The Ramsey Show - App - Your Bank Balance Is a Reflection of Your Habits

Episode Date: May 6, 2025

This is the Ramsey Show where America hangs out to have a conversation about their money, their profession, and their relationships. The phone number to jump in today is triple eight eight two five five two two five triple eight eight two five five two two five alongside the incomparable, the fabulous, the wonderful Jade Warshaw. I'm Ken Coleman and we're here for you. Jade's gonna help you today on how to save that money, budget that money and I'm gonna help you on how to make more of the money and we weigh in. We always have a good time. You never know what we're gonna agree on or disagree on. It's quite exciting. I love it. It's a bit of potpourri I like to say.

Okay. You never know. Just a wonderful little bowl. A mélange. Yeah that's right. We're gonna start it off with George in Riverside, California today. George, how can we help you today? Hello, so I've been talking to my wife about whether we should pay off our vehicle or just save our money in the bank. We have about $32,000 in our savings account and then we have a 30, we still owe about 35,000 into our CRV. We bought the vehicle because we wanted a bigger car because of our growing family. The car that we had previously was just too small. That's where I'm currently at.

I don't know whether I should just pay it off in full or should I just keep on making my payment each and every month? Is that your only debt? That's my Aside from my mortgage. Okay Um, yeah, you know, let me see if I can frame this, uh in a different way I mean, we're always going to tell you to pay off the debt, right? That's that's kind of what we're known for around here Um, maybe the why behind the what

will kind of help you get your head around it. Is that what it is? Like, why would I do this? Yes. So for me, whenever I'm looking at debt, I am viewing debt synonymously with risk, right? There's always this risk, as long as I have payments, as long as I have debt, there's always a risk

hanging over my head and hanging over my shoulders. So in this case, it's $35,000 that you're sitting on. And if something were to happen tomorrow, let's say tomorrow, the worst happened, you lost your job or you got laid off or you fell off the curb, broke your leg and you couldn't go to work, right? Suddenly you would feel the weight and the risk of this CRV. Is that correct? Correct. Yeah. Because what's the payment every single month? suddenly you would feel the weight and the risk of the CRV. Is that correct?

Correct. Yeah, cause what's the payment every single month? It's $600. $600. And not only would you feel the risk and the weight of that $600, but then your brain would start doing real math and you'd go, hang on a second. I don't actually have $32,000 saved.

I'm actually in the whole $3,000, right? Correct. So that's kind of, it's easy on this side when everything is good and, you know, coming up roses to think of it and not think of the debt. But when you play it out on both sides, which is wise thinking, then you suddenly realize, oh man, like this is actually more of an imposition

than I thought it was. So for that reason, I would reach over and I would pay this debt off. I'd keep a thousand dollars to the side, like we always do, just so you've got that starter emergency fund. I'd pay off the rest of it, the remaining 31,000 onto the CRV

and then cashflow and pay off the rest. And then without that $600 payment, how quickly could he save up that three to six months nest egg again? Again, very quickly. And what the difference is is now, you're on the other side of the debt. And I think it's a nerve wracking thing, Jade,

when we hear from people that say, I've got all this money in savings and do I empty it? And again, that's the wrong mindset. It's not that I'm emptying my savings, it's that I'm paying off a car that I've been in massive debt for. And now all of a sudden you can build up and you'd be surprised how you can make your way through

what we call the emergencies of life. You can maneuver your way through until you build up that emergency fund. So I agree with Jade. You're asking what would we do? What should you do? And yeah, I think you knock the car payment out and just think about how life changes when you don't have that car payment. Not to mention the interest. You know, you're saving on the interest rate, you know,

by paying it off early. That's another good thing for the mindset there. Because I'm going to tell you something, the psychology is real, George, when you think about emptying the savings account, that's real. Yeah. You know, to this day, I've said this before, Jade, I've got a large emergency fund. I try to never use it. Oh, because you feel it, like you feel it,

even if you have to consider it. Yes. And it's there for that reason. Yes, and we, yeah, we know that, George. And my first reaction is, all right, Stacey, this happened, so let's figure out what we're moving around. Exactly, exactly. And I think that can serve as a big motivator here

once you've paid off the debt to hurry up and stack it back up. Because the truth is it does give us peace to have money in savings, but let's make sure it really is our money that's in savings, and it's not until the debt is gone. That's right, great, great point there. Let's go to George.

From one George to another George. Portland, Maine is where he is. George, how can we help? How you doing? I'm 64 years old. I'm going to be retiring at 67 and I have 300,000 in a 401k and I'm putting 15% a week into that. A week? I have about a hundred and twelve, yes. Okay. I have about a hundred and twenty thousand in the bank. My question is I have no debt. I'm debt free.

Okay. Other than my mortgage. I own two homes. One of them is paid off. My question is I've stayed out of the market. I own two homes, one of them is paid off. My question is, I've stayed out of the market. I've been adverse to the risk and I've completely missed this whole time with the markets going up and setting records, second records.

But now I'm to the point where even in my 401k, I'm not really making any money on the money. Why? And you know, I was, well, it's in some kind of staple fund through my work. Like bonds? It's really not making- Like bond funds? I guess, yes.

Oh, okay. I think so. But it's not really making any money. I'm not losing any money, but I'm not making any money. Oh gosh, that's unfortunate. Yes, it is. When did you realize that? Because I was wondering about that, because you said, oh, I've I've missed out on this,

you know, this historic time or whatever. I'm like, how did you miss out? You've got three hundred thousand sitting in a 401k. So when did you realize that the return on it is poor? Well. I guess I pulled it. I pulled it out of the market. I don't know, five or six years ago. Oh, you pulled it out.

I never got I pulled. Yeah, ago oh you pulled it out never got I pulled yeah I pulled the money out because I got nervous uh-huh and I never put it back in so where is it now it's it's in my employers 401k program I understand but it's got to be invested in something it doesn't just sit there oh it's in it's in a stable value fund, but it's not earning. You got you got you, okay? Okay, okay. Okay. All right. So what let me let's let's run this back. So we've got the four the three hundred thousand sitting there It's not the return is terrible. You've got 120 K sitting in savings. That's liquid right and then you've got these two houses. So I Have something that I want to say about the 401k, but what's your question today?

What what you know knowing that I'm adverse to the risk personally, what should I put this money into in the 401k and my savings? What can I put it into that's going to earn me some money? Doesn't have to be a lot, but some money. Well, we've got about 40 seconds here, so drop that advice. There's no reason to be risk averse. What we talk about here, which is four types of mutual funds, growth and income, aggressive growth and international, that's about your most middle, I mean, that is about the most conservative thing

that I could tell you to put your money in. You're equally spread, your risk is spread out, and that's the way I invest my money, that's the way Ken invests his money, it's the way Dave Ramsey invests his money. So we're not telling you to put your money in. You're equally spread, your risk is spread out, and that's the way I invest my money, that's the way Ken invests his money, it's the way Dave Ramsey invests his money. So we're not telling you to do anything that we wouldn't do. I would do that, I would get with a SmartVestor Pro,

we'll put the information there in the show notes, and I would make that move today. You have missed out my friend on a lot of growth, and I hate that for you, but today is a new day to get started and get into it. of growth and I hate that for you but today is a new day to get started and get into it. All right let's go to James right here in our neck of the woods Nashville area. James how can we help today? Hi how you doing? Good. I was wanting to ask a question. About two years ago my wife and I decided we had had enough of the debt and what you

call, I guess, the chase of trying to keep up with credit and all that. So we decided to start paying everything off. We have our house, of course, that's still, we're still paying on that, but we had a car on a loan and we had credit card debt. The car and the loan together was somewhere around 45,000, something like that. We've got the car down to 5,000. Now the credit cards was about 25 to 28,000. So just before we heard Dave Ramsey and we went with a company called national

debt relief and we're trying to get out of that because, uh, they pretty much lied to us. They said that it's going to charge us so much for what the settlements were. And they would find out it's so much on the original cost. So by the time it's said and done, we're paying the same amount we had before. Maybe more. Can't I get out of that? That's the question. Have you kind of done some due diligence to find out what it would take to get out? I mean how much have you paid into it so far? We've been paying for two years now. What we have agreed, we started with that 27 and we agreed and

says that we've got everything settled but not counting what we're paying the payments on. Yeah, yeah. But what's not settled is about 8,000 but if you go with the payments and everything we're still at about 15,000. Yes. If I just cut it off because I paid a couple off but I still have the rest to go. So, okay. And it's costing us $460 a month for that. And how much of that is actually going to it? Do you know? Supposed to be 75% and they get 25%. Listen, I mean, I would get out of something like that because you

don't need them to pay your bill. Like you could have done all that yourself. You could have made a deal you could have consulted you know, do you know what I'm saying? I do. I've learned. I've learned. I've been listening to the show this past year. So when you call them up, when you call them up and say, Hey, I don't want to do this deal anymore. I want to get out. What do they say? They tell me, well, that'll be your choice. But the money you've already paid in, that'll be up to the creditors if they get to actually apply that to your debt or not.

And if not, then I was like, well, where's the money go? Well they get to keep it. And I was like, huh? They can just keep the money if I've already paid so much. One in particular, which I paid on them for 18 months now. How much of it is in question? So let's say in total, did you say you paid fifteen thousand and in total? In total, I'd say I paid about half. That's actually went to the creditors. I paid off two cards completely. One was

3,500, one was 2,200 and we still have a couple cards that's not even been made a deal on yet. That's not even been touched yet. Then yeah, then I 100% would get out. You might feel a loss on this, but over time, it's going to be a greater loss if you don't get out now. So if you've paid 13, if you've paid 13,000 on this, which you said is about half and you said about that. And out of that, what basically what I'm asking, I want to make this clear. So of the 13,000 you've paid, you're saying that some of it obviously has gone to them in fees. But even out of that, none of it's actually gone towards the debt. Is that what you're saying? You're still paying into a pool Well, I'm paying into a pool I've paid off two cars those are done and then I have two more they haven't even touched and I have one that there may Are two that they're making payments on one of them is a small one. But one was a big one

it was like twelve thirteen thousand and Supposedly I've paid half of that off and the reason I want to get it was like twelve thirteen thousand and supposedly i paid half of that off and the reason i want to get out one reason is i found out that i could have done this different without the one in the pink or doubt what happened if they sue you could we had one that tried but we got him paid off you're not there not gonna see the creditors aren't gonna see you essentially what they did is they your loans went into default you didn't pay them and they've taken the money and

pulled it and then they've offered those folks a deal And said hey now that this is very far into into for default and very far delinquent Let's make a deal which is basically what you would have done and now they have full control over your money to say Hey, you know if you want to get out of this and that's why they're giving you the runaround And that's what you've learned is that you could have done this yourself. Only you might have been able to do it without like totally wrecking your credit. That's the thing with these places is. Yeah, because we we didn't miss one payment until they told us to miss payment. Exactly and they just took and pulled

that money and then they offered a deal and so now that's why you're feeling like hey if I get out of this now can they sue me? They could. They probably won't because you have control of this now. Once you get out of this debt relief thing, you'll have control of this. You'll be able to pay them off. You'll be able to call those same creditors and say, hey, here's what I did. That's not what I wanted to do.

Let's just make a deal and pay this off and you'll be able to do that. So they're gonna, the debt relief company is gonna try to make it scary for you to get out of this deal. Go back and look at your contract and see what it's really gonna take and just get out of it.

And you're gonna lose, you're gonna lose some skin in the game. Yeah, you're gonna lose a little something in this. But I think I'm gonna gain more in the wrong run, aren't I? 100%. Absolutely, you're fine. 100%. Yeah. What about the money I've already paid to the one because I paid 18, I mean 18 months worth,

which is about half. It's still paid, the credit because I paid 18, I mean 18 months worth, which is about half. It's still paid, the creditor still received it, the balance has still gone down. So that's been paid, your balance not gonna suddenly shoot up because they're two separate companies. You've got the debt consolidation entity that's holding a small pool of your money. Then you've got the actual creditor

who is accepting the money and once that's been accepted, that's the balance is the balance, if that makes sense. Yeah, see, we kind of done this wrong. We started on like step two, baby step two, but we do have baby step one done and we're in the middle of baby step two. My car will be paid off this year. Good.

And that's the only car payment I have. Good. And it's worth a lot more than I owe. Oh. I'm thinking, I was thinking about selling it, but my wife's gonna feel a bit if I do. Well, tell me more, tell me more. It's a, well the car, okay,

I told that we own about 150 on our house. The car's worth about 28 to 30, I owe five on it. Oh. It's a limited edition, but it's very rare. That's the big thing about it. What is it? It's a 2012 yellow jacket. It's a Challenger SRT8, but they only made 1,300 of them.

Is that like the transformer? Is that like Bumblebee? Do you know? No, no, no. Bumblebee, there's a lot more of those. They only made this one one year and they only made 1,300 of them. And you said your wife would throw a fit. So that's her car?

She got it, no, it's my car. She got it for me because she says I work too much. She says I'm a workaholic. Oh, so it's a gift. I don't think you have to sell that though. I don't think you do either. Not in this situation. You owe so little on it.

You're gonna knock it out. Yeah. What else is there? Just a credit card and a car and my house. That's it. We make together about 85, 90 a year. And I work, when I'm off work, I'm working. I'm trying to make every dollar I can because I would never have this house pay. We've only

had the house five years. I lost the other house. Didn't lose it for default, lost it for another reason. Believe it or not, the state of Tennessee took it from me. Oh, I'm sorry. Listen, here's the thing. James, you're doing good. All right. You have looked at your situation and said, we need to make a change. You've started down that road. You made a small mistake with this debt consolidation. But I mean, Ken, who among us hasn't made plenty of money? And it's not a mistake that's going to set you back. I hope you've heard what Jade's told you. You're okay. Your instincts are right. You now know what to do, you've got all the intensity, my goodness man, I need to take a breath just listening to you talk, you're so intense,

which is great because you need... I want this over. I know, and James, I love the intensity, I'm saying, I'm pointing it out to say you've got all of the things that you need, you have the know- how now, and you've got the want to, and the know-how and the want to, when they come together, unstoppable. So we're cheering you on. You've got this. Thank you. And before you know it, you guys are going to be out of debt, and now the future is so very bright.

So no more beating yourself up. Let's just keep moving forward. My wife does say I worry too much, but I can't help it. She's taking good care of you. That's alright. You'll be surprised how much worry will go away when you're done with this process. I've been debt free once before years ago and it was the best time of my life. I didn't worry about nothing. My wife has never been debt free so I keep pushing and pushing nicely but I say we gotta get

there and she doesn't understand the feeling she's gonna get. Well, that's all right. You're leading the way and she's supportive. She's not fighting against you, correct? No, she's not. All right then. So you got a good woman, you got a great car, you got a good plan here that's gonna work,

and you've got great momentum. So I'm not telling you to take the foot off the gas, but I do want you to give yourself a bit of a break and know now it's about intentionality. There's no panic. There's no reason to be scared. Just stay the course and you'll get there, James. I absolutely promise you, you can hear it in his voice.

You can. Ain't no stopping, James. No, I'm proud of him. James is doing all right. Yeah, he absolutely is. So fun. You got it, James. All right, it's that time of year.

Do you have a graduate in your life, a college grad or a high school grad? This is such a time of anxiety for those young people because they've been conditioned to do everything they can to get that college offer, to then go get the major, to then go get the good job. And there's so much cultural pressure to try to figure out at such a young age, what should I do with my life? And we're talking about professionally here.

And that's why we created the new version of my Get Clear Career Assessment. This is Find the Work You Wired to Do Student Edition. Comes out today, it's actually out, and flying out of the bookstore, I'm told. So very, very proud of this project. What does it do in short? It helps answer that question for you, the parent,

the grandparent, the guardian, the family friend, for that young person who's trying to figure out what do I do with my professional life? In other words, what am I wired to do? And the answer's pretty clear. To use what you do best, that's your talent. To do work you love, that's a sense of passion. To produce results you care deeply about, that's a sense of mission. And the assessment measures all three of those distinct wires in these young people. And this is written

for young people. The book itself is about a 45-minute guiding lesson on what to do with your assessment results. And you get an absolutely stellar assessment result with a purpose statement in it, and it'll help you, that parent, grandparent, friend, guardian, whatever, coach, teacher, give guidance and confirmation to that young person. So find the work you're wired to do,

student edition comes with the Get Clear Career Assessment all together for only $34.99. It's a great grad gift if I do say so myself. Been sending them out by the way, all these invites coming around and I'm like, all right, we'll throw some cash at these kids, but also let's give them something they can use. So-

Listen, I'm gonna get that for my babysitter. Well, I appreciate that very much. I'll sign that. But there it is. You can get it at ramsysolutions.com slash store, ramsysolutions.com slash store, or the link in the show notes if you're on YouTube or podcast.

Find the work you're wired to do student edition. Derek is up next in Dallas, Texas. Derek, how can we help today? Oh yes, how y'all doing? Good, how are you help today? Oh yes, how y'all doing? Good, how are you today? My question is, so right now I'm 20 years old and I work for my dad, I'm working for a glass company. I make 12 an hour and at the moment

I have almost $7,000 in my personal checking account. My question is, I wanna know what I can do to expand that amount besides just saving up working at 8 to 5. So the first thing that comes to mind is I'm going to get either a better job or an additional job. First thing that comes to my mind, I'm assuming you've processed that, right? Yes, I've thought about that before.

I actually really like the work that I'm doing with my dad. I like doing this hands-on work, so I don't really plan on quitting this job. What do you make him per hour? I make $12 an hour. So you can do this one of two ways. Tell Jade and I how much more per hour do you want to make or how much additional money do you want to make per month? Okay. Tell me that number. You know what you make right now, right? So based on what you bring home now, and again I

don't care how you answer it, but I want you to tell us. Give us a target. What are you looking to make? I would like to be making 14 an hour. Okay. But have you talked to Pops? No, I didn't say we have to be making 14 an hour. Okay Have you talked to pops? No, I didn't say we have to complain but we're working through this here So have you talked to pops about this desire to make two more bucks an hour? No, I haven't and the reason why is because I've been working here for a year when I first got on I was getting paid $10 an hour under the table So I wasn't getting anything taken out of my my check or anything, right? here for a year. When I first got on, I was getting paid $10 an hour under the table,

so I wasn't getting anything taken out of my check or anything. Right. Well, one thing we want to do going forward is not tell millions of people that your dad's been paying you under the table. We want to kind of hold back that information. Now he's paying you. He's withholding taxes, I hope. Listen, if you hear a knock at the door, don't answer it. I'm just kidding. The IRS is already tracking you, young man. There's nothing I can do about it. The horse is out of the barn.

So first things first, you can talk to your dad. It's a unique deal. But I'm gonna give you the same advice I'd give any young person, because of a very large audience listening and watching here. We don't go and ask for a raise. It's a horrible idea. I don't care if it's your dad or anybody else,

it puts that leader on the defensive. So what you wanna do is sit down with dad and go, dad, I wanna make more money per hour. I wanna make more money per month, per year. Is there an opportunity for me to do that with you? And what does that look like? That's the conversation you have with dad. Outside of that, because you don't wanna quit the job

with your dad and you like the work, and the reason I was pushing you to go, how much more money do you wanna make per month? And you couldn't give me a number, so that's your homework assignment. I want you to know tomorrow morning when you wake up what your financial goal is as it relates to making more money right now.

You need to know that. There's an old phrase, it's not attributed to anybody, Jade, it says the person who aims for nothing hits it every time. And there's some great truth to that. So if the numbers I wanna make an additional two grand a month, Ken, $24,000 a year, fine, but we gotta have a number.

And then when we have a number, we can now say, how is it that I go about making that money? I know that I may not have the opportunity to make much money in my dad's company so that means I got to start my own side hustle business or I got to go work some overtime or I got to leave my dad's company all together where I'm making 18 an hour. Jay don't want to bring you in here because you're one of the most goal-oriented people I know you've heard this young man right here. What say you?

Well, I say that we haven't heard the big why yet. Oh, that's fair. And I think that's probably what's gonna inform this conversation the most and probably what's gonna light your fire to actually go and pursue what Ken is telling you to do. You know, if you don't have a reason, it's like what you said, the person that aims for nothing.

So what's the reason? Are you trying to move out of the house? Are you trying to buy a car? Are you trying to get, you know, what is that why that you want your income up to go up there for your savings to go up? And I think that's gonna give you that fiery need. Let's put you on the spot.

I think she makes a great point. So what's the why? My answer is, it's rather a more selfish answer is because I don't really have to pay for a lot of things right now. Right now I'm living with my parents and the only things I have to pay for is just insurance on the car, which is not a lot a month and then a phone bill. So what do you want the money for?

That's why I want more money. What is it? With what I have right now, I've never seen these numbers before. Yeah. And I just want to have more of it. It's really just a greedy reason. with what I have right now I've never seen these numbers before yeah and I just want to have more of it it's really just a greedy reason that's not greedy it's not greedy you it's you feel that because to your point it's the first time you're what did how old are you I'm 20 you're 20 years old this is your first bout with you know being a career man and you're like hey this is your first bout with, you know, being a career man, and you're like, hey,

this is kind of nice. It's nice to earn money, and it's nice to see that I have savings, and it's nice to kind of know that I, it's like, yeah, you hike your pants up, you're like, all right, like this. It feels kind of good. And there's a little extra jingle in there. Yeah, exactly. What if we suggest a couple of whys, Derek?

Okay? So, my co-host here has no idea where we're going. We're going to spontaneously go one back and forth. We're going to give him some whys. Yes, like that. So one is saving up money to put a nice deposit down or to make more money to be able to afford a nice apartment so I can leave my house.

I love that. Give him another one. Another one is there's going to be a Mrs. Derek in the picture at some point. And when you see her across the bar or across the, you know, whatever, you're gonna wanna take her out and wine and dine her and convince her to be Mrs. Derrick. All right, I'll give you another why.

After we've gotten an apartment, we've learned how to live on our own and sustain rent and show some budget discipline, we're gonna start saving up for a down payment on a house. That's another great why. That is a great why. One more, I'll let you wrap up the whys. Another one is to have that extra margin

because we want to save and invest for the future and we suggest 15% of your income and once that 15% is gone you're gonna want extra to live your life on and it not feel super tight. So yeah. Derek, we just gave you four whys. How do you feel about those whys? They tend to resonate with you? I resonate with me, yeah. Okay then. So you get to come up with more whys. But Jade makes a very good point. You will find yourself far more driven when there's an actual visual target, a visual destination, and she I think positioned it so beautifully as a why do I want to make money? So, back to the original question. I think you gotta talk to Pops and see what a promotion looks like, but I also think you're gonna have to look outside of that

because I think for you to make 16, 18, $20 an hour, you're gonna have to expand your vision and see what's out there and get after it, young man. And I would recommend, by the way, as soon as possible, get out of mom and dad's house. I think that's the logical next step for you. You feel so accomplished and a nice boost of confidence that every young adult needs

comes from leaving the nest. He's got it good right now. He does, and he's not complaining. Mama's probably making him three squares a day. He has no payments. All right, my man, get after it. He has no payments. Alright, my man. Get after it.

Alright, let's go to Tyler in Jacksonville, Florida. Tyler, how can we help today? Hey, I'm calling. So I'm 29. My wife is 28. We filed, we made 152,000 last year. We're on pace to make 175 this year. I'm a firefighter.

She's in medical sales. So we bought a house a year and a half ago. We have a $350,000 mortgage. We have 28 K in a car loan debt and 18 K in student loans. Um, my wife, when she was a young child her grandma started her a UTMA account and that account currently has 225,000 in it. We have 35k in a Roth IRA and about 20,000 in savings other than that. So my question is, do we use that each or UTMA to pay off the car and student loans and then about save a six month emergency fund for the rest towards

a mortgage? Wow. What a blessing to have that money just sitting there for you guys. Right. What's your income? Last year we filed 152,000 and I just promoted and got a raise through my job. So we're going to do about 175 this year. Okay. Yeah. And you said that as soon as you called in, I just didn't write it down in time. I was trying to give you all the numbers.

It was a lot of numbers. I was trying to keep up with you. Yeah. Okay. I think that this 225 sitting there, is it invested in anything? Like is there a return on it that's good that you're interested in or how much has it grown over this time is basically what I'm wondering. So I've, when she got it started, she was young. So I think it was started at 100 grand and it's at 225. Now we do get dividends in it every year but like a couple

thousand maybe. It's not much. Okay. I probably would do that. If I were in your shoes, you've got the 25,000 in savings. That's also at your disposal. I would not touch the Roth or invest like any retirement money whatsoever. The only thing with this is you might want to look into the tax implications because there's likely going to be something there on the growth. So I would look into that and find out what fund would be like 35 to $40,000, like a good six month emergency fund. So we would keep that. But that's another thing to keep that in the UTM or put that in like a high yield savings or I'd probably you could move it into a high yield savings. I'd want to know again what

the rate of return has been on this. So what about the 25,000 that you have there? Are you saying that you would add to it and put that up to 40? Is that what you're saying? Right. Okay. Yes. Yeah I do it. I would just talk with somebody to find out what the tax implications are because there's gonna be something on that. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's a blessing. Yeah, do you have a tax pro in your life that you can consult on this?

We do have a tax guy that we use, but we never brought this question up to him. He just kind of, you know, doesn't have taxes, I guess. No, that's all right. I think Jay gave you a great answer. As she walked you through it, I'm just saying, consult with him so you have an idea what the tax implications are so that you know.

Right. The money that went into it, the money that went into it was after tax dollars. So I don't think it's going to be taxed like the same way it would be like at your normal income rate. I don't think it is, but you'd have to check on that. Yeah. Because you are going to be taxed on some of the growth that's acquired. So that's important to know. I wouldn't want that to, you know, hit you upside the head.

But other than that, I would do it. I think the one cautionary tale that I have on this sort of thing is I think it's always a blessing when you're gifted money, when an inheritance comes through, you know, when you're able to kind of sell one big asset to get out of debt. I don't look down on that. I think it's a great thing. I think it's a blessing. However, there is a piece of that where I wanna just say, be careful and be cautious because the same guy

that got into $28,000 of student loans and $18,000 of car loans and all of that is still that guy. And you were throwing a lifeline here, and so you've gotta be careful and make sure, okay, moving forward, I've got to change my habits and I've gotta change my philosophy around debt, or else I'll look up in five, 10 years and I'll be here again, just with a different sort of debt,

and there won't be an upma there. Does that make sense? Right, yes. Okay, so that's just, that's all I gotta say about it. Yeah, I like that. It's a good word. I wanna go to a question from our Ramsey Network app. This is from Tariq who submitted this question.

My wife and I are in our mid-40s with an 11-year-old and a 14-year-old. We share general financial information with them so that they will grow up knowing how to properly manage finances. We love it when they ask questions, but recently they've been curious about our current financial situation, specifically asking us, how much money do we have? We live modestly considering our net worth and are concerned that if they knew we lived well below our means, they might begin to resent their current lifestyle or let the information slip when talking with their friends.

Where do we draw the line in the sand so that we're validating their curiosity while at the same time preserving our privacy? I love this question because our youngest daughter, she just recently came back at it once more. How much money do we make? When they put the we on it? No, she knows better now.

I've corrected that. She's like, how much do you, and I'm just like, babe, I'm not telling you. And so I think there's a very clear, on that particular one, I'll say, there's a very clear boundary. I think so. That they're not able, they're not mature enough

to handle it. They don't even understand the value of a dollar in the first place. I agree. And letting it slip out, certainly to friends and other family members, that is an onion that doesn't need to be peeled. I 100% agree.

If we had asked that when we were kids, if I asked my parents that, man, they'd be ready to slap the taste out our mouth. That is like a no-no. Yeah, and so then the second question is, would they resent the way they live? And the answer is, I don't know if the word is resent, but they would start going, oh,

and they start doing really bad math because they don't understand money and the value of money. Why can't we have this? Why can't we have that? And I do think that would create a problem. So I think the answer is, you're not mature enough to handle that. That's not something we discuss.

Yeah. Go ride your bike. Go ride your bike. Go ride your bike. Or something. And if you wanna teach them something, just say, you know, your dad and I work really hard and we're good stewards of the money that we have and we're blessed and we use that to take care of you.

You know what I mean? Like, that's, my kids are not that old age. What are you gonna say when you're young students? They already think they know a little something. They're like, they use the word we a lot. And so I have to go cliffhustable on them and explain to them that they have nothing, right? By the way, do you remember that famous clip?

It's out there on YouTube, I'm sure, where he does that example with Theo. Yeah, oh yeah, with the monopoly money. He puts the monopoly money. Classic. And he gives him all this money and he starts taking it back. That's right. As he walks through the with Theo. Yeah, oh yeah, with the monopoly money. He puts the monopoly money, and he gives him all this money, and he starts taking it back as he walks through the everyday expenses. To this day, that's probably one of the greatest,

whoever came up with that and wrote that segment, that's such a brilliant, brilliant example of how kids, how they handle the realities of money. And I'll just, I'll be honest with you, we got a, it's been really fun to see my two boys, you know both my boys, as they've been driving. I remember when they first went, you know, they first went, they're like 16, I was paying their gas at the time, they're in football and all this kind of stuff, so limited in how they could work. But anyway, the point is, is they would actually, even though it was my debit card, them looking

at how much gas cost. Oh, shocking. That reaction when they filled up their tank. Yeah. And they were like, wow, dad, that's crazy how expensive gas is. I was like, welcome to my life, pal. Yes, absolutely. I think as much as you can let them experience that.

That's the better lesson. It's the better lesson. My kids, they have a chart on the refrigerator where they do their chores. And it- What are you paying, by the way, for chores these days? Because I'm not in that game anymore. I'm curious.

Listen, don't judge me. I'm not gonna judge you. My kids are five and seven. So- Yeah, that's the context. For my son, he earns more because he's more responsible. So if he unloads the dishwasher, that's a dollar. Okay. Okay.

It's not bad. And then if he takes out the garbages, like there's a couple of garbages in the house, I think that's 50 cents. Nothing is more than a dollar. Everything is a dollar or 50 cents. And then my daughter, everything is 25 cents or 50 cents. So they get paid at the end of the week.

And if they want to go spend their money, they've got a, they see now how much a toy costs. Is that a pain for you to be carrying around all that change? Because the 25 cent hits, you got to have quarters laying around. They better do enough chores to where I get even amounts. Mama doesn't want to be throwing out 75 cents here. I'm going to catch you next time on that. I'll spot you a quarter next time. That's good. Do your chores. Here's a quarter.

Call somebody who cares. Little Travis Tritt. This is The Ramsay Show where we help you win with your money, win in your profession, and win with your relationships. 88825-5225 is the phone number on Ken Coleman alongside Jade Warshaw. And we're here for you, America. 888255-225. Let's go to Pittsburgh, area where Tracy joins us. Tracy, how can we help today? Hi Ken and Jade, I'm so glad. Thank you for taking my call today. You bet. What is happening in your world? All right, lots of happening

but I'm for my call today. So my question to you is, I'll just kind of give a little scenario here. We have several family gatherings, several times a year, and one of my relatives always seems to turn the conversations to money, like how much things cost, how much she spends, what she pays for things. And you know, right down to kind of a very high dollar amount, so for example, at Easter, you know, she told all of us that her bonus payment was so big that she could buy herself a brand new BMW

that we all got to go take a tour of out in her garage. And so- She just up and said that out of the clear blue sky? Kind of. And then said, hey, you guys want to come out to the garage and so she just up and said that out of the clear blue sky it kind of and then said hey you guys want to come out to the garage and check it out real quick question I want you to keep going but I'm just curious what is the relationship can you tell us what that is is it simply it's a first cousin first cousin and did you grow up with said cousin? Did you spend a lot of time with her as you were growing up or was it more distant? Yeah.

I would say we were very, and we're to this day, almost very much like sisters. Okay. Oh. How does this rub you when this happens? You just gave us one example, but this is a pattern. Yeah. Right? Yes.

That's why I'm calling because it does bother me. And you know, I make a very good salary. I'm a registered nurse and you know, I just, I certainly don't feel comfortable talking about you know, how much I pay for things and how much things cost. Do you think she's trying to make, do you, let me, do you think that she is trying to get a rise out of you when she says it or do you think that for her she's comfortable talking about money and you're just not comfortable does that make sense which one is it is is the onus more on her or more on you i think it's more on her like maybe to um kind of brag it up and... Give me some more examples of what she might do.

I want to know more. So, oh, you know, I... So when we first got there, first of all, she had bought some jackets and they didn't fit. And so she gave me one of the jackets. I was like, oh, let me, you know, I'll pay for it. It was a nice jacket. And she had bought one for her sister and it was like, oh, let me, you know, I'll pay for it. You know, it was a nice jacket and she had bought one for her sister and it was like, oh, no, no, no, you know.

And I was like, oh, I really like it. Where'd you get it? And it was, you know, from this expensive denim company. And it was, you know, I mean, I paid $80 for it. And then I kind of feel a little bit better. Has she ever said anything bad about you? Like, has she ever done the backhanded compliment where it's like, well I know you probably

couldn't afford something like this, so just take it. Like is she giving a backhanded compliment when she does it? No, I wouldn't say that, no, not at all. It's almost like maybe she's a little, and I'm probably answering my own question, maybe she's insecure. 100%.

That's the third scenario. She think she wants us to know how successful she is. I think that's what's going on. I don't. Well I want to dig a little more. I want to dig a little more. So far I'm going to tell you the side of the fence I'm on. So far Tracy I think it might be more you than her so far. Okay. And I don't say like neither of you is a bad person or neither of you is like even an insecure thing. I think some people are way more confident talking about money. And I do think that there's certain things

that it's just like she's in a mode in her lifestyle right now. It doesn't sound like she's trying to. I don't know. All right, let's go rewind. We've got right now. It doesn't sound like she's trying to. I don't know. All right, let's go rewind. We've got your opinion, I wanna rewind on something. Let me just finish. Oh, I'm sorry.

Here's the thing. If my brother came home, and I think he did come home with a new truck, and he was like, oh, he was, I said, oh, is that a new car out in the driveway? He's like, oh yeah, I just got it. Let me go, let's go see it. And you go look at it.

But I feel like that is kinda normal. And it's like, yeah, you know, I just got it. Let me go, let's go see it and you go look at it. But I feel like that is kind of normal. And it's like, yeah, you know, I never thought I'd be able to get it, but I got a raise and I was able to get it. Like I, that, I think that's okay. And then when you were telling me about the jacket, I was kind of like, well, yeah, I feel like if my, if I bought a jacket, I would give the other one

to my sister. I'm pretty sure I have done that. And as long as she's not saying things like, do you know what I mean like to be like Oh, well, I'll give it to you. I mean, I'm sure like I You might not ever be able to have this so I'm giving you like that would make me burn me up, right? Okay, I got a second I want some more questions. All right, so Tracy are you the only family member that notices this and talks about this and is irritated by this?

I don't know the answer to that because I haven't really talked to any of my other family members about this. And you've not seen... All right, another question. Sorry, I'm not cutting you off. I'm going to do rapid fire here. Okay. Have you, when she said that, let's talk about the BMW thing, and it came out of the blue, did you see anybody else kind of look at you, like roll their eyes? That's the eye contact, yeah. Or make the, oh geez, did any of that happen?

Yeah, no, I did not. You didn't see that? No, it's just kind of like, oh wow, great. Okay, all right, okay, this is great, this is great. But you know you- No non-verbals, nothing like, you know, the behind the back, rolling the eye, nothing like that. Nobody else is saying this.

Okay, Jay, this is stacking up nicely for you, but I'm not done. I'm not done. Okay, keep going. Dig in, dig in. I'm digging, this is really fun for me. Okay, when you said to us that you think she's insecure, give us some evidence as to, you said she's like a sister to you.

Give me one other very clear example of her insecurity Give us some evidence as to, you said she's like a sister to you. Give me one other very clear example of her insecurity and how it pops up around how much money she makes. I don't know if I can give any other examples other than the fact that it just always seems it's something that the conversation is somehow going towards. You know, I went shopping and I spent $1,000 on clothes. Okay.

Now, you know, I mean, to get a bonus big enough to buy a BMW. All right. Wow. One more question. I disagree with Jade. I will say, I'm going to make a statement and then a question. I disagree that it's just normal for somebody at an Easter gathering to bring up that they got a massive bonus.

That is. That is. And went out and bought a Beamer and I want to show you. I got to tell you, if one of my cousins did that, I'd be like, you're a pinhead. I wouldn't say that to them, but I'm like, I think that's obnoxious to say the absolute least. So I'm on team Tracy because of that behavior. I would want to know, I feel like there's- So the question is, the question is, when

she's around you without discussing money she just always takes it to how much she spent on something. That's what I heard. It seems, yes, yes. It's always like we talk about other things but then it always kind of gravitates back towards how much something costs. We need to get a new roof. Now I'm ready to rule. My question to you is how do I handle it? That's where I'm going. Kill him with kindness. I think, I wanna know what Jade says, so I'll be quick.

Here's what I think. I think that a lot of this is her, and I think it's very normal for you to actually feel this way. However, you're giving her way too much power, and it's not your problem to fix and it's not your problem to fix. It's not your conversation to have. I think she is who she is and I don't think you confronting her is going to change it. So I would go the route of putting up a boundary that every

time she does that, I would change the subject on her. I think it'll do two things for you. It'll train you to not give her power and let it irritate you and number two I think it puts up a natural conversational boundary to change the subject Jade you got 20 seconds What would you add to that? I'd want to know if she started from nothing like did she start from the bottom and now we're here and she's just looking for Someone to celebrate with because I want to celebrate with my sister and I do this is obnoxious insecurity I don't she was never mean about it. She was never backhanded. Don't have to be mean to be obnoxious. But backhanded is obnoxious and that's usually. Hey folks, buying or selling a home is a big deal. You know all the stress, all the emotions attached to that.

It's a massive transaction and you just don't want to do it on your own. You absolutely need an expert in your corner whether you're selling or buying and that's why we have our Ramsey Trusted program. It's the only way to find a top agent you can trust that will make sure the process is seamless and just not a stressor but a win for you. So you can find a local Ramsey Trusted Real Estate Pro for free by going to ramsysolutions.com slash agent. That's ramsysolutions.com slash agent or the link is in the show notes if you're on YouTube or podcast. Ken, I wanna go back to this last call that we had.

We're going back to it. I gotta go back to it. We ran out of time and we were doing some post analysis. This is good. If you were listening before it was the lady calling in, she felt like her first cousin, who was more like a sister, was a little too braggadocious about her-

How much money she makes. Money she makes, and the example was, she said, you know, she got a new Beamer and was saying, hey, I got this bonus at work and I was able to get this car, come see it. And another example was like a jacket, she had bought the jacket and she got two of them, and so she gave one to her cousin, who was like her sister, she had bought the jacket and she got two of them and so she gave one to her cousin

who was like her sister and was saying, hey, I got this jacket, I spent like 80 bucks on it, it doesn't fit, would you like to have it? And so we were just kind of trying to come through with who is in the wrong, is anybody in the wrong, is she actually bragging too much and Ken, you and I were a little divided on it and I think it's worth it.

Only slightly. I think it's worth it to come back to, I know I were a little divided on it. And I think it's worth it. It's only slightly. I think it's worth it to come back to, I know I have a couple of points I was thinking. All right. Number one is, I do think that normalizing conversations about money is a good thing. Whether we're talking to people we trust about struggles that we're having or whether we're winning

and you want to be able to say, like, this was a really good year for me, right? And the truth is both of those, you have to be choosy about who that person or those people are. And it kind of sounds like maybe the sister, I'm gonna call them sisters because she said they're more like sister.

Maybe the one sister felt, I can say this to you. And the other sister was like, ah, I don't feel comfortable with this. And that's okay. But I do think finding those people is important because, you know, when Sam and I were struggling getting out of debt, I didn't really know who I could say. It's hard to know who to say,

man, like we've got $460,000 of debt. Then on the flip side, it's hard to know how to say, dude, I just paid off $460,000 of debt. Then on the flip side, it's hard to know how to say, dude, I just paid off $460,000 of debt, like let's go celebrate. So finding those people is important, it's hard to find them. And then also knowing, and this is kind of another one, like standards of what you think of when it comes to money

is gonna be different for everybody. Somebody might think, oh my gosh, you spent $30 on a bottle of wine, you're crazy. Somebody else might go, I can't believe you only spent $30 on that bottle of wine, right? So there's also that discrepancy that can be there when you're in conversations, especially with family. Clearly the one sister thought $80 on a jacket,

she might not have thought anything of that, but the sister thought oh my gosh, she spent 80 doubt dollar You know what I'm saying? So sometimes we think that we're on the same wavelength and we're not and it's not anything that's intended negatively It's just two people in different financial worlds All right, so my only my only comment on that what you just said is I'm fine and good with all that. I just am a little bit more conservative and I think there needs to be a very clear boundary with just about almost everybody in your life as to who you're sharing with that you got a big fat bonus. You're right. You are 100% right about that. I think that's your husband or your spouse or

whatever. I got a buddy. Maybe your mom's tricky. Sam and I have two friends. We have two friends, they're not family members. Cause I think you're right, family is, you know, we've got two family friends, not family friends, friends that I would say are, do it like in the same like wavelength. And so you can say, hey, I had a great year or whatever it is and they can take it.

Or you can say, oh my. But even then, are you specific on money? Not that specific. That's my point. But you can say, man, we crushed it this year, a little fist bump at the table. But if they were to me, like. You're not gonna be like,

I just went and dropped $80,000 on a car. Oh, if he told me that, I would be like right on. Like I'm a call out Ben Clurge right now. If Ben Clurge called up and said, you need to understand that I just made a million bucks this year I would be like let's go celebrate. That's a very unique relationship let's say that but I'm saying I think that that should be normalized because how can he be out here crushing it and feel bad to for very close friends that's normalized yeah but not your first cousin who you

don't see all the time and she comes over for Easter. No, she said they were like sisters. I don't think, well, again. It may not be. Again, I would say this about siblings. I think you gotta be very careful about what you're sharing about what you make to siblings as well.

Yeah, siblings, yeah. Especially if one of you's, what do I say? Like from the New Jersey, I'll say, one of you's guys is like a higher up the ladder. You know what I'm saying? I just think that- You're not wrong. I don't think you're wrong. I just think we gotta be very, very careful

because there's so much emotion. You have to know who is that person. Who can handle it. Who can handle it. Because if you throw out something that you're legitimately excited about, and it's got a number, and that number is foreign to them.

And they got bad emotions around you or themselves or their money. But again. Avoid it. You should avoid it, but I ask us as people to also. Well, you're really passionate about this. I think this is a great campaign.

I just think there's too much psychology around money to be talking about it in depth with a lot of people. Super small circle. That is so true, but I have a couple of really great friends and they're so good at celebrating people. I have learned to be a better celebrator of people. To divulge everything, no.

No, you're right, you're right. Like in other words. You're right. In other words, okay, so full disclosure. Okay. Jade and Sam and Stacey and I, we are friends. We enjoy spending time together. If we went to dinner with you and Sam and Stacey and I, we are friends. We enjoy spending time together. If we went to dinner with you and Sam,

and Sam said over dinner, hey, our company, I said to Sam, how's it going? Because I do say that, how's biz? And he said, bro, banner year, like three X what we did last year. You would be fine and dandy. I'm absolutely, you know, celebrating him. I'm like, man, that's awesome.

But two things are not happening. He's not saying exact. He's not telling me that exact number. Maybe if I asked, and even then it would be a gross number, it would be like, what was your gross? Like, I'm not gonna get it. I wouldn't ask him. But he's also not gonna go, after I celebrate,

he's not gonna go and so you know But if he's not and this is a we're making this up if he leaned over if he said man I had a banner year and then if he leaned over he's like dude I did like and he said I did like da da da amount of money You'd be like, holy, you know, right, right and you'd be like dude. Yes, like no, I could write course. So even Sam wouldn't do that. We're making all of this up. But if he did, I think that you'd be like,

man, that's amazing. I would, but I'd also go. Later when you went home, would you be like, Stacy, can you believe that he said? And that's my point. I think it's, I think there's like the surface. I'm not gonna be a jerk, right? But at the same time, I'm gonna be like, Oh, okay. All right. Just throwing

these numbers around. I think because I coach people with their money, I'm used to people saying amounts to me. Yeah. Therefore, if I hear it, it doesn't bother like it's like, well, like John Cena, like you can't see. I will say this, but I'll come back to the point that we had with the cousins who were like sisters. If in your scenario, he says to me,

and Sam is such a low-key, humble guy, so he would. He's low-key, that's why we're using Sam, because he doesn't say anything to anybody. But we have to make the point here, if he said, yeah, and he goes, this is the result, he's like, I decided to, it was hard. It was hard to do this. It was a lot of money, but it was a great year.

I've always wanted a G-Wagon. I'm making this up. And he says, I popped for one. That to me, that's okay. That's good, yeah. The specificity of how much money. Yes, you don't say I made whatever in two cents. I just think it can, it just is too risky.

You're right, you are right. Yes, just think you can it just is too risky. You're right. You are right I yes, I think you can say I think you can celebrate in a veiled way That still gets the point across that still makes you feel like I just shared with Mike my buddy The best thing that you put a number out there. It's a comparison deal. It's different whether you're healthy or not I could be completely psychologically healthy, I could be humble, I could be living in gratitude, and I hear a number. And as soon as I hear a number, because it's a number, that means there's a number below it and there's a number above it.

There's psychology around people, what they make. This has been a theme today, should kids know. My point is, the minute you give me a number, I got my number, and my number is either above that or my number is below it. All right, what's an expensive bottle of rum? For me? I think over a hundred bucks.

I go, okay, I gotta make sure I like that. A hundred bucks? Yeah, expensive. I didn't say affordable, I said if you said, I'm gonna, anytime. I'm just kidding. That's expensive. I'm just kidding affordable. I said if you said, anytime. I'm just kidding. That's expensive. I'm just kidding.

I'm just proving your point. Yeah, exactly. When you throw a number out there, folks, it gets dangerous. Stay away from the numbers. Okay. All right, it's time for our question of the day brought to you by Wirefy.

If you've got a defaulted private student loan and no one else is going to work with you, I want you to try your friends at WhyRefi. They help you explore refinancing options with a low fixed rate and a payment plan based on your ability to pay. Go to WhyRefi.com slash Ramsey. That's the letter Y, R-E-F-Y dot com slash Ramsey. It may not be available in all states. All right today's question comes from Hayden in Delaware. My fiancee has 200,000 in student loans and that is her only debt. I am debt-free and have a good amount set aside in savings. When we are married do we take the savings and pay off a large chunk of the loans? We also want to buy a house in the next 12 months so I don't want to spend it all on the loans.

Ooh. Well, we've got some very competing issues here, Hayden. We do. And I want to just point out the word in the last sentence. We want to buy a house. So I don't want to spend it all on loans. All right, financial coach, Jade, what do you say when somebody hits you with that

and goes, but I don't want to. I got to bust their balloon, Ken. Unfortunately, I have to rain on their parade. I feel bad about it. But if I were in your shoes, I, and I have been in your shoes, you want to start off any new marriage, new relationship, the best possible way. And to clear out this debt in its

entirety, it is a wonderful way to start a brand new foundation so that you can buy this house later on when you save up. And it truly is a blessing and not a burden, not to be cliche, but when you've got this debt here, it's like, why wouldn't you finish it off? I don't know. He didn't say how much money they're working with, so would it be, you know, 100,000 left on the student loans, would it be 10,000? I, you know, I don't know what your plan was, but to pay them off in full, especially, Ken,

this is actually a great segue, with what's going on now with student loans, you know, there are so many Americans who were in default because student loans are a problem, you know, and you never know what may be coming around the bend. So to be able to have this cleaned up, out of the way, then you've got your full disposal of your income there, you know, your full income at your disposal to use it

to now save it for a down payment. There's no better way to do it than that. Yeah, I agree. Cooper is up now in Knoxville, Tennessee. Cooper, how can we help today? How are you all doing? Good. Yeah. Well, I appreciate you taking my call. It was a, it wasn't a quick wait. Well, good things come to those who wait. Cooper, my grandmother used to say,

now I'm feeling the pressure. It was worth it for me. I'm going to run you through some numbers before I ask you my questions. Awesome. Well, my wife and I are 26. I make $75,000 a year. She makes $45,000 a year. I work in trucking insurance sales and she is a fourth grade teacher. So $120,000 a year. As of Friday, this upcoming Friday, I will be getting a raise of $57,000 to equal $132,000 and she will be making 48,000 next year with a total income of 180,000. Nice.

The kicker is, is she is giving birth to our first child a week from today. Wow, congrats. Yeah, it's coming quick. And we have 15,000 savings. I have 15,000 in the car debt. I have 42,000 in student loan debt. I have 42,000 in student loan debt. We have a beautiful home that we purchased about about a year ago.

And my question is, is do I continue to tackle this debt? Cause I think I could get it, you know, really, really low very quickly, but I also would like to start a fund to start our, you know, our son off well to, to be able to go to college for free or, you know, when he turns 18 to have a good, have a good savings for him when, you know, he gets 18. Listen, I love that. I love that you're thinking ahead. You're thinking about you guys income going up. You're thinking about this baby that's to come. Um, technically in this moment right here, um, you're kind of on a pause until this baby gets here, right? You've got, I think I heard you say you have 15,000 saved and you've got a car that's 15,000?

Yeah, between two cars. Between two, okay. And so the good news is once this baby is born, when everything goes well and the baby's healthy and they both come home and everything is good, you can just reach over and pay this car off, right? And it'll be gone. And then you'll have your income to then knock out the student loan, right? And it'll be gone. And then you'll have your income

to then knock out the student loan, right? That's what I would do. So I'd push pause on paying anything off right now until the baby's there. Just stack up that money, add it to the 15,000 that you have saved. And yeah, when you're done, you knock out the car, then you reach over and knock out the student loans.

Is there anything that I'm missing? then you reach over and knock out the student loans. Is there anything that I'm missing? I mean, we'll, by that time, we'll probably owe about 215,000 on our house. This past year, we bought a fixer-upper and put a bunch of money into it from our reach back in our savings, which at the time we had about 40,000

when we bought the house. So we used a lot of the money to do the updates and stuff. I'm quite handy, so I did them all myself. Okay. And I might change the order on that a little bit. Okay. I might, you know, don't get me wrong, I've done it. Buying a fixer upper, you do feel compelled

to do the fixes very quickly. In this case, you know, you've kind of got some of that out of your system. You've fixed a couple of the things, made it a little nicer. I'd pause on that until this $42,000 of student loans is cleaned up. And then I'd pause again

and stack up three to six months of expenses. And then I'd say, now we can hit pause or push play on, you know, a couple of the renovations, especially since you're handy, you can do it for a lot less expense. And now we're investing 15%. So that's there, right? You want to be doing that.

So doing this in order of priority is going to cause you to think even more critically about what you do on the house, right? Because once you start putting 15% in investments, it's like, okay, what does that leave us? And you mentioned wanting to put aside for your baby, which is baby step five, you do four, five and six simultaneously. So you're doing all that. Now it's causing you to say, okay, what can we do to the house? What's the most important right now? And you're able to kind of prioritize that in a different way, as opposed to doing

it first now, everything. Does that make sense? Everything makes the list now, but later on it'll feel a little bit more. Yeah, and I, you know, great, she gave you great financial advice. Can't add anything to that. It's beautiful. I'm just going to speak to you man to man. I've been where you are. That first child gets there and all of a sudden this new found primal responsibility just kind of washes over you. And Cooper, I think you've got to be very, very wise to make sure that you see what's important in the now

and not pay too much attention to what's important in the next. And that's not unique to men or anything else. It's unique to any parent when they start parenting. But it's a primal human problem that we think so much about the next that we miss what we need to do in the now. And that'll get you in trouble in a variety of ways. Get you in trouble financially. It'll get you in trouble emotionally, get you in trouble spiritually. I mean, I could go down the list here, mentally.

So my challenge to you is, and Jade gave you the step-by-step on what to do with the baby steps, they work. Trust the process here and you're gonna be okay. Don't let your fear about the next or your plans about the next override what you need to do in the now. And that would be my advice to you in this time.

So you stay that course, you're going to be fine financially. And you're going to pay this thing off. And I would pay that car off with reckless abandon. As soon as the baby's- Reckless abandon. I like that. You know what I mean? Like as soon as the baby's here and healthy and all that. Go for it.

I absolutely would attack it with this newfound income. And congratulations on that. You know what I mean? Like as soon as the baby's here and healthy and all that. Go for it. I absolutely would attack it with this new found income and congratulations on that. But if you do that, you're gonna feel so much better and I wanna give you a super practical reason why. What is your car payment on that car? Or both of those cars or whatever it is. What's your combined car payment? One of them, 280 and 420, so it's that 700 bucks.

$700. Now Cooper, for just a second400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $400, $8,400 a year if I remember my basic multiplication. Is that right? Seven times 12 is 84? I believe you.

Whew, I was gonna have to take my shoes off if that was wrong. Use all my toes and my fingers to figure that one out. You just freaked out. That's a metaphor and I'm actually gonna take my shoes off. I was worried. I know. You would smell the foot funk right here under the desk.

I hope not. Can I like to think you're better than that? I think so too, but you really, it was a visceral reaction. Bad metaphor. But Cooper, this is a great long-term play for you as well, just in getting that raise from not paying those car payments. Congrats on the little one. Way to go. You're gonna do great, Cooper. All right, let's get to Alan in Denver, Colorado. Alan, how can we help? Hey guys.

Thanks for taking my call. How are you guys doing today? We're doing great. What's going on with you? So my wife and I, we're about a million dollars in debt. Whoa. Whoa. Yeah, well most of it's homes, mortgage. Yeah, so we have two homes. Okay.

We just moved into our new one a few months ago. Our last house is currently being rented out for $2,300 a month, mortgage is 24 or sorry. Rent they're paying 23 or mortgage every month is 14. And kind of my question is, if we were to sell that house, we'd probably, it's probably doubled. It's about doubled.

What would you bring from it? About 250 profit Yeah profit, okay, and then your current home it has a mortgage as well. Yes We're at 4600 a month and what's the100,000 down on it and it was $745, but we owe $645 on it. $645. Okay. And anything else?

My wife has $100,000 in student loan debt. Okay. Anything else? And we have a vehicle that we just bought not too long ago. That's 23,000. Okay. And what's you guys' income? Combined about 170. 170.

Okay. Ooh, Alan, no wonder you're taking a lot of big breaths. I am too. It's a lot going on here. 170. Okay. Oh, Alan, no wonder you're taking a lot of big breaths. I am too. It's a lot going on here. The good news is, you know. This is simple. It is simple. I think I said the good news a little too fast.

There is good news, but yeah, the simple part is you pay off house number one that you can profit 250 and we clear out the student loans We clear out the car and yeah, we throw the rest of that onto your current house. That's the cut-and-dry math on this That's gonna get you to a place of peace a lot faster easily the the question that I have is kind of what caused this to begin with because when you told me that just recently you bought another car and went into more debt, I kind of was like, really? That feels reckless.

Yeah, yeah, it was probably a little reckless. We have two kids and the car that we had was kind of small for just our everyday use. And so we wanted to get something a little bigger. So we got a VW Atlas. And we just wanted something bigger. And in my mind, unfortunately, my grandmother passed away a year or so ago now and we have an inheritance coming in and I was like, okay, I'll just, we use that to pay for this car and actually coming in the next couple days. And it's like, okay, we can at least have an upgrade and it'd be nice to have.

What happened to the money if you went into debt? What was that, sorry? What happened to the grandmother's inheritance money that only paid a partial amount of the car and you still owe 23K? It's coming, we should be getting it this week. Oh, okay, well that's good information though. How much is that?

How much is that? 66,000. So total money coming to us if we sell the home the first home plus the inheritance We're at 316 316,000 right Yeah, and I think that like should I sell that house? Yes? Yeah? Yes, you need to because our ground zero I'm gonna refinance I don't think you need to refinance

But you do need to pay this down pay this debt off and pay your house down because even your home payment It's well above what it's well above what it should be and you're probably feeling that too So for instance, I mean let's think about this when you pay off this car How much more is that gonna be back in your pocket every month? It's like 350. 350, what are the student loan payments now that we're out of the Biden era? I'm not 100% sure.

I don't think we've started quite paying on it just yet. I'd have to ask my wife. I'm sure it's a decent amount. I'm sure it's maybe in the $800 range. So that's a lot of money that you're gonna get back in your month to month and eventually get, be able to have this second house paid off because now with that 66,000,

we're making even more headway to it. Now I know $645,000 is a lot of money and I'm not suggesting that you're gonna snap your fingers and this is gonna be gone, but it is gonna get you a lot closer to where you wanna be, and I think it's gonna remove some of that weight, a lot of the weight off your shoulders,

because I can feel it. Yeah, and I'm not saying you need to refi, but I would at least talk to your mortgage pro on all of this, or your bank, because I'm assuming he's in a jumbo loan, and so I don't know what the- Uh-huh, it could be like a so I don't know what the rate difference is right off the top of my head here and I'm not going to spend time researching it on the air here. But I would at least be looking at that because you're gonna be able to put a sizable chunk on there. But this is an absolute no-brainer and it's very interesting to me that you asked a second time after Jade walked through it.

You're like, so I should sell the house? And the answer is absolutely. And I think there's gonna be people in your life who've probably already told you you shouldn't, but I wanna take that on. There is. I knew it. And by the way, every time anybody's called the show

that I've been on and they've asked this question, same deal, let me destroy their theory, if I may, okay? Yeah, absolutely. Well, you've got an asset and it's cash flow positive. Okay, sound familiar? Yep. Great, let's run the numbers. You told me that your mortgage payment on that

is $1,400 a month and you're getting 2,300 in rent. That is a whopping $900 a month. And that ain't a lot of money. Okay, and nine times 12 is, what is it? $10,800 a year? That's gross. That's before you pay any home expenses. You are not even breaking even is my guess on some years.

And if you are making a little bit of money, it's peanuts. So you remove this risk, and yes, you don't have the asset anymore, but you don't have the risk. And you just make more a month when you don't have it. That's my point. So I was trying to destroy their theory. Got it, yeah.

You know, this idea of, well, you're cashflow positive. Eh, maybe not at all, Jade. Yeah, yeah. You could be more cash flow positive by paying off this debt. You'd have more money in your pocket every single month, just with the card and student loan alone. And then you bring that back,

and now you're not paying that. Sell the house, man. You have overextended, and you're two months in. And you might look into, yeah, like Ken said, you might look into a refi or a recast, because if you're paying off hundreds of thousands on this thing and because it is already more, well above 25% of your take home,

this is gonna put it in a place where you can keep it in a comfortable place but still pay the extra payments on it as we would normally teach you to do. I'd kick the tires on that and to Jade's point now, now we're gonna put all this extra money and you're in the baby step now of baby step three. And all that extra money goes towards three to six months of expenses.

Talk about how that's gonna let you sleep. Exactly, exactly. And it's worth talking about that. I can't stress this enough when it comes to houses, when people don't have them in their rightful place, because you're probably a guy you want to be investing you want to be putting 15% aside and it's really tough when you don't have your I mean what are you investing right now anything yeah I have a brokerage

account with Wells Fargo like advisors and there's about 80 grand in there and I have federal I work for the feds, so I have a TSP account. But I mean, on a monthly basis, what percentage of your income are you putting there? 10% of my TSP. 10%. So I'm glad you said that.

So for this purpose, for the moment, I would back that down. I would completely back that down to zero until you get this paid off. I mean, I guess essentially once you sell this house, it's gonna be a moot point, but eventually you're gonna be investing 15%. Once you've got your three to six months of expenses set up,

you'll do 15% and now it's gonna feel a lot easier to do that with all these payments freed up. So that's kind of what I'm getting at, thinking more towards your future. I agree, sell it my man and sell it and never look back. This is the Ramsey Show where we talk with America about their money, their profession and their relationships. Alongside Jade Warshaw and Ken Coleman.

Phone number is 888-825-5225. We'd love to hear from you. We started off with Ron, who joins us now in Indianapolis. Ron, how can we help today? Hey, thanks for having me. I had a... We're talking about RV living versus renting. Okay. I've been looking out there and I, and currently I'm doing the De snowball program with my own personal debt. I have about $70,000 in credit card and personal loan debt. And then I traded in my truck for a lower payment vehicle,

which is about $30,000 total, about $100,000 of total debt. Okay. And in the next couple years, my sister-in-law and I will probably be getting married next year sometime. Okay. And her family has acreage land that would become an inheritance. Okay. So our plan is to So our plan is to either buy land or inherit the land and then live in an RV on the land and build our home piece by piece, paying it in cash as we go along. How long until you inherit the land? And if you were to go on it before that takes place, would you have to pay rent or what

would they say? Would you have to pay anything to be would they say? Like would you have to pay anything to be on that land before you inherit it? Don't really know. This is something that we're just doing some pre-planning, pre-working. We're trying to get advice on, you know, best case scenario, we would buy the land from them outright or they would gift it to us and we would work out some sort of arrangement. But- What about the RV? The thought process of- I have a question.

Is the RV already in your ownership or you're saying we would buy an RV cash and park it on the land? We would buy RV cash and park it on the land because I would need to run utilities out there. You know, there are, I'm gonna start by saying this. There are RV people in this world

and there are non-RV people in this world. That's a great point. I am a non-RV person. And me too. And I admit that. But I don't want you to think that it's gonna weigh into what I say next because what I say next is more about the value in this and the timeline.

So, I think there's a couple of unknowns here, Ken, that we would benefit from knowing. If you said, hey, in four years, my wife is, my soon to be wife is going to inherit this land. And we would then be able to start building on it, but we can't start building on it for four years. In the meantime, we're getting this RV. We plan on keeping it long after we have the house to, you know, because we can't start building on it for four years. In the meantime, we're getting this RV. We plan on keeping it long after we have the house to, you know, cause you can drive in them too, you know. Well, that begs the question.

Let me jump in real quick. How big of an RV are we talking about? No, I mean, big enough for just us two and you know, down the road, probably one child. But what we would do is get a fifth wheel and park it and turn that into like a quote unquote guest house, I think for visitors. And so and so how? Okay, nevermind. I only asked that question. I want you to keep going. I've got an opinion on this as well. I've got a personal experience, but keep going.

I interrupted to ask that question. That's okay. And so part of me wants to know the timeline because if if realistically this inherited thing because you sound pretty young So if this is like your parents leaving you this land, I'm wondering is this like a 20-year thing that feels very no Tell me more So I'm 33. Okay 34 so young guy So going on 34. So young guy. So the land is going to be inherited from her grandmother who is 97. Ah, information. There are no signs of her going anywhere anytime soon and we we hope for that. But it would be land given to us or purchased by us,

however have you. So timeline wise, let's say two years, we start this whole process. The idea would be to rent up until that point and pay as much in cash as possible because if we can buy the land and then pay utilities. I'm confused on the buy the land and then pay utilities. I'm confused on the buy the land part because I thought it was being gifted to you

as an inheritance. So here's, let me play out what I think would be a good scenario and then you push back. What I think would be a good scenario is if grandma's 97, you know for a fact that she stands to inherit this land from her grandmother, you go to her and say, grandma, if we wanted to build on this land, because we plan on keeping it in the family,

we know that it's gonna be gifted. If we planned on building on this land while you're still here with us, what would that mean? Would we need to pay you any sort of lease or are we able to start that process now? And just find out what that means because if she says yes, you know, to whatever that is, then you go in, I know that was not a good grandmother voice,

you go in and if you do the RV thing or whatever for two years while you're saving up to pay this thing, pay for the build, I could see that being a good idea for you guys. You seem like that you would be up for that adventure knowing all the while that this RV is going to go down in value. So don't spend a whole lot on it. Don't go out and buy this brand new RV. But I think in that point, that could be better and cheaper than renting for you. I agree, and I was gonna give you a real life example. My in-laws, my father-in-law's a custom home builder, so builds beautiful homes,

but he's always been very extremely frugal. And it was not too very long ago that they bought a lot in the mountains in North Carolina, and to save money, he bought a used RV. And when I a used RV. And when I say used RV, I'm not talking about one of those that you see out on the interstate, that it's a traveling bus. Not at Doobie Brothers.

We're talking about like, yeah, it was a hitch and it was small, just the two of them. Think of tiny house, probably a little bit bigger than a tiny house. But the point is, is they lived in that for probably six months just to save money. And so if you are buying something that's already used, meaning it's depreciated and you're still going to be able to unload it, it's in good shape, it's functionality, not about how it looks,

and it's not, we're not driving a $120,000 RV around. In that case, once you figure out the land situation as Jade beautifully walked you through, I absolutely think that's a good decision. Instead of renting, let's go ahead and it's something we can hold on to, we can sell it, get some of the money back if it's used and it's in decent shape. And that's what he did. And then he unloaded it once they had moved into their house and he sold it. And it ended up being a much cheaper option than renting. So I love the idea, but I think Jade has nailed this. You need to get clarity on the land

before we make all these great plans because the dirt is not yours. Yeah, not yet, it's not. Right. So let's get that settled. By the way, I want to point this out because we get these kind of relationship questions. Love that you called, but this is your mom,

I mean, excuse me, your wife's family. She needs to have the conversation with grandma, mom, not you. Good call. And let's just keep- Correct, and we've set those boundaries and we've done all of that pre-work, especially regarding finances.

Like we are not married yet, so our finances are separate once we are married. Perfect. Love it. Together and all that. So we've definitely done all the pre-planning for all of this minus the awkward, I guess. And by the way, I think you mentioned this,

but I want to verify this. I think you're right. If grandma-ma doesn't work out a deal and she lives to be 102, you guys rent and you just stay put and relax. Knowing that we can rent with zero stress and save money and then when the time comes for the dirt, then we execute this plan.

So be patient is the phrase of the day, Jade. Whenever I hear RVs, my brain goes to like, Doobie Brothers, I'm like. Mine goes to Christmas vacation when cousin Eddie drives into town with that horrible just dump on wheels. All right, let's go to Tyler who joins us in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Tyler, how can we help today? Hey, Ken and Jade, how are you today? Good, how are you? Good. we help today. Hey, Ken and Jade, how are you today? Good, how are you? Good. So my question has to do with strangers coming up and asking you for money. A couple of weeks ago, I was at the gas station

trying to get some gas, and I had a stranger who pulled up in his car and had me stop what I was doing and asked me, or he told me that he was 63. He was broke. His social security didn't come in for another couple of days and he said he was asking me for money. So I was looking around and I kind of judged based off of what I was seeing his car and what he was wearing and he had a Starbucks cup in the center console and I told him that I wouldn't feel comfortable giving him money based off of what I was seeing.

So my question is, was I wrong for telling him no because he did get mad and sped off and left and kind of cussed me out? Is there a better way to say no to people? No. I mean, we could sit here and analyze your sentence, but the bottom line is you're not wrong for saying no to him. Would I have said, well, based on what I'm seeing, I'm not going to give you money? I wouldn't have gone into that kind of detail. But my goodness, you're under the gun. That's such an awkward situation for somebody to put you in. And then the nerve after asking you for money, when you say no to speed away while cussing you out is just mind-boggling to me but you know whether it's on the streets of New York or any major city or any city you live

in somebody's panhandling and ask you for money my approach has always been I'm sorry I can't right now and I just keep moving and interesting yeah again we disagree. Great. But he asks, was he wrong to say no? No, you're not wrong to say no. I'm gonna say no. And then the way I do it is, I'm sorry, I can't right now. And, uh, you know, and I tell the truth, by the way, if I have no cash on me, which is

99.9% of the time, I say, I'm sorry, I have no cash, because I'm not gonna give you anything else. Facts. And then I just keep moving. I make eye contact and I make it very clear. No, I'm sorry, I can't right now, or I have no cash and then I move on. So now I'm fascinated. What, how do you?

Okay, let me be clear. Tyler, you're not wrong. Like we get to choose what we give. So I'm not saying this to say that you are wrong for what you chose. I keep cash on my person just for this sort of occasion. Good for you. And don't get me wrong.

Sometimes there's moments where, sometimes there's moments where you see a particular individual and you think this money might not be used on what they're telling me it's going to be used for, right? And on those moments, I say, I will be like, hey, let's go into Walgreens. You know, usually they're the Walgreens on the corner or whatever, I'll be like, let's go in here

and just tell me what you need. And just for my reference, how does that usually go? Fine. They'd walk you into Walgreens. No, I go in, I say, let me just go in here and just let me know what you need. And they actually do that? Yeah. And then it actually do that? Yeah.

And then it's like, oh, well, I'm not gonna get cash from you. I didn't see that coming. So now it's an opportunity. Well, let me get a bottle of water. Let me get some socks. Let me get some. And so that's usually if I really feel like

this guy's a crack head, he's gonna go and turn around and go get some drugs. Then I'm like, let's, can I, there's a McDonald's. Can I just get you a sandwich? That'd be great. And you feel safe doing this? I mean, I'm not putting them in my lap and driving them there, I'm just saying,

hey, I rolled down the wood, I'm like, hey, what do you need? He's like, hey, can I have some money? I'm like, I can't give you any money, can I get you a sandwich? I don't want you to think I'm judging you. I'm legitimately asking a question. If Stacy told me this, I'd go, oh babe, I really love your heart.

All right. That's not a smart move. At 10 PM at night in Fort Lauderdale, I'm probably not doing it. But in the broad daylight? I got some cash, man. Come on in here with me at Walgreens. I'm impressed. No, I'm not saying them to come in. I'm saying if I see you, like if I pull over on the side, you know you're at the red light and usually there's folks on the side and they're holding a sign or they're asking. The cardboard. If I feel like I should give them the side, you know, you're at the red light and usually there's folks on the side and they're holding a sign or they're asking. The cardboard. If I feel like I should give them the money, I just give them a couple of bucks. Very, very impressed.

But if I don't feel right, I say, hey, I'm going to head over to Walgreens. What can I get you? Yeah. And usually they're- Good for you. First of all, I want to say, in all honesty, I commend you because I'm going to tell you where my brain goes. I'm speeding out of there.

My brain goes, no, I don't have time at the red light to ascertain or discern whether or not this money is enabling this very heartfelt story, or is it helping? Well, for me- So therefore, I cannot make a qualified, a good decision, so I'm not going to give cash. I rarely consider it an enablement for me

because the likelihood of me seeing this person again is very low, so for me, I'm likely not enabling them. But, you know. You're very kind. But you know, you can sometimes see, like hey, I'm not gonna give this guy cash, I'm just gonna give him a sandwich. But I was in. You know me, you know how many questions I have when I see that. I'm a gonna give this guy cash. I'm just gonna give him a sandwich. But I was in-

You know me. You know how many questions I have when I see that. I'm a guy who has lots of questions about everything to everybody. You do, you do. The older I've gotten, and I think also with kids, cause my kids will ask questions, my kids will see these folks, and they wanna know.

And so as I've gotten older, I keep gift cards, I keep public's gift cards, and I keep cash on my person for this purpose, which is- I applaud you. I applaud you. That's about all I, and I mean that. You're laughing. I am being as sincere.

James is laughing at me too right now. Y'all are thinking this is funny? Cause if you give them a grocery gift card, then you're not giving them cash and they can go into Publix or go into Kroger and get what they need. No, no. And it's usually.

I'm thinking we do a man on the street for the show, we go downtown with you guys both, and you just have conversations with people and I just wanna see what happens. Oh, totally different world. She does exactly what you heard. Me, I'm going, so how long have you been out of work? What happened? Now I sometimes do. I'm going, so how long have you been out of work? What happened?

Now, I sometimes do. I'm going to dig a little bit. I did ask a lady, I was in Denver and a lady walked up to me, similar to what Tyler said. She was dressed fine. There was nothing that gave me the indication that she was sleeping on the streets. And she said, hey, could you give me a couple of bucks? And I looked at her, I said, hey, well, what's going on? And she said, I just, you know, I need a few bucks. I said, what's going on? And she said, I just, you know, I need a few bucks. I said, what's going on with your job? I did ask her more about her job and more about this and that.

And I gave her a couple of dollars. I said, I don't know what you're gonna use this for, but you know, listen. And we talked a little bit. So sometimes it is worth talking. Yeah. Again, I meant it when I said, I applaud, cause I am so cynical and so processed on that decision.

Because I don't- You're the one they need to talk to. You can coach these folks and get them back on the wagon. They're looking for 10 bucks or 20 bucks, not looking for my coaching there on the sidewalk. I mean, I don't know. I will say this. I had this happen to me once in Atlanta, James, and I thought this was brilliant,

and Stacey was like, have you lost your mind? But I encountered a man at a Home Depot once who said he needed work, but he was asking for money. And I called him on it. And I said, all right, I'll tell you what. Come over to the crib. I got some landscaping I need done at the house. Ah.

And if you come over and work, you give me an honest day's work. Here's what I'm going to pay you an hour. And at the end of the day, I will pay you this cash. Love this. Dude took me up on it and I showed up with him and his pal. It says he's like, you don't know these people? We have little kids. And I had those guys busting it in the backyard, digging.

I love it. And it was great, man. They were working hard. I love that. And you know what? To their credit, they worked eight hours and I walked out and gave them cash. Yeah, you didn't invite him inside for dinner, you know. I got the business for that.

Yeah. And I understand that was probably a little sketchy. So I did it once and it kind of back, I got the work done, it's great. Yeah, yeah. But you know. It is a great chance to teach your kids though, because all it took was one time and now my son,

anytime, sometimes it's just somebody outside exercising, he's like, do you think they're homeless? I'm like, no, boy, they're just going going on a walk i gotta give you all an embarrassing story i can't wait to tell james and and the whole world this now so we were in new york probably about two three years ago with the with with my oldest son and stacy and we're on the street and some dude was waving a cd or something at me he's like this is my new rap album do you want it do you want it he's right in my face and i didn't want it, but I didn't want to confront him. And so I was like, sure.

And I took it. And he's like, and I'm like 10 feet away. And he starts yelling at me. He's like, bro, you just took my CD. You didn't pay. And I went, you said you gave it to me. And my wife and son were like, you're a moron. If you take it, you got to give it.

He didn't say that. If you stand and watch a street performer, if you do anything, you got to pay them. You got to put money in cash. Yeah, he didn't say that if you stand and watch a street performer If you do anything you got to pay him you got to put money in there They're gonna call you out known that he needed money for this He said take my CD and give it a listen and I was like, okay, so Ken, this is where we're different I'm finding the differences now. I didn't give him money James I walked right back up to him and said I wasn't aware of the terms and I to him and said I wasn't aware of the terms and I handed it back to him.

And my wife is gonna say you traded it for like proximity principle, like a little bar. Right. I should have. Oh boy. I don't know what I'm doing. Hey, if you are tired of this paycheck to paycheck living, which millions and millions and millions of Americans jade, even those that are six figure earners are living paycheck to paycheck according to recent data that I've seen. And you're just sick of that hamster wheel. The answer is one simple word. What would you say it is? Every dollar.

Boom. I don't know that's two words, but it all goes together because it's the best budgeting app in the world. It's our budgeting app and we've got free budgeting trainings this month. This is really, really cool folks. There's no commitment. You're not buying anything. This is a free online training.

We're talking about tens and tens of thousands of people have been doing this, and you're going to learn step by step how to make a budget, stick to a budget, using EveryDollar. And we are taking your Q&A, if you will, not just instructing you, but also back and forth with you. So you can sign up for free at every dollar dot com slash webinar every dollar dot com slash webinar so if that's you I don't know why you wouldn't kick the tires if it doesn't work you can you can bounce off but I think it's a great great idea for you to learn the process of training excuse me of budgeting in a online training seminar

indeed there you go Christopher's up next in Orlando Florida Christopher how can we help hey how's it going? Good. How are you, sir? Good. Better than not dessert. I've heard that somewhere before. We should coin that phrase. That's a good idea. Great, great. So not so serious question, so let's have some fun. With the question, I'm interested to see how you argue this one. And by the way, I'm a long time listener and love everything you do. Thank you. I mean, usually know what they like the back of my thumb.

So really wanted to pick your brain on this one. Oh, you're gonna stump us, Christopher. I've never heard that before. Let's see how this goes. No, no, no. And I wanna give you the facts as well. Okay. As well before, so why should I do baby step four

before I do baby step six for me personally? So for the fact, my wife and I are 23, we make well over 200,000 a year, no debt investing about 8% of our income, which it goes back to my question instead of the 15, mostly in our 401k, just can't turn that down in a little bit of the Roth. We are currently throwing everything we have at the house and expect to pay it off in a little over a year. Every payment we make, and this goes to my question,

we are making a guaranteed 7% return, which is our mortgage. And therefore it does not make sense to put it in the market. And next year or so when we are done paying it off, we plan on throwing everything into investing, which is about 75% of our income. So, so what's your take on this scenario with a guaranteed 7% return? What if it was a 12% mortgage? Okay, so here's where I am with this. You can do that. Do it. I'm not going to stop

you. You feel very secure in going to do that. And so I think you really just want to debate about it. I don't think it's going to be me convincing you to do it our way. I just sense that because you feel so confident about it. So I want to start with that and then I'm gonna tell you what I would do. So if I were you, here's the thing. The truth of the matter is you said this is a year play for you to pay off this mortgage. That's right. It's you're you're doing two very good things. You're paying off debt and you're investing.

I'm glad that you're thinking about both of those. And in this scenario, we're kind of going tit for tat on it. I will say that. But if you asked me my way, my way would be yeah, I would focus very clearly in one direction. I'd put all my income at the one task and I'd focus on that. So in this case, yeah, I'd rather, I'd rather work the steps. I'd get my 15% doing my baby step four. And then after that, I would have this extra money saved. And if you guys are really concerned about it and concerned about a certain percentage, my mentality is let me get both.

Let me go out if I really want that extra, I'll side hustle and bring in whatever I feel spread that I'm missing out on because I was writing down some of your numbers, but I didn't get all of them. And then I would say, okay, I'm gonna do both. I'm gonna have the 15% that I'm investing and I'm getting the benefit of that.

And I'm getting the benefit of paying whatever the number is That you're hoping to get to every single month on the mortgage That's the way my brain works because I do want to get the benefit of that. You're 23 years old You've got a lot of time for compound interest to work for you again The difference of the percentage we could run out the math but you're doing all the right things. And I think that's the way to start this conversation. And if you listen to what I say and go, she's a hack on the radio, I'm not doing what she's

saying, I think you'll still turn out just fine. But if you want my take on it, I think you know, I'm going to tell you to walk the baby steps. And the reason for that is, you don't really know what will come your way, and I really like the idea of saying, okay, I'm investing this money, I'm taking care of my retirement funds, because at some point I am going to retire. I don't know everything about life,

but I know at some point I'm gonna stop working, and I'd wanna make sure that I'm getting the fullness of that for as long as possible. And then, yeah, you're saying it's a year spread on this mortgage. It's kind of a moot point because you've given us a 12 month timeline, but I'd like to play along if I might.

Yeah, play along. Did you get all the numbers? I think I got the numbers, but instead of debating you, Christopher, I'm gonna use an old tactic that's actually more fun when trying to debate and it's to ask questions. So I'm gonna turn it on you since you called us. Is that okay? All right. So you are, give us the rate of return that you are

so excited about on this house. What's the number you gave us? You're very excited about this rate. It's not super 7% mortgage. 7%? I know. It's kind of what I've been going at. All right. And do you happen to know Christopher, what the rate of return has been on the stock market over the last 30 years? Do you have any idea what that is? Yes, I do. What is it? We're talking 10 plus percent. 10 plus percent. Okay. So how do you get yourself into the pretzel that you presented to us about not not investing the additional seven percent that we teach to get you to a total of 15 percent so I'm curious why you're kind of long the long game the long game is the 10% but we're

talking the last three years we've been paying this it's about a million dollar house we're about a year away we talking on three years who knows what the market's gonna be it could be down it could be up. I'm talking to get a 7% and I'm in for the short game guaranteed 7. My first is a long range 10. I'm in that. Like I'm not trying to come to market. My question really is like, if I had, would you rather have 700,000 guaranteed now or a chance at a million. That's kind of the short. I appreciate the question but I'm gonna ask you another question to say why wouldn't you want both which is what Jay just laid out for you. We believe you can have both. You can pay off the house pretty quickly. Yeah. Maybe not as fast.

Yeah. But we're talking about a small amount of money and do you know the difference if you were to invest the 15% like we teach, how much less are you not being able to put towards paying off the house? Real numbers. Yeah. Very, very small. It's not a big deal.

It's more of a theoretical question. I know, but wait a second, Christopher. I mean, I love a good, Christopher, hold on. Hey, hey. No, he's breaking up. All right, Christopher, you said, I love a good, Christopher, hold on. Hey, hey. No, he's breaking up. All right, Christopher, you said you kind of wanted to go back and forth on this and I'm playing ball, okay? You just admitted to me that if you did it our way, 15%,

that it would be a very small amount of money that you would be then not putting towards the house. And so you said, well, Ken, this is short term. And I'm saying there's no viable value in the short term based on what you're asking us. And we're saying, we're always playing, hold on Christopher, I got the mic. Hold on, I got the mic.

You know how they do these presidential debates. I'm still talking. I'm the moderator. We always play the long game. There is not a scenario where we say long game on the side, short game on the front of the stove. So for that reason, we stand by what we say. And they're meant to be done simultaneously. You're doing both and not either or. So I think you've got the wrong context, although you're winning and you're winning big. And I think that's the I think for you, that's going to be the

hard thing to overcome because you are winning and you've got this great income and the horizon on your house is short. And so for you, you're like, whatever, I'm winning. I feel good about what I'm doing. That's why I started the conversation by saying, listen, you're going to do what you're going to do. Yeah, and you're going to be successful. Lightning is not going to strike you because you know, you didn't do exactly the way I teach it.

But if you're asking what me and Ken teach, it's, you should be doing these simultaneously and you should be able to make a lot of headway on your mortgage and get the benefit of investing a nice chunk, 15% to take advantage of that compound interest, which 10, you know, Ken said over the last 30 years, yeah, I think it's like 9.98% or almost 10%. It's been really great. And even in the short term, that money is compounding. You can't look at it apples to apples there. This is about the compounding interest, which again, this isn't our opinion. Anybody with their weight and salt over

economics will explain compound interest. So appreciate the question. Do it our way. Our scripture of the day comes from Isaiah 65 24. Before they call, I will answer. While they are still speaking, I will hear. Our quote of the day from Anne Frank, people can tell you to keep your mouth shut, but that doesn't stop you from having your own opinion.

It's interesting. I wonder what Anne Frank would think of today's world where social media, everybody's got an opinion and they just spread it like wildfire. Even if it doesn't, even if you have no reason to have the opinion, you've got one. Yeah, you do. I was just talking about this today. Oh, you were? Yeah. I don't know if I can say it.

I was just talking about how there's so much out there. Like there's so much BS out there people are just saying whatever I feel like I Am just gonna say what I want to say and I have like does that make sense like I'm like I'm not holding back if y'all are gonna say stuff that's bananas, and I'm gonna hit you with the truth right Why should you every time why should you hold back when when everybody else is not holding exactly? Okay, and especially when you've got something that's worth something to say. I agree. And not just being a hater aid on that anyway. I agree. Good word. Sebastian is up next in Columbia, South Carolina. Sebastian, how can we help?

Hey, Jayden, Ken. Hi. So my aunt and uncle, after my father passed about three years ago, turned my grandmother's estate, which she was a part of, into a trust. So they took away the will, made this trust, and named themselves the only two beneficiaries, leaving out my father and all of his children, me and my siblings. We, and we just found this out very recently after she had passed, after his mother, our grandmother had passed. The question is for us, for me and my siblings, should we legally pursue this? Should we sue our aunt and uncle for doing this three years ago.

They turned the will into a trust. So were they willed everything or were they the, tell me how? I've never heard of this. So originally the will was set up to split her estate amongst her three children, my father and his two siblings. When he passed, very tragically, very suddenly, three years ago, they immediately went to this lawyer. And like I said, we just found this out very recently. And that mean we spent Christmas with them.

Since then, everything's, you know, nice, everybody's getting along. They just never told us what they did back then. Right after he passed, they went to this lawyer and got rid of the will. She was present. So my grandmother was present. But oh, so they got her to sign off on it. Was she within sound mind to do this? She well, they would argue. Yes, I'm sure sure but you think they took advantage of her she 100% there was no conflict between her and my father my father in fact

managed her estate was the power of attorney for many many years I'm over five years since her husband, his father, my grandfather had passed away. So your aunt uncle got her to get in a room and essentially cut the other siblings out of the will. And she signed off on that. And now you're like, Hey, this happened. Nobody was aware of it. This is unfair. Exactly.

That's some lowdown. That's some lowdown dirty stuff right there. Wow. How much is the estate worth? What's it all worth? So she has a house. She has multiple Merrill Lynch brokerage accounts. They were started by the mother of her husband. What are they worth? 50. And in 2020, those are the last documents I saw. they were worth about 8 million. Whoa. So they're just the Nero Lynch account. And so I'm sure since then they've gone up some. Yeah.

And then they've got the house, she, the estate, her house. And I think there's another. Dude, you're going to have to get, you're going to have to get a lawyer. You're going to have to get somebody involved. So if I understand this right, you all were initially supposed to get some of this? Is that what I'm understanding? Yeah, in the will, it was equally split between the three siblings. Which are his, which is his father and then aunt and uncle.

But where does he fall? And my point is why, I didn't hear anything, unless I misunderstood, where you all were supposed to get anything. So whatever was going to go to my father would then pass to him. Was supposed to then go on to the children or move on to the, or. And your father tragically, I'm sorry, that may be where I missed it.

Yeah. Okay, all right, I got you. All right. And so when that happened. His mother. Say that again? I was just saying he-deceased his mother. Say that again? I was just saying he had pre-deceased his mother three years ago and she had just passed. So her estate is basically the... Okay. What's being right. Here's my... Okay, all right, now I'm caught up on that part. My only

question is, Sebastian, do you feel like you guys have a case here, given the fact that the mom signed off on it? They're saying that she was a sound mind. You have to prove she wasn't. I know. So that's what I'm saying. Here's why I'm going in this direction. This could cost you and your siblings a lot of money in a prolonged fight.

Do you feel like you've got a legit case? We want to feel like we have a legit case. Well, I want a Lamborghini. I mean, it's two and a half million dollars at stake. I also understand wanting to go after it. I do, but I, but I, but it's, yeah, you're right. But I mean, if this is a long protracted up, I, I guess my point is, is it's worth sitting down with some really good lawyers. I would do some homework to go who's the best of the best in our area at this or if I've got to go out

of state. I don't even know if it can be an out of state. Does it have to be? You got to do some homework and then I'm going to sit with some people and go you make the case as to whether or not we should let this go or make the case that you think we can win this money and at that point your siblings should make a decision but this could be a wild goose chase that gets very costly is the only thing I'm pointing out. No absolutely I did take a video because I had a very strange feeling about my aunt and uncle after the years that my father had passed I did take a video of my grandmother and I we sat down and we discussed her will

and what she wants with her estate. And I just took a video because I wanted it in recording. And she very confidently states that she wants her estate to be split amongst her children. How long ago was this? So this was in September September 2024, three months, four months before she passed. I took this video of us.

How long, okay, alright, and then how long, how long, when that video was made, how long had it been that the will was changed that she supposedly agreed to? Two and a half years had passed since they had gone to the lawyer after my father had passed. How long had it been that the will was changed that she supposedly agreed to? Two and a half years had passed since they'd gone to the lawyer after my father had passed. So you don't have anything on video with you going, grandma, ma, here's, I don't know if you know what happened, but my aunt and uncle are saying that you, did you ever have that conversation where you asked her point blank, did you agree to change the will? Because they've got you on. you agree to change the will? Because they've got you on... Unfortunately, I am, this is, this is the, I mean it's not, it's not the hope that, well it is a hope because we believe, I mean she was in memory care unit since my father passed. She did

not remember what she ate for breakfast. Okay, so my point is, the answer to my question is no. You don't have her on video saying... But he does have record that she has memory issues and life, which is good. I think this is an uphill battle. I'm not saying that it's not a battle worth fighting. I really don't have a strong opinion on what you should do other than what I've already told you, which is certainly run this thing out a little bit. And if you aren't convinced by a lawyer that they think they can win it,

then I would not do this. This could get nasty. And understand when you do this, this is an all in commitment, Jade, family-wise. Well, it's already a hot mess. Like once the aunt and uncle did this, it already, y'all are not doing the cha-cha slide together at the reunion.

But let me say this. We don't know that they did anything. We don't know that. We really don't know. We don't? I don't think so. What do we think happened? They could have sat down with mom

and she could have been like, you know what, that's a good point. Since he's not, since I've lost him, I'm gonna give it to you not the grandkids I'm just saying we don't... You are right Ken you are correct on that yes we were speculating based on what I've heard yeah we're speculating and so gotta be real careful with that is what I'm getting you're right you're right you're right this is a depth charge we're dropping below the water and it's gonna rock the boat that's all I'm getting at I haven't heard enough to say this is a depth charge. We're dropping below the water and it's gonna rock the boat. That's all I'm getting at. I haven't heard enough to say this is a no-brainer.

So... I'm... I'm... I'm... I almost said... I can't say the things I want to... Don't say it. I know. I'm calling a lawyer is all I'm saying.