. Now, again, I will say clearly the way Robert presented that, I'm pretty sure his in-laws are not toxic people.
Starting point is 00:07:10 I think they're probably like Sharon's dad. But it will change. Well, you nailed it. It'll weigh on him. So let's say he's talking about the vacation. And maybe they don't even look at him sideways. But he wonders, did I see a look? You start manifesting things.
Starting point is 00:07:26 To your point, your father-in-law never said anything negative, never has. But it was in your head so much. That's where I came up with the saying. I think you're right. Thanksgiving dinner doesn't taste the same. Because I experienced that. You did. I'm sitting at the Thanksgiving table thinking about this, and he's not thinking about it.
Starting point is 00:07:43 It didn't bother him a bit. Because he's not thinking about it yeah it didn't bother him a bit yeah but um because he's a kind master yeah and i was a rebellious slave that's right that's right well you know it reminds us of our good friend henry cloud you know talking about boundaries that's a boundary that i think you're right it should always be set don't take a loan from family if you want to help if you want to help your children and you have the extra money and you want to give them some money, no strings attached, no controlling, that's fine.
Starting point is 00:08:11 But no co-signing for them. For God's sakes, don't co-sign for people. And no loaning. Don't loan them money. You will mess up what should have been a good, pure thing. This is The Ramsey Show. Hey, you guys.
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Starting point is 00:09:59 So I have a kind of a weird question. I'm wondering if I should get a job. Yes. I was going to say the same thing. I'm sorry. It was under him pitch. Go ahead. So it's kind of a very, very unique situation. I applied to a government job back in January of this year.
Starting point is 00:10:29 And I got a start date for last Monday. Long story short, the week my last week at my previous job that I quit, the Wednesday, HR calls me and says, Hey, we gave you a start date on Monday, but it actually isn't going to happen. And we don't know how long it's going to be because it's a government job. So it has some security clearance. And she was saying that it can be anywhere from a month to a couple to a year that we can get you approved. And I asked her, okay, well, can I get a job in the meantime? And she said, if you do that, then it's going to delay your clearance and could push you back right now. So my wife and I, luckily we have no debt.
Starting point is 00:11:15 We have three months of emergency fund, but we're just in a situation where we're not sure what to do in regards to it. Get a job. Get a job. You don't let some woman from the government give you that kind of nonsensical answer like you're supposed to put your life on hold and i don't want you to touch that emergency fund either not when you are and i don't want you to take the government job yeah well that's the other that's the red flag i hadn't gotten to yet but that's what a joke like would you want to work for somebody who treats you that way no not at all then walk get back on the horse. Get back in there. Don't touch the emergency fund.
Starting point is 00:11:46 What was that job going to pay? It was going to pay about two and a half times my salary for where I was currently at. What is that? Government facility engineer. Now, how much is it going to pay, the job you're not going to take with the government? Oh, sorry. About $110,000. Okay, wonderful. And you said you're not going to take with the government? Oh, sorry, about $110,000. Okay, wonderful.
Starting point is 00:12:06 And you said you're doing what, facilities management? Facility engineer. Facility engineer. For some kind of a classified facility? Correct, yes. Okay. It's for the Navy. Okay.
Starting point is 00:12:22 All right. That's why the security clearance. All right. Well, I the security clearance. All right. Well, I suspect if the government is willing to pay you $110,000, you're probably worth more than that. A lot more. Somewhere else in the same field. And so I would start looking for a job like four months ago, but today will do. Okay.
Starting point is 00:12:42 When you can. Yeah, and here's the deal. I don't want you to just get a job. I want you to go get a job making $130 in that field. Yeah, and listen, my version of waiting always involves acting. And so I would call their bluff on that, that that's going to mess with your security clearance. It makes zero sense to me.
Starting point is 00:13:01 And as Dave said, he's right. I would bet you that you have a chance at two to three x long term certainly possible in the short term as an engineer go do that work don't wait and if they come calling then you can answer yeah I don't know what the percentage is but just my walking around sense tells me that there are almost no government positions that pay as much as their mainstream counterpart. I would agree with that. I'd be shocked. If you're in accounting and you work for the government, you make 70%, 80% of what you would make in the open market as an accountant or less.
Starting point is 00:13:42 But I have security. Yeah, well, guess what? They can't seem to get the security clearance going. So yeah, I mean, there's a few things in the government that are very specialized that actually could pay more, but they're so few and far between that they're not even part of the stereotype. Generally speaking, government employees are not paid what their counterparts are in the market. Dave, I don't know if you picked up on this, but my gut, I got a little cynicism. That feels like a really polite brush off. It's like an excuse for a brush off.
Starting point is 00:14:13 It makes no sense to me. It's not adding up. It doesn't pass the smell test. I would absolutely walk. You know, if it was private sector, I'd believe you. But I think this is just straight up incompetence. Could be a week to a year. It seems like a very large.
Starting point is 00:14:26 I mean, we got this narrowed down. I just find it to be absurd to say that to somebody. Well, I mean, again, they don't think anything about it. Again, you want to be in, like you said, you want to work for somebody like that, but you want to be in that kind of an environment where that's how they're going to treat people, you know, is like a sloth? You know, it's like we're going to move very. What is he supposed to do with that? That's right.
Starting point is 00:14:58 Jenna is in Rockford, Illinois. Hey, Jenna, welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi, how are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Good. Thanks for taking my call. Sure.
Starting point is 00:15:08 So my husband and I were debt-free except for our mortgage. We've paid off cars. We've paid off student loans. We've been pretty aggressive on paying off our mortgage as well, trying to hit for double the amount each month. Way to go. Yeah, thank you. We have about $59,000 left to pay on our
Starting point is 00:15:25 mortgage. But recently, a piece of property popped up on our radar that we're extremely interested in. It's a major fixer-upper, though, so it will take a lot of money to invest in. I'm probably thinking $100,000 just to get it up to code. Is it a good idea in this market right now to purchase this, or should we just stay where we're at comfortably paying off our current mortgage? How long y'all been married? We've been married for 12 years. What's the purchase price of the fixer-upper? Right now it's listed for about $320,000. And it's so bad that it needs $100,000 just to get it habitable.
Starting point is 00:16:14 Yeah, and that's why we're talking the price down, just to get it figured out. But we currently own a house that in this current market is selling for about $290,000 to $300,000 itself. The other side is we also have four children and so we have a very comfortable lifestyle i'm a stay-at-home mom um so we're extremely comfortable and i'm wondering if this is just going to be too much to take on especially in the market it is it is a lot to take on and let me tell you how it becomes a disaster okay um it It becomes a disaster if, A, you pay too much, and, B, you don't do a really good job of project managing this renovation. Because people that have never done this before, which is you, have a tendency to end up doubling what they thought they were going to spend
Starting point is 00:17:00 and tripling the time it was going to take for you to do the renovation and so you cannot allow that to happen the second thing that will destroy your life with that many kids and a 12-year marriage is to try to live in the house while you're renovating that will really take away any fun that this deal had So that's when you end up with a dream that becomes a nightmare. So the way I always test myself is, do I want this so badly that I'm willing to be uncomfortable for a little while? Here's what uncomfortable for a little while in your case looks like. You get three detailed, in-depth bids on what it takes to fix this property okay including a schedule
Starting point is 00:17:49 a budget and a schedule from the contractor and you check out their references and you look at that and you say okay this is what it's going to take because you have to manage contractors and you have to manage your own expectations you can't make this crap up as you go. So you need to start the project with the end in mind. You need to have every detail combed out, every tangle combed out of the hair, every detail laid out before you even close on the property. Okay. We're going to say, ready, set, go.
Starting point is 00:18:20 We've got all the dominoes lined up perfectly. We're going to push the end domino, and then I'm going to hold the contractor to the schedule and to the budget and we're going to kick these doors down and get this done okay like fast number one number two you got to sell your house and move into a rental because you need the money have both because you need the money you actually have both um parents living here that have plenty of space for us to all go. Okay, well, sell your house and move somewhere. And put the cash in your pocket to do this work with.
Starting point is 00:18:51 So you're doing it with cash, and then deduct all of the renovation costs from that price to where it is below the current asking price, I suspect, plus $50,000 for your trouble. And I don't think you're going to be able to get all three of these things to work in your comfort zone. So I don't think you're going to buy this. It's a pain in the butt. Ken Coleman Ramsey personality is my co-host today.
Starting point is 00:19:35 If you haven't heard, we're going to be in Chicagoland. The northern section there will be at the Willow Creek Church doing our Smart Conference event September 15th and 16th. And when I say we, I mean all the we's. Dave, Rachel, Cruz, John Deloney, Jade Warshaw, George, the new dad, Camel, and Ken Coleman. We're going to be talking about mental health, careers, money, just how to get your life together, how to win in every area of your life. The Smart Conference is Friday night, all day, Saturday, September 15 and 16.
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Starting point is 00:20:35 Go to Smart Conference September 15 and 16. Just a couple of weeks away, we'll be there in the land of Chicago. So looking forward to having you guys. Jeremy is with us in Atlanta. Hi, Jeremy. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hey, thanks a lot, Dave. Thanks for having me. Sure. What's up? So long story short, I'm afraid to go into a full-time career and fear that I'll make the wrong decision.
Starting point is 00:21:02 Okay. What's the fear based on? Past experience or just something unknown? Probably a little bit of both. I was in ministry for 12 years and stepped back at the end of 2020 when we moved, and then just been working odd jobs ever since. I started my own company just doing lawn care and pressure washing, but it's not really what I want to do other than just making some side money. Is there an opportunity right now in front of you that you've got a chance to take and you're starting to waffle or is this just considering the idea of now going back into something else? I think considering my wife works for a company, and she's kind of presented me a couple of roles up there that are in ministry,
Starting point is 00:21:52 which is what I was obviously working before, and I'm just afraid. So what did you drop out? What caused you to dial back and drop out? Was it burnout? Was it a toxic situation? There's something there that you're afraid of repeating. And the way you're saying it tells me that you've acknowledged that maybe you didn't monitor things. Maybe you made some poor decisions. Tell me what specifically you're worried about repeating. I guess, so I got out, we moved um once we adopted our son got closer back to family
Starting point is 00:22:27 and um I just don't want to I guess with when the pandemic happened I took on a lot of extra roles I hadn't anticipated at the church and um the church I serve at now, I really like serving with them, and I'm just fearful that I don't know if I'm supposed to go back into ministry or just do something completely different. I did the Get Clear assessment on Sunday just to try to kind of get in the direction. Yeah, tell us. Give me the results. So since I was created to use my talents of imagination, compassion, and communication to perform my passions of leading, performing, and finishing to accomplish my mission of influence.
Starting point is 00:23:14 All right. Well, let me tell you what that means, okay? When you see that missional result, the results that motivate you, that's intrinsic. They just get you out of bed. That's a people situation. And when you talk about imagination and the compassion piece, again, that's ideas and people. It's just screaming out, that's what you were created to do. And so whether it's in ministry or it's in the corporate world, as long as you are seeing that purpose statement that you just read briefly to us, that is a job description, high level. And so you've got to be using those tools to be doing work that you really love. And that performing piece, there's a pressure to that. That performing doesn't mean I've got to be an actor or a singer. It is, I need pressure to deliver. And I'm going to tell you,
Starting point is 00:24:01 you need to be in the business, and I'm talking the work of delivering people results. You see your work creating influence or transformation. Does that square with your heart? Sounds like a ministry. Yeah, exactly. And the job that my wife presented to me is a kind of a business and ministry. It's kind of two in one. Well, look at the job description. How old are you? 37. How long did you work in ministry? For 12 years.
Starting point is 00:24:32 Who hurt you? Yeah. Answer it. Thanks. No, you know. You know, probably the first pastor I worked for. Yeah. So it's not what you were doing. It's that you were doing it pastor I worked for. Yeah. So it's not what you were doing,
Starting point is 00:24:47 it's that you were doing it with the wrong people. Yeah. And you lost some of your confidence when you got your teeth kicked in. Which is, by the way, why you said yes to so many things at the second church or however long the journey that was. Not being able to say no is a function of fear. I'm afraid what people will say. I'm afraid what will happen to me if I put a boundary up. And it's also a function of not having priorities, clear priorities. I say yes to these
Starting point is 00:25:17 things, and it makes it easier for me to say no to others. You sound like a very sweet guy who loves people and likes to lift and help people who's hiding from a toxic situation behind a pressure washing wand and your wife is calling you out. Yes, that's absolutely correct. That's absolutely spot on. But here's the deal. You don't need our permission. What you need to do is decide, can I do ministry in a non-ministry job? And I want to set you free. Well, can you do ministry in a ministry situation that's not toxic and learn to say no? Right. And learn to go, look, you don't talk to me that way.
Starting point is 00:25:52 I'll go back to the pressure washer. Screw this. That's right. You know, I mean, just walk away. Have a necessary ending if you get into a bad situation. What you've got to believe in, again, is your ability and strength to walk away or stand up and put your hand out and say boundary time right and when you believe in you enough to protect you from crap happening to you again you'll step back in and do what god's called you to do my man because you're
Starting point is 00:26:16 you i got a feeling you are an incredible uh person on a platform I got a feeling you've got some it factor. But even your voice tone is telling me that something's scaring you. And I want to speak courage over you, my man. Let me take this off, Jeremy. You need to be encouraged. Let's speak some courage into this, because you need to go be what God called you to do and not let these stupid butt human beings that are out there keep you from doing it. Jeremy, here's my encouragement to you. Your fear of fading away needs to be far greater
Starting point is 00:26:55 than your fear of getting back in the game. You hear me? Because you're fading away. You know it, and I know it. Your wife knows it. And you know this, i know it your wife knows it and you know this my friend you've been called and you better do it you better listen to that voice and i i would be terrified of fading away and watching my soul seep out of my body while i'm power washing i wonder if jonah had a pressure washer i will tell you now a pressure washer is tremendous therapy i did it the other day. Don't you enjoy it? I got a big cut on my ankle because I shot myself in the foot with the thing.
Starting point is 00:27:28 I love it. I love it. It is a great mindless place to hide. It is. It's so good. Because you feel like you're accomplishing something. It's true. I cleaned the dock and it didn't even need to be cleaned.
Starting point is 00:27:39 It was so much fun. I did my front porch the other day and I was so proud of myself. Yeah, Jeremy, listen, there's so much potential inside you, and everyone's seeing it. And you know it's down in there, but the fear of whatever happened before happening again is the thing that sounds to me like that's what you're causing. And real quick, Dave, I want to say this. I want you to go get it, man. I want you to go get it.
Starting point is 00:28:00 Yeah, hey, Jeremy, I'm okay with you taking maybe this gig to get you. It's a bridge. Let's get some momentum back while we're picking the next ministry position. Get some reps in where you ride the bike again without the training wheels. I agree. It doesn't have to be right back into ministry is the point. But let's move forward. Let's get out of what you're doing now.
Starting point is 00:28:20 Let's get back in the game. Get that spine straight, chin up, looking forward, excited about the future, not back in the game get that spine straight chin up looking forward excited about the future not stuck in the past you know let me tell you that people said and did things during covid that were the most fear-based anger-based things i've seen in my entire 63 years on the planet and so you cannot make decisions, even about that person that was out of control and toxic during COVID, because they were so freaked out. They were so angry. They were so scared that they couldn't even, they lost their dadgum minds.
Starting point is 00:29:01 So we all have forgotten that, but that really happened. And the result is scars on other people this is the ramsey show ken coleman ramsey personality is my co-host today thank you for joining us america it's a free call at 888-825-5225 victoria is in atlanta georgia hi victoria how are you hi i'm doing good good what's up so essentially this past may i graduated college at 20 and now i'm in a phd program and my parents were very generous and they said all of the money you earned in scholarships we're going to give to you at the end of your graduation as long as you get good grades
Starting point is 00:29:53 and you graduate which ended up being a hundred thousand dollars wow way to go so why are you getting your PhD in aerospace engineering very nice what are you getting your Ph.D. in? Aerospace engineering. Very nice. What do you plan to do with that? I hope to work on future human space travel. So what do space stations after the International Space Station look like? Wow. I don't know much about that space in terms of the career side of it.
Starting point is 00:30:22 Why does that require a PhD? Yeah, so I'm really interested in a lot of the like systems engineering work and a lot of advanced materials and advanced manufacturing work. How long will it take you to get the PhD? Yeah, so it's probably going to be about five years. Why? Most PhDs don't take that long because the program i'm in they give us they pay our tuition and they give us a stipend oh you're working yes oh my life just changed she's getting paid to get this phd yes i am getting paid now. Now I'm going with the five years. How much do you make? I make $2,500 a month, so not much, but, you know, a stipend. Okay, and that's going to take you five years. Now I'm not as excited as I was a minute ago.
Starting point is 00:31:17 I thought we had like a real job. You've got an intern job. Okay. Yes. Let's answer Dave's question. Victoria, why does this PhD, I know you're interested in it, but does it set you up to do the thing you want to do to the point that if you don't get it, you're not qualified to do it?
Starting point is 00:31:34 That's what we're trying to get at. It is possible I could do it without it, but it would be a lot harder um i would at minimum likely need a master's and the phd program i'm in i can master's out of which i am considering okay um good okay yeah yeah i i would like for you to master's out and get the big girl job and then work on your PhD while you're making $200 a year. Yeah. That's kind of what I'm thinking. I agree. But I don't know what I'm talking about is my problem, okay?
Starting point is 00:32:13 Because I don't know enough about your space. I worry about being overeducated and underpaid for anyone. Yes. That is a big fear of and so overall though you've got an incredible brain obviously and you're obviously good at using it congratulations and um i feel safer already from on my rocket ride and um yes it's not going to occur but the what are you going to do with $100,000? That's what I'm calling you for. I'm really not sure.
Starting point is 00:32:50 I've kept my budget pretty low, and I'm living within my means on that stipend. I'm just not putting anything into savings. And so my thoughts are like, do I just throw that a hundred K and like a 5% high interest savings? Yes. Yes. Is that all I do? Yes. For right now, until we get the next steps on the career going,
Starting point is 00:33:19 because I want to make sure you get all the educational tools in your belt to get the big girl career going yeah and that hundred thousand is your insurance policy right now you got a system that'll do it um but you may master's out and take a job and then you may want to invest that more aggressively at that point or someday you might get married use it towards a house or something like that uh all of that or you might just be single and use it towards a house or something like that. All of that. Or you might just be single and use it towards a house. Either one's fine with me. I don't care. But today, you don't need to do any of that. It's just going to be sitting there in a safe parking lot, making a little bit of money right now and not getting damaged. It's a protected parking lot,
Starting point is 00:34:01 which is what you're describing. That's what I would do. Because it's not going to change your life today. What's changing your life today is you getting these tools in your belt. That's my thoughts. I just wanted to make sure it seems like I got given this great gift, and do I just, like, lock it away for the next couple years? Yeah, for a couple years, but not for 20. For two. When would you get out of the master's program? Is that a two-year deal? A year and a half. Yeah. I want to make sure you understand what we're trying to do is fast
Starting point is 00:34:34 forward all of this financial opportunity that you're going to be really presented with. Get the master's, get a great gig. To your ability and your brightness, someone is going to pay for your PhD, and you do that as you go, and now you're earning a lot of money. You have zero debt. Now the $100,000 comes into play as we invest, take care of those life issues. That is a beautiful plan as opposed to not making any money for five years at a $2,500 stipend. That's $30,000's 30 grand in stipend.
Starting point is 00:35:05 And that really holds you back. And I haven't ever asked Dr. John Delaney about this. He's the only person around here that's got two PhDs that I'm aware of. But to me, I'm Mr. Experience guy more than, I mean, I've gotten a lot of my knowledge that way. And, you know, in the open market reading and, you know know taking courses and things but not formal academic at that level to me getting your PhD while having some life experience would probably put color on the PhD that is different than doing it in a vacuum in an academic vacuum yeah like for instance I met a pastor earlier in the summer. We were traveling and got to spend some time with him, and he was at the end of his career. He was retiring, and he had just finished his Ph.D., and he started telling me the subject of it, and I was enthralled.
Starting point is 00:35:55 We ended up getting his dissertation out and reading through it. Oh, wow. It was really – but it was a – the Ph.D. was not a career advancement thing. It was almost a dissertation on his life, on his PhD almost, and it was beautiful. It was absolutely, the color was deep on it, very vibrant. And so it was a valuable, valuable process. And so he'll never make the money. That's not what I mean. Right.
Starting point is 00:36:24 Because he's retiring as a pastor and his you know right his phd was in divinity so you know uh doctorate in divinity but the uh oh my gosh yeah that that in this case that might you know while you're working in a rocket company working on the problems you want to work on with your masters working on your phd it's going to change the flavor of the phd that's what I'm saying. Without question. And she's right. Again, I don't know much about aerospace, but a lot of your astronauts, she wasn't saying she's going to necessarily be an astronaut, but the PhD is probably commonplace, but she
Starting point is 00:36:57 doesn't have to have it at 20. She doesn't have to have it at 25. And so she'll get there. And so that's why we gave that advice. It will probably come in very, very handy to that level of work, but doesn't have to be gotten right away. And in return, Dave, she's going to be a millionaire.
Starting point is 00:37:12 She's going to be a millionaire in her 30s if she invests well. She has no debt. She's clearly bright. She's going to have all kinds of opportunities. Living on lessons she makes. Already. She's living on the stipend.
Starting point is 00:37:22 So this is a bright person here who's got a bright future so we want to maximize that for victoria so it's a good time with the student loan stuff coming up to remind you guys you know your student loans the interest starts back this coming friday yes and the payments start back a month later october one uh it's a good time to remind everyone out there that you have to be smart about education. Spending $250,000 to get a master's degree in sociology so you can make $38,000 a year with the state as a caseworker is dumb.
Starting point is 00:38:00 So don't be dumb about education. Isn't that a great paradox, how dumb we are about education? And, you know, it's very sad. And we've got now, you know, 40 million people that have payments that are due right now. That's correct. And some of them got useless degrees in useless fields from useless universities. And then people say, well, they're all useless. No, they're not all useless.
Starting point is 00:38:28 Some of these degrees are fabulous, very useful. Yeah, it's amazing, very amazing. Good times, folks. This is The Ramsey Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world? Get your daily dose of advice on life and money. Check out all of our shows from The Ramsey Network wherever you listen to podcasts.

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