The Ramsey Show - App - Winning Is Not an Accident! Get on a Budget! (Hour 3)

Episode Date: February 19, 2019

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live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. You jump in. We'll talk about your life and your money. It's a free call at 888-825-5225. You jump in, and we'll talk about you right in front of you. Diana is with us in Houston, Texas. Hi, Diana.

How are you? Good. Hi. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Okay. I have a question for you.

My husband and I, we are currently in baby step number three. And my question is, will it be okay if we jump in baby step number four, which is investing? The only reason why is my husband, our income used to be $110,000. But five years ago, I decided to stay home, be a stay-at-home mom. So the income came down to $60,000. And I have a traditional IRA that's been sitting there for five years, and my husband's getting a little concerned because college will be coming up soon, and he's like, okay, can we just invest? Will that be okay? Okay.

You know what I mean? How much have you saved towards baby step three? We have $10,000, so I'm hoping that... What is your target, the three to six months of expenses? How much money does that represent? 30. So I'm hoping to get it... Wait a minute, wait a minute.

You make 60 a minute. You make $60,000 a year. Why would you need $30,000 in your emergency fund? You're supposed to be three to six months of expenses. Your expenses should not be $30,000 for six months if you make $60,000 a year. Okay. Your expenses should be lower than that. Okay. make $60,000 a year. Okay. Your expenses should be lower than that. Okay. Like $20,000.

And so your $3,000 to $6,000 should be between $10,000 and $20,000. Okay. And so you're not $20,000 off of your target. I would probably get your $10,000 to $15,000, and then I would go to Baby Step 4. Okay. If you have no payments and you have $15,000 in the bank and you make $60,000 a year, you're in a good place. Okay. That's a solid one through three.

Okay. And will it be okay just at least getting information kind of, you know, on how to invest and all that? Sure. There's nothing wrong with knowledge. Yeah, get some information. But you ought to have that other $5,000 wrapped up pretty quick. I mean, end of the summer, you should be investing in Baby Steps 4, 5, 6. Oh, okay.

Yeah. Alrighty. Because you only need $5,000 more. Oh, okay. Got it. You see what I'm doing? Yes. It's right there.

It's right at your fingertips. Just reach over there and get it, and then get on with your baby step four. And then that answers the question, because overall the answer to the question is no, you don't do baby step four until baby step three is done. But all I did in our discussion was I redefined baby step three differently than you were. Okay, because I always thought that. Okay, so I need to go back, because you know, and revisiting step three because it's like, I don't know why we had 30. You see what I'm saying?

Three to six months of expenses is what we're after. And really, you can live on less than $5,000 a month. Agreed? I'm sorry, say that one more time. Your household operates on less than $5,000 a month. Agreed? I'm sorry, say that one more time? Your household operates on less than $5,000 a month. Okay. Does it not? Well, $5,000 to $5,200.

You spend everything? Yes. No, you're putting money into savings. No. You're not putting putting money into savings. No. You're not putting any money into savings. No. How did you get out of debt? How did you get out of debt?

Oh, I just... How are you building your emergency fund if you're not putting anything into savings? We... I guess this year we just started with the budgeting because we were just wasting, spending money like crazy. I thought you told me you got out of debt. Well, we didn't have that much debt to begin with. Okay. So it was really quick.

Yeah, we didn't have. Well, number one, your budget should be less than your take-home pay. Okay. So that you can save money. You need to work on your budget. If your household take-home pay is $5,200 and you're spending $5,200, that's a different problem. Okay.

But point being is this, okay? Let's say that it's $5,000 just for discussion purposes, okay? That it takes $5,000 a month to operate your household on a tight budget. Let's just pretend that that was a fact. I think that's wrong, but let's pretend that was a fact. That's the high side. Five times three is 15. Three months of expenses is $15,000.

Right? Right. Okay. So if that's your budget, then your $60,000 a year income is not your income, by the way, because you don't bring $5,200 home on a $60,000 income. $60,000 is $5,000 a month. So he must be making $80,000. This, that's an average.

My husband's a self-employed, and we put some money away for tax purposes, taxes. Yeah, that would be normal. But, I mean, what I'm asking about is your income, not your take-home pay. So your household income, in order to get home with $5,200, would have to be around $80,000 a year to get there. You just can't get there otherwise. $75,000 to $80,000, somewhere in there. So all of that to say you need to work on your math a little bit. I'll love you around there. You just can't get there otherwise. 75 to 80, somewhere in there. So all of that to say, you need to work on your math a little bit.

I'll love you around there. And I think 15,000 is going to cover you just fine. As soon as you get that done, then start your baby step four, but not until. Thanks for calling in. Andrea is with us in Miami. Hi, Andrea. How are you? Hi, Dave. I'm great. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. What's up in

your world? All right. So my husband started a business, gosh, about eight or nine months ago, and it's really taken off. And I think this year our income is going to be over $200,000. Yeah, it's very exciting, but I'm concerned about what we should do with our retirement so we're we're doing the 15 and i'm currently both of us are contributing to a roth but i don't know if we're going to have some kind of penalty if we go over that 200 000 marker what that looks like you'll have to undo the roth you won't you'll have to you have to turn around to them as backdoor roths if it's over 200 But that's not a big deal. Okay.

But 15% is $30,000 a year. Well, right. So we're maxing out the Roth, and then I have a 403B through my work that I max out. And then he has his own business, so he does some just investments and things kind of on the side with his portion of it. Okay, investments and things kind of on the side with his portion doesn't make any sense at all. So what he needs to be doing is a SEP. Does he have employees? No.

Okay, he needs to look at – tell him to get in touch with a SmartVestor Pro. Y'all sit down with them, click SmartVestor, and look at a SEP, a Self-Employed Pension Plan. You can finish out and get to your $30,000. With your 403B, with his SEP, and with two Roth IRAs, you can get to your $30,000, and you'll be fine. And just good growth stock mutual funds. We tell you to spread it across four types.

Growth, growth and income, aggressive growth, and international. Don't put more than 30% in there, or 20%, 15% in there, and then move on on to kids college and start paying off your house. You guys are having a banner year. Let's make this money work for you. Well done. Well done.

Well done. This is the Dave Ramsey show. Why in the world would you trust some random guy in a cube when getting your mortgage? Do you really think he cares about your long-term money goals? Well, he doesn't. Those companies care about getting you into whatever home loan program they're pushing that week. When it comes to ordering a cheeseburger, the meal deal works fine. But let's get real, people. We're talking about the largest investment you'll probably ever make, so don't be naive and trust an order taker who pressures you into a pre-packaged loan.

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NMLS ID 1591. NMLSconsumerAccess.org. Equal housing lender. 761 Old Hickory Boulevard. Redwood, Tennessee 37027. Open phones this hour. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Rachel is with us in Orange County, California. Hi, Rachel.

How are you? Hi, Dave. I'm doing great. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Well, first of all, I thank you so much for all that you do. I've been on your plan for the last year, really buckling down and getting out of my debt. I really

appreciate all you do. I have a question about moving out of my parents' house. I have the opportunity to move out with my co-worker and she wants to get a place together and me personally getting out of debt I don't have you know three to six months of expenses and I'm not paying rent at my home right now so I didn't know if that was something too risky to jump into right now or if I should just you know save up a certain amount of money and then move out. What's your income? Well, I just got a raise last week, so it's a little bit closer to $40,000. And what's your age?

I'll be 28 next month. And how much debt do you have? So in student loans, I have about $28,000, and then I have two repoed cars from a bad marriage, those totaling in about $6,000 to $7,000 for both. The car that you're driving does not have debt? No, I paid that in cash. Okay, good for you. Okay.

Yeah. All right. The repos can be settled for about a quarter on the dollar, by the way. Right, yeah. They offered me like half of what the balance was. You can get it for half of that when you've got some cash drugged together that you don't have yet. So you went through a bad marriage, and Mom and Dad were the safety net, which is a good thing. I'm glad that was there. And I would have done the exact

same thing in either of your shoes. How long have you been home? Well, sorry, it's actually with my grandparents. They let me live there. But it's this July would be three years that I've been living there. And how is your relationship with them? It's really good. I mean, I love, you know, being with my family, and they're really happy, you know, for me to be there, and they're just really supportive of me getting out of debt right now. Okay, so there's no relational, there's nothing relational pushing you out? No, it's just something that came up. Yeah, I got you.

You know, it's just, yeah. All right. You've been there a while, but now you're on a plan to get out and get yourself straightened around. What will a rent cost you? Southern California, as you know, is really expensive. I can find places about $1,500, $1,600. So that would be split. So about $800, maybe $900 roughly.

Okay. So $10,000 a year is going to slow down your debt reduction by that much. Okay. So, you know, I think I'm probably going to stay with Grandma just a little while longer and finish your financial healing as you've finished your emotional healing from what you've been through. But I would set myself a deadline and say, you know, like one more year, I'm gone. I'm going to make a plan to be gone by this date. I don't care what date it is but write it down and

start talking about it to them start talking about it to yourself start talking looking for a roommate at that time to move out and you know give yourself a little bit more room there's nothing driving you out uh but at the point you're there four years that starts to feel like time to go yeah you know getting closer to age of 30 exactly exactly there's a lot of stuff going on there it's kind of like yeah even if it does slow me down at that point i'm probably going to go ahead and step out but i might take a little bit more of a ride on this train it's it's a pretty good train and um you know it you know you haven't been living there if you've been if you told me you've been living there since you were 20, I'd have moved you out.

Do you see what I'm saying? Yeah, right. From an emotional maturity standpoint. But this is a different situation. You've come back to a safety net after going through a hellish situation. So, yeah, I'd probably stay a year and then move. Or you can move now. Either one's fine. But I don't hear a real huge push in any of the circumstances or numbers you're giving me one way or the other.

John is with us in Los Angeles. Hey, John, how are you? I'm well, Dave. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. What's up? I'm in Baby Step 2 with my my wife and we've paid off about four hundred and fifty thousand dollars goodness did you say 450 and baby step two yes and we still

have more to go um i have a student loan that remains 139 000 but i'm now in our debt repayment student loan repayment program that reimburses me $24,000 a year, and that's the max it will do, up to another $96,000. I can pay off the debt much faster than that, but my question is whether I still go gazelle intense and do that or wait for the reimbursement program to reimburse me, which would be another four, over four years. Yeah, pay it off into a savings account. Pay it down to 96, okay, because you're not that much, and we know we've got to do, right?

Pay the other 96 that you're going to get back into a savings account so that if something happens that you step outside of that program that you need to for some reason, then you can turn that around. But go ahead, and in a sense, your debt snowball is finished if you had it paid down to 96 and you had 96 in a savings account. Okay. And then you've got the option to write a check at any moment. That's in addition to your Baby Step 3.

That's just to offset this student loan repayment. Something gets sideways there. There's an integrity or ethics problem or something, and you need to get out of there. You don't need golden handcuffs. You just leave and write a check. But if you can stay the four years and get the free $100,'ll take the 300 grand over the four years are you a doc exactly yeah okay so household income is 400 uh yeah just just under 390 okay the two of you yes okay because you cranked through a bunch of debts i knew there had to be a shovel.

Yes. My wife's a professor, but we just had twins, so we've put a pause on most of our debts right now, just making sure they were okay, and now things are fine, and we're ready to pay again. Good for you. What area do you practice in? What type of medicine?

Head and neck surgery. Good for you. And how old are you? 36. Good. I'm glad you're making good money, man. I'm proud of you. Congratulations. Very well done.

That's the payoff for all of that. I mean, you were in school your whole freaking life. Somebody ought to pay you some money. You know, I mean, I'm glad. And I don't want, you know, dumb doctors working on me. So, hey, man, congratulations. I'm proud for you. I hope you kill it.

Just keep doing it. Good job. Good question, too. Melanie is with us in Canada. Hi, Melanie. How are proud for you. I hope you kill it. Just keep doing it. Good job. Good question, too. Melanie is with us in Canada. Hi, Melanie. How are you? Good. How are you, Dave?

Better than I deserve. What's up? Well, kind of a complicated question, but I'm looking to buy a $25,000 new car, and I just wanted to hear your thoughts. It's more complicated than that. A brand new car? Brand new car. new car it's okay kind of a base model yeah okay um well the general rule of thumb is this cars go down in value very

rapidly and so we tell folks not to buy and then what goes down in value more rapidly than a new car nothing that goes down more value faster than anything so we tell folks not to buy a brand new car unless they have a net worth of over a million dollars do you see it's kind of confusing we have our house payoffs we have a million dollars in assets well that's like a million dollar net worth what kind of assets um investments in house and pension but then i also have really dumb non-investments. I have two rental properties that I probably owe just over a million on. But what are they worth? Probably break even.

I'd probably lose if I sold. Okay. There are negative cash flowing. But if we added up everything you own and we subtracted what you owe, your net worth is in excess of a million dollars. Yes. Okay. And how much cash do you have?

We have an emergency fund. We have probably $45,000 extra cash, like, available on an investment. And you're going to spend $25,000 of that on a car? Yes. And you're going to pay cash for the car? That's correct, yeah. And your household income is what? It has been in the last

10 years, $150 to $200, but now... Yeah, I would buy that car. Nothing wrong with that. Sure. A million dollar net worth, and it's less than half your annual income, and you're paying cash. Yeah, I'd buy it. Yep. That's the one time i'm telling people to buy i'll buy brand new cars but i've got plenty of money so and i didn't when i was broke and you're

broke you don't want to be broker because brand new cars go down in value they need to be a small percentage of your world that's a small percentage of your world this is the dave ramsey show Tax fraud, medical ID theft, account takeover, employment fraud, these are just a few of the identity theft events that Zander's ID theft team has helped resolve for their clients lately. The reality is breaches are all too common and hackers are using new, sophisticated methods to steal and use your personal information. Everyone is at risk, even your children. This is why it's crucial to have ID theft protection that covers all types of identity theft. And the only plan I have ever used or recommended is from Zander Insurance. Zander covers all types of ID theft. They have smart prevention services,

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John Maxwell says a budget is people telling their money what to do instead of wondering where it went. If you've always wondered where your money went, there's a way to fix it. It's called a budget. I don't want to do a budget. Well, I don't care. It's called being a grown-up. You have to make your money behave or you're going to retire broke and hope the government, which is well-known for its ability to handle money,

will take care of you. That's stupid. Don't do that. I don't want to be working at McDonald's at retirement unless it's the one I own in St. Thomas. Right? I don't want to be working at McDonald's at retirement, unless it's the one I own in St. Thomas, right? I mean, I'm not mad at you if you're working at McDonald's and you're at retirement. Dave is shaming people at McDonald's.

No, I'm saying I don't want to be there. I'm going to do what I have to do to not do that. Yeah, I guess you want to call it shaming. That's fine. I mean i mean you got to do what you got to do if you're broke i'm fine with that but here's the plan live in such a way that you're not broke and you got to do that intentionally with money it doesn't accidentally occur none of those guys after the super bowl were interviewed and they said i have no idea how this happened they know exactly how they got to the super bowl. You do not win. Winning is not an accidental thing, except the lottery.

Other than that, winning is an intentional act. It's not a random lightning strike. And so you have to get on a budget. So it starts with doing your budget. The best way to do that is every dollar. Three million people using this free online app. Takes about ten minutes to set up your budget. and you will feel like you got a raise. Every dollar.

Everydollar.com. And, yeah, you can get it for your iPhone, your Android, either one. Thomas is with us in Phoenix, Arizona. Hi, Thomas. How are you? I'm doing good, Dave. How about you? Better than I deserve. How can I help?

Well, I just want to first want to say thank you for everything that you've taught and all the classes that you provide. I actually just got married to my high school sweetheart a few months ago, and we're both 20 now. Let me take this

Foundation View high school class together. I just want to say thank you. Okay, thank you. You're a little muffled. Can you speak directly into your phone, please? Yeah, is that better? Yes, sir, much better. How can I help?

All righty. Well, so my question today is we're looking to buy our first house, and my in-laws actually just happen to be house slippers, and they're really good at what they do. And they've said that they'd be willing to buy us a house and sell it to us at the cost after fixing it up and providing us with a lot of equity. And after talking to your potential mortgage company, the guys that you endorse, they told us about some type of deal where my in-laws can gift us the equity that they create from fixing up the house and put it towards our down payment.

So this one, this is a good idea, but if it was even valid. It is valid. Sure, you can do that. Absolutely. Now, if it's over, your mom and dad are both living and you're married, so they can give each of you $14,000 each. So if it's over $56,000, that's $28,000 each, right? Then if it's more than that, then they would want to see an estate planning attorney or a good tax person

and set it up under their estate plan called the Unified Estate Tax Credit. But if it's under $58,000, the equity, then they can just do it, and they'll have to write it on their taxes, but there's not any gift tax on that. $14,000 to you by your mom, $14,000 to you by your dad, $14,000 to your wife by your mom, $14,000 to your wife by your dad. That's a total of $56,000. Okay, I'm ready. by your mom, 14 to your wife by your dad. That's a total of 56. Okay. All right.

And, yeah, that should let me – did I do that right? Yeah, 56,000. Yeah, that's what it is, yeah. And so that's – All righty. Yeah, that's the max you can do. And, again, if it's more than that, you can do it, but it uses up some of their estate tax credit.

It's called the Unified Estate Tax Credit, and you've got to fill out some forms and do that properly with your taxes or they'll get hammered, not you, with a gift tax, and you do not want that. But, yes, that's perfectly legit as far as counting it towards the down payment. You've just got to document it on your purchase, and that would work great, especially if they buy into something and get a great deal on it. Lisa is with us in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hi, Lisa. How are you?

I'm doing well. How are you, Dave? Better than I deserve. How can I help? Okay. So after getting ourselves in a really disgusting amount of credit card debt, I got tired of it and went back to work about four months ago. So increased our income probably by about $800 to $1,200 a month, which seems really great. And so I feel like we should be doing a whole lot better than we are.

What I run into, and I have a budget on every dollar. Love that side. I think it's fabulous. But my husband and I both get paid every week. And he's basically commissioned and I'm hourly. So there's some fluctuation in our checks each week. What I run into is I go in, I pay bills, and then there's, you know, a little squib left, you know, $100, $80, something like that. And I don't, it's like I'm struggling with my budget because, maybe just because.

Well, you should be working on Baby Step 2, aren't you? We're still working on Baby Step 1, and that's what's frustrating to me. Then throw the money to that. Okay. Any found money, any leftover money, or any money you can squeeze out of your budget goes on your Baby Step. Okay. And in this case, it's the Baby Step 1 until you get the $1,000.

Then once that's in place, then you're working your debt snowball, smallest to largest. So it's that smallest debt you're beating on. It gets any found money. So anything, any rounding errors, anything like that that moves along, pop it. Yeah, just wherever you are on your baby steps, use it and attack that in that order. So, hey, good question. You're doing good. Keep it up.

Marsha's with us. Marsha's in San Antonio. Hi, hey, good question. You're doing good. Keep it up. Marcia's with us. Marcia's in San Antonio. Hi, Marcia. How are you? Good. How are you? Better than I deserve. Thank you for taking my call.

Sure. How can I help? Yes, my husband and I are in a discussion this last few months. I retired at 60 to come home and take care of him. He's had leukemia, and then it went to a heart transplant, and his kidneys failed just before I retired. And so he asked me to come home, so I retired at 60. Now we were talking about paying off the house. My 401K has $220,000 in it, and my house has just

under $118,000 to pay off. And so we've been in the discussion on whether or not to use the 401k in order to pay off the house. I realize I'll need to take out $150,000 for the 20%. And that leaves us with, I don't know, around $70,000 in the 401k. We haven't touched it, and we really don't need to touch it. So we were just trying to get your opinion on it. And that's the entire nest egg.

Your 401K, he doesn't have one? No, but he has his military pension, his pension, civil service pension, and social security, and I have social security and my pension. You have survivor benefits on his pension? Yes. Okay. So you'll have some income coming in there.

How old is he? He's 63, and he became ill at 48. Gotcha. And what were you making when you were working? I was making right around 56. Okay. And doing what? I was working for a large insurance company here. Okay.

Alright. Okay. I'm trying to think through all scenarios. If both of you live into your 80s, does this make sense? Yes, it does. You can make it beautifully on that. And if he were to pass, or you were to pass does this make sense and i'm thinking it still does i don't like you being down to only seventy thousand dollars it's not my favorite but um the other thing is if you get in real trouble you can turn and sell the house and move down in house you have to but i don't think you're going to i think you're going

to be through go and live on the incomes that you have coming in. So, yeah, I'm paying off the house. I sure am. Thanks for the call. our scripture of the day first corinthians 16 13 beful. Stand firm in faith. Act like men. Be strong. Ronald Reagan said, The future doesn't belong to the faint-hearted.

It belongs to the brave. It's true. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. We're glad you're here. Open phones at 888-825-5225. I was just reading bizarre emails coming in to our organization. Yeah, there is a percentage of people out there in the world who are crazy. I was just going to say emotionally troubled.

No, they're crazy they're just and here's the thing it's all on the internet right i mean so you know i mean abraham lincoln said everything on the internet that you read is true and so you know if you read crappy stuff that somebody said yeah obviously that's true right because it's on the internet somebody wrote it with their keyboard and so no one would ever just make up something and just randomly put something on the Internet. Somebody wrote it with their keyboard, and so no one would ever just make up something and just randomly put something on the Internet. No, that would never happen. If it's on the Internet, it's true.

Abraham Lincoln said that. I read that on the Internet. Paige is with us in Lafayette, Louisiana. Hey, Paige, how are you? I'm doing good. How are you, Dave? Better than I deserve. What's up?

So I am having a career goal versus baby step conflict. So currently I am working full time making $60,000. I graduated in May in industrial engineering and i've had a goal of becoming a professor in this field while doing research on industrial engineering and health care okay so my original plan was to work for a year save up that money and be able to go into the program debt free now in this let me ask you let debt-free. Now, in this field, is there an interim step of a master's? So originally I thought there was, but I was getting my MBA. Well, I recently researched it, and that's how I came across this program,

and I won't have to get my master's. Okay, so you found a program that takes you straight into the Ph.D. candidate process. Right. Okay. So with researching that, I emailed the dean in charge of the college, and there's an opportunity for me to do an assistantship where I would be working on industrial engineering and health care while my Ph.D. is paid for.

Amen. And what does it pay? I have about $14,600 left to pay on a car. What does it pay? Oh, I'm not sure yet. What would you guess? My tuition's covered. No, what would you guess it pays?

I'll get a stipend that covers most of my living expenses. What would you guess it pays? Maybe about $2,000 a month. So $24,000 instead of $60,000. Right. It's not a full-time gig, though. No, it's part-time. So you can... While I'll be working on my Ph.000. Right. It's not a full-time gig, though. No, it's part-time. So you can...

While I'll be working on my PhD. Okay. Can you work that and your current job? No, because it's in class, and it's in two different cities. The current job is in a different city than this? Right. I see. Okay. What is your current job is in a different city than this. Right. I see. Okay.

What is your current job? I am working in telecommunications. Nothing with your field of study then? No, not really. And I'm not really. What city is this offer in? Baton Rouge. Okay.

Well, here's what I would look to do um i think you take the gig all right okay it pays for your phd you're going to be studying and researching i mean you're you're going to just be happy you're going to be a pig in mud right i mean you're going to be happy exactly this is good exactly go do it here's the trick um and i go do it as soon as you can, as soon as they'll let you in. The trick is I need you to find another $30,000 that works with your teaching schedule, whether it be more teaching, whether it be online teaching for other universities simultaneously, if there's not a prohibition of that in terms of like working for the competition you know but there's all these online universities where you can online prof and pick up money and or let's just take your current degree and your new uh studying of that same degree field and let's walk out into the consulting world and or pick up some part-time

jobs with some of those people come in and do some projects and some studies for some of the factories in the area or something and you know start your own little consulting business kind of a thing where it's some contract work where you control the hours but a nine to five is going to be tough for you right right but i'm thinking some contract work where you can uh you know work you know come in as long as you get the project done is all they care about and you've got the uh you've already got the knowledge base to do some of that okay and uh or you know you just pick up the uh the other part-time job whatever we call it but 24 grand down from 60 while still in debt i don't think so so let's add to the let's just promise yourself you're going to find a way to make another 20 30 grand okay

and you take a little step down to hit your goals but you'll still be making enough to get that little last little bit of debt cleaned up okay while eating right but i i really how old are you 22 and the field of study again is what say it again industrial engineering and the the program's only two and a half years okay so here's the thing there's a ton of industry real true industrial industrial, in quotes, in Baton Rouge. Right. It's like the perfect place for you to go. And so I'm knocking on the door of every one of those oil operations,

every one of those plants that are factories around there, everything else, and just going, hey, you know, what do you need? Because I know how to do this stuff, and I can show you what to do here, and I think I can save you some money here. And you contract yourself out and get in there and pick up some half-time, part-time jobs or whatever we call them that equals another. You've got to put some other money with this, some other income, and then it makes sense.

But if you'll just commit to doing that, then I would do it. Nikki is with me in San Antonio, Texas. Hi, Nicky. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hello, Dave. Thanks for having my call. Sure. What's up?

Yes, sir. I have a question about insurance. I've been brought up buying whole life insurance. I think I made my first policy when I was 28. And I currently have a total of $350,000 in life insurance my whole life. Good Lord. And it's costing me $364.90 a month.

I bet it is. And then my wife has a $150,000 policy for $136 a month. So a total of $500 a month. Is anybody sick? No, sir. So a total of $500 a month. Is anybody sick? No, sir. So you're insurable. Well, I called for term life insurance, and I do have high blood pressure and sleep apnea.

So they offered me accidental death and dispersement. But they said they could do it under under? No, this is through American Prudential. Oh, crap. No wonder. No, no, no. Just call Zander Insurance. Jump online to Zander Insurance, Z-A-N-D-E-R, insurance.com.

You know, unless this is like super bad medical condition, if you're insurable, you desperately need to get term insurance in place. And even if you've got a little bit of medical and it's rated, if it's double what the normal term is, you're going to save so much money. You're just going to, your eyelids are going to blow back, man. You're going to be going, oh my God, I've been getting ripped off because you have been. This is a horrible bunch of product.

You've gotten in a big pile of mess here, dude. So yeah, get, get, get some term insurance call zander insurance get online get online get on the phone with them whatever and start walking this through do not cancel your whole life with your medical conditions and don't cancel it ever but don't cancel it for sure in your case uh without first getting your term life insurance in place but once you've got that in place i think you're going to see a tremendous savings, and you'll have a lot of money to invest and do other stuff when it's not going down the toilet

with this whole life garbage. Oh my goodness, that's bad. That puts this hour of the Dave Ramsey Show in the books. Our thanks to James Childs, our producer. Blake Thompson is our senior executive producer. Kelly Daniel, our associate producer and phone screener. I am Dave Ramsey, your host. We'll be back 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, it's Kelly, associate producer and phone screener for The Dave Ramsey Show. If you would like to do your debt-free scream live on the show, make sure you visit DaveRamsey.com slash show and register. We would love for you to come to Nashville and tell Dave your story.