The Ramsey Show - App - Yes, You Can Do This. Beat Debt Now! (Hour 2)

Episode Date: July 27, 2018

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is the Dave Ramsey Show, where America hangs out to have a conversation about your life and your money. Sitting in for Dave Ramsey this hour, I'm Ken Coleman. I host the Ken Coleman Show on SiriusXM, leading into the Dave Ramsey Show daily. And thrilled to be joined in studio by the co-author of the best-selling Graduate Survival Guide. He is Anthony O'Neill, and we are here to take your calls. You've got a call about your money, your life, your career, your college student. You've got those parenting questions.

It is all open season. We'd love to have you join us. 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Anthony's 888-825-5225. Anthony O'Neill, how are you, sir? Can't call, man. I'm doing well, man. Excited.

It's the weekend. Yes. I've got to go play some golf and more golf and cut some grass and play some more golf. The life of a single speaker and author who works hard during the week and spends his time decompressing on the golf course. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. It's going to be beautiful.

So here we are, hard to believe, in a large portion of the United States. We're getting closer and closer to going back to school. It'll be here before you know it. What's going on in your world? What's happening? Man, getting a lot of requests to come in and speak to, believe it or not, incoming freshmen in college. I'm actually real excited about that.

Studies are showing that the average college student is going to spend about $900 decorating their dorm room, Ken. So my team and I put together a dorm room giveaway, you know, it's where we can help freshmen or anybody going back to school spend $1,000 on their dorm room. So if anyone wants to have more information about that, just go to anthonyoneal.com forward slash dorm. But right now, I'm just preparing myself and our team to get ready to encourage incoming freshmen into colleges and even just high school students, shifting their mindset. Okay, summer is over. It's time to get focused on education because the decisions I make in high school will impact

what's happening next, whether that's college, whether that's military, whether that's the workforce, but high school is very important. Now, you mentioned the dorm decoration giveaway. That's on your website, which you gave us the address. Is it also on your YouTube page? Yes, we did a video on there. It's a hilarious video.

It's very hilarious. With Mallory and the team, we put together a great video and much love to Target. They partnered with us to make this thing happen. We even have a Target list. It's called the Anthony O'Neill Shopping List. You can go in there and see what all you will need to go back to school.

But it's a great video. Go in there and check it out. We give you all the tips and tricks on what a female or a male will need when they go back to school. Really practical stuff from Mallory Darcy and our team, who's an interior decorator. So you two open up Target at some crazy hour in the morning. Oh, yeah. And it's really fun. But all they've got to do is, whether they watch it on your YouTube page or your website,

if they like it, they're entered to win, is it the $900 or $1,000? What is it? $1,000. $1,000 to decorate their dorm room. $1,000. And you know what? Here's the thing, Kent. They may not use all $1,000.

So they may just use $500 to get some stuff for the dorm room. Then the other $500 can go towards books or something like that. I was thinking back to my college days, James, and I'm thinking if I won $1,000 from Anthony O'Neill to decorate my dorm room, I wouldn't even know what to do with it. How much are fatheads? It would be all sports fatheads on the wall. And that's like, what, $200?

And I don't know what else to do. I got these life-size figures of Dr. J and Magic Johnson on the wall and i would that's like what 200 bucks and i don't know what else to do i got these life-size figures of dr j and magic johnson on the wall just buy a box of ramen noodles in a sleeping bag and you'd be good to go there you go that's what i would have done that was me back then kelly it was just i would have had magic johnson and walter wait a minute that's us now kelly what would you do with $1,000? Oh, well, she would make it look amazing. Exactly. Totally. Totally. Yeah, it would look nice. She'll spend $1,000, we'll spend $200,

and we're good. That's right. I like James' recommendation. That was actually perfect, because I actually enjoyed ramen noodles. Everyone likes to make fun of them, but I probably ate my weight in them my freshman year of college. Yeah, I didn't even cook them. I just cracked them over, put the seasoning on top of them, ate them raw. Oh, no, that's too much information.

I don't know how to process that. Thankfully, we're getting your phone calls. 888-825-5225 is the number to jump in. Let's go to Brian, who's online in Bakerfield, California. Brian, how can we help? Good, good. First off, Ken, Anthony, it's an honor. New listener. I've been binging.

I'm ready to get out of debt myself. I'm sick of being sick, you know, bro. There you go. Well, I got about $37,000 in debt with a car and some credit cards. About $65,000 a year income. Only income. My wife's a homemaker. So I'm just wondering if I'm able to do this. a year income, only income. My wife's a homemaker. So I'm just wondering if I'm able to do this.

Can I pull this off on my own? No, man, there's no ifs or ands. The buts, can you do it? It's just a matter of do you want to do it, Brian? Oh, I want it. I want it. There you go. I'm all for it. I'm there.

I'm already started. I got my baby step one. I got 1,000 saved. Okay. Working on my dead snowball, painting some little things here and there. All right, all right. Trying to hit it hard, and I'm just wondering, should I sell the car? Well, how much?

Yeah, yeah. Let's talk about this. So you have $37,000 in debt total, which includes the car inside of that, correct? That's correct, yes. Okay, cool. Then you make about $60,000 a year. Your wife is a homemaker. That's great.

And what I would do is I would line up your debt from smallest to largest like what Dave teaches us in Babyset No. 2. Now, if you are willing to sell your car, just make sure that you have some transportation because you have a family. But I like the idea of selling your car. How much more do you owe in your car right now?

Well, the car is, we owe about $14,000, a little under $14,000 on it. Okay. How much is it worth? It's worth probably like $20,000 blue book. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, we owe about $14,000, a little under $14,000 on it. Okay. How much is it worth? It's worth probably like $20,000 blue book. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I mean, if I do sell it, I'll be, what, maybe $5,000, $6,000. And I was thinking that doesn't take a whole big chunk off, so I don't think it's very necessary. But, I mean, it's just a question I had, and what I think it would get me going faster.

Well, Brian, how much is that going to save you a month? What's that car payment right now? Well, it's pretty low. It's only $230,000. It's still $230,000. $230,000, $245,000 a month. Yeah, yeah, Brian. Really low interest.

Yeah, Brian, I'm not really looking at the monthly payment that's going to save me. You're saying it's not going to take a whole much off. You say you're about $37,000. It's about $14,000, $15,000 you owe in a car. That's nearly half of your debt going right there plus you could take the the what six thousand dollars that you're going to get back in equity from the car and go purchase something used for you and your family so now you're down to about twenty something thousand dollars that's that that's that's attainable this year with your income coming in so brian your question was can you do it yes you do it. You see, America is never about the lack of our ability because we have the ability to do it.

Can is always about the it's always about the lack of our determination. And Brian, I heard that in your voice. You are determined to do it. I wish everyone else listening was just as determined. That's right. And here's the deal. Let's just get real for a moment. A six thousand dollar car. I can drive a moment a six thousand dollar car i can drive a pretty nice

six thousand dollar car it's not like you gotta drive some piece of junk where you're embarrassed right i mean you can actually get a solid car for five thousand dollars right now that frees up another thousand you just took 37 you you just took 14 off of it you put another 15 so now you've cut it in half essentially you're right at that halfway mark, just about. Yeah. And that extra, as you said, that extra 230 goes into the snowball plan that you told me about. Here's the thing. Yeah.

The momentum he's going to feel. That's it. That's it. After doing this will overwhelm the anxiety or any fear or pride he's got associated with, should I sell the car? And that's what we want people to understand. Yeah. When you sell a car and you make that's what we want people to understand. Yeah.

When you sell a car and you make that kind of huge chunk payment. It's good. You're rolling. Think about how tall he's going to be walking on Monday. Man, he's walking strong. I love that. All right, folks, coming up. Anthony O'Neill, Ken Coleman here, sitting in for Dave Ramsey this hour. We take more of your calls about your life, your career, your money.

We're here for you. Don't move. More of the Dave Ramsey this hour, we take more of your calls about your life, your career, your money. We're here for you. Don't move. More of The Dave Ramsey Show right around the corner. Are high health care costs getting you down? Are you confused trying to navigate your options? Do you wish you could find an affordable, biblical solution to your health care costs? Based on New Testament principles, Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM, helps Christian families, churches, and ministries join together as the body of Christ to share their major health care costs. Christian Health Care Ministries is the original health cost-sharing ministry. A Better Business Bureau-accredited organization organization CHM members share to pay each

other's medical bills. It's not insurance. It's Christians financially and spiritually supporting each other. It's what Christian Healthcare Ministries has done for over 35 years, and our members have shared over $2.5 billion in medical bills. To learn more, visit chministries.org. That's chministries.org. Christian Healthcare Ministries is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. chministries.org. Welcome back, America. You're listening to The Dave Ramsey Show. Thrilled to have you with us as we talk about your life and your money. I'm Ken Coleman, sitting in for Dave Ramsey this hour, joined by a good pal and fellow Ramsey personality, Anthony O'Neill.

Thrilled to have you with us. 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Let's go next to Colin, who is on the line in Topeka, Kansas. Colin, how can we help? Hey, thanks for taking my calls. How are you guys? We're doing fantastic.

Well, I'm going to be a senior in college, and I've received approximately 130% of the cost of college tuition and living. I've got a paid-for car, no debt, and I fully fund my Roth IRA with summer internships, but I'm having a hard time deciding what to do with this blessing I've received. Wow! I'm just processing all that good news

college has dropped on us. Wow. Well, how much extra money? Let's start with that, because I don't think this is an actual problem. 130%. 130%? Yeah. So how much extra money? Let's start with that. Yeah. Because I don't think this is an actual problem. 130%. Yeah.

So how much extra money are you going to have? Well, my college is going to cost me about $80,000, and I've received $115,000 in scholarship. Okay. Okay. So no other additional costs? And no other additional costs. Nope. All right.

So that's $35,000. Hey, Colin, so I mean, you are calling in, and a lot of people believe that it's not possible. So let's just ask you this question. How did you do this? What happened? Encourage America right now in about 30 seconds or less. How did you do it? You never know.

People want to give out money to help people's education in America, and someone's got to win the scholarship. So I just recommend to apply, apply, apply. If it's not someone else, and if I just recommend to apply, apply, apply. If it's not someone else and if no one else is applying, it's you. There's people who are willing to help, and you might as well give them the opportunity to help you if you want it. Do you have an idea how many scholarships or grants that you applied for? Give us a ballpark figure.

I applied for over 50. Oh, wow. How many did you actually get? About 28. See, less than half. Colin, I like you, man. I want to do some more work with you down the road and really get your story some more because you're just so encouraging. But let's talk about your question of why you called in, you know, of what can you do with the extra money? Okay, this is a great question.

And what I want you to do is make good, smart decisions. You've made smart decisions now because you're going to school debt-free with extra money? Okay. This is a great question. And what I want you to do is make good, smart decisions. You've made smart decisions now because you're going to school debt-free with extra money. What I would do is just save that money and start saving towards your dreams. Okay. So you already have your, your Roth IRA fully funded and keep investing into that, but start setting aside a fully funded emergency fund. So for you being in college right now, I would say, go ahead and set aside about $5,000. Once you do that, man, enjoy life. You're young. Go buy you a nice car because what's going to be different about you is other people are going to be receiving refund checks. You're going to be receiving scholarship refund checks because you've been working so hard. So, man, enjoy some of that. Make sure that you budget.

Make sure that you save for emergencies. Set aside at least $5,000. We teach $500, but Ken, he's fully funded. He's taken care of. So go on ahead and put $5,000 on a savings account. Then after that, man, enjoy a little bit of it. Yeah, this kid is on the ball. Way to go, Colin.

Thanks for the call. That's really encouraging to a lot of parents and a lot of potential and existing college students that is a really great story triple eight eight two five five two two five is the number to jump in rachel is up next in new york city rachel how can we help hi guys thank you so much for taking my call sure um so i'm calling because i'm hoping to get some advice as if you guys woke up in my shoes tomorrow. Um, so my husband and I were on baby step number two, um, and we are like really dumb. Uh, we owe about $608,000 total.

Um, that's including our house. Um, how much of that, how much of that is your house? Uh, 46,000. Okay. It was a remodel house. We bought it at $317,000, and we kind of, like, got really deep into it and went over our heads. And so the outcome of the total mortgage now is $446,000. And how much is the house worth, Rachel, real quick? I've gotten comparables, and I've had my realtor send me, in my area, about $600,000, $550,000, so around that range.

So the other debt is pretty much student loans and credit cards and also a car loan, which is $18,500. And the car is worth $18,500, so I figured that would be a wash. So my question to you guys is, if you woke up tomorrow, would you, one, sell the house, or two, sell both the house and the car or just the car? That's a good question, rachel how much what's your income real quick what do you make what is your household income so you and your husband we take home 116 000 um that doesn't include um the overtime that my husband has been working and i'm also in the process of getting a second job um Yeah. Okay, cool. So if I'm in your shoes tomorrow,

I'm waking you up, taking you to breakfast, and telling you we're selling this house, and we're going to sell the car. Because here's the main reason why that I'm seeing. You have so much equity inside of the house, and then also with your income, you should not have nearly a $400,000 home with your income. One thing that we teach is your mortgage payment should be no more than 25%.

You can stretch it a little bit if you're debt-free to 30% of your take-home pay. So right now, I know your mortgage payment is more than that. So to answer your question directly, Rachel, I'm selling my house, and we're going to talk about selling this car as well. And then the money that we make in from our from selling the house, I'm putting all that on the debt. And then after we

pay off the debt, I'm going on to babysit number three and that's three to six months of my expenses. So when you do get back into your home, do it the correct way, Rachel. When you buy again, make sure you put down 20 and make sure that your mortgage payment is below 25 i know people get like oh man that's hard that's difficult well no it just means you're living below your means and it means that you may not get exactly what your dream thought may be for your home right now but if you do it right

eventually you will get there. Rachel, hang on the line. I'm going to have Kelly give you a copy of Dave's book. It's sold over 5 million copies, continues to go zoom, zoom because of the truth and because of the simple plan that you need to follow. Anthony started talking about it, Total Money Makeover. I'm going to give you that copy. You need to read it, but not just read it, practice it, put it into play. With Anthony's advice, even though you've got a massive amount of debt, you're going to take a really big chunk out of that, and that's momentum, and you can build off of that, and you can get there, I promise.

It may seem like an insurmountable climb right now, but you can climb it. You're going to do it with the baby steps. The Total Money Makeover is going to walk you through how to do that. 888-825-5225 is the number to join the conversation here on the Dave Ramsey Show. Ken Coleman and Anthony O'Neill sitting in for Dave this hour. Let's go to a question from social media. You can engage

the show via Twitter. It's at Ramsey Show if you want to submit your question that way. You can also do it on Instagram, at Dave Ramsey, and then of course just on the Dave Ramsey Facebook page. This one comes in from Robbie on Twitter. He said, how is someone supposed to pay for college in cash right out of high school if their parents didn't set up an ESA?

Sounds like young Robbie is asking on behalf of himself. You know, just like – that's a good question, but it's just like what our last caller just did. You know, he worked. He said, hey, man, a lot of people are not applying for scholarships i got up and every single day i busted my rear end and i went to work i applied um again it never goes back to the lack of the ability america it goes back to the lack of our determination ken asked a good question he said hey how many scholarships did you apply for 50 but how many did you get about 20 22 y'all so he got less than half but he had 130 of what he needed for school because he worked hard so yes america you can go to college debt free but you have to work it's not going to be easy but it will be

worth it and esa is a great setup for the parents but do not allow that to be an excuse if you don't have an ESA plan. Because you can work, you can start off going to community college, you can do scholarships and grants, get out into your local community and look for small businesses who are giving away $200, $300, $500 because those small

loans, not loans, Lord forgive me for that one, those small amounts do add up and you can avoid student loans easily. That's right. And you know, you can actually pay as you go. Yes. We talk about the virtues of community college, just beginning the process and continuing

on one step at a time. Phone number is 888-825-5225. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. More of your calls coming up next. Guys, let's talk about that timeshare pitch that you fell for. They promised you exclusive access to travel anywhere you want. Tropical beaches, mountain getaways, or whatever. Oh, my gosh.

They claimed it was the affordable way to travel, and then they convinced you it was a good investment. But here's the deal. Search any auction site for your exact timeshare and see what it's selling for. It's listed for a dollar with no bids. That's not a good investment. Now, I know I'm just adding salt to a very old wound, but look, if you tried calling the resort and they won't take it back, if you tried selling it and no one will buy it, call Timeshare Exit Team. Timeshare Exit Team will get you out. You'll have to be patient. It can be a long process, and it costs money, but it works.

They're so confident in their exit service that if they don't get you out, you get a 100% refund. Call 844-999-EXIT. It's free to talk. 844-999-EXIT. TimeshareExitTeam.com. Exit. It's free to talk. 844-999-EXIT. TimeshareExitTeam.com Thank you for joining the conversation here on the Dave Ramsey Show. A conversation about your life and your money.

I'm Ken Coleman, joined by Anthony O'Neill as we sit in for Dave Ramsey this hour. Happy to have you. Hope you've had a great week. We want you to finish strong. 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. Some of you have been listening for a long time. You've been thinking about calling.

You know you've got a question. You've got a little bit of anxiety about it, nothing to worry about. Today may be the day that you make the call and you get what you need to get to move forward. It is worth it. Don't wait. 888-825-5225. We start off with Rich, who is on the line in Colorado Springs. Rich, how can we help?

Hey, thanks for taking my call, guys. So basically, I am in Colorado Springs, and the housing market is just out of control here. So my wife and I, the good news is we are virtually debt-free. I say virtually debt-free, meaning under $2,000 on one last credit card. So before I heard about your program or Dave's program, I had already started really concentrating on blowing out all of our debt. So my wife and I make together about $80,000 a year. And so with that scenario, we also have four kids. I'm curious of what percentage of my income we should be paying for housing

because we keep building up a savings, but then every time we have to move to another rental, it wipes us out again. So it's just, you know, we're just getting a little discouraged with trying to follow the plan. I did read Total Money Makeover. You know, I'm trying to follow the plan. I did read Total Money Makeover. I'm trying to work the budget. I literally just finished reading it a couple weeks back, so I'm not really, you know, I don't have my budget together yet or anything like that.

But I'm just curious what percentage of someone making what my wife and I make, like what approximately we should be spending a month for housing. Yeah, that's good, Rich. And that's a good question. Two things I want to address. And then I answer that question. The very first one is make sure you knock out that $2,000. We don't really teach and believe in virtually debt.

We believe in virtually debt free. We believe in debt free or not in debt. So you're still in debt, but you have $2,000 to go. So you're close to it. Um, and then two, let's talk about this. Your, your question is how much should you be spending? Okay. So we teach 25% of your take home pay.

So on average, you're making about $80,000. So this means you should be seeing about 55 to $6,000 a month, um, on your take home pay because of, you know, you have kids and everything like that, so you should be able to see a little bit of that money. So what I'm going to suggest to you is your rent should be no more to $1,200 to $1,500 a month. Okay? So that's going to be right.

We're right in there. Yeah, we're towards the high end of that. You're towards the high end of that. So you're no more than $1,500? That's correct. Right now, we're at $1,440, which is just a drop, which is actually a drop from our last place, which was $1,475. That's good. And that's only because we lucked into a place because realistically for a four or five bedroom house to rent in Colorado Springs,

you're talking the average probably about $1,600, $1,700. Well, that's good. That's good. So we lucked into a place. That's good. So if you're right around those numbers, Ken, he's doing great. He's living below his means. But one thing I do want to make sure that I stress is, okay, you're living below your means, but make sure that you attack that $2,000.

Don't get comfortable because you're virtually debt-free. No, you are still in debt worth two thousand dollars that's with your kind of money you can pay that off next month then go ahead and set aside three to six months of your expenses then start saving up to purchase a home if that's your goal down the road but right now rich you're doing a great job you're living below your means what we teach of 25 thanks for the call rich 888-825-5225 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. The number to get in on the Dave Ramsey Show. Let's go to Junior, who's on the line in San Jose, California.

Junior, you're on the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, how are you? Good, how are you, sir? How can we help? I'm doing good, thank you. My question was, me and my wife, we have six months of expenses saved. We're putting 15% into our retirement. I'm working three jobs right now to save for a 20% down on a new home, bigger family home.

Okay. So help me understand this a little bit more, Junior. So you're saying you're working three jobs right now to pay off your mortgage, and then you're saying you want to go buy another home? Explain this to me a little bit. What are you trying to do? Are you trying to get out of this home to get a bigger home? Or do you want to pay this home off, keep it, and get another home?

Keep it and get another home. Okay. So this is what I'm going to recommend. I wouldn't recommend having two mortgages and having two homes. I'm going to recommend that you sell this home and you use that income that you make from this home to go buy your other home, your bigger home. One thing that I recommend, even Dave recommends, is you should have at least a good million

dollars in asset before you start getting into the whole mortgage industry world as far as having multiple homes. So right now with your income bracket, even my income bracket, Junior, I'm not going to have two homes. I'm going to wait until I have more than enough money in my pocket so I can easily afford multiple homes. So if you need a bigger home, I'm going to sell this, take the equity from it, use that to put down 20, maybe even stretch it to 30, 40% can. And then once I build my assets up, I'm going to go ahead and start looking to other things I can invest into,

like rental properties. But right now, I'm taking it slow. I'm going to sell this home and buy another one. Well, he's working hard. He's got three jobs. He's got big goals. Sounds like he's where he needs to be financially. And he's trying to fast forward a little bit by pausing the 401k. And that's just not a good move.

Absolutely not. You don't want to take away from your future for your present right now. No, what you want to do is keep that going. Keep investing 15% because, hey, you will retire. You will have to come there. There will come a day to where you will need this money, but don't do it so you can have two, three homes. Let's go to Alex, who's on the line in Phoenix. Alex, how can we help? Hi, I'm that nervous guy you were talking about coming in from the break. All right. Well, good. Good. Hey, you've already stepped into your fear,

so just tell us what we can do to help you, man, and let's see if we can do it. Okay. I'm 58 years old and just turned 58, and while I had a pretty decent start, I've never been able to land on a career and guide myself through my career life. I've kind of let life guide me. And, um, uh, you know, I'm, I'm working right now. I'm working for a company that,

uh, is, uh, CRM and, uh, software tools for, uh, car dealerships. And I've been working here five years. I think I'm getting, you know, underpaid and, um, uh, where do you want to go, Alex? What do you want to do? Do you have an idea of what you want to do? Uh, yeah, that's kind of the thing. I don't know. Um, I, you know, I, I graduated from a top 10 econ program and was recruited to work for the government and was a research analyst for the Department of Labor for a while. And due to personality issues, I just have kind of wandered through different careers. Alex, at 58, I'm wondering if there was ever a career or a role that you dreamed about at some point in your life and you said this would be the dream role?

Has that ever crossed your mind? Yeah. What is it? Say it. A long time ago. Doesn't matter. What was it? Either a photographer or work in film business.

Why? Tell me why you would love that work. Quickly. What is it? Because I was passionate about it when I was young. Yeah, well, it doesn't matter. You can still get into that space. How much money do you make right now, Alex?

Between my two jobs, I make about $4,200 a year. $4,200? $42,000? I mean, $42,000. Excuse me, $42,000. I'm sorry. I was going to say, wow, we've got a whole other issue here on this phone call. We're going to have to go to break. And this year I'm scheduled to make more because I've got to raise it. My primary job, you know, probably pushing forty five.

Alright, here's the deal, Alex. I want you to hang on the line. When we come back, I'm going to reset this for people. There's a lot of people out there who are 58 and think it's too late to actually get where they've always wanted to go. And I've got some great news for you. I want you to hang on the line. I'm going to tell you how to figure that out, and I'm going to encourage you to actually do it. I'm going to give you some homework. More with Alex's story and your phone calls.

This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Okay, I need you to listen to this. Because one normal routine that everyone does can cause total chaos in your life. Folks, I'm talking about the simple act of using Wi-Fi. When you're on Wi-Fi anywhere in public or at home, you're at risk of hackers easily seeing every site you visit and search you're doing online. It doesn't matter if you're doing it on your cell phone or your laptop. I'm not telling you this to scare you. I don't operate in fear. But I want you to be aware and take action. You need to download Hotspot Shield.

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This is the Dave Ramsey Show, where people hang out on a daily basis to talk about their life and their money. I'm Ken Coleman, a Ramsey personality and host of the Ken Coleman Show on SiriusXM that leads into the Dave Ramsey Show daily. Also joined by the co-author of the best-selling book, Graduate Survival Guide, he is Anthony O'Neill, and we're taking your calls, 888-825-5225. Now, if you're just joining us, before we went into the break, we took a call from Alex in Phoenix, Arizona, and Alex is 58 years old, and he's not making the money that he wants to make. He's not doing what he wants to do. i put alex to the test anthony i said all right way back take me way back or any point in your life was there a moment where you dreamed about a certain role or certain work yeah and so alex

i'm gonna let you tell america what you said to mecribe what that dream role is or was. Well, I was very interested in basically being a creative artist through the medium of either photography or filmmaking. And did try to do it. In fact, I quit the government and went back to school and just never was able to find my way. Well, I'm not going to try to break down on this phone call why you didn't find your way, but what I want to do is encourage you and equip you that you can actually, you're making $42,000 a year right now in a job that you just, you don't love, there's no passion, but it is stability for you and it becomes the platform for you to step into the work that you love. And it's not too late, Alex, at 58.

That's your new phrase. It's not too late at 58. That becomes your personal motto. That is dope. That's a hashtag. Okay, good. Hashtag it's not too late at 58. Now, here's the deal.

That's the first thing. The second thing is I want you to begin to research as soon as you can when we hang up. I want you, over the next 48, 72 hours, to do as much research as you can in the Phoenix area, wherever you live. You can draw a circle around the circumference of where you'd be willing to drive. And I want you to look for roles, full-time roles, part-time roles, where you can be a part of video production. Anthony knows this this this guy is practically a video producer himself in every city in america there are a lot of people making good money that are part of video production think television commercials just videos for company

websites somebody in phoenix arizona in fact a lot of somebodies are doing that and so is there any role alex where you could step in based on some education and experience that you've had and just straight-up desire where you can apply and try to get in full-time, part-time? Now, this is going to be a process. I'm not guaranteeing you it's going to happen overnight. But you need to identify first those roles. A camera, picking up a camera, a video camera, being a part of a team where you can take some of your current experience and skills

and say, hey, I'm going to be a part of a production company as I re-enter into the world that I really want to be in and get some more certifications, maybe some training, some online classes, whatever it takes. Now, here's another option, Alex. I want you to also save up,

do it the way Dave would tell you, but change that budget around, sacrifice, cut something, and go buy a camera. Or go buy a still photography, or go buy a video camera and start creating some stuff. Start doing some stuff. If you're more on the graphic design side, start doing some stuff again just for yourself to reawaken, Anthony, that passion that is within him. And here's what's going to happen. Momentum will begin to build. And maybe you do some side hustle gigs. You're going to make $500 doing a short video or doing some photos for a small businessman

who you know who doesn't have the time or the connections to update his website. But if you go in and go, hey, I used to do this, and I'm doing this on the side, my point is, Alex, you can step into this thing progressively and find yourself quicker than you could ever imagine making $42,000 or more doing the work you've always wanted to do. Yeah, Ken, you know, you're hitting it dead on, man, and thank you for your words of encouragement

because when I think of all of your top video producers right now, top filmmakers, they're in their 60s. Now, of course, they have been in it for quite some time. But again, age is never an issue. It's just always about your work ethic and your passion and your desire. And so, man, if this guy has it or if anyone listening right now, if you have a heart and a passion to do something, but you feel it's too late, it's never too late.

Hashtag is never too late at 58. I got, thank you so much for supporting me. Social media guru over here giving me the hashtag. But hey, Alex, we believe in you and you've got some homework to do. And by the way, there's a lot of people out there listening right now that are in the same position as Alex. Same.

Oh, man. And it is doable. That's good. All right, next, let's go to DeJuan, who's on the line in Nashville, Tennessee. How can we help, DeJuan? Hey, thanks for taking my call. I really appreciate it. Sure, man.

Let me give you the bullet points of what I've got going on and see if you can pull me in the right direction. All right, go. We've got about three minutes, so give it to us quick. 44 years old, married with three kids. Right now I have about $15,000 in a Roth IRA, $44,000 in a 401K, and about $44,000 in a pension. My wife has been our stay-at-home mom for about 14 years, just started back to work. So she's just starting a 401K.

We have $16,000 left on our car and about $98,000 left on our house. We're in step two right now. Just trying to figure out exactly what direction we need to go to. I'm worried about my retirement right now. All right, let me ask you a quick question, and then Anthony's going to take over here and help you out. How long do you anticipate before you would knock out the 16K, which is, I'm guessing, the only debt you have beside the house. Is that correct? That's correct. Right now, because my wife is working, we're taking a check and trying

to knock out the car. So by March, we'll have it knocked out. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. And Duan, did I miss how much money you're bringing in a year? About $110,000 a year. Okay, so you got $110,000 a year, and you're asking what is the next step, right? Yes, sir. My biggest worry is my retirement from mental health because she's been out of work for the last 14 years. That's my biggest worry. Cool, cool, cool. And also the kids.

Okay, okay. You know what, DeJuan, this is a great question and I'm actually, um, probably if you're having that worry, having that fear, because thinking about your future means that you are determined to be successful in your future. But I want you to kind of back off of that worry a little bit.

I want you to worry about your present, get out of this debt, making a hundred plus thousand dollars a year with this amount of money in debt. You can get out of debt now and then you can even go more aggressive with your retirement and also as well taking care of your kids college plan that you have. So the very first step is, depending on how old your kids are, if they're younger than the ages of 10, I would say open up an ESA account. If they're above the ages of 10, open up a Roth IRA for savings, but then also start going ahead investing into your retirement. Because here's the thing.

You are going to retire. But what I want you to do is focus on getting out of debt right now. And then once you get out of debt, before we start investing in retirement and the kids' college funds, set aside for three to six months of emergency because you don't want to do all that hard work. Something happens, and then you got to go back into it. And he's there in March. Absolutely.

And they may pay it off sooner, but right now he's forecasting March. They pay off that car. Yeah. And now all he has is the 98K on his house and that emergency fund at three to six months, he's going to knock that out really quick. Real quick. Real quick. But here's the key thing.

I don't want him to pay off his mortgage before he sets aside his three to six months. Walk the baby steps out. Walk the baby steps out, man. And that's so important. A lot of people say, well, let me go ahead and attack this. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Do the baby steps because Kenny and I both know. They work.

Yeah. It works. Yeah. So, DeJuan, hang on the line. I'm going to give you a copy of Dave's Total Money Makeover as well. Kelly will give that to you. I appreciate the question, but, buddy, you are actually in a really good place. Yes.

You can see the light at the end of that tunnel, and you should be encouraged. I sense that he called in with some fear, and Anthony did a great job, and I just want to reinforce that, DeJuan. We're going to give you total money makeover. You're really close. Really close. You're going to take Anthony's advice. You're going to read Dave's book.

You're going to absolutely walk the steps out in order, and you're going to find, by the way, that Retire Inspired is a book you should. You know what? I was just about to say that. I'm giving stuff away. Let's give him Chris Hogan's book as well, Retire Inspired, because I'm just going to give it to you in advance because I know you're going to need it. You're going to be there.

Walk the steps out and read Chris's book because you're going to go, wait a second. Wait a second. I can do this. I can do this. That age bracket, you're going to go, wait a second. Wait a second. I can do this. I can do this. That age bracket, you're still young. You still have time. So the fact is that you're actually, what you have set aside in your retirement stuff already, you are ahead of the game a lot. Oh, there's no question.

He's going to start piling on some really good work and a nice foundation that he's laid. I like it. There you go. DeJuan, right here. Yeah. At the home city here. The. DeJuan, right here. Yeah. At the home city here. The Music City, Nashville, Tennessee. Alright, folks, that music means, unfortunately, we

are about to run out of time. I want to thank our producer, James Childs, our associate producer, Kelly Daniel. I want to thank my man, my cohort, right here, Anthony O'Neill, for hanging out with me, and you, America. Thank you for listening. We do this for you. This is The Dave Ramsey Show.

Hey, it's Kelly Daniel, associate producer and phone screener for The Dave Ramsey Show. Did you know that in 2017, Dave Ramsey Show listeners paid off $50 million in debt? That's pretty impressive. And it could be you this year. Keep listening for more inspiration. I hate to see people waste money, and that's exactly what happens when you spend hundreds of dollars a year on ID theft protection plans like Trusted ID, LifeLock, ID Watchdog, and any of them. Well, let's face it. Identity theft is a nightmare, and it's not going away.

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