The Ramsey Show - App - Your #1 Wealth Building Tool Is Your Income (Hour 1)

Episode Date: February 18, 2022

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is The Ramsey Show. It's where we help you live your best life by being healthy, relational, successful professionally, and peaceful financially. I'm Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, bestselling author, host of the Ken Coleman Show on the Ramsey Network, joined by George Campbell, soon to be a best-selling author. Wow. He's here in the early stages. Are you manifesting this, Ken? I am manifesting it.

I'm here for it. I appreciate that. He's a Ramsey personality and host of a wildly popular podcast, Bar Future. That's the documentary, the fine print. Sorry. I did Bar Future Podcast. But you did the Bar Future Podcast. well, no, that's the documentary, the fine print, sorry. I did Bar Future Podcast. But you did the Bar Future Podcast. The precursor.

So you have two podcasts, and then on top of everything else, you are the host of the Entree Leadership Podcast, one of the great leadership podcasts in the country. So George is keeping himself busy. We are together today. You heard us open. We're going to talk about your personal life because it is, without a doubt, intertwined with your financial life and your professional life. So George and I are here together to take your calls.

Here's how you do it. It's a toll-free number, 888-825-5225, 888-825-5225. Let's go. Sarah is up first in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sarah, how can we help? Hi, I have a question about refinancing student loans. I was curious to know if getting a lower monthly payment or less time or less interest would be the best situation for refinancing student loans. Okay, well, it's an option.

Let's talk through the numbers here. How much student loans do you have and what's the current interest rate? I have $116,000 in a private student loan and the interest rate right now is 4.3. Okay. Have you looked into refinancing to see what your options would be and what the new interest rate would be? Yes. My options would be 2%. Okay. So it would go down to 2%. All right. And would it extend the length of your payments? It would. So right now, I'm looking at 2040 for this current. So it would be 2045. Yikes. Who'd you reach out to?

I reached out to a company called Gradfin, and they just looked through the market for me. Okay. I would reach out. Try reaching out to our friends at Splash Financial because here's what I want you to do. I want you to not have to pay to make this refinance happen and I'd like you to obviously lower the interest rate, but I don't want to extend the repayment period because this is how they do it.

They go, well, we'll give you a lower interest rate, but you're going to pay those student loans for five extra years and the interest is going to accrue. And so I love that give you a lower interest rate, but you're going to pay those student loans for five extra years and the interest is going to accrue. And so I love that it's a lower interest rate. You're cutting that in half, which is going to help as you attack these student loans. You're going to feel the progress of that. But I do think we want to do some more homework here and make sure that we get the best bang for our buck with this refinance situation. But, yes, at this point, I would do it if it cost you nothing and if you can get a shorter repayment term, lower interest rate.

All of those are good things. So reach out to Splash Financial, see what they say, and then pursue it. But remember, refinancing, you're just moving the debt around. So we want to attack the student loan debt, attack the behavior, but refinancing can't help as part of the process. Thanks for the call. George, let's talk just for a moment here because this is a call we get on a regular basis. There's a trap here and you you really specialize in helping people kind of avoid some traps yes because there's an emotional

appeal that she has been somebody shared that with her what's the emotional trap that we got to be careful because as you're you're saying if you're not careful you're going to pay to just move from one pile to another pile exactly Exactly. The emotional trap is you feel like you did something when you do something. Debt consolidation is a great example of this. You take all these debts and you put them in one big pile and you feel like, wow, all right, we made some progress there. When in reality, you just move the pile around and you still have a pile. And I'm not going to say what pile it is, but when it's debt, we know what it is.

And so I want to attack this i want to attack the behavior but i do think there is value uh on certain occasions and we we outline a lot of this we want you to get a lowered interest rate we don't want the repayment period to be extended and we want you to uh with a student loan refinance you can often do it with no charge versus a home refinance there's closing costs you got to look at you know the analysis of when you're going to ro on that. So I don't think they're always bad, but I do think it's not the shortcut that you think it is. Yeah. So what I'm hearing from you, George, because this is you, this describes you fastidious. Ooh, thank you. You know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Diving in there. You got to be careful. Yeah. The devil is in the details. That's the word of the day on the

Ramsey show. Word of the day fastidious. The graphics team will come up with something. See, we give you a little extra. We give you practical advice and a word to impress your friends. Ken, you always impress me. Well, thank you, George. I appreciate that. All right, let's go to Linda next in Akron, Ohio.

Linda, how can we help? Yes, my question is what to do with the $20,000 that I presently have with my husband in a checking account. He has cancer. He's 80 years old. We've been married 35 years. I am 66. I don't know what to do with the money. And we have extra funds at this point every month because we only own our home.

Hey, Linda. Linda, can you adjust your phone a little bit? We want to try to be able to hear you a little bit better. Let's try something. Okay, is that better? Yes, thank you. Okay, keep going. So you've got $20,000 in the bank, and your husband has cancer.

I hate to hear that. I'm so sorry. And I don't know what to do with it because he's not an investor. I used to help people with investing years ago. Didn't do well that way. But anyway, I don't know what to do with money at this point other than to leave it in the checking account. And my son has encouraged me to not do that. But I don't know what to do with it.

And I don't know where to add to it as every month we have extra at this point because we only own the home. So you said you own your home outright? No, we still owe on it. You owe on the home. Okay, so do you have any other debt other than your mortgage? No. Okay. And do you have an emergency fund in place or is that $20,000, that's everything that you have?

No, we do have some emergency funds in place. Do you have three to six months' worth of expenses? I would say three. Okay. I would say three. So we've got three months of expenses, and other than that, you've got $20,000 sitting in a checking account, and you're going, I feel like there's something better we could be doing with this. Yes, because the banks already called and said because of fraud,

they didn't feel we should leave it in there as a just as saving. Okay. Well, what's your retirement look like? How much have you guys have saved for retirement? We have nothing else. No retirement whatsoever? No, it's been exhausted over the years that we've... You've used it in your retirement age,

and with his health and everything, I'm guessing that just got wiped out? Yes, and I can't work either. Well, it sounds like we need to save this money because you don't have much to live off of if something goes wrong. Do you guys have income still? Yes, he has a pension and we both have social security. What does that all add up to? I'm thinking it's around $3,800 a month. Okay.

Maybe a little more than that. Well, I want you to... It's around $53,000 for the year for both of us. $53,000. Okay, so you're able to live. I would recommend putting this in a high-yield savings account for right now and let it grow just a little bit, but connect with a SmartVestor Pro. You've got to start investing. This money can grow.

If you live another 20 years, you could have a whole bunch of money if you invest wisely at this point. But we're rooting for you, Linda. Sorry to hear about your husband. Hang on the line, Linda. What we're going to do is we're going to have Kelly connect you to one of our SmartVestor Pros and one of our financial coaches free for us. Sorry, not the SmartVestor Pro, but a a financial coach and have them coach you up on what you

need to do here. They can help. This is the Ramsey Show. Most people know me as the guy who did stupid with a lot of zeros on the end. I made my first million dollars in my 20s the wrong way and then went bankrupt. That's when I set out to learn God's ways of managing money and developed the Ramsey Baby Steps. By following these steps, I became a millionaire again and this time the right way. After three decades of guiding millions of others

through the plan, the evidence is undeniable. If you follow the Baby Steps, you will become a millionaire and get to live and give like no one else. My new book, Baby Steps Millionaires, is now available for purchase. When you order my new book, you'll learn how ordinary people built extraordinary wealth and how you can do it too. I'll walk you through how to invest, build wealth, and bust through the barriers preventing you from becoming a millionaire. Baby step your way to becoming a millionaire.

Get your copy today at RamseySolutions.com. That's RamseySolutions.com. Welcome back, America. You are joining the conversation here on The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman, joined by my colleague, George Campbell. We're here for you this hour. It's a free phone call, 888-825-5225. Over the last 30 years, Ramsey Solutions has walked with tens of thousands of people and their families to help them overcome financial stress. We found that money stress is just one of all kinds of ways we experience stress.

People struggle with stress, anxiety, and loneliness all at the same time. We all have some sort of crazy in our family. We've all had lies told to us by well-meaning people or by not-so-well-meaning people. And the list of hurts just piles up. Unfortunately, you can't change your past, but you can't change your future. And here's some good news. Our colleague, Dr. John Deloney, has a new book called Own Your Past, Change Your Future, where he's going to walk you through a not-so-complicated approach to relationships, mental health, and wellness

through his personal experiences and his research and education. Dr. Deloney shows all of us how to transform hurt into healing and move from hopelessness to hopefulness. And Dr. Deloney's book is available for pre-order today. It's called Own Your Past, Change Your Future. It's going to show you how to deal with all different types of trauma and how to get connected to a community and so much more. Here's why you need to preorder today. You're going to get free bonus items, including a one month of free one-on-one therapy with better help.

So preorder your copy of Own Your Past, Change Your Future for only $20 at ramseysolutions.com today. All right, let's go to Shade shade is joining us in wisconsin shade how can we help hi um so i am trying to dispute some debt i've called the collections agency and we negotiated a price but i'm wondering how i've i've heard that we can do this, but I was wondering if I should get it, how I would get it in writing before paying, or do I have to pay before they would take it off the credit report?

I would get it in writing first, because what you don't want to happen is you pay it, and they go, well, that's not all of it. And you go, well, wait, you told me over the phone, and there's no records of it. So get it either by snail mail, physical mail, or record it in an email, and then you can pay that debt. What was the settled amount? Like $2,200. And what was the original that you owed? $27. Okay. So they knocked off $ bucks if you pay it in full kind of thing?

Yes. Okay. Well, two tips here. Do not give them access to your checking account. Yep. And don't send them a personal check. So if you do that and they've agreed on it, I mean, make sure you get it in writing first before you pay. What did they say?

Just over the phone they said this? Yes. They also just, I said that i wanted it in writing but they said they don't do that like it it's they just don't do it that i would have to pay first and then they could send it i don't like the sound of this i mean can they not even send you an email verifying this uh you know i didn't ask that uh i can certainly call back and be like hey you know i didn't ask that i can certainly call back and be like hey you know i i've listened to you guys and i've heard you say i talked to my financial advisor and stuff well you tell them hey i'd love to give you money but i'm not going to do it until you send me an

email verifying the amount i'm happy to give you the money here's the thing they want the money and so at some point they're going to budge and go, all right, here it is in writing. Okay. Good work, man. Hold firm on that. When they say things like, oh, we don't do that, you go, well, great. I don't do what you want me to do. Yeah. Make sure you stand up for yourself. Make two of us. Advocate for yourself. Don't let them bully you around. And it sounds like you've done the hard work already just by negotiating it, which is great. Good for you. Good work. Appreciate the call. All right. Up next is eric in columbia south carolina eric

how can we help hey guys how are you we are having a blast what are you doing uh i got a question about um well i'm trying to get a debt i started um listening to you guys and Dave about a month ago, and my grandfather and my father are very big fans of you guys. So I'm trying to follow what they say, then I'll also listen to what you and guys talk on the podcast. So I paid my credit card off, and then I'm trying to get out of a car loan. And I know the used car market is obviously hot right now, but every time I go to a different dealership, the value of the car seems to go backwards instead of forward. So my question is, how do I get out of a car loan that I'm in negative? So you're upside down on this thing. What's the loan amount? $48,000. Whoa. What kind of car is this? It's a truck? It's an Audi Q7. Wow.

What year? 2018. 2018 Audi Q7. How many miles? I think 55,000. And what did they say they'd give you for it at the dealership? So we went to one a little, like, three weeks ago, and it was at $40,000 was the trade-in offer that they gave.

Then we went back yesterday, and now it's down to $38,000. Well, why are we doing trade-in? And my wife went to another one. What about if it wasn't a trade-in? Because I don't have the funds to pay the difference. Okay, but I'm saying what if you didn't do a trade-in? What if you just sold it privately, let's say? How much could you get for it?

Probably $45 or so. Because they're always going to give you less for the trade-in amount. So I'm going to do a lot more research. Have you checked Carvana and Vroom and some of these online companies? No, the only one I've tried that's, I guess, reasonable is CarMax. He doesn't have to, George, because I've done it right here while you two were talking. Okay, I pulled up just a little search. Edmonds is one source.

There's many sources in the Columbia, South Carolina area. And you've got a range here. You said you think you've got 55,000. You're not 100% sure. But we've got one Q7 here that's got 61,000 miles on it, 38,990. You've got another one at uh let's see whoa one at 53 it's got 42 000 miles on it so they're asking 53 4 for this uh so just doing a quick uh quick survey here's another one uh 45 000 miles 44 9 so i know that's a little bit less

miles than what you've got here, but I think George is right. Private market is what I'd be looking at. Yeah. How much money do you have, Eric? Just savings, checking? About $6,000 of everything. Okay. So you've got six grand.

I just paid off $6,000 in credit card debt. Awesome. So you paid off $6,000 and you have $6,000 in the bank? Correct. Awesome. Well, that's a great place to be because you're going to owe the difference if you went and sold it in order to get out of the loan. So the fact that you have some money is great. So what I'm doing, I'm going to get top dollar for that Audi, and then with whatever money you need to pay the difference,

you pay the difference and call it a stupid tax and you move on with your life. And then you obviously need a car. So my hope is that let's say you can, you owe maybe three grand difference to pay off the loan. Well, you still have three grand left. So I'm going to sock away a thousand for the emergency fund and I'm going to get the junkiest car that is the opposite of the car you're driving right now. And you're going to drive that until you can save up enough money to upgrade to a $4,000 car. And you're going to sell that one and do the same thing. And eventually you're going to trade up to where you have a decent car. And then one day you're going to have an amazing car. But right now we've got to focus on getting out of this pile of debt and get you a fully

funded emergency fund and get you investing so that you have some control on the future. Eric, you can do this, can't you? Yes, sir. I mean, how's that going to feel to get that off your shoulders, all that debt? Even though it's not going to be fun, how's it going to feel? It's going to feel like everything's off my shoulders. Come on, man. What's your income, Eric?

$72,000. Oh, there we go. So we can save up some money. And you said that's your only debt left is the car? I just purchased a house, so that's on72,000. Oh! There we go. So we can save up some money. And you said that's your only debt left is the car? I just purchased a house, so that's on there, too. So you got the mortgage. But other than that, your consumer debt. I got a mortgage.

Other than the mortgage, that's it. That's it. Awesome. All right, man. You're going to be in good shape once we get rid of this car, but do your research. I'm checking everywhere. I'm going private sale on Facebook and Craigslist and Autotrader, checking Vroom and Carvana, seeing who's going to pay me the most money.

And now's the time to do it. We are seeing reports of car manufacturers getting angry at dealers. This was a major headline over last weekend because car dealers are selling cars $4,000, $5,000, $6,000, $7,000 above MSRP. And that's one negative of this kind of bloated, kind of inflation-driven market on the auto industry. But we're also seeing

high value for used cars. Now's the time to do this. If you're upside down, now's the time to move on this. You're following the Ramsey plan. It's a great time to get out of your car. It really is.

Hey, thank you so much for the call, Eric. All right, don't go anywhere. You got a question about your income, your bigger shovel? Hey, I'm here for you today, and George is going to answer your money questions. Appreciate you being with us. Don't move. Coming up, more of The Ramsey Show. We'll see you next time. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman, joined by my colleague, George Campbell.

We are here for you this hour, 888-825-5225. And joining us in the lobby of Ramsey Solutions is Kimberly. Kimberly, you're on the debt-free stage. Hi. How are you? Great, thanks. So I guess you're here to do a debt-free screen? I am.

All right. Where are you coming in from? We're about an hour north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Okay. All right. Give us the details. How much did you pay off? $103,230.67. Oh, Pennsylvania. Okay. All right. Give us the details. How much did you pay off? $103,230.67. Oh, wow. That is awesome. How long did that take?

34 months. 34 months. Okay. And what was your range of income? Started at 65 and ended at 73. Okay, great. And what do you do for a living? I'm a project manager. Oh, nice. What industry? I was in the automotive aftermarket for almost seven years, and I just transitioned over to And what do you do for a living? I'm a project manager. Oh, nice. What industry? I was in the automotive aftermarket for almost seven years, and I just transitioned over to energy. I work for a company that makes batteries. Oh, great. Okay.

Well, fantastic. Okay. So give us a rundown. What was the $103,000 worth of debt? I had about $15,600 in a car, $1,200 on a cell phone, $6,600 on a credit card, $1,700 to my school, $2,300 on a personal loan, $50,400 in student loans, and $25,000 in my mortgage. Yeah, so all pretty normal. Wait a second. Wait a second, George. She just dropped mortgage. The M word. You paid off your house? I did. Yay! There she is. So all the debt was normal, but now you're

super weird because you don't have a house payment. I'm super weird. Oh my goodness. Yes. That is amazing. Yes. It's hard to believe in myself. You had this whole mess and you went, you know what? On top of that, we're going to get rid of the mortgage too while we're at it. Yep.

Yeah. Lump it all in, baby. You were seriously intense. Yeah. So technically, I guess this is really my second debt-free scream because I paid off all my consumer debt around July of 2020. And then, I'm sorry, was it 2020? I think it was 2020.

I'm confused with all the pandemic. Yeah, sure. And then I bought my house about a month and a half afterwards. Okay. Awesome. So yeah, you just are all in going for it. That is so amazing. What's the house worth? It's actually, it's a mobile home. So probably what I paid for it, I put a little renovations into it, but it's really expensive where I live. So I had moved back home with my parents for about 10 months. Then the pandemic hit and it was just, it was nice living with them, but it was too crowded. And I was looking at going and renting an apartment again. And, you know, I'd be lucky

if I could find something for $1,500, $1,700 for a two bedroom apartment. So an opportunity came up for me to buy a mobile home and I, you know, paid less than $25,000 for it. And now you don't owe a nickel on it. Now I don't owe a nickel on it. That's so great. All right, now tell us, what happened? 34 months ago when you, I mean, you just said, all right, I'm done with debt. Yeah, so I was very normal.

I thought I had everything under control. I was, you know, making ends meet and paying all my bills. And my girlfriend suggested at church that we go to Financial Peace. And I was like, ah, I don't want to pay for that. I'm like, it's $100. Like, you know, go out to eat or whatever. And she's like, just do it. So I did. And I went and it was just eye opening for me. I really didn't think that it was possible. I figured I was going to have my student loans until I was dead. And I really just hunkered down and got to it. And, you know, everybody made fun of me. They still do sometimes.

You know, they think it's crazy I don't have credit cards. Really? Give me an insult if you can handle re-saying it. What would they say to you? I don't know if it was necessarily an insult, but I know a friend of mine wanted me to go out for her birthday. And another friend, a different friend, she's also on her debt-free journey.

And they wanted to go to this really expensive, fancy restaurant. And my other friend who was on my debt-free journey with us, we said, okay, we'll go. But her and I ate frozen pizzas at home. And then went to the birthday party dinner. And we ordered a really small appetizer and shared it. And then had one or two drinks. And we were like, all right, we're out. Yeah. So, you know, just saying no is really hard, especially with my kids. You know, they're like all right we're out yeah so um you know just saying no

was really hard especially with my kids you know they're like dave ramsey budget you know so um so yeah so it was it was really tough but um three years it was worth the sacrifice and um i know i think you guys have some pictures um like we went to disney in october and i paid for that 100 in cash wow so how about that yeah there it cash. Look at that. Oh, how about that? Yeah, there it is. Isn't that the best? Mm-hmm. A debt-free picture in front of the castle.

Yeah. Look at that happy mama right there. No debt came home with you, just memories. No debt. That's the way to do it. That's awesome. And then when we were in financial peace, I remember we had the plasectomy session and I had gotten divorced in 2015 and so I was a single mom and I was really

concerned about, you know, what am I going to do? So pretty much anyone that gave me a credit card, I was taking it because I was just afraid of the unknown. So, you know, the bank was like, hey, 10,000 credit card or, you know, here's another one for eight. At one point, I think I had like $90,000 in open credit. Not that it was used. It wasn't, you know, I didn't rack them up, but I just, that was my security net and my safety. And so when we had the plastic to me, I cut up 14 credit cards, which I had the most in my class. I thought that was like normal. Apparently I was actually a little worse. How many more do you have lady? This is going to take all night. Yeah. So actually I brought a picture of that as well. So, um, they sit on my, yeah, they sit on my desk at home. Um, it's just a reminder to never use them

again. Wow. That's powerful. Yeah. What was the hardest one to cut up? Was there one that was like sentimental to you? There usually is one that you're like, I didn't really have one that was sentimental. Um, it was just more of like, as soon as they, all the ones that already has zero balances, those are super easy for me to cut off. It was just the getting the, you know, I just had the stack and every time I'd pay one off, I'd, you know, cut that one up, add it to the pile. So the one that's sitting on top, that's, that's the last one that was kind of my main one that I used. It was just a pretty generic one, but you know, cash back points. So that's right. I's right. I need that $25 applied to the bill.

So what do you say to people that are watching, listening today, and they're going, okay, I get it, but I don't know if I can do it. What's the key to crossing this finish line? Well, everybody always says the budget. So, I mean, obviously that's number one. But being able to sacrifice and saying no is probably the hardest one. And if you can do that and realize that it's short term um you know really anything is possible i was actually telling um cat here that um i was on

the way here last night and there was a lady in the seat behind me on the airplane and she said oh she's just complaining oh i don't know how i'm gonna pay off my student loans i don't know how i'm gonna pay for this i want to buy a house all this stuff and i i turned around i said i'm sorry i don't mean to eavesdrop but have you heard heard of Dave Ramsey? So, you know, I just listening to everybody's debt-free screams was just really inspiring to me. And I listen to you guys every day. So I have a nice long commute to work. So I listen in the car and I listed it on one and a half speed. So you guys seem like you're talking really slow right now, but. Okay. We can speed it up. We'll talk really fast. So who are the guys you got with you? You got your boys with you today? I do. Who's over there? Yep. So I have my two sons.

So this is my oldest son, Alexander. He's 12. And this little guy here is Dexter, and he's 10. Oh, my goodness. Have they been practicing their scream? They don't want to scream. Oh, I get it. They're very cool.

Look at them. They're too cool. I was going to say, they're way cooler than me. They're very cool. I get that. Can you imagine being that cool at their age, Ken? No, I was never that cool. They're camera shy. Yeah, I get it. They're too cool. I was going to say, they're way cooler than me. They're very cool. I get that. Can you imagine being that cool at their age, Ken? No, I was never that cool. They're camera shy. Yeah, I get it. And so they've been following this journey with you, mom. And they get it. They get how big of a deal this is. Yes, they

will ask sometimes when we're at the store, is it in the budget? Can we get that? Good. That's the right mentality. They're going to be okay. And you've changed your family tree. And I'm sure you've inspired a lot of other single moms out there who feel this weight of, I've got to do all this on my own and all this money stuff, and I've got all this debt. How am I going to get through the next week, the next month? And you are living proof that it can be done. Yes. It can be done.

Just sacrifice, the big word. You are a hero. To do this as a single mom, it's hard enough to do it with support. To do it that way, you are such a hero to us, to our audience, to those two handsome young men there. All right, we've got two things we want to give you because you have earned these gifts. One is a copy of Dave's Total Money Makeover for you to give to somebody else, like that lady maybe on the plane. Maybe you'll come in contact with a lady on the plane going back. And then, of course, you're on your way to being a Baby Steps millionaire.

So Dave's latest book, number one bestseller, Baby Steps Millionaires. We're going to give that to you as well. So, all right, you guys ready to do this? They're sort of kind of ready. They're cool, but Mama is awesome. Here we go. Kimberly paid off $103,000 in 34 months, making $65,000 to $73,000. Let's hear your debt-free scream.

Three, two, one. I'm debt-free. There it is. The boys are happy. They just don't want to show it. And I get it. I totally get it. They were completely unfazed.

I love it. Well, they don't even know it, or maybe they do, but the legacy has changed forever that that mom left for them house and everything boom unbelievable she is a hero

that is so great hey she did it you can do it as well don't move more of the Ramsey show coming right up Thank you. Welcome back, America. You are joining the conversation here on The Ramsey Show,

where we help you win relationally, professionally, financially. I'm Ken Coleman, joined by my co-host and colleague, George Camel. And folks, George, I'm very excited to share this. There was a help-wanted sign, if you will, that went viral several days ago. Okay. And I shared this on the Ken Coleman Show, and there's so much goodness in this. And so we wanted to share it here today. Panda Express.

Have you ever been to Panda Express? Oh, yeah. You like it? Yeah. Yeah. I can't eat much there nowadays that I'm so we wanted to share it here today. Panda Express. Have you ever been to Panda Express? Oh, yeah. You like it? Yeah. Yeah. I can't eat much there nowadays that I'm gluten-free, but it was delicious back when I could. Great fast food. Right, right, right.

Asian food. Yeah, it's good food. Okay. So Panda Express, for our viewing audience, we're going to throw this sign up on the screen here for our listening audience. I'm going to read to you off of the sign. Do we have that, guys? If we don't have it, okay.

We'll get it up in a second. Okay, so basically, this is a particular sign. I'm assuming this is across the country, but the place this happened was at a Panda Express in Utah. Okay? And so in the store, they had a sign, and the sign was titled, Inspiring Better Lives. And the job ad called for general managers, assistant managers, service and kitchen team members. For the general manager role, the sign listed that the total potential annual compensation or earnings at this restaurant would be $69,000 a year plus a bonus. All right. And then the other post advertised a going rate between $15 to $20 an hour for the other positions.

For the assistant manager salary role, it also included bonuses. And then the ad included, we will offer other benefits, including medical, dental insurance, paid sick leave, paid vacation, and George, a 401k company match. Wow. Now, that is a really, really nice bundle. Now, the thing went viral because a local college professor, I'm not going to use his name because this dude got lit up. He got lit up on social media because this is what he tweeted.

He tweeted a picture of the sign that we were just talking about, George. And he said, my salary as an associate professor of mathematics at Westminster College, three blocks away from this sign, is $61,500. Okay? And so people just started coming after him. So then he does a follow-up message, which, George, is never a good idea. No. You don't want to reply to that.

Once the hounds start attacking on social media, it's probably best to just go quiet. He follows up and says, I promise that this tweet is not elitist. But anyway, I'm muting because my mentions are now unusable. Go hug a local educator. Then he goes on to say, the point of the tweet is that professors make way less than you think they do, that's all. Well,

he just got, there's the sign, by the way. Oh, there's the guy. I'm not musing his name, but he got lit up, George. And largely, he had a little bit of support, but largely people were like, hey, dude, what's your problem? You're the one that chose to be a professor. This is

Panda Express. Now, a couple things. I don't think the professor understands the free market, the economy. So Panda Express and their executives, they get to decide, and they will decide based on profits, what they believe they can pay to bring in leadership. But here's one thing I want to say. I want to get you to weigh in. But here's one thing I wanted to say. What I applaud Panda Express for is that they showed a ladder for people. They didn't just post a job. They said inspiring better lives. Now, let me tell you something, people.

You want to be working for a place that is thinking that they're not just giving you a paycheck, but they're going to help you in your life. Medical insurance, dental insurance, paid sick leave and vacation time, 401k. That, you know, to go work at Panda Express, maybe some people look down at that, but the reality is you can lead as a general manager, as a system manager, do very well there. Yeah, there are so many layers in this tiramisu, Ken. There's a lot going on here because on one hand, this guy is angry at higher education. That's really what it is. He's saying, I'm a professor. He has a PhD. He's thinking, well, I should be making a lot more

than a manager at a fast food joint. But then that points to a different issue, the way in which we see work and how we see different industries. We go, well, the fast food business, that business, that's beneath me. See, that's the issue. And so that's another layer to this too, is he's going, well, I'm more important than a guy who's working in the fast food. And so what I want is for people to stop poo-pooing any work because all work has honor and it has dignity and it brings value to people. And so I think that's a huge reason why we're not seeing more people go into trades, because there's a stigma around a lot of this stuff. If you don't go to college,

you don't get a PhD, you're not going to have a great life. And here we are, a guy who can be manager at Panda Express with no degree is making more than a guy with a PhD down the road. All the education. Yeah. So there's so many pieces to this. It's hard to just pinpoint one thing that's wrong with this picture. Yeah. Well, I love the story because I think it highlights the fact that there is, as you said, there is this status that is attached to certain jobs. And the reality is that you can go in the trades and make a whole lot more than that professor and eventually start your own company in that trade and then hire other people.

And you're an entrepreneur. You're a business owner. And I think we've got to get to the point where parents, we're starting to see this play out on social media. And you've got to go, you know what? If someone loves leading people, they've always loved leading and coaching, you can go into Panda Express and coach a whole team and do very, very well and may work yourself up the ladder. You know, you and I both know of Cat Cole, an executive who started out as a waitress

and became an executive of a conglomerate of restaurants. It is possible still in America to climb the ladder. Absolutely. And you do this work every day, helping people understand the value and the meaning that they have in their work and that you can make money doing it regardless of what it is. But a lot of people, they either go to a certain job because of the money and then they're miserable and they're calling your show or they find something they love but then they don't know how to make money doing it

and we can help them navigate that too. But what I'm sick of seeing is all these people going, well, if you're not in this industry, I'm above that because I have this fancy degree. And so there's a lot of angst going on here in the professional space across all generations. Everyone's upset about something. But what you're trying to do is go, hey, let's clear all this. If you're doing something that you love to do, it's respectable. The marketplace values this and they give you money to do it. There's such honor in that that I think we need to get back to as a society. My garbage man and the waste disposal people, they're very much valued

in my life. And the mechanics and the plumbers and all the people in my community who do such good work every single day, they're not beneath me. I'm not above them just because of the field I'm in or the degrees that I have or don't have. And so I think we need to get back to that where we can all just respect each other and the fact that we show up every day and do work that matters. And it's really true that if you love leading people, and let's say you got laid off during the pandemic, and you've got a bunch of management experience, but you're having a hard time breaking in,

Panda Express would hire you that fast. But are you willing to swallow whatever pride may be associated with it and go, wait a second, I can come in as a general manager, start just below $70,000, and the reality is you have a chance to move up. And listen, for those of you that are engaged in this show because of the financial stress in your life, again, Dave has said for years and years and years, your number one wealth building tool is your income. And right now is one

of the hottest job markets we've ever had. I'm here to help you over the next couple of hours. We'll help you today, right now. But one thing I want to offer to people, George, a lot of people need permission to leave. Permission to, should I quit my job? They're looking, they kind of feel like they should. And they're feeling like, could I go backwards financially? The answer is no, not if you land a better paying job. The baby steps don't stop for one second.

So I want to bring up a free resource we have at KenColeman.com, Ramsey Solutions, the big website, KenColeman.com. Search, should I quit my job quiz. It's free. It takes about three minutes. Should I quit my job quiz. If you're looking for that nudge to go, should I do it, this is a short little quiz, three minutes, 20 questions. It's going to give you a report on where you land. And then we've got a free webinar based on your result that'll help you make this decision with confidence. And it can help dispel those fears and the unknowns of,

well, what if I do and what happens? And people just need that clarity to step into that next thing. Remember, we don't want you to quit and interrupt your income. We only want you to quit to a better gig that has the money and the meaning you're looking for to help you get through those baby steps faster. The more income I bring in, the quicker I get that budget under control. That influx of income allows me to move faster through the baby steps. So check it out. Should I quit my job quiz? Ken Coleman.com or you can go to RamseySolutions.com and just type in, should I quit my job quiz? Hey, George. Good stuff. Are you hungry yet?

Are you hungry yet? I'm getting hungry now. Are you hungry? After all that Panda Express talk. There it is. Thanks for joining me. Hey, I want to thank our team in the booth back there. They do an incredible job.

Appreciate you all so very much. I want to thank you, our audience, for joining us. It is all about you. It is your show. It is The Ramsey Show. Have a friend or family member that needs a daily dose of Ramsey advice in their life? Let them know about the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast. It's a quick hit of advice about life and money in under 10 minutes. Check out the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.