The Ramsey Show - App - You Don't Need Permission to Become a Millionaire (Hour 1)

Episode Date: May 21, 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 is a big indicator that you're getting ready to be an everyday millionaire. Chris Hogan, Ramsey personality and number one best-selling author two times over, the latest time with the book Everyday Millionaires joins me this hour as we talk to millionaires this hour. Because if you want to be skinny, you talk to skinny people. You don't ask fat people how they didn't be skinny.

You don't ask broke people how they didn't be broke. You ask people who have a million dollars, how did you do that? What did you do? what's your life look like and then if i emulate that there there's a causation to these statistics and it's exciting what is happening with this whole everyday millionaire thing people everywhere we go the other night the question answer in in uh minneapolis minneapolis where were we kansas city sunday night i can't get my head straight. People are popping up.

It's pretty incredible. David really is. And these are people, again, if you were to look at them, you wouldn't think that they were millionaires. Because they weren't dressed fancy. They didn't have diamonds falling all over them. They didn't seem pompous. These are regular, everyday, hardworking men and women that have worked hard and plugged into this message that you put out so many years ago. And they've done it over time. It gets me excited.

It's fun. And now I can look at a young couple standing there in the Q&A line, getting ready to graduate from civil engineering school. She's 23. And we're looking at their incomes, getting ready to be 150. She did it debt-free. And I can sit there and calculate while she's standing there and go, you guys are going to be millionaires at about $34. Did you see her face when you told her that?

Yeah, she lit up. She lit up. And it was one of those where standing right there with her fiancé, for them to kind of glance at each other. And it was like this look of, it was confirmation. It was powerful. This is going to work. It was was like this look of, it was confirmation. Yeah. You know, and it was powerful. This is going to work. It was powerful.

It was like, this is going to work. We're going to do it. All this thing we're doing called life is going to work. Look, you're giving me the goosebumps. Yeah, love it. Just hearing that. Love it. Yes.

Million dollars, a million dollar net worth. We have to always go back and explain that. We do, Dave. Because when we talk about millionaires, we're not talking about someone that makes a million dollars a year, right? We're talking about someone that has a net worth of a million dollars or more. Now, what does that mean? You take what you own, your bank accounts, your investments, your home, the equity in your home. Take everything you own minus what you owe on, anything that has debt on it, and subtract it out.

If that end result is a million or more, then congratulations, you're an everyday millionaire. Yeah. And some people are millionaires because they inherited. Most are not, as we statistically have proven with the largest, most airtight study on millionaires ever done. Over 10,000 people in the study. 140 of the statistics correlating to that are in the book, the number one book, Everyday Millionaires. And we've just launched a white paper from our research team with a full detail, a 40-page breakdown on all of the in-depth look at the statistics.

Several hundreds of you have bought it. It's not for sale as a book. It's a PDF download on our website, so we're not putting it on Amazon or anything else. It's a white paper. We're charging $9 for it to cover our cost of putting it all together, $9.99. You can get it at DaveRamsey.com or ChrisHogan360.com. At ChrisHogan360.com, there's a net worth calculator

where you can quickly and easily calculate your net worth. Well, Dave, $ million dollars is not enough. It's more than you got. It might not be enough depending on what you need and what you're called to do, but it's more than what you got. So let's quit having an argument about what enough is and start talking about how to get there. Everybody's got a stinking opinion, it seems like, and most of them are stinking.

It's amazing. I tell people, opinions are like yesterdays. Everybody's got them. Bottom line is, do you have a plan? That's not as good as mine. No, yours is better. Opinions are like armpits, and everybody's got them, and they stink. All right, you got me on that.

Most of them stink. They do. But you know what? It boils down to, like you said, Dave, it's a plan. And when you have a plan and you've got a purpose and you put that in the hands of someone that's motivated and wants to make it happen, that's where progress starts to happen. So I don't care where you are right now. You can get plugged into that plan and get serious. Go to DaveRamsey.com.

Check out Financial Peace University. Get yourself started right now on the plan that people are using to make their legacies happen. So we're going to talk to real millionaires this hour only. The phone number is 888-825-5225. David is in Phoenix. David, what's your net worth? Net worth is $2.5 million. Cool.

Break that down for me. What are the categories? How much in retirement? How much in your house? And so on. Real estate in the house, about $450,000. Retirement about $100,000. Another

$500,000 or so in other investments and mutual funds. About $200,000 in the bank. And then assets in the business. You own a business that's valuable? Well, I own a roofing company. Okay, very good. Cool.

All right, so your career is roofing company. How old are you? I'm 37. Okay. Goodness gracious, you did this early. how much of this money did you inherit zero wow wow good for you okay so you're valuing your business at about a million million and a half right correct okay very cool good for you well done so what is your household income high and low since you started working best low, since you started working?

Best year ever since you started working, household, and worst year? Best year, probably about $350,000. And then worst year, when we first started off, you know, just getting by, you know, maybe $50,000. Okay. $60,000. Cool. Cool. Way to go, man.

Good. So do you have a four-year degree i do not okay so high school graduate high school graduate and what was your uh gpa in high school um i'm to be honest not 100 sure this was an average c c grade b grade kind of guy. I graduated. Thank you, Lordy. All right. I got you. All right. B, C student.

I'll just leave it at that. All right. Cool. Yeah. David, do you do any giving as a household? We do. Okay. What do you give to?

Well, we pay tithing to the church, and then a lot of the donating i do is through through my business now where we'll help help people out to kind of afford uh roof repairs or roof jobs there's uh we'll do things for cost or and or free so we give we give that way that's fantastic donate to the church so what would you tell somebody that's listening that's 10 or 15 years younger than you can you still become a millionaire from nothing in America, and what should they do if they want to? Yes, it absolutely can happen, and no matter what you do, nothing substitutes hard work. Amen. Well, that's for sure in a roofing business, but there's a lot of people who work hard

and don't get there, right? Yeah, that's for sure in a roofing business. But there's a lot of people who work hard and don't get there, right? Yeah, that's true. So you obviously have a knack for running this business that came to you quickly, early in your life. Congratulations, sir. We're very proud of you. Thank you. Well done. Love it, love it, love it.

Wow. 37 years old, two and a half years old. There you go. Yep. Roofing is hard work. Yes, it is. It's hard work. 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 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. The most often lie told about millionaires is that everyone knows that the only way you can get ahead in America is to inherit your money. Well, everyone knows except the people who have the money and they don't seem to know that

because as we interviewed them 10 165 millionaires we found that 79 of them had inherited zero only five percent had inherited up to a hundred thousand dollars between 100 and 200 another five percent had inherited that much and got it so late or after they were already millionaires that it was mathematically implausible for them to become millionaires because of an inheritance. So 79, 5, and 5 would be 89%. That is 9 out of 10 millionaires in America confirmed by airtight research the largest study ever done on millionaires did not become millionaires because of an inheritance. And yet we still have people that don't want to hear that.

Every day. Yeah. They still don't want to hear it. Because in reality, Dave, if you're telling me it's not because of inheritance, then you're telling me then it's on me that i haven't gotten there that's the problem that's the problem isn't it it's uh you are telling me it's my fault oh don't tell me it's my fault i'd rather be a victim that's right a victim of the mean old system. Capitalism has got its thumb on the little man, which is a crock, people. It really is.

It's just not true. No, and so what you have to do is get rid of that thinking. What you have to do is begin to set aside whatever limitations anybody's tried to put on you, in your family, right? I mean, we all have crazy in our family, and if you grew up with that, you need to shake that off and start to decide for you,

what are you going to do as an adult? Because, Dave, it turns out as an adult, I don't need a permission slip to try harder. Or to do anything, for that matter. All right, Dan is with us in Indiana. Hey, Dan, what is your net worth, sir? About $1.6 million. $1.6 million. And give me the breakdown on that.

How is that invested or categorized? 1.2 in retirement, 300,000 in other accounts, and about 200,000 in personal property. Okay. All right. Cool. All right. 300,000. That personal property changed a little bit. How's that?

I bought a brand-new Ford Ranger last week, and I paid cash for it. I know you don't like brand-new cars, but I just didn't. I'm okay buying a brand-new car you got a million dollar net worth or greater and you should have bought what the ranger cost 44 000 good for you i'm proud for you man that's awesome no i don't have a problem with that at all you can afford it exactly and that's that's why you work you live like no one else and drive like no one else so that later you can drive like no one else and live and give like no one else. So how old are you? I'm 62.

I'll be 62 at the end of this month. I retired last January. What was your career? 35 years working for the best and biggest overnight delivery company in the world. You better tell me which one that is so I don't mess it up. Well, it's FedEx. Okay. Because if I said the other one after you said that, I'd be in trouble.

That was a trap right there. Well, the other one's bigger, but we're the biggest overnight delivery company. Oh, there you go. Okay. So how much of this $1.6 million is there because you inherited it? Nothing. Zero. Okay.

What was your best household income year and your worst household income year? I think maybe $180,000, something like that. Was your best? Probably. What was your worst year since you've been working? Oh, maybe $30,000. Okay. All right.

Cool. Dave, I've been married for 40 years. My wife went back to school about 30,000. Okay. All right. Cool. I've been married for 40 years. My wife went back to school about 30 years ago to become an RN, and she's really the hero in this story. Okay. You know, I made some good money at my job, but, you know, being an RN, she's done well, too.

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, that's what made up a great income there. What'd you do at FedEx? What was your job at FedEx? I drove for 15 years, and then I took a promotion, and I managed a frontline operation for another 20. Okay. All right.

Very cool. And, Dan, did you ever work with an investment professional? No. Okay. And do you all do giving as a family? Oh, yes, sir. Yes. Okay.

What kind of giving do you all do giving as a family? Oh, yes, sir. Okay. What kind of giving do you all do? It's a church, and we've got some charities that we like to support. I like to tip big whenever I eat out. It's nice to see those smiles on their faces when you give them something more than what they expect. Yes, sir. And tell me this. Throughout your career, what's your biggest financial mistake you all made in this journey? I'm not sure that, you know what, it's been a slow and steady thing.

I'm not sure that, I mean, we should have invested more early on, should have known more about money early on. But, you know, nobody really teaches you this stuff. I've got a 10-year thing I want to talk to you about. Ten years ago, I only had $195,000 in my 401. But in 260 over 10 years, and that brings my net worth on that to $1.2 million. Wow. So you're so steady when you make the money. Okay, so you're talking to a 52-year-old that thinks they're way behind,

and you just told them they can still end up with a couple million dollar net worth. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Very cool. You just got to keep investing. You can't jump out of the market because you get kind of goes down a little bit. That's a buying opportunity.

So you never jumped out in the last 10 years. You jumped in a stadium. I upped it every chance i got every raise that i got i took a portion of that and i upped my my contribution dan what caused you to get more intense over that 10-year period i'm not sure i'm a very intense guy i i just keep plugging away i i think you just got to be slow and steady. Yeah, but you went from low investing level to really cranked it up. What caused you to crank it up? Well, I never changed my lifestyle.

Whenever I got extra money, I just put more into my payroll deductions that fed my 401. Okay. So there's a young person out there driving a FedEx truck right now listening to this show at this moment, and they're 27 years old. Can they still do this? Oh, yeah. Everybody that I hired, I told them, you stay here, you're going to be a millionaire.

Yeah. You invest in yourself, and you'll be a millionaire. Yeah. Okay. So it's still done. And you did it largely with your retirement. Of your 1.6, 1.2 is in your retirement. Yes.

Yeah. Way to go. Way to go. Very, very cool. Well, congratulations, sir. Very proud of you. Excellent, excellent job. All right.

Virgil is with us. And I pushed the wrong button. Where are you, Virgil? There you are in Tacoma, Washington. Hey, Virgil, what's your net worth? About 1.6. Cool. Break that down for me.

Well, a lot of it, I don't have a whole lot in the 401k, all that. I got about 350 cash and other stuff here and there and about 1.2 in real estate. As far as I own duplexes and stuff in the military town. So they're always full. So most of yours is real estate and cash. Cool. How old are you? I'll be 59 in two days.

Okay, cool. And how much of this 1.6 did you inherit? $200,000. When? Less than a year ago. Okay, so you were already a millionaire. Yeah,000. When? Less than a year ago. Okay, so you were already a millionaire. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so you're not a millionaire because of inherited money, but it added to it.

No, it added to it. What was your worst year of income and your best year of income in your working life? Oh, wow. Probably about $11,000 when I was just out of school, and then about close to $300 when the oil industry was going pretty good. Okay. What was your career in the oil industry? I'm a sea captain, so I was in the oil drilling business on so much submersibles and drill ships drilling in 8,000 feet of water, 35,000 feet in three years.

Wow. Yeah. Very cool. Very cool. You got a four-year degree. What I want to learn. Pardon me, sir? You got a four-year degree?

Well, I've got a four-year degree from the Merchant Marine Academy and three master's degrees right now. Wow. When the downturn happened in 2015, I went back to school and got a master of science in leadership and an MBA. So I went back to school. Wow a Master of Science in Leadership and an MBA. So I went back to school. Wow. What was your GPA on your MBA?

Oh, I guess it was 4.0. I don't know. I went to Western Governors University. Gotcha. I went to WGU. Can you hang through this break? I want to hear part of your story a little bit more. Can you hang?

Okay, sure. Be right back with you. All right. CCAPS. First one of those those never heard of that yeah first time that's perfect i want to know more about this this is a millionaire theme hour on the dave ramsey show All right. We're talking with Virgil in Tacoma, Washington. Sea captain, then got three master's degrees after that. $1.6 million net worth, 1.2 in real estate, 350 in cash, 59 years old. After he was already a millionaire, inherited 200K, but basically did not become wealthy because of that, was already there. Got a 4.0 on his last master's, which was his MBA.

So how long were you in the Merchant Marines? How long were you at sea as a captain, Virgil? Well, I got my D.C. captain's license in 1990, so I was quite young. I was 30 years old when I got that. And so I was quite young. I was 30 years old when I got that. And so I moved up quickly. Having the first Persian Gulf War helped getting me promoted real quick when they needed people. So I just stuck with it. And then I worked in management. I worked on projects around the world, shipbuilding, ship repair, and it's just been a good career. I still have my licenses.

And what's nice about, well, first of all, I want to say that you're a national treasure, Dave. You might not think of yourself as one, but me and my family do because it's your books and all that that got us on to the steps. And when I was $250,000 in debt to where we're at right now in nine years, so we consider you a national treasure. So I don't know what it feels like to be a national treasure, but we think it's your one. I think it's probably you. You're the one that did this. This is pretty impressive.

No, no. We need it for guiding. And then we also, all that we tithe also, we tithe 10% off the gross. And people ask me why I tithe. I said, man, I can't afford not to tithe. I get so many more blessings, whether financial or anything else, by tithing, that if I ever stopped tithing, I would lose all that, I think, you know? And so, you know, God would not be outdone in His generosity,

and so I'm generous. God is just ten times better, so I can't afford not to tithe, so we put all that in the mix, too. Amen. That is part of the formula, for sure. So what advice do you give a 25-year-old that's out there listening? Can they do this, and what should they do? Plan. Nothing. Whether you're going to build a house or have a career or get two goals, nothing happens unless you have a plan.

You have to have a plan, and you have to marry a good person to help you with it too and be sold in. I got, I've been just so blessed, you know, with my wife and she's a Christian therapist, a mental health therapist. And she, and she keeps that in her, in her way of, of treating people and all that. And so that's been really good too. And, uh, you gotta have the partner and then give it all to God and then he'll bless you. I say put God in the mix, too. What's the plan?

Have him pray over that plan. It's so important. One of the most fun things I did since I kind of slowed down in the industry and all that, I'm able to give my time to where I want to go. I call it freedom. Last year, I was able to go on the Mercy ship. So I don't know if you've heard of those guys. I was able to go out for three months on the west coast of Africa, in Cameroon,

West Africa, and be their chief officer on the ship when they needed one. And we could watch them, the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people they served, the poorest of the poor in the world, and and hundreds of thousands of people they served, the poorest of the poor in the world, and just some of the wonderful things they did. So I got to be a part of that ministry for a few months last year. And I wouldn't be able to do it if I didn't have the freedoms of worrying about having to work to get a paycheck. Well, you did it, man. Congratulations.

That's wonderful. Yeah. He has definitely lived a full, full life. That's great. Yes. That didn't leave anything, left it all, full life. That's great. Yes. That didn't leave anything, left it all on the field. That's awesome. And only 59 years old, $1.6 million net worth.

Virgil, you're a hero, man. It's an honor to talk to you. Thank you for participating in our Millionaire Theme Hour. Mike and Amy Jo are in St. Louis. Hey, guys, what's your net worth? We just crossed over $1 million, Dave. You're $1 million. Perfect. You're $1 million. Perfect.

You are an everyday millionaire. So what is the mix? What percentage in retirement investments, real estate, and so on? Dave, about $325,000 in home equity, and then the balances in different retirement accounts, 401Ks, IRAs. We've got a small brokerage account as well. Okay, very cool. How old are you two? I am 35, and he is 38.

Young ones. I love it. You did this fast. So how much of this million dollars is there because you inherited it? Zero. Okay. And what was your best working year household income and your worst working year household income so far? Over $200K for the best, and then the worst year, about $64K.

Okay. That's when we were first starting out. Gotcha. What do you two do for a living? Dave, I'm in insurance. And I am in energy. Okay. very cool. Good. Four-year degrees?

Yeah, I've got a four-year degree, and my wife's an overachiever. She's got an MBA. Okay. Always good to marry up. All right. And so what were your GPAs? I like to round mine up to 3.0. And then in my high school it was about 3.1, but in college 3.6.

Okay. Very cool. Very cool. So how much of this money is here because you use debt to build wealth? Just the home equity from originally getting a mortgage when we bought the property. Right. I mean, you bought a house, but other than that, you've not been borrowing money to use other people's money to invest and build wealth with?

Correct. We have not. Okay. Cool. Very good. Very good. And Mike and Amy Jo, do you all do any giving as a household? Absolutely, to our church and other charities and where we see the need.

Very good. And did you guys ever buy a new car using debt? I did when I was very young, so that would be my only mistake I probably made. But Chris, it was an 07 Toyota that she bought brand new in 2007, and it's still sitting in our garage right now. It's 190,000 miles. Wow. Ring the life out of that, baby. I love it.

Absolutely. That's fun. I've got to add a quart of oil to it every week to keep it going. Hey, oil is cheap in comparison, right? It is. That's right. It costs me $2 a month to ride that thing. That is fantastic.

How much TV do you all watch as a household in a given week? Well, we do have a five-year-old, so there's quite a bit of streaming going on and whatnot. But mostly we do watch the news pretty much every day and one or two shows an hour or two a week outside of the news that we watch. Okay. So you guys did this early. What do you attribute that to? It definitely was a goal of ours. I mean, we started very early because I couldn't wait.

This was definitely a goal of ours to make this phone call here today. So it was something that was always in the forefront of our minds, and we are so excited to be making this call today. You know, a large part of that was Amy Jo and I got married in 2011, and we had known each other since about 2008, and being together during most of the housing crisis and working through and seeing other folks in their later part of their careers losing their jobs and struggling had a big impact on us to not be that later

in life and to set ourselves up to be in this position today. Okay, so you're only 35 and 38. So you're talking to someone 10 years, maybe 12 years younger than you right now. What is your advice to them if they want to be a millionaire by the time they're 35 and 38? I would say love investing. I love, if I have extra money, I would love to throw it in the market. It makes me so happy. There's no shoe, no piece of clothing that makes me more happy than to rather invest that money.

And for me, I'd say, you know, I've thought about this question over the last couple of years that I've been listening to other people make these calls. And lately, I think what I've come to the realization is, is anymore, especially if you're in your mid-20s or your 30s, you really don't have a choice anymore. You have to be a millionaire. If you want to have a retirement with dignity or retire in any type of dream situation, what young folks are thinking of retirement to look like, you have no choice but to be a millionaire and to do it as quickly as possible.

Have you grasped the idea yet that you're 38 years old and you're making 200 a year and you've already got a million? That means that you're very likely at 60 to have about 20 million? We have grasped that. We've met with a couple of advisors in the past that have showed us that number before, too. Wow! There you go. Me too.

Everyday Millionaire. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. It's a millionaire theme hour here on the Dave Ramsey Show. I'm millionaire expert and Ramsey personality Chris Hogan, number one national best-selling author two times over. The latest one of those best-sellers is called Everyday Millionaires, How Ordinary People Built Extraordinary Wealth and How You Can Too. It is chock-full of stories and inspiration to make sure you know you can do this. And 140 statistics from the largest study of millionaires ever done. Over 10,000 of them we studied.

And so we're inviting you to enjoy that book. If you are a super nerd like me, I'm not even this much of a super nerd. I had trouble getting through it, truthfully. It's boring as crap. But if you really want to look at all the details of the study, the white paper our research team has published and is available on our website for 9.99 it's a it's a pdf download okay it's the national study of

millionaires at daveramsey.com or chrishogan360.com and either one of our stores there you can get it and if you want to bundle it with the actual book which which does make sense, all of it's only $24.95. So if you put it, you know, when we put the book out, some of you super nerds were like, not enough statistics in here. I want statistics. And so we gave you the statistics. Here's the whole stinking thing, man. So I had to review it because I'm putting it out.

Our company's putting it out. So I read through it like three different times. All three times I fell asleep. Yeah, it's a lot of stats dave it really is well some people like that they do and i've had friends that have gotten it and they're like thank you so much i loved it i've read it three times i had three of my friends that are just like but they're goobs i mean really i mean it's it's 9., and it's goob material. If you just like getting down into the nitty-gritty of a study, you're going to love this. Yeah, it's here for you.

You will absolutely be thrilled. And so just tweet me once you read through it, and let me know what you think. I'd love to hear from you. Yeah, I mean, we've sold like 1,000 of them since we put it out, so it's all right, I guess. They're loving it. It's all good. Mike is with us in Indianapolis. Mike, what is your net worth?

1.15. Good for you. Okay. And break that down for me. How's that allocated? What are the categories? Pension. A self-managed pension, 403B, 401K.

Wait a minute. Stop, stop. How much is in, 403B, 401K. Wait a minute, stop, stop. How much is in the 403B and 401K? Uh, a little over half a million. Okay, all right, so $500,000 of it is in retirement. And, okay, and how much did you value your pension at? Uh, it's a self-managed, so it all comes to me and I invest it. It's not, I didn't trust my employer with the underfunded pension, so I took a self-managed so that all comes to me and i invest it it's not i didn't trust my employer with the

underfunded pension so i took a self-managed pension oh i got you okay and how much is all the contributions uh there's about 530 000 in that oh okay so how much in your home 120 000 okay all right good good for you got $60,000 cash for emergency funds. All right. You're set, man. You're rolling. So how old are you? I just turned 53 on Saturday.

Happy birthday. Thank you. So how much of this $1.15 million is there because you inherited it? Zero. Okay. What was your best working year household income and worst working year household income since you started work? 170 was my best. Worst was when my wife and I first got married, and it was about $45,000.

Okay. Cool. Good for you. What was your career or is your career? I'm in the construction industry, and she is in the manufacturing industry. Okay. And you have a four- she is in the manufacturing industry. Okay. And you have a four-year degree? I do not.

Okay. Does she? She does not. Okay, cool. And you remember your high school GPA? Three-eight out of four. Okay, that works. Cool.

And do you all do any giving, Mike? We give to a lot of stuff with pets and St. Jude's Children's Hospital and organizations like that, yes. Fantastic. And did you ever work with an investment professional to guide you at all? No. I just recently did some stuff with my emergency money with an investment just to get a better return than I was getting at my credit union on my emergency fund. Okay, cool. Well, way to go, man. You're a millionaire.

You did it. Touchdown. Thank you. What do you tell people the key is to this? I mean, you're talking to a 25-year-old version of you that's out there. Can this still be done, and what should they do? Invest, invest invest invest live like no other so that you can live like no other you know somebody ought to say that more often

for many years well thank you i'm honored I'm honored. And congratulations, Mike. We're very, very, very proud of you. Another everyday millionaire. Okay, a different show today. Do you see what I'm seeing? I do. What are you seeing? Well, I mean, I am seeing that we're obviously trending younger. Uh-huh.

And, you know, you start to look at these dollar amounts, they're growing. Almost no college degrees today. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's exact. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's exact. Yeah. Virgil, after he became a sea captain, got three master's degrees. That's right.

But we had a FedEx driver, a roofing company owner. That's right. And insurance. That was a college degree. Insurance and energy was the couple. That's exactly right. And then this couple's both high school graduates in construction and in manufacturing. That's exactly right.

There's no college today. Very unusual. By the way, the vast majority of millionaires do have a four-year degree. Yes. They do not have a four-year degree that they paid $800,000 for in a degree in left-handed puppetry. No. 62% of them, Dave, went to public state universities. Yeah.

They did not go to, there's no Ivy on the wall. No Ivy. No. No Ivy on the wall. People like. No. No Ivy on the wall. People like me, the only Ivy we know is Poison Ivy. That's a good one. I mean, that's how I grew up. I was thinking, I wrote a little thing up yesterday.

I was thinking about this student loan mess that's out there. And out of 15 kids in the neighborhood I grew up in, three of us got degrees. And I don't know, I think one set of parents did in the whole neighborhood. The whole neighborhood full of kids, wonderful, hardworking people, best people on the planet, teach you how to work hard, teach you how to love well, teach you how to be a loyal friend, teach you, you know, I got your six, teach you that, you know, teach you how to be somebody's worst enemy. If you're going to take me on, you know, it's a good hillbilly neighborhood, right? And you either firm me or you again me, you know.

But good, hardworking people, smart people, a lot of common sense. Right. But it was not an academic, white, upper crust, white collar neighborhood. I didn't know anybody that had graduated from an Ivy League school until I was out of college or in college. I mean, but none of our parents did, and I doubt any of their bosses did. Oh, I'm sure. No. You know, and so, you know, people like me are who the student loan crisis has destroyed

because we go do stupid stuff in college because we don't grow up with people knowing how to do college right. And so, and you're the first one in your family to get a master's probably, aren't you? Oh, I am. Yeah, I sure am. Getting your MBA was a big deal. It was. It was a big step. So the thing is, college and four-year degrees are very tied to, because education is important, that it's applicable, very tied to the millionaire study.

But they didn't overpay for it and they studied the right things. And today, hardly any of these were college graduates today. Which, Dave, according to the research that we did, looking back at it, we had 8% of the millionaires went to community college, 9% didn't go at all. So this is 10% of them we pulled up today. That's exactly right. It's an anomaly.

So going to college is not a requirement or it's not an indicator. Your income's not an indicator. And where you were born is not an indicator. You know what's an anomaly. So going to college is not a requirement or it's not an indicator. Your income is not an indicator. And where you were born is not an indicator. You know what's an indicator? The plan that you work and what you believe is possible for you and your family. And what you decide to do day in and day out. We didn't find area of the country to be an indicator. We didn't find race to be an indicator.

There was no one who was exempted from being able to win once they made the choices. Ah, I love that. Everybody gets a ticket to play. And Dave, I remember when we were talking about this initially, you said everybody might have different start points. Yep. Some of us have a little bit more difficulty,

but we all have the opportunity to run that race. Yes. I'm going to run a half marathon. I'm not going to beat the Ethiopians anyway. I'm just going to finish. Well, I'm driving a car. I'm not running no way. We got vehicles.

This body's built to ride. Chris Hogan, number one bestseller of the book Everyday Millionaires. That's an Everyday Millionaire theme hour on the Dave Ramsey Show. This is James Childs, producer of the Dave Ramsey Show. Did you know you can now listen to the Dave Ramsey Show on Pandora and Spotify? For all the ways to watch and listen, check out our show page at DaveRamsey.com slash show.