The Ramsey Show - App - You CAN Control Your Financial Future (Hour 3)

Episode Date: January 22, 2019

The show about you

🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage means you're probably on your way to being an everyday millionaire. Ah, yeah, best-selling book, baby, without a doubt. Number one best-selling author Chris Hogan joins me in the midst of the Everyday Millionaire Tour. We will be doing a Smart Money live event tonight in Los Angeles at Irvine at Mariner's Church. And excited about that. Chris, you've been doing media all morning, third week of the book tour.

Are you running out of gas? No, Dave, I am motivated and i'm wired up and fired up uh the people have been fantastic at the book signings uh out out on the road as i'm meeting them and talking with them i am ready to keep it rolling time to go well when you meet folks that are winning and are encouraged to go win it keeps your energy level up doesn't it it really does i think if you were meeting with sad people all day long every day, you would be sad and ready to go home. Oh, yeah. Oh, I'd be drained.

Yeah, I'd be drained. But the media people have been fantastic. The radio people have been fantastic. People are excited about this message, Dave. I really feel like that we are going to give America really a shot in the arm of really looking and identifying of, hey, we can control our future. We get to make decisions. Nobody gets to tell me or limit me with what I can do when I'm armed with the right information and I have the right attitude.

Absolutely. And, you know, people want to believe that it's possible. Yeah. They want to believe they live in a country and in an economy where if they took action, that they could have a positive result. But they've been told for so long that America is so broken and America doesn't work anymore for the little man. And America needs to be socialist. And America needs to be this. And there's this whole drumbeat of negative mythology.

And honestly, I call it mythology, but what it is is lies. You've been lied to, America. We know that because Chris and our team did the largest research project of millionaires, actual millionaires, people that are both Dave Ramsey followers and people that have never heard of Dave Ramsey from what we call white space, very carefully done button-up research. The research technique is, well, it really cannot be criticized. It's perfect.

It's airtight. And we were very careful because we knew people have an agenda, sadly, to destroy hope out there. And so part of the fun of this book is to get to do battle with that. Yeah. No, we want people to know the reality. We want you to see and read the stories of people that had to overcome some obstacles. They had some situations in their life. There's a gentleman in here that we talked to, one of the millionaires that was homeless, Dave, for a period of time.

But all of these millionaires, it's not an accident. They made a decision. They started moving in a direction for themselves, and they were able to do it. Now, there was no easy button. There was no magic pill or formula. They had to do some hard work, and they had to work over time. But, Dave, what I love is that they kept their sight on the goal. They didn't allow anything to deter them

or cause them to move away from what they were trying to accomplish. And they were enjoying their lives in the process. And we found that there are millionaires of every race, every creed, color, national origin, southern, northern, even California people. I mean, we have to mess with you California people since we're over here. But, yeah, seriously, I mean, everybody, it's amazing. Different people had different obstacles to overcome, but they did. Yeah. And we've each got our own little baby to rock here when it comes down to that stuff.

But, you know, the question is, can it be done? And based on, well, I mean, here's a Hispanic guy. Jose says, I drive a 10-year-old Mazda, a CX-9, and it has almost 200,000 miles on it. And of all the cars we purchased in the past 10 years, and all the cars we purchased in the past 10 years have all been used cars when we purchased them in cash. Hispanic guy, millionaire. Yeah. One of the guys we interviewed. Yeah.

And that's what he did. He didn't go, well, hispanics have to have a new car yeah i mean like that's a hispanic disease or something right it's not a hispanic disease not a black disease not a white disease it's a new car disease that's exactly right and that's called giving up your money and your your wealth building potential disease so again you know like you said dave we've all had obstacles we've all had some challenges. But we get a chance in this country to decide. We get a chance to make a decision, to plug in for information that's going to help you get there. And we get a chance to do it.

We have an incredible opportunity in front of us. And, again, that mindset, Dave, one of the things that I looked at with the millionaires, one of the stats, it was huge. 92% of the millionaires stick to a long-term plan for their money. Well, there you go. Imagine that. 92% of the people that get to Florida had a map. They didn't wander down there and go, where's Arizona? Wait a minute, I'm in Florida.

You know, you have a plan. You have a direction, and you follow the map. I mean, well, there you go. You know, 92% of the people that get in, you have a plan. You have a direction. And you follow the map. I mean, well, there you go. You know, 92% of people that get in great shape have a plan. 92% of people that run a marathon had a training plan. Yes. They didn't just wake up one morning and go, I'm going to go run a marathon. People do that, but they end up in the hospital.

Right. You know, and that's not how life works. And that's just no shock to me. So Chris did a big book signing here in los angeles last night tonight he and i will be doing the smart money live event at mariners church here in irvine and then uh now those of you up in the san jose san francisco area tomorrow night wednesday night the 23rd at six o'clock barnes and noble at stevens creek boulevard yes ch Chris will be giving away, courtesy of the SmartVestor folks, $1,000. Be handing it out there that night, Dave.

And so now, you do have to be present to win, but you don't have to purchase a book to win. You don't have to purchase anything. No, don't buy anything. Just need to be there and be present when we draw. No, we want to sell you a book, though.

I would love for you to take a book. I mean, I really would. But we're going to have fun. You know, the opportunity to do a little bit of Q&A there, to talk, to be able to meet you. And, Dave, I've got people coming up to me telling me that they're an everyday millionaire. Yeah. You know.

It's already become a thing. It has become a thing. You can see it in their eyes. And they walk up and they lean in and they say, hey, Hogan, I'm one of those everyday millionaires. And I just smile. And they go, how'd you do it? And I say, my 401k and I stayed out of debt. I put money in my Roth IRA.

I mean, I almost mumble. Yeah. I love it. Okay, he'll be in Sacramento on Thursday night at the Barnes & Noble at Arden Fair, giving away $1,000 there on Friday. Seattle heading that way at the Barnes & Noble there at Northgate, $1,000 given away at each of those. And that is the three final stops on the book tour.

It's the third week of the book tour. He's been going crazy. We've all been going crazy, running around all over the nation seeing you guys. This is the California leg. So San Jose, Wednesday night, Stevens Creek, Barnes & Noble. And, of course, the Sacramento store, Barnes & Noble, Arden Fair on Thursday night, Stevens Creek, Barnes & Noble, and, of course, the Sacramento store, Barnes & Noble Arden Fair on Thursday night, Friday night, Seattle, Barnes & Noble at Northgate.

Each time, we're giving away $1,000. No purchase necessary. Must be present to win. Must be 18 years old or older. You know the laws on that stuff. Just come out. You're going to enjoy being around people who are positive, people who think they can win. We're going to sell you a booklet. Chris, write his name in the front of it, which makes it worth more, I think.

And you sell it on eBay for probably a dollar less than you paid for it. And, well, it's all defaced and all. I mean, you marked in there. I did. I did. We're kids. We're told not to write in books. Right.

Now we sign them for a living. We do. Now, listen, we've kicked off a new year. You know, California, it's a new year, and it's an opportunity for a new you. So I would appreciate you coming out and seeing me. I'd love to meet you. So those out in California, get ready. Seattle, know I'm coming your way to it.

And let's finish this thing strong. The American dream is still alive and available. Everyday Millionaires is the book how ordinary people build extraordinary wealth and how you can too. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. I'm going to go on a little rant here for a minute. I took a call from a father who wanted to know how to plan for the care of his special needs daughter after he dies. Why is it that parents of special needs children are so deliberate in their planning while other parents have a tendency to be sloppy? Do the needs of your family matter less if something happens to you? Oh, I'm sorry. Did

I just guilt trip you into getting some term life insurance? Well, then good. Your family needs you to step up. Having the right amount of term life insurance is a matter of personal responsibility. If you want to use the new year as a reason for doing the right thing, then do it. Term life insurance is something every family needs, which is why I talk about it every day. It's not complicated, it's not expensive, and you need to do this now. Zander Insurance is the only place I recommend. Visit zander.com or call them at 800-356-4282 please learn from other people's mistakes and get LJ on Twitter says, I've attempted watching Financial Peace University,

but Dave Ramsey is spewing out such elitist, sexist garbage that I had to stop. It's pretty pathetic that he has to shame the poor so much to make a buck. Well, there you have it. Oh, yeah, that's me. Sexist and poor shaming. Who do you think I help every day here on the air for free?

Yeah, I think. Yeah, but I got to tell you, the truth is she's right. I really will not pass the politically correct test. If you need a politically correct acid test for in order for me to help you with your money, I will get an F. Okay? I am not sexist, nor am I poor shaming. But if you can't handle this much testosterone, it's okay. It's okay.

I can handle it. It's good. It's good. I mean, really, everyone can't listen to a semi-right-wing bald-headed hillbilly. It's good. It's good. I mean, really, everyone can't listen to a semi-right-wing, bald-headed hillbilly. It's hard. Not everybody can do it. I get it. It's okay.

That's why we've got other people out there to help other people. It's all good. So much anger. Anger issues. That's a different class, though. You went to the wrong class. That's not the anger issue class. Open phones at 888-825.

You could store that one in the Dave Reeds Mean Tweets segment and bring it back up again if you want, James. We need to get those out. We haven't done them in a while. Have you been collecting them? I have been. I'm waiting until we get a good batch of them. I'll add that to the batch. Yeah, that right there could be icing on the cake.

That one's legit. That's a legit mean tweet right there. Cindy. Cindy's with legit mean tweet right there. Cindy. Cindy's with us in Houston, Texas. Hi, Cindy. How are you? Hi, Dave. I'm doing great.

I hear you are, too. I am. How can I help? I have a problem with my emergency fund. I have been trying to follow your program for several years now, and every time I get to paying things off, I have an emergency, and it exceeds my emergency fund. So I have paid off and cut up many credit cords in the last seven years. I also got a promotion on the last seven years where I went from a $45,000 growth salary per year to $70,000 this year, which really helped.

But I have, you know... Tell me two of the emergencies. Tell me two of the emergencies. You're talking about the $1,000 starter emergency fund that you're exceeding yes okay okay okay so how much debt did you start out with seven years ago not counting your house i started out with about 24 000 and i got everything down to zero except for my visa and my car note and of course my house note yeah not counting your house is what we're talking about okay you're making 42 000 you had 24 000 in debt it should not take you seven years to pay that off sister well i had i had to replace my heating and air

conditioning system i had to replace my uh uh dishwasher i had to replace my refrigerator i had to replace my hot water heater uh things like that okay and so it kept cutting me back and cutting me back yeah so i'm wondering if i need a higher emergency but. Not right now. No, you need more income and more discipline to stick with your budget. Okay? Yes. You've lived through appliance hell, it sounds like. I don't know. You had the world's worst group of appliances I've ever heard, it sounds like.

In seven years, you lost all of those? My Lord, what a bunch of junk. But anyway, yeah, you got through them. But even paying off that stuff, making $42,000. So I guess you're looking at an extra job because you only had $24,000 worth of debt. And then you get it only paid down. See, I tell you what's really happening. And you're not going to like this.

But I can read the tea leaves here. You're not really living on a budget. You're not really doing this stuff. You're kind of one month I'm on and two months I'm off and three months I'm on and two months I'm off, and you keep falling off the wagon is what's happening. You're not making the money behave. And every time one of those things breaks, it gives you an excuse to go out and just wander around a little while

and get yourself back in trouble. Cut up the credit cards, get on a budget, take six extra jobs, have a garage sale, and let's get this stuff done. Because a $1,000 emergency fund was never designed to last seven years. It was not what it's for. It's to last seven months or 18 months or something while you're getting out of debt. It's not designed for that. But you've been lollygagging around this, kiddo.

So, yeah, you've had some legitimate emergencies but even when i add all of that up and 24 000 up but seven times four is 280 000 you made during that time okay and so you had to buy a refrigerator and pay off some debt and you've used that's what i'm saying right there. Okay? So you should have made more progress in this. The math tells me something else is going on. So that's what you need to do. You're going to have to tighten up, stay on game, get your income up, sell so much stuff the dog's hiding, and get after it.

Erin is in Los Angeles. Hey, Erin, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? I am super overwhelmed, and forgive me, I'm a little nervous. It's okay. I just got done reading the Total Money Makeover, and I'm super stoked and super excited.

I just got my husband on board, but here's the kicker. I am eight months pregnant. Yay! but here's the kicker i am eight months pregnant yay yeah excited but overwhelmed because we've got a lot of debt and a lot to work through and i know usually you say that not you know to stop the baby steps if you're on it right if you're pregnant and kind of build up a fund but i just wouldn't i wouldn't start right now but what i what I would start is start making lists and getting ready. Make a good list and lay out your debt snowball, smallest to largest, right? So when you're ready to go, you're ready to go.

I would get on a budget. You and your husband get those budget forms out of the back of the book or jump on EveryDollar and get the app. It's free and use it and build out your budget. And let's start practicing piling up cash as high as we can pile up for the next 60 days or so. Baby comes and comes home, and mommy comes and comes home, and everybody's healthy. Whatever money we've saved up above $1,000,

we throw and kickstart our debt snowball into gear, and let's go. Okay. What's your household income? $80,000. Cool. Very good. How much debt have you got, not counting your house? $200K. Wow. Cool. Very good. How much debt have you got, not counting your house? $200K.

Wow. On what? Yeah. Student loans, there's a car in there, but the student loan ballooned. It was on income-based repayment. I don't care. How much is student loans? I'm sorry?

How much are student loans? It's $180K. Who's the doctor or lawyer that are student loans? It's 180. Who's the doctor or lawyer that's not working? That's me. What are you? Well, I have my own business right now. What is your degree in? My degree is in optometry.

Oh, okay. So you've started an optometrist practice? Exactly. Okay. All right. How long ago? About a year and a half. And your husband works?

He does, yeah. What's he make? Low right now, about $25. What's he do? He's the jack of all trades. He can do anything. What's he do for a living?

He was audio. He was basically like a manager. Was? What's he make the $25,000 doing? He's actually an associate in my practice. Why? Oh, okay. So your practice is making $80,000.

He doesn't make $ the practice makes 80 yes okay yeah both of you are working there okay exactly all right cool so the trajectory to that should be that in the next eye blink or two it ought to double right yeah after the baby and everybody and all that i mean i'm talking about the coming two years, you're not going to be making $80,000. You'll be making $200,000, right? That's the goal, yes. I mean, it's a realistic goal in your world. You should be, okay, as you build that practice.

And that's going to solve the issue. Okay. So, yeah, you got a student loan hot mess, but you got the degree, so let's get the shovel. We need a bigger shovel, your income. So when baby comes and you get back to work, let's build that practice, build that practice, build that practice. Use that money, use that money to clean this mess up. You can do it. You can do it.

That's the good news. You got a way out of this. It's just a mess. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. 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 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 Health Care 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. Thank you for joining us, America. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. We're glad you are here. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Cindy is in Minneapolis.

Hi, Cindy. How are you? Hi. Thanks for taking my call, Dave, Cindy. How are you? Hi. Thanks for taking my call, Dave. Sure. What's up? I have a question about when you become self-insured from a life insurance perspective. My husband and I are on baby step seven.

Good. And we are 47 years old. Good. We still have a few, three children at home. We do have college funds set up for them and we've been reviewing our life insurance and they are going to their premiums on me just increased. So I did reach out to Xander and they gave me a new quote and as we reviewed that we started to wonder when do you really become self-insured? Well, you ask yourself the question, and you can back into the math off the question, but you ask yourself the question, if he died today, do I have enough money that makes me money to survive?

Now, let me give you an example. What does your husband make a year? Probably about $170,000. Okay. The life insurance we're kind of talking about really is on me, so mine's probably about $50,000. Okay, you make $50,000 a year. If something happened to you today, how would he cope with that? Well, there would be two things he would do. Number one, he has to replace all the

things you do as mom around the house and so we have to hire mary poppins or the equivalent thereof how old are your kids uh 20 17 and 13 okay all right and so you know there's you're doing a certain amount of and he is too probably but you guys you're doing a certain amount of, and he is too probably, but you guys together are doing a certain amount of taxi service, a certain amount of tutoring, certainly a certain amount of housework, right? Right. The economic value that a mom brings. And if we want to call that $40,000 a year, if we hired somebody to do some of those things, you could call it that.

It wouldn't be unreasonable at all, would it? Or $50,000 a year if we hired somebody to do some of those things you could call it that wouldn't be unreasonable at all would it or fifty thousand a year on top of that you bring in fifty thousand that the family utilizes in some way or another now so the question is what does he need income wise to offset the loss in economic value that you bring to the household, and the loss of that income. And so, you know, if he needed to replace that, and he makes good money, so he may not need to replace all of that, but any of that he needs to replace times about 12, if you have that much in investments that he can access the income off of, then we'd be fine.

So let me give you another example. Let's kind of just walk it through in a real world thing let's say he didn't need your income he could make it on the 170 income but he did want to you know he did want to throw he did want to create an income into the house to offset some help to the tune of 40,000 well then you'd need about 400,000 either in investments or in retirement if you don't have the investments. Or, I'm sorry, in insurance if you don't have the investments. I'm trying to create an income to offset the gap that's left if you're gone. If the investments will do that or if there's not a need for that to be replaced, that's when you're self-insured. Does that make any sense?

It does. I guess my question would be, on the investment side of things, are you saying retirement accounts that we could have access to, non-401K? Because obviously he has a ways to wait before he's going to be able to get that 401K money from a tax standpoint. We do have a good net worth. I mean, it's over $2 million. But, you know, my concern is the amount of money that he would.

How much of that is in non-retirement investments? $500,000. Okay. That creates $50,000 a year, which offsets either the loss of your income or the loss of your economic value, somewhere in that range, and he probably can eat the other. You're probably self-insured if you want to drop it. My point being, if he took some of the income off of that $500,000

and just said, we're just going to adjust the budget a little bit, I'll make $170,000 make 170 shut up you know that i think you guys are fine you know i think i think you're fine you're really really close to being self-insured the point being let's let's just multiply it out to show you an absurd example show you how it works let's say that that 500 000 wasn't 500 000 was 5 million well boom we know that income it so far you've not chosen to take any income off of it. You've let it just grow. But if he wanted to take 10% off of that, you know, or 8% off of that,

it's not going to destroy that income. It's not going to destroy that nest egg, because it's probably invested in mutual funds and making money, right? Right. So, anyway, that's the point. The other thing is, do you have a health problem of some kind, or do you smoke, or are you overweight? No, probably, I mean, I didn't get the best rate, I guess, that Zander gives, probably from a weight and height perspective ratio.

But other than that, no, there's no health factors that I have in place. Okay. The thing I look at is that when I'm looking at like a 10-year or 15-year policy, But other than that, no, there's no health factors that I have in place. The thing I look at is that when I'm looking at like a 10-year or 15-year policy, at the age I am now, if I got the 10- or 15-year, I for sure would be self-insured by that point if I'm not now already. If you want to take a half million for 10 years, that would be the most you would need in my mind with what you've described. Okay.

Yeah, and so, of course, you know, we also talked i'd heard you before say the sharing factor you know you don't use life insurance but because they're in feels more comfortable with it yeah and he feels that just he can make it if you die today with no insurance agreed okay he's all right you have two million dollar net worth 170 000 income he can make it. But if we want to just give it a little bit of comfort, throw another half million on there, it's not that expensive. As a percentage of your $200,000 household income, you're not spending much on life insurance on you, then, yeah, I would do that. I'm more concerned if something happened to him that you've got a couple million on him. Even as a net worth of where we're at in Baby baby yes because i still have to answer the question that's life insurance your family is

used to living on over two hundred thousand dollars a year and if something happens to him that net worth of two million dollars is not going to create that because that includes your home includes other stuff it's not generating income right now and and you can't access the income right now so yeah i would keep a million or two million on him i'd throw a half million on you as a luxury but for sure i'm gonna keep a million or two million on him without a doubt and again y'all aren't that old i mean you're 47 the term life insurance is not that expensive and if you want to do 10-year policies, get a little cheaper, you know, you probably are going to be there by then. Because a 13-year-old will be 23, and the kids are out of the house.

And so that liability is gone. Then we're just sitting here stack neck deep in net worth and all this income, and you will have made so stinking much money during that 10-year period of time. That's another $2 million and something in income during that time and what that will create. So, yeah, 10 years, you're going to be done with insurance with a slam dunk at that point. It's a good discussion, though. It's a fun thing to walk it through. But for those of you listening, the premise is simply this.

If he or she, you, your wife, your husband dies today, what income do we need to replace? If you have enough income off of assets to replace the income that they create and not leave your family in any kind of hardship, then you have become self-insured. So you're really, really close right now, but I'm going to spend 10 years more policy. It's not that much money to make sure your family is more than covered and take care of the whole process. Good question.

Open phones at 888-825-5225. Jerry is on Facebook. Dave, do I take money out of my 401k to pay off my house? Not if you're under 59 1⁄2. Because the government is going to take a 10% penalty plus your tax rate. That's your actual bill. So if you make $75,000 a year, you're in a 25 your tax rate. That's your actual bill. So if you make $75,000 a year, you're in a 25% tax bracket. 10% plus 25% is 35% of the money they're going to take.

That's like saying, Dave, I want to borrow money at 35% interest to pay off my house. The answer would be no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And that's why. If you've got a bazillion dollars in your 401k and you're over 59 1⁄2 and you want to pull some of it out and pay the taxes and just be rid of your mortgage, I'd do that one, just to be rid of it. But I wouldn't do it prior to 59 1⁄2 except to avoid bankruptcy or avoid a foreclosure.

This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. Our Scripture of the Day, Philippians 4.13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Bernadette Devlin says, Yesterday I dared to struggle, today I dared to win. Ashley's with us in Greensboro, North Carolina. Hi, Ashley. How are you? I'm fine, sir.

Yourself? Better than I deserve. What's up? I have a question for you. I have a take-home of around $45,000 to $48,000 a year. We have about $70,000 in debt, including credit cards, student loans, medical bills, things like that. We have a medically disabled child. She's moderately autistic.

A lot of the bills come from when she was younger, getting her diagnosed, going here to there. We had to take a couple stupid taxes because we had to have a van to get back and forth up to Duke University to get her diagnosed and get her treatment and everything like that. The question was, right now I've got 5% of that going into a 401k with a 4% match for my work. While I'm baby step two, obviously paying off the debt,

we do have the $1,000 emergency fund. But should we go ahead and build up the fund because she is probably going to be with us for the rest of our lives? Should we forego and start trying to build up a fund for that? Right now we have to try to keep her on SSI, so I can't up my income that much because of SSI, because with SSI it helps pay some of her medical bills because she's still in therapy twice a week.

I'm sorry, you guys got a boatload, don't you? Yes, sir. Well, here's the thing uh it it you there's a lot of legitimate emotion around this situation but the principle is still the same the principle is that the majority of these problems, financial parts of the problems, are solved by getting out of debt and then building wealth. And so, you know, the fastest way for you to build wealth, which will take care of her in the future, is to get out of debt, just like the fastest way for anybody to build wealth is to get out of debt.

And so it takes us back to the same system. What you do need to make sure you have in the interim and forever and up until you have substantial wealth built is good term life insurance in place with a special needs trust on your will. In the event both you and your wife were to pass away, there would be sufficient money from the life insurance paid into a special needs trust. The beneficiary of the life insurance is a special needs trust. And the child will be taken care of with the income off of that fund then.

And so, you know, that needs to be six, eight hundred thousand bucks and you need a will. And the will would form a special needs trust only in the event of both of your deaths with an executor to manage that money and mutual funds to then create an income to take care of her okay so that that's the big thing then that but there you don't need a special mutual fund if you're alive to take care of her. You just need money. It doesn't have to have her name on it. It just has your name on it. I mean, so what's the fastest way for you to get money?

The fastest way for you to get money is stop putting money into your 401K temporarily. And so you've got to look at this SSI thing. You've got to be real careful to, if that's what's causing you to limit your income, you've got to be really knowledgeable what your break-even point is on that so you don't get welfare-itis, you know what I'm saying? Right. And so, I mean, if it's giving you a $10,000 benefit and you have the opportunity to go make 20 more, screw it, drop it, and go make the money.

Right. But if it's giving you a $200,000 benefit and you're going to lose that because you made 2,000 more, then, you know, you don't make the 2,000. You manage that. So I don't know what all it's picking up. You've got to look at that, but you need to be real careful that that's not an emotional security blanket for you and holding you back because I, mathematically, I need you to make more money to clean up the debt so that you can have more money in a pile to take care of not only you and your wife,

but this need that's going to be as long as she lives or you live, right? Right, and what we did was set up basically a special fund to try and um i've already got a bachelor's degree that's 18 years old in it that's kind of old so going back to college to learn some new things in it yeah and then using that to helpfully springboard into a better job yeah and a higher paying job and make enough of a jump that you can afford to lose the ssi yes sir yeah that that's that's the, because then you clear up the $70,000, and then you use that instead of $48,000, maybe $100,000 income out there three years in the future or whatever it takes to accomplish this goal.

You're on the right track. You and I are thinking alike here. So I think that's what you do. But, yeah, the snapshot of where you are today, the only thing I would change is the 5% going into 401K. I'm going to turn on that debt and start just hammering it, and then I'm going to really be pushing on this career side of the equation and deciding, okay, how fast and when and how much and what have I got to do

and what has to be true that's not true today, what have I got to do to get my certifications up in IT and that kind of stuff? And you'd be doing that anyway just to do better in your life, but now you've got this extra noble cause of taking care of this child. And good for you. What a great dad you are. So thank you for calling. And if I can help further, you call me anytime, sir. Shawanda is with us in Atlanta.

Hi, Shawanda. How are you? Hi, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? So I'm a bit of a mess. My husband, I'm 36.

My husband is 39. We're trying to start the baby step. We're not trying, but we've started. We're a baby step two. Have over 400K in debt. For what? Majority of student loans. And I'm just really overwhelmed. I mean, I've read the book. My husband is just now where he's getting on board who's the doctor or lawyer uh well neither oh no but we did we have we have he has four degrees i have four degrees um my initial plan starting out

was to be a medical doctor but um so what are your degrees and what are you doing for a living both of you i'm a nurse practitioner, and my husband is in education. So I make about between 85 and 90, and he's making about 70. What does he do in education with four degrees? Well, he wanted to be an administrator, and so he's now just getting to that level where he's about to, you know, he's at the point where he can be an administrator, but he's like an assistant principal right now.

He's trying to get to the principal level. So he's like in a high school or something? He's in a middle school, correct. In a middle school, yes. All right, so you have $150,000 income and $400,000 in student loan debt because you're a couple of thermometers. You've got so many degrees. The student loan debt is about $300,000 in student loan debt because you're a couple of thermometers. You've got so many degrees. The student loan debt is about $300,000.

The others are about cars and credit cards. How much are your car debt? We have one that we owe maybe about $2,600. $100,000? Yes, $2,600. Okay. Yes, $2,600. Then we have another that we owe about $74,000.

$100,000? Yes, $7,600. Then we have another that we owe about $74. $100? Yes, $7,400. Okay. And then we have another that we owe about maybe $28,000. $100 or $1,000? $28,000. Okay. That one's gone.

Okay. Yeah. You're broke people. You ain't driving a $28,000 car. Yes. Okay. And I think it will be apropos for you to put a debt thermometer on your refrigerator with all your degrees. Yes, I agree.

Good gracious. Unbelievable. Wow. Okay, so here's the deal. Both of you have to lean into your careers. You can make a lot more money, but you're going to be working all the time. I mean, you have the upside on your career, but it's just based on your number of hours. You're going to be working all the time.

Because y'all got a hot mess here on the student loan debt. And I need you to kick that up about $60,000 on your income between the two of you. And that just means you're both working all the time. He's tutoring, and you're doing everything else. That puts us out of the Dave Ramsey show in the books. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus.

This hour's up, but you'll find more on our YouTube channel, where we have over 6 million YouTube views each month. You can find debt-free screams, millionaire hour clips, Dave rants, and so much more. Go check it out.