The Ramsey Show - App - You Won't Win With Money If You're Not Aligned With A Plan

Episode Date: May 19, 2025

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create amazing relationships. I am Rachel Cruz hosting this hour with my good friend and bestselling author, Jade Warshaw, and we are here to answer your questions. So give us a call at 888-825-5225, and we'll be talking about your life, your money, relationships, career, anything and everything.

All right, first up, starting us off, we have Joseph in Boston. Hey, Joseph, welcome to the show. Thank you so much. Thanks for taking my call. Absolutely. How can we help? Well, so my wife and I, future Baby Step Millionaires, started on these about a couple months ago. And we also had our first daughter about five months ago. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Thanks for your guidance. I was waiting quite a while. So my question is, I kind of came to a revelation in the discussion with my sister the other day about how all of us siblings are kind of not very good with money, haven't been historically just disciplined with money.

And it's weird because we both had very frugal TPA, DFO parents. And so kind of tells me that just being good with money isn't enough to kind of impart that. And not, I love my parents, I'm not blaming them for everything. But just something about our childhood, we just didn't get that knowledge kind of instilled enough in that discipline, in that prudence with money. And I'm just kind of wondering, I kind of want to break the cycle,

and what's the best way when my daughter becomes of age, like how to kind of teach her that without being too strict? Sure, sure. You know, I think you bring up such a good point because a lot of people assume that if you're like, I'm assuming they're both savers, probably very frugal people, is that right? Your parents? Yeah, they were frugal. We weren't we weren't spoiled. We just never really suffered, I guess. We were a very comfortable, very comfortable childhood.

And they were already, if we asked them about something, and especially this is true later in life, asking financial advice, they were really open about it. But there was never a really concerted effort to teach us at the time when we were most, I guess, little sponges. Impressionable, yeah. Sure.

And do you feel like they missed the mark from the tactical side is what you're saying on how to like budget and that kind of thing? Or do you think the spirit around money? Because what I was hearing you kind of say is as CPAs and as people that are good with money, sometimes those people can lean on the end of being so frugal to the point where there's like,

not a level of hoarding, but they hold their money so closely that they almost can enjoy it. And if you don't have this well-rounded spirit with money, it can kind of cut you like, you know what I mean? You go the opposite direction. Yeah. Yeah. You want to go the opposite direction. Yeah. But they weren't like that either. I think I think it was a communication issue.

Like we they weren't didn't seem to be frugal. Like we. I mean, I mean, there were there were I mean, there were smarts with money. If they seem to handle money really well and they weren't like hoarding anything, we asked them for something like they paid for college. Um, but we just, I guess there was just never a lack of communication about money. Well, let me ask you this. What area specifically do you feel like you were missing and what are those areas that you want to pass along? Was it like, Rachel said, it was at budgeting specifically? Was it the dangers of debt?

What was it that you feel like, man if only I'd known that, that would have really really helped me and that's the thing that I want to make sure I hone in on. I would say I guess yeah I mean maybe the I don't know it's kind of it's kind of a little bit of everything. But I guess, yeah, the danger of the dead is huge. But kind of just, I guess, being disciplined, like, yeah, just being willing your money to go somewhere. Like the best advice I got from my mom was when I was in college.

And she says, when I embarrassingly asked her for more money. And that was another thing, too. She gave me money when I asked for it in college. Well, I think the best thing you can do, I mean, I'll speak to it from one area, I'm sure Rachel will speak to it from another. So my kids are young, five and seven. And right now the most important thing

that I can teach them is like the value of a dollar, right? Money comes from hard work and there's a value on that. And the value is not unlimited. The value is to the extent at which you work, right? So that's the most important thing I can teach them right now. If you work hard, you get money. The more you work, the more money you get,

but it's not infinite. You go to the store, there's a price tag, right? So I'm teaching them that, hey, one thing really equates to the other and what comes along with that is they realize, oh gosh, I got $5 from doing this work and the thing I want might cost $7. So now I have to now wait.

So there's the delayed gratification that I'm teaching them. So I feel like at a younger age, those are things that they can pick up on. And truly, I do feel like that's one of those things that you do have to teach. It doesn't really just pop up in conversation. You have to teach them that.

And you can do that through chores and through commission and that sort of thing. And then as they get older, yeah, there's other principles like budgeting that you start to teach. And then as they get older, then you start teaching them about debt. And honestly, my son has already kind of asked me about debt

and like, what does it mean? And yeah, you can start to say, it means you borrow money from someone and you have to give it back to them within a certain period of time. And this is the way it makes you feel. So all of that, I think, obviously they do learn by watching you, but there, there is a deeper level that when you can explain things further, they're going to understand it on a deeper level.

Yeah. And I think, you know, there's in my head to these, like layers of money and what it represents because even on this show, I feel like the calls we get, it can be so layered. So like at one end, I want my kids to know, and I feel like my parents did this well from a how they actually handled their money and also what they communicated is like, and we were people of faith. And so there was like this like very, very high level that everything we have is not ours. And we are managing it for a greater good. And that's God in our, you know, in our faith walk.

And so there's almost this way of having money be something that is bigger than them because we live in a world where it's so about me. I use my money for me, me, me, me, me, me, me. And there's something, a higher calling almost in this. And so I think that's a very high level, right? That's the very top overarching. And there's a spirit to that.

And there's a way we make decisions as a family. There's a way we talk about money, the way we view money. And it's coming through that lens. So that's a pretty like high level view. And then there's kind of that next layer, which is what Jade was talking about, like delayed gratification. I would put contentment in there.

I would put gratitude in there. It's almost those emotions around money. And there's fear around money. There's greed around money, right? There's a lot of these ties to who we are as people and how we view money from our emotional standpoint that plays a really big part in this. And that kind of plays into that more tactical layer,

which is that bottom layer of how it actually looks like us handling it day to day. How do we earn it right? Just like Jade was saying we earn it through work and teaching them that we give money, we save money, we spend money, we do all three of those things as well-rounded people. We need to do all three. We don't want to spend everything we make because then we'll end up spending more money and money that we don't have and we go into debt because of that. So we only spend what we have. We're always being generous and we're always giving. We're always saving for something. We need that delayed gratification.

And that even gets down to as they get older, saving is talking about high yield accounts, money market accounts and high yield savings accounts and mutual funds and investing. And you get into like the really tactfuls and that's very age appropriate. But I don't know if that helps Joseph, but I kind of see those three layers for me

is something that I think about with my kids because money is complex. I'm like, it's not just the dollars a cent. We wouldn't have an interesting show here. Like it was just that. It is, there's a lot to it. And a lot to it is because it's us, the people that are actually handling it in our character.

So those are kind of the, I don't know, those are just my thoughts. I don't know if that helps Joseph at all. Because it sounds like from what you were saying, your parents did a pretty good job. They're, I mean, everything you said didn't have any red flags. But maybe there's kind of these deeper meanings that you were wishing you had more thought about earlier in your life that maybe helps then play into the tactical side. So I don't know if that helps. I love that you're asking the question because I think it is an important topic to model for our kids and teach our kids. Up next, we have John in Tampa, Florida. Hi, John. Welcome to the show. Hey, how are you? We're doing great. How can we help? So I just had a question regarding debt and how I should go about it.

I'm currently, me and my wife are currently 310,000 in total debt. 180 of that is in our home. So we do have some equity in there. So my question was, should I, or should we entertain the idea of selling the home to pay off all of our debt? I understand there's probably going to be a few thousand left. We do have a little savings that we could use to tackle the rest of that. And then start from scratch, or should I keep the home and then just slowly start knocking off about 130,000 that we have besides

the mortgage. What are your incomes? Household, pre-tax probably about 120. 120. Okay. And can you go, can you kind of list through the different types of debt that the 130 consists of? Yeah. So there's a HELOC and that's about 49. There's some private loan and credit card for 28. I have student loans for 24. And then we have two car notes each about 15 left. And then just some furniture, that's about three.

Okay. How do you feel about the house? I would not look at this and go, immediately we're selling our house. I kind of feel like that's a last ditch effort, unless there was some other reason around this. Maybe if you were thinking about moving anyway, or this was something that was coming up

kind of naturally, I might consider it. But in this case, you're in debt to the tune of how much you earn, which is sadly very normal. I think we come across that a lot. So in this case, I'd be thinking, okay, how quickly do we want to get this done? And what's our plan to do that? How are we going to increase our income for us to make this happen? Right? Yeah, 100%. So the cars, I'm looking at them, I'm guessing that you're probably going to keep them.

You can tell me more about them. You can tell me what they're worth and what you owe. Yeah, so I drive a 23 Elantra. I probably have, if I could sell it right now, probably 18. So I'm positive on the upside on that, about 3K I'd say. And my wife has an SUV. She had a good down payment on it. So I'm sure she's also on the upside on the equity. Do you have kids? So that that's one of the main reasons why I'm just rethinking everything we do have a baby girl on the way which is

Congratulations. Okay. Okay Yeah, I mean it's great that you're right side up on these you could consider downsizing them I don't know that I would what are the payments on both of them? 400 for SUV and then 415 for my sedan. Wow, it is a lot in payments. I mean, it's $800 a month there. I just don't know. I mean, maybe you keep one and do the other. That's a beater.

You could consider that. Go ahead. Do y'all have any money saved, John? Put away? Yeah, I'd say probably about like 10, 15 grand. Okay. Well there's some money there. You can drop that down. You know what, I because the baby's on the way we always say to kind of go in the stork mode meaning I love that you're thinking about it and that this kind of was the motivator behind being like we gotta get our crap together because we're about to raise a human.

But we always say when you are expecting, just actually pause paying off debt, but with the same intensity be saving. So the goal would be to have a pile of money and then when baby comes, which I guess you guys would be due what, February? October actually. Oh, so soon.

Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you guys just like just found out. So yes. No, it's been a couple of months. Oh, gotcha. So just between now and October just some stash some money away But create a plan as if you are paying off debt and then once mom and baby are home and everyone's good and healthy Then take what you had saved and throw it at the debt But what I'm seeing here and I'm just it would be up to you guys John because as you guys kind of work through And kind of figure out

You and your wife will sit down and just say, okay, how much extra money could we earn? What could we cut out of the budget? You know, we earn, you know, 120, that's pre-tax. So what we actually bring home is, you know, around probably one, 100. And what if we tried to live on 75 and we threw 35 this year and we made extra,

like you guys can sit there and kind of formulate, make up different scenarios of how you can get out of this debt faster. And then whenever you do that, I think it's always interesting, cars is like the number one place where you can sell and get ahead. So I would see, okay, how many hours extra

will I have to be working or how much longer will we have to cut lifestyle in order to keep this $30,000 of debt versus You guys possibly selling this, you know selling both cars. I'm just saying as an example Yeah, you get you have three, you know around three thousand each you have 15,000 save. So what if you threw? You know an extra three at each and you went and got a six seven thousand dollar car each an extra three at each and you went and got a six, $7,000 car each, then that takes $30,000 John, off the table of debt and frees up to Jade's point,

almost $850 a month extra now to continue to pay off debt that much faster. So it's kind of just a trade off of time, energy, money. But whenever I see the cars, it's always where I go where I'm like, man, you can just jump so far and get out of debt faster with these assets. There's also the other conversation that I think of when whenever somebody calls and the wife's having a baby and that's kind of sparking things. Do you think that she's going to want to stay home?

Is that what you're? I mean, obviously the end goal looking down the next few years, the plan will be for her to stay home. Okay. If it's possible. Um, for now, I think in the, uh, maybe a couple of months after, uh, baby's here, we have a good support system here where we are with her parents being around and siblings and whatnot. So, uh, we've got plenty of help there. Okay. So yeah, that's, when you mentioned the house, my brain always goes to that because a lot of times a couple will go buy a house based on the two of their incomes and it's like, okay, this is great.

It's 25% of our salary. Then suddenly one of those salaries dips and it's like, oh crap, this mortgage is suddenly very expensive. So that's kind of the equation that I'm looking at is that if that's what you foresee happening, then maybe what you were talking about comes back on the table, but I don't know. I'd have to know more about your mortgage

and what you guys' plans are, but that's something you do need to be thinking about and talking about, because we would say here that once that mortgage creeps up above 25% of your take home, that's when you're really gonna start to feel it, especially when it's greater than 30, you're really going to start to feel it. Um, so that's just something to keep in mind as you guys plan going forward.

And out of her, out of the 120, how much is hers? Um, it fluctuates a lot. Uh, I'd say maybe like 50, 60. Okay. So it's almost half of it. And how much is the mortgage payment a month? Mortgage is actually very good. Uh, 14, 60. Okay, so it's almost half of it. And how much is the mortgage payment a month? Mortgage is actually very good, 14, 15. Okay, and you guys bring home what a month?

Maybe around eight, nine. Yeah, so you're good now. But you're good now. Hey, by the way, I could just tell by the way you were searching for those numbers, before you get off, we're gonna make sure you have every dollar so that you can plan for every dollar. Yeah.

And know every dollar that's coming in and out. Yeah, the budget really will help you guys, John. I mean, honestly, do a really, really detailed budget and start cutting stuff. Because when you're living, when your dink's making 120, you don't realize the lifestyle creep that really does occur. And as you go through and see exactly

where is my money going, Mel Robbins actually had a video about this on Instagram. So I sent a chance, she was like, I remember printing out my entire bank statement. I was highlighting all the crap that I bought that I didn't need. And she was like, and that was full of like a highlighter, like, what could I cut?

What do I need to cut? So it's that kind of mentality, John, from an expense standpoint that you guys really can. I mean, and honestly, what's great, and I always get encouraged when you are motivated to do this, I mean, for you guys, you know, it's a 130, well, just pretend 130,000 of debt,

pretend the cars are gone just for fun. That's 100,000. You guys are at 120, you're bringing home probably closer to 100,000. You guys are at 120. You're bringing home probably closer to 190 to 100. And if you earned extra, John, even a thousand bucks a month, you guys could be out of this in like two years. So it's really not, it's not like you guys are gonna be in this

for seven to eight years, but you have to be really dedicated to do some really intense sacrifices from the lifestyle standpoint and earning some extra income but it's and for you especially between now and October because that's gonna be the sweet spot when the baby comes it gets much harder and from all aspects to do this debt-free journey but families do it all the time people have babies here and there don't pay off process but but you guys stock away a ton of cash John I would be working extra doing what you

can and then map out a plan and write these debts out with your wife look at process, but you guys stock away a ton of cash. John, I would be working extra, doing what you can, and then map out a plan and write these debts out with your wife, look at your budget, and just say how much extra can we throw at this debt and how fast is it for us to get out? Because I think you guys can do this in two and two and a half years. Yeah, yep, very good.

We are thankful for all the new listeners and watchers that we've had on the Ramsey show. This show has really done very well from a number standpoint the last couple of years and that's because you guys and partly because you all have subscribed, you leave reviews and comments and all of that and that always helps boost and get the show in front of other people that don't know about it, which we want because we want to help people when it comes to their money. So we're always grateful for that. So continue to subscribe and leave a review,

share episodes with your friends and your family and continue to help spread the word about getting in control with your money and common sense and a world that doesn't have a lot of it these days. So that's what we like. All right, let's go to Nicholas in Grand Rapids. Hi Nicholas, welcome to the show. Hey how you doing? Thanks so much for taking my call. Yeah absolutely thanks for calling in. How can we help? My question is I recently got married in this last year and I'm considering going back to school to

finish my degree but I'd like to keep working full-time while doing that and I'm considering going back to school to finish my degree, but I'd like to keep working full time while doing that. And I guess my question would be, what's the balance between working full time and doing school full time? So looking at like a 70 to 80 hour week with balancing like kind of the new marriage and just not wanting to neglect those responsibilities. Okay. What are you going back? like what's the end goal here? The end goal would be I have a four-year degree right now and I can go back for one more year

and that would really help me with pursuing my degree. I'm trying to become a licensed architect and so if I go back for one more year, I can significantly advanced by degree, I can get licensed. And so it's important for me to go back. Yeah. Yeah. I'd like to, I have a full-time job right now. And so that's also important to me. So I'd like to, I'd like to do both if it's feasible. And so there's, there's sort of this, this crossroad between hustling now for kind of a more secure future and kind of getting a better paying job. But it's for one year. It secure future and kind of getting a better paying job. But it's just for a year. It's for one year.

It's for one year. Yeah, you could do that. Yeah. What's your wife saying about it? She's a little bit worried that I would be too busy. She's also studying architecture. She's just finished right now. And so I think she is sort

of very in tune with how busy it can get in school. And so I think she's a little bit nervous that, you know, 70, 80 hours could turn into more. What's the worst that happens? You start the program, you realize I'm very busy, like too busy, and then you cut back on some of your work hours. Would that be possible? I believe it would be possible to cut back on some of your work hours, would that be possible? Um, I believe it would be possible to cut back on work hours. I would probably just have to have a conversation with the boss. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the only reason I'm kind of okay with it, Nicholas, honestly, is because it's one year. I mean, if you were talking about doing something for four years or five years, or you wanted to, we get this call sometimes, I'm like, oh my God, where they, they just got married

and they wanna move states away from their spouse. So like start a job. Oh gosh, to work. Yeah, I mean like some really like long-term kind of bizarre decisions where I'm like, no, no, no, no. But this necklace has an end date, so that always gives me hope.

It's not like, hey, I'm taking on this extra schooling and I don't know, if I get this, I may have to do this. It's not like it's this never ending black black hole there's a clear start and stop so you guys would just have to be on the same page of saying hey can we do this for a year and I think I mean yeah I think you can do anything for a year yeah do it now while you're still yes just a couple before kids come involved in yeah all these other things how are you paying for it are you working your way through is that?

Yeah, that's sort of the idea. I mean we have a little bit of savings We're not really in debt. So the idea would be I would be able to pay for it just by continually working That's that's sort of where that idea came from was don't go into debt by you. Just you just keep working and Pay it as you go now when you say that's the idea I just want to know that that's actually the plan but you've put really put thought around like the numbers and everything in. It sounds like you're kind of guessing at it. No, we're pretty regimented with what we've been listening for a while. So we've got it pretty all mapped out. So the work in the 40 hours a week would be more than enough to pay it as we want. It's just sort of the... It's just the sacrifice of time.

Yeah. I think it's worth it. Short-term sacrifice, long-term gain. That's the way we'd say it over here. Yeah, and it is. I mean, a year feels long, but it goes so fast. Like so fast. So that's where I think, yeah, I don't know.

And then I don't know, in my head too, I'm like, we talk to people that are deployed in the military and they're gone for nine months. You know what I mean? Like people do this kind of thing. And, but yeah, on a new marriage, I think it's really wise that she needs to be bought in. I think she needs to maybe hear from you

ways that you guys wanna stay connected. Cause yeah, you don't want your marriage being on the back burner by any means. That's right. But I think you can healthily do both. And again, I'm saying this because the timeframe is so short. But what would be the other option?

I mean, we didn't really ask you. If you didn't do this one year thing, what's the other option? I think the other option would be we save up for another year in order to afford going back to school while not working which would basically just push the timeline back by another year and you know ultimately a salary boost from getting licensed would get pushed back another year or so. What is the salary boost? Everything should be getting pushed a year.

It would be probably $10,000 to $15,000 just by finishing. That's great. Does she have a preference on A or B? I think she would like us to look more into doing it slower over time. I think I'm a little bit more adamant about getting it done just because like you said, uh, yeah, God willing, we could have a kid whenever. And so I feel like we have, we have the time to spare now. It's just a matter of, it's just a matter of pulling the trigger and kind of

using that time. I will say, I mean, I, when you first said it, I was more along the lines of, yeah, just do it. Is it something you could feasibly do? I mean, working a full-time job and being in school full-time is no, like that's not a cakewalk. Would you be able to meet the requirements fully of both? I think so. I think I'm pretty confident in my own ability to do it.

I just, I guess the question was more around the impact on my wife. I think I can handle it, but I'm trying to step back from that and be like, okay, I can handle it, but this is kind of a fact that I don't think I can see. I think you guys put some guardrails in place, right? And because here's the thing, if you start this program, let's say you get the first semester in,

and then you get, can you reevaluate after the first semester? And then if... Absolutely. And then, yeah, so you do the first semester, you guys kind of have that check in, how do we think this is going? Can we do another one? And if everybody feels good, you green light forward.

And if you guys have hit some, yeah. And if she throws a red flag after the first semester, you need to listen to her, you know? Cause you're kinda, if you choose A, you're kinda choosing your way, which again, part of marriage is a little bit of that, right? That's right, that's right. There's some things we just kinda give and take.

I have real or not, but you want to, like, you know. But I think that that gives her, give her a lot of weight, and after that first semester to throw a flag if she needs it. And you need to really, really, really listen to that if she does, is what I would say. I think that's a great point, Jade.

Yeah. So yeah, but I think for you guys, you guys have been married for how long? We're coming up on one year on June 2nd. Okay, so still newlyweds. It is still very new. That's great. Yeah, so still newlyweds. It is still very new. That's great.

Yeah, so I think, you know, things, and it sounds so kind of tactical and like not romantic, but having things in the calendar of like, okay, let's map out and on this Saturday, let's go and we're gonna take a day trip here. We're gonna like do some things that are earmarked throughout that year so she knows and can feel like some relief in the schedule

to have time with you and plan those things ahead of time. It's not like this like spontaneous for me. And it doesn't have to be every weeknight, Tuesday night. You know, you don't have to be legalistic about it, but you guys be really intentional about the calendar and I have found in marriage, I don't know if you guys do this, Jade, but on Sunday nights, Winston and I,

we look through every single day of the week and we say out loud the schedule. I'm like, okay, I need to leave for work. I had a media hit this morning at eight, so I have 7.30. So Winston, you got to take kids to school. We had to pick. You are literally mapping out very tactically throughout the week.

And something about that brings a lot of peace where there's not a lot of mystery. Because I think in a busy season, which people experience a lot, the kind of the unspoken things and the questions create stress and where you can eliminate the stress by having some really clear conversations and communications week to week, even down to dinner. So if like, I'm not gonna be home. Yeah, you'll have to start dinner. Tuesday, Thursday nights. So like, you know, I mean, like as tactical

as you can get in busy seasons, it always gives me a level of control and peace, which just helps enjoy where you are in the moment too, cause you wanna be present. So it's a good question, Nicholas. I'm glad you called. If you're tired of living paycheck to paycheck and you just keep wondering,

where is all my money going? Well, the first step to get control is to do a budget. And our team is hosting free budgeting trainings this month so you can really learn step by step how to create and stick to an every dollar budget. and they answer your budgeting questions live during the Q&A so if you have a specific one about your specific situation this is the perfect place to ask. Spots are limited so sign up for free at everydollar.com slash webinar. Up next we have Brandon in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Hey Brandon

welcome to the show. Hey, thanks for taking my call. For sure, thanks for calling in. How can we help? Well, I've run into a bit of a speed bump here as far as my wife. We did the baby steps. We were in over $200 in debt, knocked that out in a few years.

And now it's time to put money away. 15% of my income into, you know, mutual funds. And she just wanting to park it in a high yield savings account. And she says she's scared to lose it. So, um, just kind of curious, the best way to go about, I mean, we've, I've sat her down, I've said, Hey, it's over the long term. It's gonna run its course We're gonna you know become millionaires and and it doesn't seem to stick but I've just I don't I've kind of run into a rut where we're just putting money in into high yield savings account and

Good, but it's not 12, right It sounds like one of it sounds like two things or one of two things a Something happened in the past and she or someone she knows lost money in the stock market, meaning they took money out when it was at its lowest point. Or. Her dad? Yeah, yes ma'am.

Okay. That's where it's originating from. And then that lack of knowledge is continuing till today. So first off, I think what she's not understanding is that when her dad pulled that money out, he's the one, he locked in his losses when he pulled the money out. But had he have left it in, he would probably have tons. What's the story with the dad? What happened?

Well, I don't know the full story because it's, you know, it's a pretty poor subject other than the fact that he had money in there. He pulled it out. I don't know how long it was in there or anything like that, but he's constantly telling her, oh, you can lose a lot of money in that house. Is he still living? I'm just like, is he still living? Yeah.

Okay. So he's still, he's a big influence on us. Yeah. I was gonna say, yeah. So somebody needs to play out the scenario. I'm just trying to put myself in your shoes. If this were my husband, I'd say, well, okay, we know what happened when he pulled the money out, he lost a bunch.

Has anybody ever played out what would have happened if he didn't pull the money out? And then I'd look at that scenario because I think that'd be eye-opening to say, here's the thing, if that money had never come out today, here's what it would be worth. And that kind of shows the truth of how the stock market works.

So I think this is a really delicate situation because like you said, it's touchy because money was quote lost, but you don't, it's hard to say, hey, the mistake was on you. You're the one who pulled it out, right? But even though that's kind of the truth, you've gotta be. Look in the mirror.

Yeah, so I mean, I think validating her, because yeah, that is scary. You know, if a family member like that, in your own parents went through something, it's like, I wanna avoid what they went through, because it was obviously very painful, not fun. I don't want to do that. So that makes sense that she's, you know,

has that level of fear, but what can happen Brandon is fear can, it can paralyze us and fear can make us do really bad, make really bad financial decisions. We would quote this all the time, especially during COVID and someone said it and now I cannot remember who it was, but they said, we make our worst financial decisions when we're fearful and drunk, or drunk, or maybe both. Was that Dave?

Dave or both, maybe both. No, it was like some guy, I don't know who it was. It was like, but we would quote on there. That's funny, fearful and drunk. Yeah, they would always say, if you're fearful or drunk, you make really bad money decisions. That does describe COVID. So yeah, we kept telling people, yeah.

So again, it makes sense that she's fearful, but also we can't let fear dictate and make our decisions because it's an emotion that's not trustworthy. You know, it is there to create safety for us, right? There's fear and our body reacts to it. And it's like, I'm on guard. I'm on guard and why? And sometimes the threat is real, right?

I mean, if you see a bear and you're like, there, that's scary. Like that's a very real, right? I mean, if you see a bear and you're like, there, that's scary. Like that's a very real, right? Your body's response is correct. So run or whatever you're supposed to do when you see a bear like that or whatever you're supposed to do, I don't even know. But the fear here, while I understand it,

it's not based in reality. It's based in someone's situation, but that's not the reality out there. And so I think that's what she has to really overcome. So maybe Brandon, even you guys, we always say a three to six month emergency fund, maybe you bump it up, you know, six, you know, maybe six, seven, eight months,

just to give some extra buffer in that high yield, just to know if something happens, we are gonna be okay. Like we have an emergency fund for the emergency fund kind of idea, right? So she may just need some extra security. And then you guys just keep, you know, and my hope was that you guys do start investing, because I think you're exactly right.

From a math standpoint, you want that compound interest as early as possible. And then you guys just keep reevaluating and don't look every, she doesn't need to look every day at the market because the news is gonna dip and the news is gonna freak out and then she's gonna be like,

oh my God, the world's coming to an end. Right, so don't look at it. But like once a year you guys need to reevaluate and just say, okay, you know, what did this year look like? But it takes, it does take, I guess in her case, kind of that leap of faith. It's not really a leap of faith because I think there's a lot of facts around it,

but it does take a level of trusting the system. And being willing to learn something new outside of a previous experience. That's the hard part. That's a great point. Yep. I don't know if that helps Brandon, but yeah, that's, yeah, it's a hard one because again,

I think her fear is valid, but yet we, just because it's valid doesn't mean that we make decisions around it. That's right. Thanks for the call. All right, let's go to Aaron in San Diego. Hi, Aaron. Welcome to the show.

Hey, thanks for taking my call. I appreciate it. Yeah, absolutely. So my question is pretty short and to the point. I currently have just $4,000 in credit card debt and about $11,000 in a car loan. I really have no other debt. I'm 26 years old. I make about $100,000 a year.

I do live in San Diego, so it's... It doesn't go very far. Yeah, it doesn't go very far. But my question is, I'm an ex-employee of a brother large tech slash car company I'm pretty sure we know what company that is pretty sizable amount of stock it is fully vested however it is technically a short term it hasn't been over a year old I'm not too informed in all the tax implications but should I sell I have about currently right now that the market rate for the stock is like 340 a share

I have about like 14,000 right now Should I sell some of that and pay off my credit card? Should I sell all of it pay off my car and my my credit card? I just I'm by those things you guys for a few weeks now And I just I'm really trying to be focused on that piece of mine like it always starts young You know, it's only $4,000 in credit card debt, but then it grows into 10, then a 20, and a 30. Lucky enough, I don't have any student loan debt,

but I just want to knock out any debt at all. So what do you guys think is the best course of action here? Should I just use my income and save up and pay off my debt that way? Where should I be going? Yeah, so normally we would say that. We always say to sell anything that is non retirement and we are not big fans of single stocks just because it is so volatile

that if that one company somehow loses everything right that and I think I know what company you're talking about so I don't know if that's gonna be the case but you never know right. We were even looking the other day Jay and a team meeting at Peloton when Peloton was like so big. Yes. And it's like gone to nothing basically you know what I mean? So I'm looking the other day, Jay, in a team meeting at Peloton, when Peloton was like so big. And it's like gone to nothing, basically. You know what I mean? So I'm like, it was hot, you know. So just the idea that, yeah, just because something's working today,

it may not be the best long-term play because you never know. So yeah, getting rid of single stocks would be something that I would recommend, and then using any of the profits to go ahead and pay off debt, and then go and take that, the proceeds, everything else, because you'll have way more than what you have in debt.

And you can go put that in a Vanguard account, an index fund, open up a mutual fund and just have more diversification with that money and let it grow long term without again that volatility of just that one specific company. How much will it be when you cash them in? So if I were to sell everything right now, if I was looking at each trade account, it's like 13 ish right now and it's the current rate for the stock is like 340. I don't know how many shares I have. It's like 31 or 32.

Oh, I'm sorry. I must have heard your numbers. But yeah, so I would go ahead and sell it and put that towards the debt. Just be ready for the tax hit when it comes because it will come on your income taxes. Yep, for next year. Yeah, if you sell in 2025, it'll be there in the 2026 when you get it in April. That's right. Thanks, Erin, for the call. Thanks to everyone in the booth. Jay, thanks always for being a great co-host. Thanks to our studio audience here at Nashville. And thank you, America. We'll be back. Live from Ramsey Solutions, it's The Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do

work that they love, and create amazing relationships. I'm Rachel Cruz, hosting this hour with best-selling author Jade Warshaw, and we are here to answer your questions at 825-525-825. So give us a call and we'll be talking about your money, your life, marriage, relationships, career, kids, anything and everything. So give us a call. Up first this hour, we have William in Indianapolis. Hi, William. Welcome to the show. Hello. Thank you for having me. Yes. Thanks for calling in. How can we help? So my fiancee, we're planning on getting married this August, so pretty soon.

Congratulations. She went into surgery, a pretty simple surgery, gallbladder to be more specific and they coded her on the table. Um, so she was, uh, she is now doing well. She was in it. She had a trait for six months, but in that time she got a pretty good lawyer and, um, he won us around, well, one her, I'm not entitled to any of it, um, but one her around a 1.3 million after we pay him and everything. We should have around that. Um,

so my main question for calling today is like, we're planning on getting a house cause we are getting married, but we didn't know if we were going to do like full cash pay for the house and get it over with, or a really hefty down payment. Um, since neither one of us have much credit right now, um, that way we could build our credit in the future. Um, but I didn't know what would be the best option. Neither one of us have had money like this before. So sure. Um, is she,

how's she doing now? She's doing very well. So my fiance was born, she was born deaf. So just by a normal person, you would be able to tell like, Hey, there's something a little different. She's not an adult, like an adult size, like airway. You know what I mean? Just by hearing her talk. So you would think that doctors would definitely be able to tell. And so yeah, but she's doing very good now after that. So impressive. Wow, she's incredible.

We went to Cincinnati. Shout out to Cincinnati Children's Hospital for being the best airway reconstruction in the United States and luckily we were very close to them. Wow, my gosh. Wow, wow, wow. Okay, so William, you guys, you get married in August. Will either of you be bringing debt into the marriage? Negative, neither one of us have student loans,

any credit card debts, we both drive older vehicles. Wow. Good for you. I mean, yeah, I mean, I'll be simple with my answer, Jade, you probably can explore it a little bit more, but yes, this would be a really, really, really, really wise way to use this money. If you guys started off your marriage with no mortgage payment and the amount of money you guys could be investing and saving for the future

is going to be insane, William. What you guys can do versus sending up payments to a mortgage broker or to a bank, you guys pay yourself a mortgage payment and invest that. The numbers are astronomical what that could do. Short answer is I think that's a very wise way to use this money is to spend cash and use it that way. And yeah, right. What do you think it would cost for you guys to get what you what you want, you know, in Indianapolis? Yeah, her only stipulation is two bathrooms.

So she's not very difficult. Um, around 175 to $200,000 is around the price range we were looking at for something that's going to be a lifelong house for us. Wow, okay. That's a lot less than I was thinking when I look at the median home price in the United States. Well, we live in 500 square foot right now, so anything is an upgrade. That's true. That's true. Okay. Okay, so let's just say you guys went crazy and spent $300. Yeah. So that means you have a million dollars left. So I think the have a million dollars left. So I think the next question,

so yes, 100% be paying cash for this house, even more so than probably more emphatically than we were thinking earlier. And then for the million, yeah, take some of that, William. You guys can upgrade cars. That would be another thing to think about. And then, you know, I would be, we always say to give, save, and spend. And so with about. And then, you know, I would be, we always say to give, save and spend.

And so with the rest of that, you know, do some generosity and do some giving with that. I'd probably sit with a SmartVestor Pro and figure out how to invest a good portion of it. For sure. And of course, if you give to someone, you're gonna get back astronomically because that's just how the universe works.

It is like that sometimes, although it's not always financial, so keep that in mind. 100%. But yeah, what Rachel said, I'd probably upgrade the cars. I take my time on this, right? I think that's the big thing. If you just go out and it's kind of like shopping spree and you buy a house and buy two cars.

And it's like, I feel like that's probably where you could get into no man's land there, but take your time buying this house, take your time doing your research, just as though this money were never there. How would you take your time to do your research on these things, right? And then, yeah, I would set aside

three to six months of expenses. I'd throw that in a high yield savings. You guys come up with some things that might be important to you on the giving side, yeah. And then that investing, if you invest a good chunk of this and let it grow and just set it and forget it, that's gonna be really, really great for your legacy. Yeah, how much do you guys make a year, William?

How much combined income will you have once you guys get married? So combined, she has a um, uh fixed income around a thousand dollars a month that she will not be losing uh, because of the um, Trust fund that is set up through the Malpractice case so she will still get her. Um, Social security income, which is what she gets. And then I work around 40,000 is what I bring home yearly.

Okay. So you guys are roughly about 52,000 and so that that that will be her income. Correct. She doesn't make anything above that payment. That is correct. Okay. So yeah, so, um, I would, I would, it's going to take some discipline, which you guys say you sound like you guys are pretty disciplined Seems like it that you don't start living like oh because this money is a you know one-time

Payment right this is not an ongoing salary that you all will be getting every single year and so watching the in watching the lifestyle and Not acting like oh my gosh, we're a bunch of millionaires. Yeah. Right. Like I would be living. And I don't think you will be. I don't think you will be. You guys seem very mature. I'm not going to change my lifestyle. I can already tell. We said what you wanted to spend on the house. I was like, we're going to be fine. But I do want you to buy some cars. I will say that as your spender friend. You can get some new cars.

I drive a 99 right now. Her thing's about to fall apart. Yeah. So get some nice cars. And then, yeah. now. Her thing's about to fall apart. Yeah, so get some nice cars. And then, yeah, and then you guys, and part of this too, you know, if you invest it wisely, you guys can be living off of a portion of this every year, if you want. But again, sitting down with the SmartVestor Pro

is probably gonna be your best bet, just to make sure the longevity of this lasts hopefully beyond you guys. I mean, that's what this kind of money can do if you invest it early which is really beautiful. It's generational if you can. Yes, that's exactly right. How old are you? I'm 24. Oh most definitely. Yeah. Yeah, I was going to say one more thing. I believe that the way that it works in Indiana, I don't know how it works anywhere else, but the insurance

company when they come through a hospital and they have a malpractice case, they can only pay us out a certain amount right now. And then they pay a percentage of that over time. So she's going to get $175,000 over a 30 year period. Every five years she gets a slight increase in the chunk that she gets. Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. So what you guys would have to do is just have a timeline of knowing when is this money

coming, and what are we using that chunk for at a time. So that actually kind of spreads it out, which will slow you guys down some possibly, which is fine, which is fine. Well, I'm glad everyone's okay. Thanks for the call. The Ramsey Show Question of the Day is sponsored by YREFY. If you're buried in defaulted private student loans, you are not alone. Reach out to YREFY to see if they can build a custom plan to help dig you out. Visit yreify.com slash Ramsey today.

That's Y-R-E-F-Y.com slash Ramsey may not be available in all states. All right, today's question of the day comes from Patrick in Connecticut. He says, our current mortgage balance is 850,000. And we also have an $8,000 car loan as our only other debt. My wife wants to get a $1.5 million loan

for a second larger home and cash out our single stocks for the down payment. We earn $350,000 a year. I am losing sleep over this idea and it feels like we're going backwards. I want to invest more in retirement and save for our kids' education. She wants to sell

our first home later on to pay for college costs. What would you recommend that we focus on? Okay. So just to clarify, she wants to keep the current house that's 850 and then cash out stocks to put a down payment on a second home that would be worth 1.5 million. And she's like, hey, it's all good. Because in the future, hey, it's all good. Cause in the future, when it's time to pay for college, we can just sell the $850,000 house that'll likely be worth more. Yeah, I don't like this.

I think that what you're feeling is correct. You're just having a lot of skin in the debt game. Yes, a lot of risk. It's a lot happening. I wonder why she wouldn't just, I mean, he's not on the line, but I wonder in my mind, it's like, okay, if you want the $1.5 million house,

sell the previous house, take the proceeds and roll it to the $1.5 million house. Yeah, it sounds like it's like a, I make up a vacation home or something, you know what I mean? And the problem with all of this is, you know, she wants the nice second home, doesn't want to have to pay for kids' college right now.

She doesn't want to put money away to save for that. So it's a lot of present feeling. Yeah, a lot of things today. This is what I want today. So I'm gonna make decisions based on today without really looking long-term and saying, okay, what's best for us? Where we can have a fun life today. It's not like you want to be miserable today.

Right, right. But yet you want to be wise and not let this be the motivator. Don't let today be the motivator. Be thinking long term because you guys have a lot of life to live. And yeah, it doesn't sound like a lot of wise decisions. You're going to be carrying two mortgage payments.

Think about the, so really what we're saying is think about the opportunity cost on it and what? That's gonna cost you long term clearly She's not interested in thinking that way. Yeah today. Yes, but you have your work cut out for you Patrick, but you are correct Don't do this. Yep. So I don't know I would sit down and I want to know her motivation for the second home and if it is a vacation type You know situation. It's is a vacation type situation, it's like a vacation home,

could you guys rent somewhere for two weeks a year and still be able to enjoy your vacations, but you don't have to own the home that you're going to right now, especially because you guys have still car loans and a mortgage on your primary home. So getting that paid down for sure would be the wiser way. And I would cash out some of those stocks

to pay off the car loan, especially if they're not in retirement. Hope that helps. Yeah, sorry, Patrick. We're the bearer of bad news for your wife. We are. I don't know why I'm totally reading too much into this question,

but I feel like she's just out here trying to live that life I'm like you guys are in Connecticut. It's super expensive. I always think about Sometimes when you're in an area that's super expensive and you see how other people are living You kind of feel like I have to be doing that as well. Yes. Yes, but that's not that's not the reality It's not reality. I always think about basketball teams, right? And it's like the the the Jimmy mean, that's not the reality. I always think about basketball teams, right? And it's like the Jimmy Butler's, they get paid the big dollars, but like the seventh and the eighth man,

they don't make what Jimmy Butler makes. So if you go out with Jimmy Butler, you can't get what he gets. You know what I mean? Like so true. You can't live that life. So anyway, I don't know why I feel like she's just trying to live the life

that she's seeing other people live. Yeah, it's looking that way. Oh man, that's so funny. It's so true though. Yeah. Especially like on a sports team. Yeah. Like these guys are like, yeah, the salary ranges is like so significantly different. Yeah. So it takes a lot of maturity. I'm not sure I need to push through that. It does. Oh, all right. Let's go to the phones. We'll go to Jason in Kansas city. Hi, Jason, welcome to the show.

Hey guys, thanks so much for taking my call. Absolutely, how can we help you? So, yeah, so I'm a medical student and I am incredibly blessed. I'm going to be able to graduate medical school 100% debt-free. Oh my gosh. My car's paid off. How did you do that?

Wow. My parents are both docs too. Okay, okay, wow, that is a gift. They've been incredibly supportive. I'm eternally grateful. And I currently live in a home that's fully paid off as well. They purchased it for me.

Wow! Yeah. Wow! It's a huge blessing. So I am pursuing a medical specialty where the prestige of your residency really matters if you want to work in a desirable area later in life. It's a pretty small field and limited job market. The challenge is that most of these top tier residencies are in really expensive cities that

would be much pricier than the life I currently live. So my question is, do you think it would be a financial mistake to leave this very stable low cost setup in order to train to the more prestigious program that might be able to open better doors for me long term, depending on where I go, maybe even happy to take out loans for some living expenses or do you think I should just try to stay put and risk possibly a more limited job options later? Are you allowed to sell the house that your parents got you and use that money to put towards living expenses in the more expensive area? So yeah, it is in their name.

And that is an option for sure. I think there's another layer of it too that I, you know, I don't want to feel disrespectful just that they've done so much for me and given me this great house. And I'm like, Hey, by the way, I'm, you know, flying the coop and moving somewhere else. You know what I mean? But that's another side to the issue kind of but the way you set it up I mean to be honest the way you set it up it sounds like they're in this they're in the doctor field um and they've been so supportive it feels like based off of what you said that they

would understand what you just explained to us that hey hey, my residency really matters. I mean, have you talked to them about it and what did they say? I haven't, to be honest, I've been a little afraid just because I think I have been worried how they might respond to me saying, I might wanna leave this house that they bought for me. But I definitely can try to have that conversation and you're right, I mean, they're both physicians, they'll probably be understanding.

Yeah, I also have questions about the vocabulary you're using about, they bought the house for you, it's in their name. So yeah, it brings up other questions, which is, is this really my house? Does this mean we can sell it when I'm ready? Or is this something that they're viewing as just a rental and for now you're the one living there and when you move on someone else,

like it just brings up a lot of other questions that I have. Yeah, what's the expectation of the home like strings attached besides what you're just kind of feeling and thinking was anything ever said when they gifted you the home? Well so I think I know they're on it. I think I might be listed on the home but I mean they're definitely the ones who have the most ownership in it. And, you know, I think they kind of bought it thinking I was going to stay where I'm at long term, you know, and train where I'm at. And it really hasn't been until I

got into medical school and realized that, you know, this this field that I want to pursue is really what I want to do. And it's probably going to require me to possibly move somewhere. So it was kind of came out of the blue a little bit unexpected. Well, I mean, you don't I mean, it's a don't get me to possibly move somewhere. So it was kind of came out of the blue a little bit unexpected. Well, I mean, you don't, I mean, it's a, don't get me wrong, when somebody offers that, like on face value, it's a great gift. But at the same time, you don't want it to be,

you know, golden handcuffs that keeps you chained to an area. That's the reason that you're there is those is for a house. Right, that would be silly. Yeah, that would be silly. That would not be wise long-term. I think you're exactly right, Jade. That would be silly. Yeah, that would be silly. That would not be wise long-term.

I think you're exactly right, Jade. So I'm just thinking through going to talk to them. I mean, yeah, I mean, I would definitely just tell them kind of what you're thinking and where you're at and maybe be a little prepared in the conversation of running some numbers of, you know, here's probably the top three areas I'll probably end up in and do some research and just

say, okay, how much realistically will rent be realistically? What would life look like from a financial standpoint? And how long would you be in these cities? Residency is going to be about five years. Okay, so it's yeah, it's a significant time. And when you're saying expensive, are you thinking like New York City, San Francisco, Seattle? Yeah, New York, San Francisco, LA, Boston, some of the more really expensive cities that have really reputable healthcare systems. Sure, okay. Yeah, so I would run some numbers and just know,

okay, here's how much it's gonna cost me to live per month. I would not take out loans, Jason. Not at all. I think either you figure out another way to make some money to support yourself during that time, but also have that conversation and just say, hey, I'm looking at all my assets and I do have this house in my head as an asset, but I want to be respectful of you all. Just tell them how you're feeling and just have a conversation about it, but be prepared

with some numbers so you at least kind of have a conversation about it. But be prepared with some numbers so you at least kind of have a plan going in knowing here's the direction I'm leaning. But you may not be able to afford it Jason if they don't give you this house. When it comes to debt or building wealth, people often can forget an important step when it comes to reaching their goals

and that's having insurance and having the right coverage or too little or too much can really impact how long it takes you to build wealth. So skimping on insurance might feel like saving but when life happens it is not great because you may not have a safety net that you need and we don't want debt to be that safety net. So the right insurance acts as a shield around your loved ones and your wallet if disaster strikes. And in some cases it can save you money if you're paying too much for insurance. So how do you know if you have the right coverage? Make sure to take the coverage checkup. It's an online free resource that creates a personalized insurance action plan for you that's unique to your situation. And it makes an overly confusing topic really easy to understand and gives you the next step

specifically for you and your situation. So go to ramsysolutions.com slash check up to take the coverage check up or click the link in the description if you are watching on YouTube or listening on podcast. Up next we have Derek in San Jose. Hi Derek, welcome to the show. Hey Rachel, I'm a big fan

and it's a real honor to speak with you. Thanks so much for taking my call. Absolutely, thanks for calling in. How can we help? So I recently got engaged. My fiance and I are both 36 years old. We're looking to start a Brady Bunch. We've got five kids between 10 and 12 between us.

Oh wow, between 10 and 12, is that what you said? Yeah, I have twin sons who are 11 and she has a 10 year old, 11 year old and 12 year old. Oh my gosh, that's gonna be a house full, that's fun. So great. Yeah, it's been really fun. Yep, so the reason I'm calling is because we have a pretty large difference in assets

and I think based on your advice, it would, the advice would be that we should get a prenup. So I have roughly $12 million and she has roughly 50,000. And so we started the process of looking into a prenup and it's been an emotional one. And I totally understand why. And I think especially like we went through a questionnaire talking together about it. Um, but then when we got the first draft back from my lawyer,

that's when she's really not been feeling good about it. Um, and I understand the concern. So, I mean, she feels like I wouldn't be fully entering the marriage in the same way that she is because it feels like I'm holding assets, uh, like separately off to the side. Um feels like I'm holding assets like separately off to the side. And I'm sensitive to that, and especially in some of the context of her former relationship. And so I'm just looking for maybe more clarity and like what you guys would recommend.

Oh, man, this is a hard one. Because it is, I think it is a hard one because it is, I think it is a wise decision to do one. And I say that even more, I have a friend who's going through not a great situation and she came in with a lot more and now he's just, I mean, it was, it's just messy. It's messy, messy.

And there's a level, again, you're not, you're hoping and praying obviously that this is the one and that it's gonna last a lifetime. But as you guys have experienced, there is a reality to all of this. And whenever any of us get married, right? I think there is this like, okay, I'm choosing you for a reason and for a lifetime. But we also don't live under a rock

and know that things change in life and situations come up. And and unfortunately some really hard things happen and does cause marriages to break up, right? To enter into divorce and we don't want that. So what were the parts, I'm curious, what were the parts of it that was making her, because you guys went through a questionnaire together and it didn't sound like the questionnaire brought up a lot of red flags,

but when she was actually like reading it, does she feel like she won't be taken care of if something happens or like what's the, what's that underlying? That's a concern, yeah, yes. And I think especially like, you know, her kids as well too. And it's something that I want to address.

And I think we could address like in a will or like some other document or method after we get married. And it's something that I want to do. Like I absolutely would want her and her kids to be taken care of too if something, you know, didn't happen to us. I think it also, it feels very condescending to her that like the, but that either she,

and I don't see it being a problem for her at all. Like my goal in this, and I think that's what your advice is, is that in our case that I know is rare, it would help protect our marriage. And that's what I wanna do. But I totally understand that she feels it's condescending like to her, maybe her and her family and her friends

that they might be a problem. And that we would need this to like protect against them. Can I ask how like stringent this prenup is, like how strict it is? Cause when I've heard calls about this before, my question is always always is there a way That this can be more progressive that over maybe over time and over years some of the restrictions fall off Like does that make sense to where it's like the longer we're together and the more that this feels right

some of this starts to fall off and now we start to become one and that this feels right, some of this starts to fall off and now we start to become one and after a while it's all gone and we are one. Is there anything built in like that? So there's nothing currently built in like that. So other than that, it's pretty basic. So everything we enter into the marriage with a separate property,

except she has a small amount of debt and she's been awesome about eliminating death, especially the situation she came from. But I don't want her to carry it all like I would just pay it off. And then everything after the date of the marriage is shared. So income that I make or she made, we just share it. Our plan is that she would stop working. She'd be able to be home with all these kids.

Does that include interest on the 12 million as that grows or does any growth on that 12 million remain yours? Yeah, so at least as it's currently structured, the growth in that would remain mine. I think we have talked about it's not in the document, but like if I were to stop working to also help with the kids, which would be an option, like the income that we drew from that would be considered our income. I think I would. Yeah, I'd be wondering about that if I were entering in that marriage.

Like, how can we protect what you've already created, but how can I be a player in how that grows from here on out? Like how can I be a part of that? I think I might be wondering about that. That's tough, man. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. And then the only other additional part is we're planning to get a house and

I was just gonna buy the house. We title it in both of our names. I just consider it community property Yeah. Yeah. Well, it sounds like you're you're being very gracious about this Derek. I think it's such a hard line to be wise In a situation and being I mean you don't sound like you're drawing these crazy hard lines and you know what I mean? And you're pushing it like it's, your tone feels very humble and gracious, which I, yeah, I mean, I think she probably very much appreciates.

So yeah, I'm trying to think if I were in her position, which you never can fully do for somebody, I'm trying to think if I were in her position, which you never can fully do for somebody, you know, there's a part of me that, I don't know, I think I would understand you're coming in with 12 million and I understand that's not mine right now, right? Like there's, I don't know. Yeah, this one's hard for me. I see most-

Are you an anti prenup? No, I'm not. I would not go that far. I think it's just, it's, it is a very tough way to start out a marriage, clearly. Cause we're dividing yours versus mine. And everything else in the marriage is out, is we say we, us, our.

So it is tough. And if you're a person, let's, you know, I'll put myself in the shoes. Me, I've always viewed, oh, when you enter a marriage, it's like this. You don't know who you're gonna fall in love with. And that person happens to be loaded. And now suddenly you're like, oh, this picture I had

of it being ours is not possible. That's just tough. I'm not saying it's wrong. It's just tough. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, and I think too, Derek, I think it's too, I think it can feel like the 12 million is off in this corner and it's never, we're never going to participate in it.

But I think it comes into its mind if something happens. But up until that point, it's ours. Like we're sharing assets. That's a good point. That is a very good point. Like we are living our lives together as one. But for some reason, if something ever happened in a divorce, this part still goes back to me.

Does that make sense? I wonder if framing it- That's a good way to frame it, cause that actually- With her, cause it can be hers, right? Like you guys can share on this. It's the only time it's not hers is if you guys legally go through a divorce.

Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah, that totally makes sense. And that is how we want to live going into the marriage. And it sounds like that's, yeah. And that sounds like your attitude because you're gonna take some of our money and we're gonna buy a house together with this money

and use this money for our family. So I think it's such a fine line, Derek. I mean, it's so hard, but I think I would keep it. And bring in a third party. If there's a great marriage counselor or therapist, honestly, it's something to think through and even get other opinions because yeah, you wanna be on the same page with this.

Yeah. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. Up next, we have Melissa in Charleston, West Virginia. Hi, Melissa, welcome to the show. Hi, how are you? Doing great, how can we help? Yes. So I recently purchased a home in West Virginia about a month ago. And since living there, my family and I have got really sick experiencing allergy-like symptoms.

Got the long story short, ended up getting someone to come and test for mold and it's very high numbers in stature botchers. I don't know how much you're in that mean, but it's the one that's really, really dangerous. Um, so now I'm in the other side. I'm post-closing. I did go, go through the property disclosure. It was as is and it was a flip. And also I did also get a, um, comb inspector as well. And this is through a VA loan. So now I'm trying to figure out if I should do a mold remediation myself or, um, go ahead and do a deed in lieu of foreclosure, um, situation,

because man, I don't feel comfortable staying there at all. Cause what else is concealed in this house? I don't feel comfortable staying there at all because what else is concealed in this house? I don't know and turns out the guy that flipped it has a horrible reputation around the community for doing basically pig lipstick on a pig blitz So when you did the when you did the inspection to purchase the home it didn't come up on the inspection But now it is can you clarify that for me? Yeah, it the molders on plain view but from a lay person Can you clarify that for me? Yeah, the mold is on plain view, but from a lay person, if you look at it, it looks like mildew or maybe like dirt, just like

a dirty basement. But the second inspector that came in said, this is definitely mold. It's in plain view. Nobody called this. He said the appraiser could have called it, but I know they're there for just evaluation purposes. But said that you know you you you potentially have a case and I've contacted attorneys and they are all pretty much that that I don't have a case because it's a buyer beware state which I wasn't I didn't know what that meant so the onus is on the buyers and it's not a lot of consumer protections for us in West Virginia. Oh, shoot.

Wow. Have you had any estimates on what it would cost to try to go through and, I mean, at Mold is such a, it's such a frustrating part of the, you know, that whole process of renovation. But have you talked to anybody? Yeah, what's a remediation cost? Yes. So I had an adjuster come for with my homeowner's insurance, but of course they deemed it pre existing. And the adjuster told me that the basement is not even up the code. So the cost of get going to basement is like 20,000 plus. And the mold remediation itself would be 10, 10 K plus.

Is that how many? Okay. So let's keep, I think for, for now we keep the mold separate from the basement, not being to code and find out because here's the thing. If you get the mold out of the house and you're ready to sell the property, then you can say, you can sell it, you can feel good about it. There's no mold here. The other question, but I did have the question. So you're telling me your inspector missed the mold and missed the fact that the basement wasn't to code. Yes. And he said, one of my questions before I hired him was, you know, how long have you been doing it? You know, what are your,

just asking him his history of his work and he's like over 20 years and I looked at reviews, he has great reviews, great views on the BBB and all this stuff. And I was like, are you approved by the VA? Um, and he was like, yes. And I verified everything and everything checked out on paper, but yeah, none of that. And there's nothing on paper. But yeah, none of that. And there's nothing on him. There's he's completely there's no liability towards whoever did the inspection. That's what the lawyers are saying.

But they are saying that the likelihood of it of winning in court is low because of that caveat on tour buyer beware thing in West Virginia and the fact that they have no duty to disclose mold in West Virginia. What's the point of the DACM inspection? What's the point of it? Exactly. Exactly. You would have to hire a mold inspector on top of the regular mold inspector and a radon inspector and whatever other inspectors separately in order to do this.

And they said it was a law just passed with the Supreme Court back, I think 2020, just last year. It was something recent that passed. But my realtor and the agency and his broker, he told me that I could, I think 2020, just last year, it was something recent that passed. Um, but my realtor and the agency and his broker, he told me that I could, I did have something and that I should pursue it. But my thing is going to further debt with litigation, going back and forth with these lawyers, which is a shot in the dark,

or just take an L and, and I mean, it's going to ding my credit, but I need to get out of it because we're essentially homeless. Why can't you just put it on the market? You've purchased it. Can't you just put it back on the market for sale? Why does it have to go into foreclosure? I guess is what I'm saying. Because I'm gonna have to disclose it

and it's not remediated. So also I asked that question. They said a lot of lenders won't lend on a home with mold, with active mold now the mold I don't know if it's active because I've got a DT metafire down there and I've sealed up where moisture may have gotten in Uh-huh, but I Don't know who deems it active or not, but you can see it now Pulled paneling off it was hidden. It was even more like the obvious

mold that you would be behind paneling. So what if we said this? What if we said, let's get a couple of opinions on what it's really going to cost to get this remediated. And then do you have any money anywhere? No. And I'm the money I am getting. I run a business out of West Virginia and right now we're living with my man and we're going back and forth two and a half hours between Columbus and where we're at every other day so I can still take clients and that money is going towards gas and food and because I've had to take the kids out of school because they are allergic to it and I got some some allergy tests to verify what I'm saying.

Yeah. How much are you making a year, Melissa? I make, so I'm a disabled veteran. So on top of that, I would say about 80, 70, 80,000 a year. What do you get for the disability per month? About five. Okay. So just under five is like four nine or four eight something like that. Okay and then what do you take home from your actual job take home? Um per month. I would say about five. So we've got 10k a month. How many kids? Two. And how much is this mortgage out of your take home? Fifteen.

Fifteen hundred? Uh huh. Okay, that's good. So Melissa, I almost would just go rent somewhere. I mean, be paying the mortgage, go rent, because this isn't feasible. The two and a half hour thing, I think that adds stress. I think that's exhausting everybody. Pulling the kids out of the routine, I mean, that's just miserable.

I would just go rent somewhere. Go rent a one, two bedroom apartment, knowing it's short term. Cheap, cheap, cheap. Yes, just knowing like, this is what we're gonna do, just to have some stability from where you were. And then they can get back in school. Yes, and then from there, gosh,

I would probably get even a second attorney's opinion. And sometimes, they'll take cases and with what is won in court, if so, then that's how they get paid. So you're not having to go deeply in debt with all this litigation and stuff. So maybe even from a different standpoint, from a payment perspective,

you can find someone different on that end. But I would probably still pursue that because this feels like a lot of negligence on the end of your inspector, even on the mold thing, which I guess is the biggest part of all of this. If he doesn't have to disclose it or find it, it has to be separate in West Virginia. I mean, that's just bizarre.

And then I would be saving and I would do the cheapest renovation you can to get this mold out that would be safe to resale so that you can in good good conscience, sell this home. Would you want to stay in the home if you did get the mold all clear? I don't, and I don't want to stay, I love the home, that's why I bought it,

but I no longer want to stay there because now with this man's reputation being the way it is. Yeah, you don't know. More things will be, sure, you don't know, you don't know. Yeah, so I would save Melissa really aggressively, stage by stage, be getting redoing this house from just the mold, right? Not the up to code basement thing,

someone can renovate that if they want, but just getting the mold out, put it on the market and sell it. And in good faith to say, yeah, this was cleaned up. You don't know, I mean, yeah, the guy has a terrible reputation, you don't know what else is there, but you don't know. Right.

And if the inspector finds something else, then we can deal with that. But I would put it on the market and try to sell it just to get out of it. And we'll give you every dollar so you can really plan this $10,000 a month to make that happen. Yes. I'm so sorry, Melissa. It's such a headache. Terrible, terrible, terrible.

Live from Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create amazing relationships. I am Rachel Cruz, hosting this hour with my good friend and bestselling author, Jade Warshaw, and we will be answering your questions about life and money, so give us a call at 888-825-5225. Up first this hour, we have Nicole in Cincinnati. Hi, Nicole, welcome to the show. Hey, Rachael, Jay, how are you doing today? We are doing great, how can we help?

Okay, so my question is, how do I get my husband to honor the financial commitment that we made together as newlyweds when we went to FPU at our church? We've been married for 10 years now and even after committing to do all of everything that you know goes into the class of FPU, I have not been able to get him to combine finances with me or honor any of the commitments that we made together and all that. Did you make it 10 years ago when you guys went through FPU? Was it 10 years ago? Yes. Okay.

And is it, has it been an ongoing discussion for a decade or are you like deciding more recently, okay, I want to get back and try to figure this out? It has been an ongoing issue and I'm a stay-at-home mom We also have a I should have led with us that we have a 25 year age difference and I'm a stay-at-home mom and he's in sales and We did make that decision together for me to stay home with the kids But really I I'm not unable to work or anything he has just, every time I've come to him and said, you know,

if we need me to go back to work or anything like that, I'm, I'm fine with doing that. And he's always telling me, no, if anything, I would rather you be able to go back to nursing school because I did that prior to us getting married and, um, but he never wants me to work or anything, but it's like, I can never get him to be on the same page with me, with finances. Oh boy. Okay, so what, tell me tactically,

cause you're not working right now. No. Are you guys sharing like a checking account? Like does he have his income coming in and you have access to everything? When you say we're not sharing, how does that look tactically? Okay, so we have a joint checking account, but we also have a savings account. Well, he has a savings account, but his check is direct deposited in that I do not have access

to, so I do not see what's coming in. And then he just transfers over money into the checking account to like pay bills or whatever. And I know I've been listening recently and I'm hearing a lot of things like you guys talk about like if you're Venmo-ing each other and stuff and he's doing that. He's cash shopping me for like you know just whatever, going to the store. And what's his rebuttal when you say, hey, I want to be on everything, I'm your wife and I want to be one in this.

And so I want my name on everything because I have as equal partnership to this money as you do. And just because I'm staying at home doesn't mean, you know, we definitely believe that stay at home moms or stay at home parents, like they carry the same value as if you're going out to the workplace and making money. What does he say? I feel like it kind of varies.

Like sometimes he'll agree and say like, yes, we need to do that. And then it just never gets done. Or like, he knows that this call is going on. And so we were talking last night and I said, so if you were to tell me like one reason, like just, just give me the reason he's like,

he feels like it's because of his past marriages. He's had two prior marriages that I guess things just did not end well financially with the divorces and stuff like that. And I'm like, I under, I understand that to a degree, but like after 10 years of marriage and like, do you know what I mean? Like, yeah, yeah, that only goes so far as an excuse to me. Yeah, you're right. I think that you're right. If you guys have been together 10 years, there's just part of this that feels really controlling

because it's he he's the one that gets the control, right? And for you being the stand at home mom, who's not earning an income outside of the house, then now you're the one who's kind of at his beck and call. Well, I hope he transfers money into the account and hope he Venmo's me and I hope he does this and I hope, I hope. And that I just, there's no balance in that relationship. You don't have autonomy to make decisions

with the household because it has to be run through him. And now you're not two adults making decisions together. You're having to go to him and saying, sir, may I have some money and may I have this and can I have that? And that's not. Yeah, that dynamic doesn't work in a marriage. So I think that's it.

I think it's having equal say, equal opinion. You know what I mean? Like we are a team. It's not one is higher than the other. And sadly what money does is money does give power to one that has the ability. So when Jade uses that word control, that is what it feels like.

And so for him to relinquish control and to give you access being his wife for 10 years, is not just from a logistic standpoint, it's not that. It's so much deeper than that to know we are fully committed in this together. And that's the piece you're not getting. And so yeah, my red flags go up for you, just like as an individual,

because yeah, what if something does go south? You're the one that gets screwed, Nicole. Do you know what I mean? So you're like, well, What about what about some sort of if he says like this is the reason it's my past relationships Has there been any counseling to work that out with him and then maybe with you present as well? Or is if that's the big reason what are we doing to combat it? It would be my question Yeah, no, we haven't actually done counseling. We've talked about it, but it's always kind

of, again, just like a financial thing, like, well, I don't know that we could afford to do that. I don't personally think that, I mean, we're active in church and everything, so I don't think that like our pastors... Yeah, but that's not the same thing. No, I mean, like, I don't know that, like, our pastors would charge us to do comfort counseling. Yeah, like, because he'll use that as an excuse of like, like, he's willing to go, but he doesn't know that we could afford it or, or this and that.

How much does he make a year? Do you even know that? I, I would assume it's, it's close to around a hundred thousand. So you don't know exactly what would happen if you asked him, Hey, how much do you make a year? Log into that savings account and I want to look at it with you. Would he do that? What?

I think he would do that. But I did ask him last night because like I said, he knew about the call and I was like, I don't want to look like an idiot, you know? Sure. So at least give me that, you know? And so he did and it was about a hundred thousand. And I think he would show it to me if I asked, but- But what if you said, can I have the logins so that I can log in whenever I want? And can I have access to your account that I can log in whenever I want? And can I have access to your account just in case something happens and you forget to

transfer it? Can I have access? What would he say to that? We've had that discussion before and like, it's almost like an all day thing. Like we'll take a day and we'll do all of that stuff like you know putting loans on bank accounts and getting logins and figuring out you know because I've said to him with the age difference something else that concerns me is like We tomorrow isn't promised and if something happens

How am I even gonna know where to begin and so I would love to know you know How do I pay this bill? Where do I get you know, Nicole? I'm gonna be real with you one to one like if you were my best buddy and We went out to eat and you were telling me this I would be like, oh H No, like that's what I would say to my friend. I'd be like this. Mm-hmm. No, no, no This is not good. Because my thing is it's open. You should at the very least, I'm like, why can't, if you can't give me the

password, there's a problem. Or if you have to log in for me, that's a problem, my girl. And that I'm concerned about that. I don't like that one bit. Yep. Yeah. So there's a lot of red flags and it's the pushing off, the procrastination and the fact that I get as much access to this because I bring as much value to this. Like this is our home and our household. And going forward, I wouldn't go to bed tonight until you have all that information.

Up next, we have John in Philadelphia. Hi, John. Welcome to the show. Hello. Thank you guys for taking my call. Yes, absolutely. Thanks for calling in. How can we help?

I am in a pretty bad financial situation. I've got around $50,000 in debt. I'm making just about that and something tells me I'm going to be losing my job soon. Uh-oh. What tells you that you're gonna lose your job? What's giving you that feeling? Um, I recently had a meeting with HR. And they said that you're on thin ice? Basically. Okay. And even before that I was already stressed about my financial situation.

Yeah. What's going on with the work thing? Is it something from your ends that they saw that they're saying termination, or are they shutting down a department corporately, or what do they say? It's my end. I've been a little too stressed recently, and my mind hasn't quite been

as in the job as it should be. I've been trying to figure out how to manage this situation but... Is it the debt that's the most stressful part? I don't see a way out. Yeah. Are you okay? You sound like you're really on edge. How is your mental health? Well, part of that's just I'm nervous. Okay. So you can disregard that part. Usually I'm not nearly as nervous as I am right now.

So what kind of debt is it then? It is pretty much all credit card debt. And then around 10 grand of it is personal loan that's at, I think like 15%, which is really high. Okay. What caused the 40,000 in credit card debt? I started a business. I breed pets and sell them to big box stores.

And I got a little too ambitious thinking that, hey, if I just buy the next thing, it's gonna make more money. But clearly that didn't happen. Clearly it hasn't paid off. So how long ago was it that you had this meeting with HR? I'm trying to gauge a timeline of when we think this will happen because the truth is as of today You can be looking for another job. Like you don't have to wait for the hammer to fall on this thing and

We land another job and then we start tackling this debt and we can give you the tools to do that Yeah, I've been applying to new jobs meetings just on on Wednesday. So okay. And what do you do? What's the job you're currently in or what's the skill set that you're gonna use to find a new one? Customer service by phone but generally speaking I've been looking for anything. Sure. Just because I kind of see it coming down the pipeline and I have something then nothing. Do you think it's reasonable to find another $50,000 job? That quickly no. I mean I've been applying for like the past six months here

after I got overlooked for a promotion. And not much is really, it's hard getting responses to applications. Yeah. Got it. So let me, I kind of want to reframe this for a minute because you are going to go on and you're going to find another job and you're going to pay off this debt but let's just pretend for a moment that your current job wasn't on ice if If you had decided hey this this pet selling business isn't working out for me instead of spending my free time doing that I'm gonna spend my free time making money another way side hustling taking extra hours Whatever that is and I'm going to make X amount of dollars more So that I can pay off this debt. You'd be out of this debt very quickly So at this point if it weren't for the debt, I'd be making more selling these pets then Got my current job, but but that wasn't the debt and having to pay off the debt now,

it's certainly not. But I'm saying that that pet business wasn't successful for you because it ended you in $50,000 of debt. So that's not a definition of success. So I probably wouldn't continue on with that. I would move on to something else where I can turn a profit without debt,

without utilizing debt to get started. And I wouldn't wait on another business opportunity to do that. Right now, I would say, okay, what job can I get, maybe something that's pre-existing that I can just start immediately to make money? So the issue I'm seeing with that is I've done all of this under a sole proprietorship. So it's all under my social, all of that stuff. And if I just cut and run, I'm gonna be making less money than I want.

Well, cash flow wise I'll be bringing in less. You talking about the pets? Yeah, cause the debt's still gonna be there. I understand what you're saying, but you weren't making money. You were losing it. Yeah. And that's what's got you in a stressed state is at least that's what you said.

So if I were you, that's a great, it's a necessary ending. You can look at it and go, hey, this has not been profitable for me. This has given me a lot of mental calories. It's caused me to lose my job because it's given me so much stress. We can't check, there's not many positive boxes to check. So I wouldn't call it cutting and running. I would call it making a really good responsible decision. Yep, and I think the effort, John,

that you put into what you're doing can be transferred elsewhere as a side hustle. And you could kill it. can be transferred elsewhere as a side hustle. And you could kill it. I mean, we talked to people, they're making $1,800 extra a month doing side hustles and you could, you know, walk dogs, house, you can get creative in how to earn some extra money.

But I think you need a little pep in your step. Like I think you need a little turn, like the attitude shift, the perspective can't, it's, it's no longer doom and gloom. What do we need to do now to do something different and start mapping out ideas, start putting numbers down and say, all right, if I'm, you know, I'm gonna, I am gonna go for these jobs that are $50,000 because that's what I was making.

I can make that. And you can, John, that's a very reasonable salary to make. Okay, so like you're not shooting for 150,000, right? Like you can do this. So like we're gonna find a job here and my goal is to make 2000 extra. Are you single? Yeah.

Okay, so no kids. Perfect. So John can be working until 10 PM every night. And we're gonna be working 60 hours a week, John, and we're gonna clean this up, right? I mean, cut up the credit cards and be like, just look back on that time and be like, man, that was not my brightest days,

and I'm gonna step away from that, and I'm not gonna keep doing what I've been doing. I'm gonna do something very different. I'm gonna turn the corner and map it out, John, and I'm like, you can, like live on nothing, live on nothing. And you can get this cleaned up in three years. And what did you say to HR when you talked to them?

Because I'm just wondering, I don't know. Can you turn the corner? Can you turn the corner and say, hey guys, here's what's been going on. I talked to my two friends, Jay and Rachel. I started this business. And they really. Yeah, and I'm no longer doing it.

That stress is out of my life. I'm turning over a new leaf. I need to know just out of my own curiosity, John, are you like, are you like breeding dogs? Like what's the, what is? I think it's exotic animals. What is it? Oh.

That is something I would like to keep private. Oh no. Okay. It's all perfectly legal, but people in the industry would know me. Oh. So it's not like I'm small. I was gonna say, we had illiterate puppies this fall and it's had so much work.

I just want to, nevermind. I don't know. I'm not even gonna, not even. I don't know. I don't know. In one bedroom apartment, I've got probably around a thousand animals or so. John. wow.

So I could go to you and get like a giant python I bet. He ain't gonna tell us. He's not gonna tell us. John, John, get out. I'd get out of this lifestyle. I would, I just, I would, I would simplify. I would simplify. Yeah, you gotta simplify.

You can't be selling black market pits. Oh man. You know, John, I'm glad you called. I really hope you take our advice. I did too. Run for the hills, John. Simplified life, go to hamsters, guinea pigs. No, nothing, Jade.

Parakeets. No, Jade, no, John needs no more animals. John, turn the corner. Let's have a new hobby. A new lifestyle, yes. New life, John needs no more animals. John, turn the corner. Let's have a new hobby. A new lifestyle, yes. New life, new life. Pizza delivery. I think it's gonna create.

Yes, yes, yes. Buying or selling your home, it's a big deal. And between all the clickbait headlines and confusing data, it's really tough to know what's actually going on. And so we're here to make the latest trends really easy to understand when it comes to the home market. So the median home prices went up slightly last month to about $430,000. More homes now are on the market, nearly 1 million homes, and that's the highest that's

been since 2019, so pre-COVID. But in many areas, again, it's still not enough to beat buyer demand. The average 15-year fixed rate rose to 5.9% last month, but it's still under 6%, which is great. And if you're financially ready, a small rate increase, it really shouldn't hold you back from buying the home that you love. So if you're in a position where you're debt free,

you have an emergency fund and a down payment, this is your time to get in. So get in the market and to learn more about the housing trends and get free tools to help you when you buy or sell your home and do it with confidence, go to ramseysolutions.com slash market, or click the link in the show notes. If you're listening on podcast or YouTube.

All right, let's go to JR in Little Rock. Hi JR, welcome to the show. Hey, how are y'all? We are doing great. How can we help? Um, new verse used vehicle, uh, we're, we're looking and we're trying to figure out what to do. All right. So replacing a car, replacing a car that we've had since 2014, 220,000 miles on it, constantly going back in the shop. Oh yeah, it's time. Yeah, and so we average about 20,000 miles a year on it. And what we what we're finding, uh, as we're car shopping,

is that the, uh, mark down on the used cars is not matching the discount that you would expect on a used car. So for example, uh, if, if, if a vehicle is $90,000, a two-year-old version of that car is $80,000. So we're not finding the deals in the used cars and we are wanting to know if we should go ahead and buy a new one. Yeah. Are you guys financially, how much money do you have to spend on a car with cash? Um, uh,

any, anywhere up to probably a hundred K. Okay. Are you guys free? Do what? Are you debt free? Uh, yes. House paid for, uh, no vehicle payments. What's your net worth? I have no idea. Honestly, I have no idea. Okay. Well, this will be fun. Yeah.

How much is in your retirement accounts? Do you know? Oh, yeah, close to a million. Okay. How much is your house valued at? Oh, when we bought our house years ago, it was $400,000, $425,000. Maybe it's that was pre-COVID. Yeah. So maybe double, maybe 800.

2011. Okay. Yep. So our kind of rule of thumb, JR, is always that we want you to have a million dollar net worth before you go and buy a brand new car because usually brand new cars, well not usually, always, they will go down in value. And so you're looking at more higher end cars so you may not see that drastic difference. And especially if you're looking at a dealership

versus an individual, like some of those numbers can be different. But if you guys have the cash, like you guys have a hundred grand to spend on a car, you're saying? Sure. Yes. Yes.

Okay. How much do you guys make a year? Just south of 300,000. Okay. Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah. And if you have the cash, then yeah, all the parameters are there. So yeah, JR, I mean, yeah, and if you have the cash, then yeah, all the parameters are there.

So yeah, JR, I mean, I would go ahead and if you guys have, yeah, you can financially totally go and buy a brand new car. Like you are in that position to do that. So if that's what you guys wanna do, do it. And then unless you're like, oh, I don't feel good about it, I'd rather spend 80,000 and this is the kind of car I actually want.

And then that causes it to be a two-year-old model we'll just do that but you guys are in a position yeah to get to get what you want in that price range well done looking at I'm just curious oh we've got we've got four children and they're all freakishly tall. So Suburbans, Yukon XL, stuff like that. Large SUVs. Yeah. Which is that's what it'll run is about that, which is just wild. That cars are not that expensive, but that's it though. Yeah. So no, JR, you guys are in a perfect position. Yep. Go. If you guys want to go buy a brand new one, yep,

you're in a place to do that because you have the cash, you have the net worth and all is good. It's kind of our, from an emotional standpoint, if you can imagine just burning a hundred grand in front of you, like, yes, that's going to hurt. You wouldn't want to just light that on fire. Like no one would want to see that. But does it change your long-term life? Yeah, no, it doesn't. Like in your world financially speaking, you can you could literally go burn $100,000. Yeah. And it doesn't shift. I mean, that is that is what I mean, maybe not 100,000. But when you buy that brand new car and drive it off a lot, like the moment you drive it off the lot, you lose at least

10%. So at least he's burning 10,000 immediately. Immediately. That's true. Immediately. And then in another 12 months, another 20%. And then you'll be burning another 20% in a couple of months. So that's the way it works. That's why we say what we say because JR can burn that money and he won't feel it.

Yep. Yeah. And it's, yeah, the SUV market. Yeah, it's crazy. That's a tough one, but it's great, JR. Well done, well done. Let's go to Jean in Denver. Hi Jean, welcome to the show.

Hi, I'm so glad you took my call. My question is, I'm a landlord and my renter, the tenant, they called me Friday night and they told me that they had a repair done on the air conditioner and here's the invoice. And I said, did you pay for it? And she said, yes. And I said, well, why didn't you call me? She said, well, I just took care of it.

Now this renter has been a long time renter. She's been there six years already and she'll be there in another 10 years. They're just good quality tenants. They keep the house immaculate. They have the yard immaculate, everything, so I don't want to lose them. But she's expected me to pay this thousand dollar bill that was not authorized. In my lease, it does say that any unauthorized repairs are the responsibility of the penance unless it's authorized by me. There are no exceptions. My question is, I

don't know how to handle this. If I should pay all of it, a portion of it. Has she done this before? No, I don't want to lose them. Pardon me. Has she done this before? She's always called me. Okay. Yeah, she's always called me in the past. Was she in a pinch or something? Did she give you a reason why she didn't call you since the pattern before was different? Yeah, it was like the AC out and it was 90 degrees, like something like that. No, no, it's not even really hot. But she had it. Okay. She's never been there in the past.

Sure, how much would it have been, if she had called you, do you have any idea of what it would have been? Like, would you have done something different or called a different company? Would there have been a different route you would have taken as a landlord? I would have called my own, you know, H, you know, air conditioning man company.

She used somebody else. Okay, do you have the money to cover it, Jean? I'm just curious where you are financially. Yes, I do. You do, okay. You know, since she's been with you for six years and will continue and it's $1,000, you have the money to do it.

It had to be fixed anyways. Maybe you could have gotten it $200 cheaper or something, but you would have had to fix it as a landlord anyways. I probably would just pay it, but I would tell her going forward, communicate it, that if she makes any other repairs to the home, it will be on her dime unless it goes through you. Like I would re-communicate that to her.

And the reason I'm probably being a little lenient is you said she's been great and she's never done this before. be on her dime unless it goes through you. Like I would re-communicate that to her. And the reason I'm probably being a little lenient is you said she's been great and she's never done this before. You know what I mean? So she could have just had been in a pinch. I mean, who knows why? And it wasn't like she went and I don't know,

bought some crazy new thing for the house. That was, you know what I mean? It was a pretty standard maintenance item. So yeah, so I would probably pay it, Jean, but I would reiterate with her, hey, going forward, any maintenance that is done, and you can even share the contract if you want, and just say, I just wanna be clear about this

going forward, because you guys have been great. I appreciate how well you take care of the property. But going forward, it's gonna be that, or I'll have to just charge you personally, because I wanna be able to run the numbers and put out the companies I want to make sure it's the service on the home that I want. So a thousand bucks, I'd probably just pay it. Yeah, I would too.

Our scripture of the day comes from 1 Corinthians 16, 13 through 14. Be on guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong, do everything in love. To succeed in life, you need three things. A wishbone, a backbone, and a funny bone. I love that quote. Macintyre. There you go. That's a good one. It's a good one, isn't it? This is one of my favorites. Have a wish, have a backbone, and a good one. It's a good one, isn't it? This is one of my favorites. Have a wish, have a backbone and a funny bone.

It's good, you need that. A whole life. Keep us well-rounded, Jade. All right, let's go to Jim in Indianapolis. Hi Jim, welcome to the show. Hello, thank you very much. Absolutely, how can we help today? Well, I'm just, I'm 60 years old and looking at

retiring at 62 and just wondering how it's that's a smart move or if it's smart to walk away from a job where I'm making pretty good money. All right. Well, what are your numbers? What do you have in retirement? Well between me and my wife both we have about nine hundred and forty thousand. Okay right now Mm-hmm, and got about two hundred thousand equity in her house I owe about fifty on my house and it's worth close to three hundred. Okay The only other debt we have is my wife's car. We bought her a new car about three months ago. She had totaled her other one. So instead of paying cash for it, I ended up getting it on a 0.09% interest rate for

three years. So that's the only debt we have. Okay. How much is that? It's about $520,000. It's $19,000. $19,000. Okay.

Okay. Any other debt? No. No, it's about five twenty. Well, nineteen thousand. Nineteen thousand. Okay. Okay. Any other debt? No, that would be all we have. The fifty on the house and the nineteen on the car. Okay, perfect.

And then what do you guys have? Do you have any money set aside that's non-retirement? Yeah, we have about seventy,000 set aside for retirement. Or that's non-retirement? I mean, set, yeah, I'm sorry. Like an emergency fund? Yes, and tracking, and I got 40,000 in money markets that's getting about 5% right now, and then the rest is just in savings.

Is the 40,000 included in the 70 that you mentioned? Yes. Yes. Okay, perfect, okay, so you got 70 there. And how much are you making a year? Between me and my wife, both. We're right over 200, probably 210, 220. Nice. Depends on our bonuses and stuff.

And how long will she be working? Well, that's, she likes her job a little bit better than I do, but I would like to get her out before 65 also. Okay how much does she make? She's around 84, 85 or no she's more than that now. She's about 92 now I guess. Okay and are you guys actively doing the 15% into retirement? We're actually both putting in 25% right now. Interesting. Okay, putting in more. Okay. And can you just tell me how much that is monthly right quick? I don't know exactly. It's what it's about

50,000 a year, I believe. Okay. 50,000 a year. Okay. Yeah. Jim, what are your expenses each month? What does it take to run the house? When I went on Fidelity and did the little calculations that they have and it had me around $4,200 a month and our income would be around $7,200 a month when I put in those numbers. Okay, and how much is your mortgage payment? It is 13, but I will have it paid off by the time I retire or I won't retire and that's by 62 age 62 Yes, my plan on having it Is your plan to keep is your plan to stay at 25% each or 25% total until you pay off the mortgage or is your plan to drop it

down to 15% to do that faster? I believe we can still contribute 25% and get that paid off by the time I retire. So my interest on my house is 3.9 so we've got a fairly low interest rate on it. But if you're thinking if the house is what's I'm not going to retire until the house is paid off, if you drop your investing to 15%, that does free up more money to get that done faster. I don't know what the calculation is, but it would free that up faster because I'm just looking at this based off of

what you said. Initially, you were wondering if you had enough money to retire, which I think, you know, if you work till 62, great, you'll still be doing 15%. But if you really want to pay the house off fast, then yeah, I think the remedy to getting that done faster is to drop that down. And that really is the baby steps. We would say don't go beyond 50, 15% until after the house is paid off. And I think that you, now is the time to implement that so that you can go fast. Okay, I never thought of that.

That's a good suggestion. Yep, and I mean, Jem and to speed all of this up, if you wanted, you have that $70,000. And we would say to pay off debt ASAP. So I would take some of that. That would take you down to $50,000, okay, if you paid off the car is what I'm thinking. The $19,000, so your wife's car is paid off. You guys have $50,000 sitting in the bank. And for a fully funded emergency

fund for you and your wife, do you guys have anybody at home that you're supporting or is it just you and her? We actually are raising our grandson who has Down syndrome. Oh, okay. He's 22. Okay. Yes, we are raising him. Okay.

Now that's wonderful. So I would probably put you guys at a fully funded emergency fund for that, which would be six months of expenses. So that would be around 24,000. Yeah. And so that would leave you an extra 25,000 sitting in that account. So Jim, I almost would be around 24,000. And so that would leave you an extra 25,000 sitting in that account.

So Jim, I almost would be to throw a bunch, maybe 20, 25 at the house and cut your mortgage in half. And then you only have 25,000 left on the mortgage. And then you guys can pay that off real quick, then bump up your savings and maybe you work one more year just to get some savings built back up.

And then you guys, then you have no payments at all. And yeah, and you'll be able to, to retire quickly. Okay. That's good advice. I appreciate that. I know we are looking at probably another 20,000 to put a roof on the house. So that's, I've kind of got one of those money markets. Okay. Well, insurance help with that at all?

No, no. No, okay. Okay, well then again, that's a big expense. So yeah, calculate that in so that may slow you guys down a bit. But I think the, do you guys have a financial advisor that you sit down with? I do.

Okay. I do, yes. Yeah, so, you know, I would maybe meet with them as well, just to look at this, you know, 940,000 that's in your retirements and just to see, okay, every year, you know, what we can live off of without touching the principal if we can. I mean, like, I mean, cause even if you made 10% on that, that's 90 grand, which is half of what you're used

to bringing in, right? With both of you working at, you know, 200. So you just, yeah, just, I mean, just looking at those numbers, it's kind of that math game and your comfortability. And with the social security that we would both receive once we both retired, then we would be very close to what we're bringing in now.

But you also wouldn't have a mortgage payment, you wouldn't have a car payment, your cost of living will also be less than you're used to. Which is great too, yep. Well yeah, it sounds like you guys are right on track, Jim, and I think yeah, I think the goal of having everything paid off is a great one, entering in retirement,

because you guys have plenty in this account too, which is amazing. Well done, Jim. Good job, good job. I know, you guys have worked hard to get to this place. You guys are in your early 60s and so admirable that you're raising your grandson and I mean, all of it. The life you guys have lived, Jim, is wonderful

and I think it's gonna pay off in spades for you guys. So I would keep at it, but I do think, yeah, I think you'll probably have enough. I think it's very realistic to be able to, for you to step back in two years. Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, because just doing what you're doing now, I just ran a calculation for you.

I mean, you go from 940 to 1.25 million if you continue just as you are now, which, hey, more money, more money. In two years, is that what you mean? Yeah. Okay, so yeah, so it builds pretty quick, which is awesome. And as I have the, is that what you mean? Okay, so yeah, so it builds pretty quick, which is awesome. And as I have Ken Coleman in me a little bit too, Jim, just to say out loud, to keep finding something

that you're great at, right? I mean the- Cause you're young. Yes, there's so many studies from a mental, physical capacity that if you just stop everything and kind of go dormant, like, you know, it really does affect you and the quality of your retirement. So be finding something to do to get you up and go in and move in and just don't

watch, sit there and watch the news all day. You know, definitely don't do that. At least watch Netflix. That's right. Well, Joe, thank you so much for the call. Jay, thanks for a great hour. Thanks to all you guys in the booth. Thanks to our wonderful audience here in Nashville. And appreciate you, America. Remember to take control of your money and create a life you love.