The Ramsey Show - Find Out How To Make Your Money Work for You!

Episode Date: April 26, 2024

💵 Sign-up for EveryDollar today - The simplest way to budget for your life! Jade Warshaw & Ken Coleman answer your questions and discuss: "I need a car but I'm still paying off debt," "We disagree on what kind of mortgage to get," "Should I go back to college?" "How do I get my wife on board with the Baby Steps?" "How long should I help my grown son?" Support Our Sponsors: NetSuite BetterHelp Zander Insurance Next Steps 📞 Have a question for the show? Call 888-825-5225 Weekdays from 2-5pm ET or click here! 🏦 Take Your 3-Minute Money Assessment - Get a personalized money plan! 🍎 Enter the Teacher Appreciation Giveaway 🏠 Find a Ramsey Trusted Real Estate Agent 🎟️ It's game on! Get your ticket for Total Money Makeover Weekend.  Listen to more from Ramsey Network 🎙️ The Ramsey Show   🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 💰 George Kamel 💼 The Ken Coleman Show 📈 EntreLeadership Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy

Девочка-пай Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is The Ramsey Show. It's where we help you win in your life, specifically win with your money, winning in your work, and winning in your relationships. The phone number for you to get coached up today is 888-825-5225, your work and winning in your relationships. The phone number for you to get coached up today is

888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. I'm Ken Coleman, a Ramsey personality, and I'm joined by another Ramsey personality, the fabulous Jade Warshaw joins me this hour. And together, we're going to help you. Jade is our money expert. I'll chime in if she decides to let me maybe, Rachel, yesterday, let me say a few things. It's always exciting. And I'm the work guy. In other words, when David said for decades that your income is your greatest wealth building tool, I want to help you win at work. When you're winning at work, you're making more money. When you're making more money, we get through the baby steps faster and live the life we want to live. So how can I help in those areas? We team up. Jade weighs in on that as well. And so let's get to it. Melanie's going to start us off in the Big Apple, New York City. Melanie,

how can we help today? Hi, thank you all. Thank you guys all for that you do. Sorry, I'm really nervous. You're've been doing this show every day for the past six months and I've paid off $10,000 in debt, cut out all the cards, sold stuff, do my side hustle, work overtime. I check the EveryDollar app every day. I'm on track to being debt-free by my 30th birthday this August, which is a huge goal and accomplishment for me. That's awesome. I do have a paid off Jeep that I've driven to the ground for the past 11 years. I've already put $2,000 into repairs since I started being Ramsey this October. The entire bottom carriage is rotting and oil is leaking into the engine which would cost thousands of dollars to fix and it

still wouldn't be guaranteed that more issues wouldn't come up true i'm still gung-ho with the baby steps preach them to my friends and family but now i'm faced with the decision to continue dumping money into the theater or taking out a car loan on a new to me car no last me another 10 years no not car loan no no wait wait wait wait that will last me another 10 years. No, not car loan. No, no, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Let's talk about these options before you keep going because I don't want this to hang out in your mind a second longer. Your option is not to keep the Jeep or get a car note. That's not the options. The options are to keep the Jeep or to temporarily pause the baby steps, stack up some cash and buy yourself a junker in cash.

That's your options, right? Those are definitely options that I keep on ruminating, but just logically and realistically to go from this beater that I've already put so much money into to then going into another beater just logically and realistically doesn't make sense to me. Where do you live? I live in North Jersey. North Jersey. How far do you commute every day? My commute's not far, but I do need a car to get around. I just asked you, how far is your commute? It's a five-minute commute.

Wait a sec. Okay. Okay. So I would like to throw that option back to Jade. That's a legit option. Yes. Here's the thing. I want you to see where I'm coming from.

Where I'm coming from, giving you the option, eliminating the option of debt, is I'm simply trying to honor all of the work that you just laid out that you've done. You laid out beautifully all the sacrifice you've made, how diligent you've been, how much you've done in order to get yourself to the place you are now. And I want to honor that by not saying yes to you going back into debt. And so that's where I'm coming from. Now, here's the thing. All vehicles are not created equal. And you may have had a lemon before. That doesn't mean your next car is going to be a lemon. I've only drived used cars with 100,000 plus miles on them. And I think, I mean, recently, I haven't had any lemons. So I don't want you to think that

just because your car has now gotten too old to keep that if you were to buy another used car in cash, that it would automatically be in that same time, you know, that same kind of frame of vehicle. Does that make sense? And I get it like it can be easy to think that, but it's simply not the case. So your Jeep right now, is it a Jeep Liberty, Jeep Wrangler? What kind of car is it? Because I used to have a Jeep Liberty and it did, you know, that's not the car that you want to go the difference. It's a Liberty. That is, I'm just going to be honest. That car has a lot of special features. Like that's not the car that you want to go the distance.

I'm looking for like, give me a Honda Civvy. You know what I'm saying? Like find. What's your locale? I'm going to pull up while she's talking. I'm going to pull up some used cars. I'm going to help you out. What would I put in?

Used cars for sale under $5,000 in? Wayne. Wayne, New Jersey. Okay. Wayne, New Jersey. So we're going to help you look. This is Ken's specialty. But truly, we need a Nissan.

We need a Honda. We need one of those brands. Those are the brands that are going to go the distance with mileage. The Jeep, unless it's a Wrangler, it's probably not going to cut it. First of all, I'm not knocking Jeep. You should never buy a high-miles Jeep. They do not have a good record. That's not the one.

Of course. My struggle, and I've also thought about this, of getting a $5,000 beater or whatever, I would still have to take out a personal loan, and that would be at a much higher interest rate as opposed to taking out a car loan. Why do you feel like you have to take out a loan? Let's go through the numbers right quick. So you said you're going to be debt free by August. How much money, how much margin are you putting every single month onto your debt? A thousand or more every month. to two thousand or closer to fifteen hundred

fifteen hundred okay so if you're putting fifteen hundred what would it look like if we said okay this is an emergency we're going to go in and we're going to save two months we're going to temporarily pause the baby steps for three months and do fifteen thousand and then another fifteen thousand we're going to put forty4,500 onto this next car. What would that look like? And then you don't owe anybody anything. You're driving a $4,500 car temporarily until you pay off your debt. That pushes your debt-free date from August, September, October to November or December. And that's just part of it. I don't want you to view that as some sort of a failure or some sort of a loss. Like that's, these are the things that are part of walking

the baby steps that, that most people encounter at some point. And it's not a, it's not, you know, a negative step backwards. It's, this is part of it. I mean, I did that yet. We had to stop and buy another vehicle. And it's funny because we had a Jeep Liberty and that thing just, it didn't keep going for us. So I'm just going to give you three options here, Melanie, real quick. Because by the way, what's that? Did you say you can't hear us anymore? Did we lose her?

I think she said I can't talk to you. I can't hear you guys anymore. Oh, no, she said she can't hear us. Melanie, can you hear us? We're going to have the guys in the booth are going to fix us. Hello? Melody? Nothing.

Huh. Well, that's a shame. Well, let's see if they can. Well, while we're waiting, let me just pay this off, okay? That, Jade, you're right. So I punched in on cars.com, just one of the services. We've got a 2012 Nissan Versa. I'm going to put her on hold until we figure it out. We've got a 2012 Nissan Versa. We'll put her on hold until we figure it out. We've got a

2012 Nissan Versa for $49.99. If you walk in with cash, I'll guarantee you can walk out of there with maybe $3,800 on that. If I walked in with cash. I don't think so, Ken. Cash doesn't do what it used to do. Why? Why do you have to disagree with me?

I'm just saying they want you to finance. I don't want to get her out of... She's got cash. I know, but they want you. She's got cash, so $4,999. All right. We've got a Buick Lucerne, $4,900. We've got a Pontiac G6 for $4,400.

All of these less than 120,000 miles. Go with that Nissan. It's doable. And she could walk for two or three months by the way five minutes come on where there's a will there's a way this is the ramsey show what does the future hold for business ask nine experts and you'll get 10 different answers economic growth or a recession business taxes will go up or down. AI will help us work or it will replace us all. But there's no such thing as a crystal ball.

That's why more than 40,000 businesses have future-proofed themselves with NetSuite by Oracle, the number one cloud enterprise resource planning system. Ramsey Solutions uses NetSuite, and you should too. Whether your company's earning millions or even hundreds of millions, NetSuite helps you respond to immediate challenges and seize your biggest opportunities. With one unified business management suite, there's only one source of truth for the visibility and control you need to make quick decisions. NetSuite's real-time insights and forecasting help you see into the future with actionable data. And when you're closing

the books in days, not weeks, you can spend less time looking backward and more time focusing on what's next. And speaking of what's next, download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning at netsuite.com slash Ramsey. It's free at netsuite.com slash Ramsey. Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. So excited that you are with us. I'm Ken Coleman. Jade Warshaw joins me. And we are here for you.

888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. They want me to talk about the new book. And it is available for pre-sale. It's called Find the Work You're Wired to Do. And it has an assessment with it, the Get Clear Assessment. So both of these tools work together. What does the assessment do?

Oh, it's right there on the screen. There you go. I don't have to do that. I don't have to show anybody. The assessment helps me answer the question, who am I and what could I do? And then the book with it helps me figure out where I can do it and how. So these are important questions. Who am I? What do I want to do? Where can I do it and how do I get there? And so the book takes about 45 minutes to read. It's a companion to the assessment results to have a professional purpose statement. So this is about self-awareness, which gives you

confidence to do the thing you're wired to do. And that's where you have the chance to make the most money. So you can pre-order it right now, ramsay solutions.com slash store. And I'm excited because when you pre-order it, we're not giving you a bunch of other stuff. You're going to get the ebook with a, an assessment code. You're going to get the e-book with an assessment code. You're going to get the audio book with an assessment code and the hard copy with an assessment code. So three books, three codes, all one price. I think it's too good a deal, but I'm not in charge.

I just do what they say. It's called Find the Work You're Wired to Do, and this is if you want to max out your income. So you can get it now. It comes out May 7th. You can preorder it now wherever books are sold or RamseySolutions.com slash store. All right, to Salt Lake City, Utah is where we're going next. Carson joins us.

Carson, how can we help today? Hi. I am a young realtor, and I was just curious on how do I make the most of my money to prepare me for my future? How do you make the most of your money? Yes, to prepare me for my future how do you make the most of your money yes okay prepare me for my future all right jay take it away i think the i think the crux of that is always going to start with the budget are you a budgeter do you have a budget yeah okay are you using our every dollar budget um i am not currently but i am about to get it okay i would matter of fact we won't let you leave this call until you get it um with every dollar budget is great it just it um it helps

you create daily habits which is a big part of budgeting a lot of people kind of set their budget and then forget about it and it's like well i did my budget for the year ken and they're not thinking about the fact that every month holds something different your goals are constantly changing you're accomplishing goals it's time to move on to the fact that every month holds something different. Your goals are constantly changing. You're accomplishing goals. It's time to move on to the next. So every dollar will help you with that. So that's thing one is the budget.

Thing two is the way you make the most of your money is you know where you're going with your money. You have a clear direction. And so the next point would be, okay, well, let's look at what our goals are. Where are we currently in this moment and where do we need to get to? So let's talk a little bit about that. Tell us a little bit about your finances. Do you have debt? Are you trying to buy a house? Tell us what you're trying to accomplish. I'm debt-free, and I've just been trying to save up for a home in the future and

any of my business expenses. Okay. So first off, we want to keep the business expenses a little bit separate from the personal expenses. And so I would always advise that if you're doing your small business or you're contracting in that way. Do you have any money saved? Yes, I do. How much? I have a few thousand like two thousand or eight thousand like two thousand okay just for personal savings but then i have five thousand set aside for an emergency fund okay so we've got seven thousand dollars saved is that would you call that three or

six months or how many months of expenses is that for you? Six months. Okay. So let's group all that together. The way we would teach it is we save three to six months of expenses and that is our emergency fund. We only touch it if there's an emergency. Tickets to Taylor Swift would not be considered an emergency. Quick question. $7,000 equals six months of your expenses, Carson? Yes, because I'm just a young kid. How old are you? I just turned 19 the other day. Okay, you're living at home? Yes. Okay, all right. Just getting started. I was like, okay, I want to make sure I understand the full range of this phone call. Okay, so you're starting out. Okay, very good. I'm sorry,

Jade. No, keep digging. This is gold, Ken. Yeah. Well, I mean, you're going to explain the baby steps and all that, and you have, the investing part of this, but that's, you know, you stepping out in early on and learning the power of investing. And I know you love your investment calculator. I know you love to demo that. I think you need to set him free and show him what it could be. Because as a real estate professional, how much have you made so far as a real estate agent? I'm about to make close on my first deal. Nice.

Very good. So very first home. What do you stand to make on that house? It should be upwards in like the probably $20,000 to $50,000 because I sell ranches. Come on, Carson. That's awesome. Come on, man. That's awesome stuff.

Okay. So 19 years old. So now play with that number, Jade. All right. Here, listen. $20,000 to $50,000. I'm going to dig a little bit because I want to know more. So you start doing real estate.

You closed your first deal. Was this like you went out and grinded and, and got, you know, you got the offer. Was this family that was like, Hey, we're selling this land. Let's, let's use cousin because he's trying to start out. Tell us more about this deal and tell us if you feel like you've got a lot of irons in the fire. This is just from like my broker mentoring me and helping me. And so I was just able to hop in it and just, you know, kind of had a burning desire and just went and grinded to find some deals and they helped me along the way. That's awesome. So with any type of profession that's got the irregular income,

you know, it is important, A, that on the business side of things that you're keeping that money separate, you're making sure that your business has savings. You're making sure that you personally have savings and figuring out early on, okay, what does it cost me to do business on a monthly basis? What does it cost me to advertise, to print out flyers, to drive people around town? All of those things, I want you to start keeping track of what it costs you because those are your business expenses and you need to keep some of that money in your business in order to make it run, right? And then on the other side, you can start looking at, okay, how much of this do I get to pay myself? How much am I keeping? And because it is a regular, I love having almost, aside from your three to six months, I love in an irregular income, just having almost an extra month's worth.

It's almost like you're a month ahead all of the time. Yeah, I agree with that. I agree. And I would start investing now. So let's say that he makes $40,000. Let's split the difference. You said between $20,000 and $50,000. So let's call it $35,000, Jade. Okay. So walking through, based on what you just said, what he would do, a sample, if he clears $35,000. Okay. So let's say you clear $35,000. Let's say that you are taking out your taxes.

So you need to make sure that you're estimating your quarterly amounts. And so what I would say is 25% to 30% of what you make, always set it aside for taxes. So that's thing one. Then after that, you can look at it and go, okay, what am I paying myself out of this? And whatever, let's say you pay yourself 15,000, right? And now you're going, okay, I need to invest 15% of my income. That's your income. Investing 15%, you can work with one of our smart investor pros, but essentially that's what you're doing. If you don't have Carson set up where you can invest, whether it's you

could start with a Roth IRA, but eventually you're going to want to do something through your business, whether it's a SEP or a simple 401k, something like that, where you're able to really take advantage of all that you could be contributing on a yearly basis, just as if you worked for a company that was offering you a retirement plan. So that's what we're looking to do. That's what Ken is getting at. So every time you sell a house, every time you get paid, you are taking out your quarterly estimates because you're an independent contractor,

you're paying yourself and then you're paying 15%, you're contributing 15% to investing. And that's the step you're in. If you ever get to the point where you say, you know what, I am ready to move out on my own. I'm ready to purchase a property of my own. And it's time for me to save for a down payment. Then if you wanted to, you could pause that 15% that you're investing and put all of your financial efforts to saving your down payment, especially if you think that it's going to take you more than, you know, if you can do it quickly, if it's going to take you more than two years,

I probably wouldn't pause it, but that's what we're looking at. He's got a lot to focus on. And I think that 19 closing on his first ranch. And I got to tell you, I like this ranch business that could get really good. If you look at his growth over the next 10, 15 years, kind of of money he's going to be able to make. Great job. Thank you so much, Carson, for the call. We're excited about your future. All right, we're going to take a quick break, but we'll be right back. She's Jade Warshaw. I'm Ken Coleman. This is the season for Halloween. It's October, we're wearing costumes and we're wearing masks.

So if you haven't started planning your costume yet, get on it. And while you're thinking about it, I want you to be honest. A lot of us hide ourselves. We hide our true selves behind costumes and masks all the time. We do this at work, we do this around our friends, we do this around our families. We even do this when we look at ourselves in the mirror. I know because I've been there multiple times in my life and it's the worst. If you feel like you're stuck hiding behind masks and costumes all the time, if you find yourself hiding from your true self, I want you to consider talking with a therapist. Therapy is a place where you can be honest, where you can talk to somebody else and reflect and learn, and you can accept all the parts of yourself over time and start living an authentic

life. Masks and costumes should be for Halloween parties, not for our emotions and our true selves. And if you're considering therapy, try calling my friends at BetterHelp. BetterHelp is 100% online therapy. You can talk with your therapist anywhere so it's convenient for you and your schedule. Just fill out a short online survey and you'll be matched with a licensed therapist. Plus, you can switch therapist at any time for no additional cost.

Take off the costumes and take off the mask with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash deloney to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp.com slash Deloney to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp.com slash Deloney. Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. Jade Warshaw is with me, and we are here for you. 888-825-5225, taking your money questions and your work-related questions. You're a professional, and if you're not winning or you're looking to

maybe switch gears, start something, we'll take those questions as well today. All right, Jennifer is going to join us now in Trenton, New Jersey. Jennifer, how can we help? Hi, Dave. Hi, Ken. So my husband and I are kind of in disagreement about the 15 versus 30-year mortgage. He feels that if we just throw the same amount at it, then 30 years is fine, but it's not obligated by that higher payment,

because it is a higher payment for a less amount of time. I'm all Ramsey and let's go 15. And how long has this discussion been happening? Well, probably at least a month. We're looking at buying a new home. We currently are in a home and we're going to sell it and then purchase a new home. So that's where the talk has come from. Cause I'm just like, I really just want to bang it out as quick as possible. Can I ask a question?

So obviously if you have a 15 year mortgage, the mortgage is higher, like you're paying more per month, which in many cases could cause you to have to get a less expensive house so that you can afford it. Is that playing any role in this? Or are you saying no matter what, here's the house we want, or here's what we want to spend. The only caveat is whether we do it on a 15 year or a 30. I'm just curious. Is it that your husband wants more house for the money? So we have a realistic house amount that we're not going to go over for our, for our income.

So I think we can afford it. The 15 year, because like I said, like it, so it's like 350. We're trying to stay at 350. Okay. 350,000. And I don't think it would be that much higher.

I think he's thinking like he wants to be able to take vacations and do this, that and the other. Got it. We'll still be able to do that. We'll just have less play money. Well, I think that here's the first parameter. And I mean, I'm going to give you my opinion on this. But the first parameter that you guys have to agree with is that the mortgage is going to be no more than 25 percent of your take home pay after taxes. That's the first thing. And if you if you do that, then you will have money for the other things, saving for vacations and having a good time and having a good life. It's

when you creep beyond the 25, 30 percent range that it starts to get tighter and tighter and tighter. And then it's like, oh my goodness. So that's the first thing to agree on. The second part of this that I would say is you guys have to be aligned on what your goals are for your life. Because here's what I know. The people, if you want, if you say to yourself, we want to pay off this house. And if we have a 15 year mortgage, we're going to do that faster. It's just baked in, right? It's 15 years less. Then why would you say, well, we'll get a 30 year and treat it like a 15 year. Then you're already saying, I plan to not do this. Like I plan to give myself the freedom to say no some months and not pay that extra payment.

And the moment you do that is the moment when you start slip sliding. And before you know it, you've been paying for a house for 30 years. Right. I agree with you. Well, the issue here though is you're saying things like, I think we should, and I think this needs to be more of a conversation with real numbers. Like you guys need to get down and get spreadsheeted out, or if you write it down, that's the way you guys do it. But you have got to cast a vision for him because he's just not comfortable. You've already, I think, really nailed what's going on.

He wants some more margin. You're going, I don't need as much margin as he does. So this is a relationship issue, not a money issue. And we got to solve the relationship part, then the money will take care of itself. So you guys got to sit down and run these numbers out as best you can with the 15 year and the 30 and begin to walk through the stuff that he wants margin for, the stuff that you don't care about, he cares about. And so that's where this comes down to. And so you two getting on the same page as to this is how it's going to affect our life. This will be our reality. If we do a 15 year and him getting comfortable with that, that's where you've got to get him.

And you're not going to convince him. You're going to have to walk with him. Does that make sense? Yeah, it does. How old are you guys? I am 47 and he is 60. Okay. This is the argument right here. Does he want to be paying off a home when he's 90? No. This is the argument right here. Does he want to be paying off a home when he's 90? No, I didn't think so. And I know you don't want to be paying off a home when you're 77. That's not good enough argument. But if she's worried about margin, he's worried about margin. But that if he's worried about margin, like I said, the first thing is the 25 percent.

And that's where you've got to go and do your homework and find out if we do this same deal at a 15-year fixed rate mortgage, what percentage of our take-home is that going to make our payment? Because to Ken's point, you haven't been able to say yes or no on that. And so if he's concerned with margin, my guess is that the 15-year would take you over that amount. That's my guess. I don't know for sure, but just based off of some of what you've said. So that's thing one. But then thing two is, okay, now let's meet in the middle and go, okay, that means we need to find a less expensive house because I don't know the rest of the picture. I mean, I could dig a little deeper. It might be a can of worms, but do you guys have other debt? No, that's why I think he thinks the 30-year is fine

because we paid off $60,000 worth of debt in 17 months. We were exalting. We have no debt. Okay, that's awesome. Why are you selling the current house and buying something else? It's too big. Okay, it's too big. So how much are you going to make on the sale of that house?

Hopefully $400,000. So you're buying... Wait a second. You said you were going to stay in the $350,000 range. If you're going to make $400,000, why not pay cash? Oh, we totally could. Well, then why are we having the last five-minute conversation? It doesn't make any sense.

I'm not trying to be unkind, but we would have said immediately, there is no 15-year, 30-year conversation. If you walk away with $400 after you pay your realtor's fee, you're probably darn close to having the exact amount to pay it off. And then you guys are really vacationing. What are we missing, Stephanie? I still owe on the current mortgage. No, but Jay just asked you, what will you walk away with in the sale of the current house?

Oh, no. Okay. I misunderstood. That's okay. Okay. So we currently owe about $180. Okay. And it's worth?

We sold it for $400. Okay. Well, that's $220 gross. Right. And then we got to pay the realtor. Yeah. So you still have a massive down payment. Right.

So I think you're fine. Let's say you put $180 down on this next house. That's almost half. So have you run the numbers on a 15 year on that amount of money? That would be very affordable. I still think he's like, but here's the problem. You're,

you're operating in assumptions. This entire call has been assumption based and we're not getting on you. We're, we're coaching you to say you've got to sit down and actually on a computer go, all right, let's look at whatever the 350 minus 180 is. I'm not that good at math that quick, but we put that number in, the difference, and we see what the current 15-year mortgage rate is, and it will spit out a number for you. And then you sit down with your husband and go, hey, babe, a 15-year mortgage on this

balance is this much per month. you've got to be dealing in reality not concepts and right now i love that you you're all in on ramsey but until you start putting real numbers next to our theories and our philosophies he's not going to get on board listen i'm going to try to type it in for you right now i was hoping you were doing that i'm stalling with my lecture keep keep stalling listen you're putting 51 down 15 you're fixed let's say the rate is uh this is saying 6.5 i feel like it's going to be closer to seven so i'm gonna change that um so this is saying that if you were to do this um and it's estimating some taxes and insurance in here um it's saying that your total would be two thousand

dollars two thousand seventy four dollars a month so only you know what percentage of your take-home pay that is okay it's estimating 321 for property taxes 125 for home insurance and by the way i'm on ramsey solutions.com using the home payment uh mortgage calculator so that's all i'm doing you need to get clear as ken coleman would say yes and get these numbers this is what you're presenting because the hubs get clear you do not want to retire with a home payment okay and i know you know that but the key is making your husband understand that stephanie thanks for the call do what we tell you to do it's going to be a much easier conversation this is the ramsey show one of the questions i get all the time is which life insurance company should i use for my term life policy a valid question since there are hundreds of companies out there with rates all

over the place and riders and add-ons that are simply a waste of money you need to get this done and make the right decision. That's why the only company I use and have recommended for over 25 years is Zander Insurance. Zander is a broker who shops the top term life companies for you and finds the best rates available from the only plans I recommend. They also save you time. Whether you want to work online, over the phone, or via text. Their team will cater to your needs and help you make the right decision. This is an absolute

necessity and Zander has made the process easy and convenient. Call them at 800-356-4282 or visit zander.com for instant online quotes. Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. Glad you're with us today. I'm Ken Coleman. Jade Warshaw joins me. Phone number is 888-825-5225. Let's go to Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Bo is there. Bo, how can we help? Hey, guys. So my family owns a construction company. We do earth moving and I just graduated last year and I did one semester of school and I'm just so, you know, I dropped out and I'm just so torn on going back to school or just keep doing working. So I didn't know what y'all thought about that. Sure. What made you drop out? I don't know. I kind of just sat down with my mom and dad and they kind of just didn't think I would really need the degree.

I was doing civil engineering, so it was pretty difficult for me. Okay, and so mom and dad were in support. We all kind of sat down and said, eh, maybe it's not for me, and you agreed, they agreed. Is that what I'm hearing? Yeah, my dad owns the company, so he was more like, you know, you don't really need the degree. And I think mom was kind of more play it safe, you know, go to school. But I kind of just listened to my dad, to be honest. Now, is the plan at this point, and you're only 19, is the plan to work for the company and eventually take over? Or just you've got a job now, and we're going to see how it plays out?

Yeah, the plan would eventually be for me to take over the company maybe four or five years down the road. Well, then I would not get any education that is not tied to something that will specifically make you better at running your family company one day. And so if you and dad both come to the conclusion that you don't need a degree at a traditional school and you just need the school of hard knocks and your dad teaching you and bringing you along, then no, I would never darken the door of college at all in this scenario. And by the way, my general philosophy is when people ask me this is I think it's two questions on the degree degree or no degree the Shakespeare thing is this the question right

that's the question so it's is a degree the only way to do what I want to do or is a degree the best way to do what I want to do and it feels like a really hard no for both of those questions for you so it's consistent with what I've said for anybody in any field. Yeah, I was kind of torn because I kind of eventually want to get into developing land. And so what I was studying was a civil engineer degree, and that would give me the ability to basically make plans where I could eventually develop the land into a subdivision or commercial homes, stuff like that. Well, wasn't that what you were pursuing and it was too hard? Yeah, I don't know. I think he really just wanted me to, because he's been doing it for 40, 50 years, and I

think he kind of just wants to take a lesser role and give it to me. I understand, but you're kind of, it looks like you're flip-flopping on me on the phone here. So it was like, hey, I sat down and talked to dad. It was hard. I didn't like it. We agreed I didn't need it. Now you're going, well, I was leaning towards it. So I think you can learn how to develop land without ever going to a classroom and getting a civil engineering

degree. I think that. I think you know that. Yeah. So has your dad done it? No, he went to school. He didn't finish. His dad was the one who started the company, and he got sick, and he had to come back home. Do you guys know people locally that develop land? Yeah, and that was basically the other thing. I would just buy the piece of land and basically contract out the civil engineering part. That, but isn't it possible, Bo, at the young age that you're at, that you can begin to hang out with and spend time with these friends of your dad or friends of your family that are really successful developers? And couldn't you pick up a lot of information from them over time? Yes, you're correct.

So I just don't think school is the play for you. But here's the great news. If that changes and the answers to those questions become yes, then go back. But right now, you need to learn how to run this business. The best way for you to learn how to run this business is to be working with dad day in and day out. I don't want to ever throw some potential negative thing out there, but the bottom line is none of us are promised tomorrow. If I was in your shoes and I was the eventual owner is none of us are promised tomorrow. And so if I was in your shoes and I was the eventual owner, I would not waste any time. I'd be learning everything I could.

I'd become a human sponge around your dad. You're going to develop your own management style. You're going to develop your own systems. And now's the best time to learn. So no, I wouldn't go back to school now. Make sense? Okay. All right, man. Thank you so much. Yeah, I appreciate the call. So good. Stephanie is now joining us in Atlanta, Georgia. Stephanie, how can we help? Hey there. My husband wants to retire next year and has talked about pulling out of his 401k to pay off our house. Uh-oh. Okay. Well, let's talk about it. How old's your husband? He has just turned 60. Okay. How old are you? I will be 44 next month. Okay.

And do you guys combine your, is your money combined? Yes. Yeah. I mean, we split expenses. We keep separate accounts, but yeah, his money is my money. My money is his. Okay. I'm going with you on that.

So you're saying he wants to pull from your collective retirement and pay off the mortgage. So can you tell me collectively how much money you guys have in your nest egg at this point? I was trying to get a number from him. I think it's probably about $500,000 combined in 401ks. Any other money? We have a rainy day fund that's about six months of living expenses. Okay, so you got your emergency fund. And how much will it take to pay off the mortgage?

$130,000. $130,000. Okay, so essentially my thought here is this is going to double in seven years. So if he never touched it, it would be a million in seven years. He'd be 67 and you'd be uh 52 53 and so that you know and if he pays 180 towards his mortgage same thing's going to take place you said 180 sorry 130 130 mortgage okay so

i think what he's trying to do i'm and you can correct me i think what he's trying to do is clear all debt so that he can kind of be at peace okay yep then my next question is before I'm not saying yes or no yet I'm just trying to get the information so then my next question is are you going to continue to work and if so what's your income I will continue to work and I make about 100100,000 a year with a notable bonus in August. Okay. So you're going to continue working. What will he, his retirement, tell me about that. Is he military? Is it just this 401k? Tell me more about his retirement and what he takes the full pension that's nine hundred dollars a month approximately i believe and um he will do something whether it be working at home depot or he'll get a job for a while until he starts collecting social security and i don't know

what that amount is okay so i feel like looking at the numbers and looking at what you talked about i don't think that he has to do this i think think that if you guys buckle down, you can have this paid off in the next two to three years if you guys go crazy. If you say that, hey, he's getting this $900, I'm working, I get $100K plus bonuses, plus he's going to be doing something, I got to believe that between all of that, you guys can find, I don't know, almost $200,000. How much are your bonuses?

It ranges between 5% and 7%. Okay. How much are your bonuses? It ranges between five and seven percent. Okay. So is that fair enough? Think about that. It could be a lifestyle change, but I mean, it's a reasonable option. We like to travel. Yeah, but what's your mortgage payment? $1,200. $1,200. And so how much would you guys put extra into that, Jade? What's the number you're suggesting they put over and above that? Well, I think it's up to them because this is about intentionality. Now, if he's working at Home Depot, I mean, what do you think he's going to pull?

Oh, I don't know, but he's been putting an extra $200 to $400 in, I believe, for the past several months. $200 to $400 in what? Into the mortgage to try and pay it off early. So we're already starting to do that. Yeah, but it's not all of a sudden this big pinch. My point is, if he's working plus he's pulling a pension, it's not like it's going to be, what's his current income? I believe he's around 70. So let's look at it like this. Can you guys live off of your income? Yes. Okay. So if he says, I'm not doing the job I was doing, so I'm essentially retiring from that job,

but I'm going to make it a point to make $43,000 a year. If he does that, you can pay, and we take all of his money and throw it at the mortgage, you'll be done in three years. And you're working. So it's not like you guys are traveling all the time. You only get so much vacation. I think you guys are saving up for the vacation. You're doing that. And to Jade's point, you're piling everything on the house. Here's the deal. That 401k, as Jade said, is going to double and he's only 60. Then you got social security. If you wait until 70, I would just sit on that. I would not use it to pay off the house. We're both in agreement on that. You're going to win big. So good stuff. Good hour, Jade Warshaw. Thank you very much. James Childs, our fearless leader and the merry band of people

behind the glass that keep us on the air. Thank you. This is the Ramsey Show. Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is the Ramsey Show where we help you win in your life. We want you to win in your money, win at work, and win with your relationships. 888-825-5225 is the phone number. That's 888-825-5225 is the phone number. That's 888-825-5225. Jade Warshaw is with me. I'm Ken Coleman, and we are together for you this hour.

Jade will lead off on your money questions, and I'm here to help you at work, and you're winning with your income. How do I make more income? I want to get promoted. I want to start something. I'm here to help with those questions because we want you to increase that income. Let's go to Hayden, who starts us off this hour in Denver, Colorado. Hayden, how can we help?

Hey, guys. So I'm 18 right now. I'm attending a state college. I'm racking up about $40,000 in student loans a year. I've always wanted to be a veterinarian, which would be another $250,000 student debt. So I'd have about $500,000 in student loans at the end of this. I've started changing my thinking towards opening up my own dog grooming business. Startup costs would be about $40,000. I could maybe make up to $50,000 a year. I was wondering what you guys

would think about me dropping out. Well, I'm not your dad, but I would drop out once I knew if I should drop out. And so just because we feel a pivot going away from veterinarian, I'd want to walk through all the different options you know i think you've got a love of pets that's probably driving this veterinarian choice is that fair yeah that's for sure and then now you went man i'm staring at that mountain of debt which by the way just a quick commentary jade it just pisses me off for this young man for him that that's the kind that's the barrier to get in to be a vet it's just it's a racket it's an absolute racket and it's sad it's really sad but we won't that's a whole

separate phone call um so so you started thinking all right uh what else can i do with animals and the dog grooming thing has presented itself how why is it $40,000 in the startup cost? What are you paying $40,000 for to be a dog groomer? It would be supplies, maybe a van to drive around and do it in, just overall bills and stuff. Can I suggest that you do two things in the near future before you drop out? Number one, I want you to actually go spend some time, coffee or lunch, And I suggest that you do two things in the near future before you drop out. Number one, I want you to actually go spend some time, coffee or lunch with,

I'd like to see two dog groomers at minimum and dog groomers that aren't starving. And I mean this. Dog groomers who have some margin and they're making enough money and you can, by asking just questions, how much do you pay yourself? What are your revenues? Somebody will share that with you. And I would, I would do some homework on that. I'd want to talk to a minimum of two and learn everything there is about, about the actual business. That's the homework assignment one. Homework assignment two is to actually, to actually dig into with them and just kind of looking at the one ads, what kind of basic qualifications do you need to get hired as an actual dog groomer?

You may not believe this or not, Jade, but we take our beloved dog, our golden doodle, Ellis. You know how fabulously handsome he is. We take him to PetSmart. It's in some fancy place. And they do a great job. Give him a little shampoo. Give him a little trim. And he's

he's a handsome fella and so I would start going you know what what's the barrier for entry just for to become a dog groomer and learn the skill of actually dog grooming test it out do I like this would I want to do this in the long term because I would want you to get paid by somebody else to do it before you ever launch your own business. And for heaven's sakes, buying a van that you may end up living in down by the river if the grooming doesn't work out. Look, I saw a groomer the other day in his van. Somehow the dog had got loose, and he was chasing the dog through the neighborhood trying to get whoever's pet back. My contribution to this conversation is probably uh take it take it

for what you will but if you i almost wonder um if there's a way because just because you can't be a veterinarian right now doesn't mean sometime down the line you can't pay your way through this education so to ken's point i'm wondering you know you're you're um shadowing these groomers and maybe you you decide yes i love being a dog groomer and you on down the line you start that business and you start making some money and it's it's in your mind that i a percentage of what i make it goes into my veterinarian fund and my my education fund um i it's just because your dream is deferred doesn't mean that it has to be completely denied and so i do want to put that out there um and you're just being smart right now and realizing I can't afford this right now.

It doesn't mean that it can never happen. Yeah. I love that. Hayden, questions about that? No, for sure. That was some great advice. Yeah. Go get paid, man. Go get paid to groom dogs or work with animals. Hey, here's the other thing. One other homework assignment. You live in the Denver, Colorado area. A lot of outdoor animals opportunities. I'd be looking at just what are some other things that I never thought of where I could make decent money. Maybe you could make, and I'm making this up, Hayden, but maybe you can make north of $20 an hour taking care of horses on a ranch.

Just get in the animal game. There are a lot of different ways to make money at your age by the way because because entry level is wide open they need people and i'd get in the game of just helping animals caring for animals and just learn a lot stack cash to jade's point because maybe you look up 10 years from now and uh found another way that's not $250,000. By the way, on that point, too, while I'm adding things. Add more, Ken. Like, dig in.

Are you telling me, Hayden, and I don't know, is every veterinary school in this great country $250,000? I'm going to do some Google right now. Oh, I love when you get on the Google. I do. What do you know, Hayden? Is every veterinary school that expensive? Very near to that. What a racket.

Yeah. Nice. What a racket. That's a shame, man. $250,000. Well, here's the deal. Do the math on how long it would take you to save up $250,000 realistically. Run some different numbers.

And I do like the idea of where there's a will, there's a way. And 10 years from now, maybe you got all that cash stacked up. But in the meantime, we've already given you advice on what we would do. Jade, I got to tell you, I'm going to go on a mini rant here. Do it. And I'd love for you to weigh in. Do it. Do you think think because I know

you have no problem shooting me straight do you think that I might be right that it is a racket that they're charging that much does it really cost these veterinarian schools or colleges does it really cost them that much that they have to charge a quarter million dollars to train someone? I don't buy that for a second. I think these folks just care about profit. I think so, too. They know because animal lovers are some special people with big hearts. I think they're ripping people off.

100% they are. What did you find? So we're going through the top 10 cheapest vet schools. Number 10, Virginia Maryland Regional College. Resident four-year tuition, $100,629. Number nine, Texas A&M. Resident four-year tuition, $99,000. Let's see, $929.

So it might require him moving, getting a residence. So they are less than $250,000. Yeah, they're out there. You just got to live in the right place, live there to get your residency. Well, that's a lot more doable, Hayden. Washington State University, $102,000. Is it getting any cheaper than that? University of Illinois, $97,000.

Oh, we're getting cheaper as we go. I like it. I thought there might be some options. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back, America. You are listening to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. Jade Warshaw is with me, and the phone number is 888-825-5225, 888-825-5225. Today's question of the day comes from Jeff in Pennsylvania. I'm 32, and my girlfriend and I are expecting our first child, looking forward to a wedding next year. Financially, we're in a good position, but I've fallen out of love with my career. I have about $60,000 in savings and $190,000

in stocks and IRA. My only debt is $138,000 on the house, and my girlfriend has $25,000 in student loans. My current salary is $200,000 a year, but I'm miserable and burned out with,000 on the house, and my girlfriend has $25,000 in student loans. My current salary is $200,000 a year, but I'm miserable and burned out with the baby on the way. Leaving work and taking a pay cut is terrifying for me. I feel like I need to take a few weeks or months to let my mind heal and get back to feeling like myself, but can I afford to do so? A lot going on here, Jade. I would take a couple of weeks or maybe a full week to kind of get clear. I don't think your mind will necessarily heal in that amount of time, depending on what's going on with this burnout. But I do think it's hard to make a decision like this to make a large pivot

when you're burned out. It's like you've got to get, if it's two days, three days, or a full week, Jade, I'd like to see him get to a place where he can fully identify what's causing the burnout. So a couple of questions, you know, is it stress? If it's stress, what's causing the stress, or who's causing the stress. How much of it is he has some control over versus he doesn't have any control. So we've got to dig into what's going on with the burnout. I think the answer is he's fallen out of love, because I actually agree with that. I mean, that's really at the heart of what I teach. I think that one of the causes of burnout is no juice, no passion for the work. So if that's the case, we've got to figure out first, Jade, well, what do I love and what's it going to take to get there? We've got a baby on the way and we've got

an income. And so I want him to sit still and say, all right, I'm grateful for the money I make now. We've got to switch our mindset. I'm grateful for what I have. I now know, okay, this is, I just don't love the work. So before I even make any moves, we want to make a strategic move to something that I do love. And we've got to figure out A, what that is. B, what does it take to get qualified? If I'm not qualified, how much that's going to cost and how long that will take. Yes. And that takes some maturity, but that's how we bridge that change. But right now we've got a baby on the way and there's some financial stuff there, so we don't want interruption in income. So I would say, no, he cannot afford to.

Yeah, not yet. Otherwise, he's running from something without running to something. I love that. And I think that's a very dangerous position because you're kind of desperate at that point you're you're acting out of desperation I would love and and I'm just going to throw this out here for us to come back later but what do you make what do you think makes somebody lose their juiciness like when you when you enter something you're excited to be there and what makes what makes that go away well it's a good question so assuming you had it initially so let's say at some

point you loved the work. We see this a lot with teachers that'll call my show. So what changed for them is they didn't lose, in this case, the juice for instructing. They still love teaching and instructing. They just don't like where they're doing it because the environment is toxic. So you can absolutely love the work you do, but hate the place that you do it. And that creates confusion because what happens is, and I'm glad you asked me this, you keep going into a place that is unhealthy and you love the work. Eventually the unhealthiness makes you question the love. Yeah.

But you never lost the love of the work. You just can't even focus on the love for the tree because it sucks so bad to be there and i think if that's if i had that love or initially now a lot of times uh people think they had love for it and it was just like and you gotta you know what i mean because it's kind of like if we take it back to relationships it's the idea of it that they like 100 or they like they really like this person but when when things happen and when relationships when the rubber meets the road you're kind of like yeah i don't like them so much right now if you don't love them you won't stay that's so but there are a lot of days where i know i'm only speaking for Stacey, but where Stacey does not like me.

A lot of days. No comment. Well, no, you know it's true. I do know it's true. It's almost 26 years. You don't get here without love. I know, that's right. Because there are a lot of days where there's not like.

That's a fact. Come on and talk about real things, King Coleman. I'm trying to keep it real. You are. You are. Now, I've never not liked Stacey. I've loved her every day. I just want to put that out there.

That's a lie. That's a lie. That's a lie. There it is. I'm so glad you said that. Oh, I tried to get through that. I tried to navigate that. Did I do okay?

You did good. You're right. The point is you can be infatuated with work. And then when, like you said, when the real stuff starts hitting it's like you make that choice just like in marriage i am choosing every day to love this person right um and that's man that's a good analogy ken yeah that's just real and and it's and by the way in the work and we'll wrap this up in the workplace you've got to be okay saying huh i never really love this and i'm not ashamed to admit it,

but a lot of people will stay in a role in a career that is sucking the life right out of them. Yeah, because they invested time and money. And they're afraid to say, hey, I chose a college. I chose a major. I chose this company. And I've been lying to myself for a decade or longer. And that's okay to say, look, it's not for me.

Life is too short to not do work you love. So luckily, God works all these things together. So from one marriage thing to another, how about this one? Daryl's got a question. I feel like we're going to stay in this area. Daryl in Lubbock, Texas. What's going on? How can we help? Oh, pretty good. How are y'all? We're doing well. What's happening today? Oh, nothing. I just got a question. How do I get my wife to be on board with the baby steps and how do I approach it? Oh man, that is such a loaded question. We get it all the time. So tell me, let's, let's diagnose this a little bit. Have you talked to her at all about the baby steps? And if so, tell us how she reacted. She gets annoyed and rolls her eyes and walks off.

Uh-oh. Wow. The roll the eyes and the walk off, Jade. And, okay, have you been able to identify which part of it is getting stuck in her craw? Is it the budgeting part? Is it the we have to pause investing to pay off the debt part?

Like, do you know which part of it really just grinds her gears? Uh, it's mostly just, I mean, I'm trying to pay off debt and then, um, long story short, I mean, I take care of my niece and nephew and it's just really overwhelming. And I know she's, I'm always on the road for a month or two months at a time. So I know she's single parent and it's overwhelming for her. And so when I talk about this, when I'm always on the road for a month or two months at a time. So I know she's single parent and it's overwhelming for her. And so when I talk about this, when I'm on the road, she just, she doesn't want to talk about money period. So she thinks that if we, you guys go down this path, a lot of the bulk of their responsibility is going to fall on her because

you're off on the road. You've got the niece and nephew. That's also part of the mix. And she's just like, I don't want to put anything else on my plate. Is that, does that cover it? Basically. Okay. Um, listen, I can, I don't want to put anything else on my plate. Does that cover it? Basically. Okay. Listen, I can sympathize with that. I think right here we're talking about right now all this is to her is you having heard something on the radio

or you having heard something on a podcast and you're running back and telling her, I found this thing and I think we ought to do it. And she's like, oh, my gosh, like we already have this and that. You know what it is? It's one more to do it And she's like oh my gosh Like we already have this and that You know what it is it's one more hard thing And she's going bro I can't do one more hard thing She's trying to keep her nose above water

Feels like Does that sound right Pretty much I mean I know Dave always says Don't shove it down her throat but I don't try to shove it down her throat I say hey like this morning I have, what is it called, mortgage life insurance on my house, and Dave doesn't recommend having that. So I'm like, hey, when I get back home, I'm going to cancel that.

And she's just like. Well, that's a problem. That's a problem. She sees that's security. Whenever you say the word insurance, mortgage, all of those are security things. And when you run home and like, honey, I'm going to's like what like you're canceling it maybe lead out with hey um uh i i learned that the insurance that we have is super expensive and there's a cheaper one out

there um here's what it is you show it to her and you explain hey if we do this term life policy it's going to be a lot better and da da da, dah, dah, dah. And then I'm going to put this in place. And once that's in place, we can let the other one go. So a lot of this is how you talk about it. And we're going to make sure that you get set up with Financial Peace University. You and your wife do this together. And that way, Daryl, you're not the one having to deliver all the news. Dave and the personalities will do it for you. What do you think? Can we get them a session with one of our financial coaches as our gift just to let that coach kind of be that middle person? I love it.

All right, so let's give him a financial coaching session as well. That's going to really help kind of ease you in with your wife on this. But you're a good man. Hang in there. Take it slow. She's got a lot going on. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show.

Ken Coleman and Jade Warshaw helping you through this hour. 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. Michelle is joining us now in Jacksonville, Florida. Michelle, how can we help? Well, I have an adult son who's in a situation where he has a house with his girlfriend and they have a good interest rate and a really good payment. They broke up and so she wants him to refinance the house in his name and he has bad credit. I put $40,000 down on the house for them

and he wants me to either help him to get the house by co-signing for it or for me just to buy it outright and then he rents from me but i've been helping him his whole life and he's like 35 and i just don't know i'm a widow and i don't know when to say i'm i guess he has a history of mental illness and of substance abuse so i'm kind of you're scared feeling like No, let's listen. He finally got a good job, really good job, but he can't manage his money. Yeah. Well, don't buy this house for him. Do not.

Do not put yourself in this situation. But I also, I understand you're scared, but I think this is the moment where he's looking to you for direction anyway. If he's got a really good job, you're just going to sit down with him and be okay to let him know that why you're not doing it and what his real options are. And the two of these, these two young people are on the, well, they're not even that young for heaven's sakes. They're on the home, both of their names are on the home. Both of their names are on the deed, but only his girlfriend's name is on

the loan. So she's suing him to make to force him to refinance the house or move out, and he doesn't have the credit to refinance it. Well, then it's a really clear decision. He moves out. Yeah. He moves out. I'm just so scared this is his only chance in life to own a house. No.

No, no, no, no, no. Of course it's not. What is the evidence that this is the only time he could ever own a home? Well, he makes about $60,000 a year, and they each pay half of the mortgage payment, so they each pay $750,000. And he says he can't afford child support. They have a child together. He can't afford a mortgage payment, and he can't afford a new car.

His car is about to die on the side of the road. He wants me to co-sign for a car, too. Credit card is max, no money in savings, but I don't want him to be homeless and on the side of the road with no car. And I just have fears. I get it. He's not here to like allay my fears. Well, there's so many other options though. You're choosing options that put burden on you and you called because quite frankly, you're exhausted at the idea of doing this. The very idea of doing this is exhausting and it's probably equal parts scary. And the only reason you're even considering this and not saying hard pass immediately is because you're worried about your boy. He's had a lot of struggles and you feel like, but I got

to tell you, I think this is a blessing in disguise he's got a new job a good paying job sounds like there might be some growth opportunity they break up yeah he needs to get out of this house because it's the only shot he's got to be able to afford the child support because he doesn't have any shot on that the judge is going to decide that but he says that rent is higher than his mortgage payment. Not if he's sharing. No, not if he's renting with one or two other guys that are single. And believe me, there's plenty of those in Jacksonville, Florida. This is where you can mama him in the sense of showing him adult options and saying one of the options that you don't have is me.

So here are the other options. Yeah. He's even down to saying he can't afford to move the stuff out of his house or afford a rental like a storage unit i wish he was on the phone because this guy needs a he needs a good sip of grown-up juice did you say that you put the 40 000 down for this house that the girlfriend basically has the right of ownership to well they each have a 50 50 ownership share and he was living at my house in the basement paying no rent and he had trashed my basement because he

was on substances at that time so i honestly just wanted him out and for my peace of mind i put down i put down 40 000 yeah and it was in 2022 And you're not getting that money back. No, and that's why he held that over my head and said, I hate to see you lose your $40,000. Let's refinance this together. Now he's pissing me off. I felt a little bad for him. But now this is a kid who's manipulating you, and you know why he's doing it?

No. Because it works. Yeah, it always has worked. I operate on guilt a lot. Today's the day. Yeah. 35-year-old boy needs to understand it's time to be a 35-year-old man, and the best way he's going to do that is you have to look at him and go, and by the way, I'd be okay being really raw and sharing your emotion. Share with him why you've done this in the past because of guilt, and now you've got to earn this and go, I can't do it anymore. I can't. It's not good for

me, and it's not good for you, and I know deep down you don't want me to hurt me uh I don't know Jade I I don't have anything but tough love here what do you I have nothing but tough love I'm holding my tongue my son is young um and you're further along in life than I am and so there's part of me that just wants to wallop this dude but I also understand that there's you know like there's motherly love here and so i i get that i can understand that there's this pull that you probably have to want to get involved but i also feel like you can't like you got to just let this guy do what he's gonna do and all you can do is pray and and you know you know what he needs michelle i'm gonna i'm gonna tell you the one thing I think you can and should do in this situation.

We've already told you what not to do. I think he needs belief from Mama, not help. Oh, that is probably something I've never really offered. That's true, because I'm always operating on fear and guilt. By the way, you have, and listen to me, Michelle, I say this, I say this with a father's heart, and I say this from my own experience. He needs belief. No more help.

Yeah. You need to sit down with him and tell him what he should do and show him that he can do it. And then you need to walk down with him and tell him what he should do and show him that he can do it. And then you need to walk away. Okay. And you need to be his number one. Thanks for taking my call. I think you need to be his number one cheerleader.

I love that, Ken. Oh, that's so good. It's so good. It's tough. It's so hard because we want to help our kids. My goodness. I mean, it's just so hard. I get it.

I truly get it. But at this point, I mean, and's just so hard. I get it. I truly get it. Yeah. But at this point, I mean, and that's the rub, right? He's 35. He's not a boy. I honestly think when it comes to this house, I think they just need to sell it. I was going to suggest that. Whatever the profit is, give it back to mama. She's the one that put the money down to begin with. I was going to ask you, but see, you get the girlfriend involved and her name's on it. So she gets all the dough.

She's on it. Yeah. they need to get a lawyer involved that this is what happened broke this is what yeah but mama does mom is already if she wants her money back if she cares anything she might not care she might be like i wash my hands of the situation i'm out um but if she's like man i'd love to get my 40 000 back i000 back. I'd love to talk to somebody to see how this happens. I just don't want her racking up $10,000 in legal fees, and that doesn't take long. But I like what you're saying. But I think this is the get-out-of-jail-free card for this guy.

I wish we had him on the phone and say, I know you guys broke up, and that sucks. I know you got a kid. But the girlfriend's going to want his name off the deed i'm not right i'm not exactly sure what the process for that the best process for him to start over yeah meaning he's already got the breakup 100 he's got a good job yeah but i don't buy this rent is so expensive he's manipulating there he's manipulating he's got child support coming staring him in the face jay he's got a a lot. He needs to make more than $60,000.

And he's just got to get his life together. Yeah, he's got to grow up. My guy's got, he's got a lot to get together. By the way, Jade, I'm going to give it to you. We've got about a minute and a half. This is a great time for new listeners and viewers that come in all the time. I want you to tell them why this call is Exhibit A on why we shouldn't buy a house with somebody we're not married to. Because there's no clear rights. Like I said, with this, it's like, okay, both their names on the deed,

one name's on the title, mom put the money down. There's such a tangled web here, and it's going to take a lot to untangle. That's why I said, if I was mom and I wanted to see about this, it's like, now you've got to involve a lawyer in a different sort of way. There's no clear uh division of of assets and so that this is just what is known as a hot steaming pile ken that's what this is and so it's it's not don't play house don't play i haven't heard that in a long time that's what this is i know but that's how i know your dad's a preacher oh 100 that's true it's true. That's true. I can't get it. You can take the preacher's kid out of the church, but you can't take the church out of the preacher's

kid, right? But you know, that's what happened here. We love each other. Let's go in and do this house. Yeah. And now look at it. You know what? They would benefit from some counseling too. They really would. The two of them, mom and son together, mom on his own, on her own. I just saw flashes of a reality show where you're coming in and telling these two, get your own stuff fixed and just love each other and get married and get this nonsense over with. I'm not a counselor, but I can send them to better help, and they can help him out.

I think you could be a matchmaker. You think I could? Sit down and be quiet. Let Jay fix this. Act like you got some home training. This is The Ramsey Show. All right. Are you in the Baby Step 4 range?

Really close to finishing Baby Step 3 or you're in Baby Step 4? Maybe you're past that, but you'd like to just learn from Dave Ramsey himself on how he invests. Then you're going to love this new event. It's coming up. It's called Dave Ramsey's Investing Essentials. At this event, Dave's going to do a deep dive into his investing strategy and for the first time ever, share his personal playbook, including how he buys real estate. So I know this is always a hot topic, Jade, on TikTok and Instagram, all these people giving how to buy real estate and get rich. Dave does it very differently, and he's going to be sharing that. This is a two-night virtual event happening May 21 and 22. And you can watch it anywhere.

You've got a device or a computer. You'll learn how to maximize your 401K and mutual funds, Dave's personal strategy, as I mentioned, for real estate, and then investing trends to follow and which ones to avoid. It's a $249 ticket. You can sign up at ramseysolutions.com slash events. That's ramseysolutions.com slash events. It's Dave Ramsey's Investing Essentials. And I think our buddy George Camel is going to have a cameo as well.

That's right. A camel cameo, I like to call it. So that's always an extra bonus. All right, let's go to Birminghammingham alabama where katherine is waiting for us katherine how can we help today hey good afternoon um so i just had a quick question for you guys my husband and i are anticipating a good quantity of inheritance to come in um in a few months or so possibly But we just want to have a plan for this money if it does come through. And so we're currently, like, in the middle of baby step four.

So, like, my husband is investing, like, 10% in retirement, and I'm working on getting my 401K set up right now with my newer workplace. So, you know, we're we're debt free we have our large emergency fund saved up um but our question is do we would y'all recommend throwing 100 of this cash toward our mortgage um which is about i mean i guess we owe maybe like $260,000 at this point, $275,000. I know that's bad. I don't know the exact number. But would you guys throw in 100% of the mortgage,

or would you all recommend investing in the home itself to do some addition in the attic space? So adding a bedroom, adding a bathroom. We currently live in a three-bed, two-bath. So, you know, know our homes worth about 340,000 um but we're looking at you know a large return on our investment if we were to add that bedroom and add that additional bathroom how much money are you uh how much money do you think that is coming your way and i also want to know you said it may or may not so i want to know more um so it's contingent on so it's a family property um that my in-laws own and it's a it's potentially about to be purchased and if it

is if the home gets purchased then it gets split between the grandkids which i'm married to one of and so um it would be between 20 and 30,000 is what we're expected to receive. So yeah, so that would be about what we would be looking at if the home sold, you know, and we just want to have a plan if it does. We don't want to get this chunk of cash and not have a plan. 100%. I like that way of thinking. Yeah. You know, baby steps wise, you know, you said baby step four, obviously I want you to be at the point where you're investing 15 not 10 um and then you know four five and six it's simultaneous and so uh i do want you being intentional about putting extra towards the mortgage kids college but it's not to say that every windfall you get all of it must go on the mortgage you know you

you can look at this and go okay what's what's a fair split here? Do we want to put half of it on the mortgage? And do we want to use half to do some additions? Is it enough to, you know, if we do half, is it enough to complete the addition? Do we only want to put 10% of this on the mortgage? And so you guys have some freedom here. How much is it going to cost to do what you say you want to do to the house? I haven't gotten estimates yet, but my dad works in construction, and so he's familiar, you know, with roundabout pricing. And he's like, I really feel like you could, you know, your attic space is already, you know, suitable to finish out. So he thinks that it can be done for, you know, around 20 to 30 for what we're wanting.

So it would take all of it yeah i mean here's the thing um if you are if you're already putting let's say let's say you called and you said jade listen we're investing 15 we pay you know an extra mortgage payment every month or we pay you know whatever x amount of dollars extra to our mortgage every month and we're getting this extra 30 000 i would love we've been wanting to do this addition. It's the perfect amount of money. I would not be mad at that. I would love to see that you're putting some additional regularly towards your mortgage, or you have a rhythm, whether it's once a quarter, whatever your rhythm is that you're paying extra towards your mortgage. I'd love to see that you're doing

that as a caveat to just dumping this whole thing on it um dumping the whole thing into additions okay yeah so that's that's me but don't lose sleep over it i'm not going to come haunt you if you if you don't on this i'm not going to come haunt you there's some things i will show up in your dreams but not on this one i like that the ghost of Jade. Don't take out a heel lock. Man, I'm a little scared. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm a little scared. Justin is up next in Rochester, New York.

Justin, how can we help? Hey, how you doing? Good. So the point that I'm at is I went through divorce a couple years ago, and things are still doing pretty good financially, but I'm very concerned with the, you know, just that everything ends up on my shoulders. And I have, I have two young girls that I have shared custody of and I want to keep everything, you know, great for them, keep the house with their head.

So I have, I have money in, uh, like cash and savings, but I'm worried that I'm just keeping like too much of it liquid and I'm afraid to do anything with it. And I don't feel like I have good quality of life because I'm, I'm sitting on this cash and I'm like, I think I need to get this stuff out and working for me. Um, but I'm just concerned too, because as I look at my finances, you know, over like longterm, but like, I don't see it growing as much as I want it to. And I'm, I'm just nervous to like put this money out there to work for me. And I'm really opposed the idea of like, you know, borrowing against like home equity and things like that. Um, but I have a lot of resources. I'm 42. Okay. We've got about two minutes. So we're going to ask

really fast questions so that Jade can, can, can give you some advice here. Do you have any debt at all? Just the mortgage. Just the mortgage. How much cash have you stacked? I got about 84K in cash, like not investments, just like in checking and savings. Are you investing anything like a 401K or anything up to this point? Yeah, I have about 200K in a 401K, 21K and a Roth. Is it a regular rhythm like you're doing? What percentage a month? So I think right now my 401K is at 7% and the reason for that is because I got HCE capped. I think the HCE cap, that's the highly compensated employee cap, where they basically just said,

hey, you can't put any more in your 401k. We're knocking you down to 7%. So, I mean, that was around the time that I went 140k. Interesting. Okay. Yeah. So, I'm right around like the threshold. So like every year, like I have to wonder, like, am I going to get HCE capped again? You know?

But you're called because you feel like this $80,000 you've put away, it's just all fear because you've got the two girls, and you're just being safe, you're a good dad, and you'd like to do more with that $80,000. Is that right? Yeah. I think I'm probably doing the wrong thing by having it sit there. So I don't know if I'd try to, bumping my 401k or put a bulk against it. I think it's wrong for me to sit on that money. I would agree with that to a certain extent.

We would suggest having three to six months of expenses saved. So for you, what's six months of expenses? Because for you, I would do six months. You've got two girls, single dad. What's six months of expenses for you? Probably at least $30,000, I would say. Okay. So we're going to make it to the other 54. And if you're getting capped, I mean, you've got your 401k over there with your business, you can do 7%. That's great. You should also be doing a Roth IRA. So I want to make sure that

we're getting you at least to 15%, whether it's a mix of your 401k Roth IRA and even if you go over to a brokerage or an HSA those are all really good places for you to go one after another and then as far as this $54,000 is concerned I would get with a SmartVestor Pro because when you're out in the market then you've got a lot of different funds that you can choose from and they're going to help you know which funds are best but yeah get it, get it into a brokerage, get it somewhere where it is gaining a return for you because sitting in your checking account, that ain't it. No, love it. Good stuff, Jade. Thanks again for the call, Justin. You're a good dad. You're a good dude. You're doing really well. All right,

that's going to do it for this hour. Thank you, Jade Warshaw. Thanks to James Childs and our team for keeping us on the air. This is your show, America. This is The Ramsey Show. Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is The Ramsey Show, where we help you win in your life, specifically with your money, in your work, and with your relationships. 888-825-5225 is the phone number. It's toll free. We'd love for you to jump in and talk with Jade Warshaw and I, and me, I should say, proper grammar, and me, Ken Coleman.

888-825-5225. Let's go to Jackson, Mississippi to kick this hour off. Angie is there. Angie, how can we help? Hey, how are y'all doing? We are having a blast. What's going on with you today? So my husband and I are trying to figure out if we should pay off our mortgage. We're both, or I'm 36 and he's 37, and we just started trying to have a baby last month. And so we're not really sure, you know, it could happen soon. It could take a while since I'm a little older you know it's in God's hands so we don't know if we should go ahead and pay the mortgage off now or if we should keep the money that we have in our non-retirement account and save it for like the

baby and if we run into any potential issues having a you know conceiving so um and so what do you have in your non-retirement like what money do you have saved beyond your emergency fund so in a non-retirement investments we have about 22,000 or about 23,000 and the amount we owe on our house is $32,800. Wow. And so if we took the investments out and paid, put that towards the house, we could probably have the house paid off, I would say in about two months. Okay. But if we did not take the investments out, it would probably take us eight to 10 months to pay it off. Okay. So right now we're throwing or go ahead oh no i was just going to say you know you're 36 37 you know i i was pregnant at that age as well um my question for you is have you been given any reason has anybody told you that there's a reason to believe

that you might have trouble conceiving no okay then i'm going to like when you're older that you might have issues or it might take longer or but no one has said because of this reason you could have fertility issues no one has said that to you no okay then i'm operating as though you are a healthy female and everything is looking good and you have no reason to believe that this is going to be a problem you're just out here like anybody else trying to trying to start a family. And so if there's no other debt, if you've got three to six months of expenses saved, if you guys are currently investing 15%

and this is non-retirement savings above and beyond your emergency fund, I'm totally fine with you guys taking this money and being mortgage debt-free in the next two months. I think that's awesome. Awesome. Yeah. That's exciting. That's what we're looking forward to. And I think too, the money that we're putting towards the mortgage, we could stockpile, you know, afterwards. 100%. So fast. Yeah. I mean, what are you paying right now towards your mortgage? The mortgage is $1,500, but we're throwing an extra 2000 to 2500 oh man you're gonna stack that up in no time an extra 2500 uh dollars a month plus you know whatever else you have

laying around yeah you're gonna stack that up in no time that's exciting i'm happy for you thank you um we don't happen to have a question uh time for a question on career let's get it not that not, that's fine. Sure, go ahead. What are we going to say, no? So currently I'm a project manager for an engineering firm, and it can be quite demanding and stressful. And I've kind of lost my, I guess, love for it. And it's just a struggle kind of going to work every day and um

but i don't know you know as we start building a family if this is something that i want to continue doing i make for you know good money and we're able to to get to a point right now you know we're about to pay off the house yeah um and so i'm just trying to figure out, do I stick with it right now and just until baby comes and just keep saving and keep saving and then potentially look into making a shift? Is it the work or is it the place? It's not the place. And I love working with clients, with project teams and the interaction and like learning. It's just the deadline driven demands and just... Okay. So this is fun. Let's keep going on this. So what would you remove from your day to day if we could, if we could just for fun go,

all right, I have the power to remove this type of work. and and then i would be really really at peace and be really fulfilled and happy would it be just the deadlines or is there other things i would say mainly the deadlines and maybe customer demands and um yeah i mean that's probably probably the most of it. If I could take away, you know, having to deal with budget and schedule, then I think I would love still working with project teams, building people up. Okay. So I have a suggestion.

Working. Do you think you're fairly valued with your current leadership if Jade and I came to your place of work and you weren't there and we said, hey, what do you guys think of Angie? What do you think they'd tell us? I think I'm valued. I mean, they tell me a lot that I'm one of the key people that they want to try to keep and build up in leadership and things like that. So here's what I'm going to suggest. I'm going to suggest that you go in and you basically tell them in your way, and you're very sweet and you're very kind. I just don't think you come across as entitled at all. You just seem so, so grounded. And I would say, hey, here's where I'm at. We want to try it. We just started trying for a baby. And I want to

be here. I'm very much considering working, if this is true. But you don't know when the baby's going to come. And you said that earlier, and you're right. But I think it would be to your advantage physically in trying to have a baby if you didn't have this extra stress. And we just know this is a fact. This isn't my opinion. The stress has all kinds of effects on the body. There's already desire to is a fact. This isn't my opinion. The stress has all kinds of effects on the body. There's already desire to be a mom, and that's a pressure that's kind of on you guys in this season.

So I would try to remove the pressure by sitting down and saying, hey, is there a way to remove this and this from my role and me focus more on this stuff over here? Is that possible? Would you be willing to sit with me and try to figure out a way to remove some of this stuff off my plate? I'll pick up some of the other customer stuff if it's not so much the high demand pressure situation. I think it's worth having a conversation. I don't think they're going to kick you out of the office and make you leave if you just have that conversation. Do you? No, I don't think they will. I just think with the line of business and what we do, like contracting engineering firms, that it may not be possible. You're right. Okay, great.

So then that's good information. So here's the deal. So the question is, can you find a project management role that's more suited to you? And what would it hurt to kick the tires and be looking right now? To your point, you may not get pregnant for a year. You may not get pregnant for two years. We don't know. And so to the extent that you can remove some stress in that part of your life, I would recommend it. So it hurts you not at all to look, Angie. And you know what you're looking for. You and I just went through the little quick exercise. You know what the perfect job description is, or at least a much better job description than the current one you have. Go look for it. Project managers are in high demand. And if you can get a better setting, I would absolutely make the move while

you're trying. And let's remove that extra stress. I think that's a great move. I would not, though, make that move and sacrifice much income at all, because that income is really great right now. So let's see if we can find something that's a better fit for you emotionally and mentally. Why not? That's a win-win situation. Hey, we're excited for you. Open baby comes soon. You guys are crushing it. This is the Ramsey Show. Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. Jade Warshaw and Ken Coleman with you this hour. 888-825-5225 so excited that you're with us and i don't know if you know this or not folks but april is national financial literacy month and of course that's a big deal to us because the entire month of april teachers and students

and classrooms across america are taking time to talk about the importance of good money management and to celebrate we've got one of our rock star foundations in personal finance. That's a curriculum that we have created here at Ramsey and is in schools all across the nation. And so we've got one of the teachers who teaches it. And Chris is joining us today. This is exciting. He is at Katie High School in Katie, Texas.

Chris, how are you? And it's she. I'm doing great. I apologize. That's okay. I guess I should read my notes. That's on me. It's okay. It's, you know, I saw the Chris, so sorry about that. I'm so glad you're with us. So tell us how long you've been at Katie High School. I've been at Katie High School about eight years now. Oh, wow. Fantastic. And how long have you been teaching the Foundations in Personal Finance? I have been teaching Katie High School about eight years now. Oh, wow. Fantastic. And how long have you been teaching the foundations in personal finance? I have been teaching it for about 15 years now. That's really cool. What grades are your students in?

9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th. Very, very cool. That's the older kids. Are they open to it? What's their attitude in this day and age? Well, I would say the ones that are working have really plugged into it right away, but I have a lot of students that don't work. But I think the information is still good for them because anyone that I talk to and tell them what I teach, they're like, I wish I had had that class when I was going to high school. So I think the seed is being planted and they're at least getting the information, you know, before they actually get a job. But the ones that have a job, the most exciting thing to me is that they tell me, Ms. Davis, my savings account's a lot bigger

now, you know, and they ask questions about how they can invest. And so it's just exciting to see that they are getting this before they start their lives and their careers. So where do you find, you know, there's always a little bit of pushback area. Like, where do you find is where they have the hardest time getting their head around? Is it, you know, this debt concept? Tell us more. Like, what are the points that they embrace and the points that they're like, I don't know, Miss Katie, you might need to go a little deeper for us. I think the budgeting, you know, that's, I think for them, budgeting is foreign to them. And I keep stressing to them that if it's in your budget, you know, you can put in your budget that you're going to spend money, but you always need to have that

savings component and have it mapped out so that, you know, just like Dave says, where every dollar is going. And that I think is probably the hardest thing for them to do. So you've been teaching this curriculum for 15 years, you told us. Is that correct? Yes, that's correct. And eight where you are currently. I'm curious if any former students, if you've stayed in touch, or maybe they've come back by the school or schools that you've taught them in and shared how they're doing financially

and how much your instruction through this course has played a role in that. I'm curious if you've got any fun stories. Yeah, in fact, I ran into a student at a restaurant, local restaurant. He's like, I don't know if you remember me, but I had you, and he mentioned the high school that we used to be at, because I was at another high school before. And he just said, I'll never be able to thank you enough for teaching me that, you know, you have to save your money and you don't need a credit card. So that was nice, you know, because again, they're getting bombarded with you need a credit card and you need a credit score. And so just teaching them that, no, you don't need a credit card and you don't need to worry

about a credit score if you do things right. That's good. I would imagine a lot of the students probably are taking the information home to, right, they're taking it home to their parents even, and do you hear anything about that? Well, in fact, this one young man, he had told me that his dad and he were going to get a house, and they were going to rent it out, so they were going to start with rental property, and he was asking me, you know, about, you know, what I thought about that. I thought, that's a great idea. I said, that's, you know, income that you're going to start earning. And, you know, him and his dad were going to be working on it together. But basically, the main question I get at this age is, you know, how do I invest? Where do I start? And, you know,

how do I start saving? And they want to start. The ones that are really interested want to start right now. Yeah, that's cool. Just as an educator who's actually been on the front lines with this particular curriculum, I just want to know what your thoughts are that we're seeing so many states now adopting our curriculum and it's being required for high school students. It feels like this is something we should have been teaching for a long, long time. What do you think about the value of this in general? Well, and that's one of the reasons I enjoy teaching it because I feel like, you know, I've taught different subjects throughout the years and, you know, you always

tell them you're going to need to know this, you're going to need to know this, but this is an, I can honestly say that this is going to make a huge impact in your life learning this now. So true. And I love history, Jane. Okay. But Chris, I got to tell you, I've always loved history, but I, even I can't remember everything I learned in history class, but this stuff, you don't forget this stuff because it's just a part of your everyday life. It's not the Pythagorean theorem. Yeah. I can't even spell that, much less remember what it was. And I've taught math, and I would tell them, oh, you're going to need to know this, knowing that, no, they really weren't. But this time it's for real. This time it's for real.

This time it's for real. Well, Chris, you are a rock star, and you really represent so many teachers across the country that care deeply. And I know it's getting tougher and tougher to be a teacher. And I know it's hard and the environment's not always the best. And so love the fact that you've been teaching as long as you have. And certainly we're grateful that you're a part of this movement in teaching our foundations and personal finance. So on behalf of Jade and I and our entire team, we want you to know we really appreciate you. Well, I appreciate y'. Like I said, this has just been a blessing to be able to teach this to my students and make a difference in their life.

And I may not see it right now, but I know down the road that seed has been planted. That's right. Well, thank you for being with us. We know you've got a lot going on. And I want to mention for any teachers that are listening, and quite frankly anybody that knows a teacher, if you're listening right now, be sure to let them know about our Ramsey Teacher Appreciation Giveaway. This is sponsored by Ramsey Education.

And one teacher who enters will win a $5,000 vacation, and two more teachers will each win a $3,000 vacation. So all you've got to do is go to Ramsey solution, uh, excuse me, Ramsey solutions.com slash teacher. That's our main website, Ramsey solutions.com slash teacher to enter. And so again, if you're a teacher, please do this. And if you know a teacher, tell them about it. Uh, because what a, what a fun thing this is. And again, a $5,000 vacation. dollar vacation these are men and women who are let's just be honest underpaid they are so invaluable they are instructing the greatest resource this country has and that's our next generation so please spread the word and check that out it's always fun to do this do you have a teacher i just always love when we get to talk to these teachers because i always

think of my favorite teachers the ones that i would want to go back to and say hey you know what you really made an impact in my life you got it you got a favorite teacher let me think about this um I really okay so Mr. Walling or a coach oh yeah because you were now the same same idea Miss Grogan was my volleyball coach in middle school and high school okay Miss Grogan Miss Gro was great. Have you stayed in touch with her? Not really. Sorry. Don't look at me like that. You know what?

I apologize to you. If you felt there was any judgment, that was not my point. I felt a little bit. No, but can I tell you this? I was a little surprised because you went on to play at the next level. I'm surprised you haven't done a drop-in on Miss Grogan. They did a drop-in on me. They came to a couple of the games,

which was cool. She brought the team, which was pretty great. Why was she one of your favorites? She just was really great. She had a good balance of love and toughness. You know what I mean? She really just... I don't know. She's a great human being. You knew she was tough because she cared about you.

Yeah, she cared for us. She was a great coach. I enjoyed playing for her. And then my, Lewis Walling was my theater and show choir teacher. And so he was the first person that introduced me to Broadway. And so I remember we listened to Les Mis in his class and I was like, this is amazing. Did you ever perform in Les Mis? Did you do a production of it at school? No, I didn't. You didn't? I didn't. But it was the first time that I, you know, I didn't grow up with Broadway. So that was my first introduction to that. And I was like, this is really cool. Very cool. Love that. Gotta love the music teachers, by the way. So

great. I love it. And then Mr. Crawford was the first person who ever mentioned investing. Mr. Crawford. Yeah, he was a music teacher, but he told us all about if we invested what we could have. He introduced you to Broadway and investing. Yeah, well, this is a different guy. Oh, okay. I'm trying to keep up. I'm trying to keep up. I was going to mention a few. I was going to mention a few, but Jay took up all the time. So I can't even share my teachers. No, hey, we love you teachers. Fun stuff. All right, quick break. We'll be right back. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. If you need help budgeting, you need our budgeting app, EveryDollar. It helps you manage money the Ramsey way. EveryDollar works wherever and however you need it to, iOS, Android, or online. You can start EveryDollar for free if you'd like to right now, and it'll help you figure out, hey, where am I? Where is my money? Where is it going? Get organized, personalize your budget, and stop overspending so you can save. If you're brand

new to EveryDollar, we'll show you a long-term financial roadmap, track your net worth, debt-free date, retirement date, baby step progress, and so much more. You can download the free app for iOS and Android, or go to everydollar.com. Ken Coleman, Jade Warshaw with you this hour, 888-825-5225. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is where we're going now, and Will is there. Will, how can we help? Hi, guys. How are you? Good, what's up? So as a 23 year old who's been working for about a year now, is it one, realistic, and two, is it wise to be able to pay for a wedding and then also afford a house within the next year? Well, it depends on your income. Yeah, we got to know some numbers. realistic so tell us so gross i'm at about 55 000 net around 36 okay um i have about 40 000 in student loans just under 40 000 i've already paid off about 20 000 of that okay um no car

payment i have a company vehicle so no gas or car payment okay Okay. Anything else? I just got engaged this past weekend. My fiance, she grosses about $60,000 in net. I'd say $35,000 to $40,000. Did you pay cash for the ring? Yes. Great. So when you guys get together, she'll be making $60,000. When you guys get married, she'll be making $60,000.

You'll be netting $36,000. You've got $40,000 in student loans. she'll be making 60,000 you'll be netting 36,000 you've got 40,000 in student loans does she have any other debt no okay so no debt from her so the question you asked is within a year is is it realistic for you to basically within the year you would have to pay off the 40,000 of debt save up three to six months of expenses save up a down payment to be able to get the house and your and your cash flowing a wedding um uh there's a few more variables is anybody else helping pay for the wedding is there a family involved or anything like that her parents are paying a little bit yes how much is the wedding budget oh i'd say between 20 and 30 i'd say 25 000 okay and if I'd say 25,000. Okay. And if you say they're paying

a little bit, what have you guys determined that that is? I'd say around 10,000. Okay. So you guys are on the hook for 15,000 for the wedding. Correct. Yep. Okay. I think that the first thing here is we've got to map this out. I'm going to, I'm not going to lie. Just looking at these numbers right off the bat, I'm going to go with no. Yeah, me too. Simply because you're netting 36,000 and your student loans alone are 40,000. So that math automatically doesn't math. And so, and you're in your finance, your fiance is not going to reach over and pay your student loans until you guys are married.

So that's out of the question um the only other piece of this is just putting it putting your priorities in order and just saying okay what needs to happen first first things first when is the wedding and then that's going to kind of we back out of it from there and say okay the what have you guys set a date uh yeah may 17th of 2025 2025 may so now we back out of that and go okay if we're we're aiming to spend fifteen thousand dollars on that wedding how much do we have to save each month in order to make that happen because a lot of the stuff you're paying for up front so you got to get going on this right now so that would be priority number one and then priority number two would be and if i have extra money, I'm

throwing it extra to pay off my debt. So I think those are the two things that you focus on because honestly, buying a house, even if you didn't have this debt, and even if you told me the wedding was going to be fully funded by parents, I would still tell you, you don't need to buy a house within the first year of marriage. You just need to chill out, get to know each other, rent, you know, or do that sort of thing. So I kind of want to lift that off your shoulders, Ken. I couldn't agree more. I wouldn't add anything. Will, Jade's right. Just take your time. There's this big rush and I just, I understand it's cultural. Everybody, you think everybody's doing it. But man, just learning how to be married is hard enough. And figuring out maybe where you guys want to live.

Enjoy the stress-free environment of just renting and not having to take care of anything except each other. I like that. Just relax and stack some cash. And you guys are so young, and you're going to be okay. Here's the point. You're not wasting any time at all. I love that advice. Ricky is in Stanford, Connecticut.

Ricky, how can we help? Hi. Pleasure speaking with you guys. I listen to you guys all the time, watch all the YouTube videos. I just have a question on, should I be gazelle intense on paying back the more obligation that I have for my mother's Parent PLUS loan, the same way I'm approaching my personal subsidized loans? Can you be specific with the numbers? Yeah. So I have $28,000 under my name, which I'm planning on paying off within 18 months. And then there's $57,000 under my mother's name

that has so far accrued like, I don't know, like $10,000 of interest since I've been in school. Well, I'm out of school now, but when I was in school plus the pause, and then now we are here today, right? Well, what was the agreement? When you were taking out these loans, was the agreement mom said, hey, I want to do this for you and this is my contribution. I'm signing these loans and I'll pay for them. Or was the idea, hey, you can't take these out in your name so i'll take them out in my name but you need to pay them uh the latter okay so um i i was planning on putting like 1500 towards what's

under my name so the 28 000 that's under mine i was i was planning on doing 1500 a000 that's under mine. I was planning on doing $1,500 a month. That's what every dollar has allowed me to see. And the $57,000, like the minimum payment on that one is like $250,000 after it was a dumb decision, consolidating for the safe plan because parent plus loans did not automatically qualify for it. So back in November, when I wasn't in this mindset, I made the decision with my mom to consolidate them so she could qualify for it. Okay. So I could pay less per month. Okay. Well, you're here now. So now you've got this $250 minimum, which if I were in your shoes, you know, you're working a debt snowball here. So I'm assuming that the student loans

are the only thing in your debt snowball. And when you do that, you do, you pay the minimum on everything else, except the debt that you're focusing on and the debt you're focusing on, all the money goes onto it, anything extra that you can find. So yeah, it makes sense.

The $28,000, you focus on that one first, put as much of it as you can. You said you'll knock it out in 18 months. That's great. Then, yeah, to answer your question, you take that same intensity. And then when it's time to focus on the $57,000 debt, you go hard in the paint in the same way. Yeah, I'm on that train 100%. I just like, I kind of struggle with the fact that I'm 27 now and I kind of like I see, you know, other friends like buying houses, getting married and stuff. OK, well, they may be broke, too. And even if they're not, hold up.

Even if they're not, even if they're doing fine, you made a choice in life. That's right. And I teach my kids all the time. Like when you make you're responsible for you. So you decided, hey, I'm going to get get this education i'm going to take out these loans and when you decided that you simultaneously decided and i'm going to spend the next however many years of my life after i graduate cleaning it up and paying them back so you can't compare your life to someone else's life because your choices are different yeah right right hey i just want to add to that because she crushed it. You can struggle all you want to about it, but it's still your reality. And so instead of grousing about it and grumbling about it and overthinking it,

do something about it and get on the other side of this deal. How long will it take you to pay off the $57,000? Oh, after my 28, I would say if I'm planning on doing the 28 within 18 months, I would probably do the 57. I don't know. Cause rent is going to be different within like, you know, a year or two. My point is, even if it takes you three years, you'll, you will have spent four years on this thing. And when you look at the whole, your whole life, four years is just a little drop in the bucket, bud. It's going to be worth it for you to knock these out and get them behind you.

And my guess is it's going to take less because your income is going to go up. I agree. So he's 27 now. Yeah. Oh, you're a young whippersnapper. You got this. You're going to be fine. You're going to be very wealthy, by the way, if you follow the baby steps like Jay just laid out for you.

So good stuff. All right. Quick break. We'll be right back. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. Jay Dwarshaw is alongside.

The phone number is 888-825-5225. Our scripture of the day comes from Deuteronomy 28, verse 12. The Lord will open to you his good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And our quote of the day from Thomas Jefferson, I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. Good stuff there.

All right, to Toronto, Canada we go. Sahil is with us. How can we help? Hi, Ken. Hi, Jay. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. I purchased the Total Money Makeover book, and I want to say thank you very much for that. It has totally transformed my life and how I handle money. So I want to get intense and I'm on baby step number two and I want to pay off my debt and then get my degree. But the issue is like I checked at nearby stores,

like Subway grocery stores, and they said we're not hiring. We already have like thousands of resumes. I needed your advice on like should I get a security guard or a forklift license or should I try like Uber or Instacart? Which one will be more lucrative?

Well, I don't know, and I don't think Jade knows the answer to that because we're not familiar with what those are paying in Toronto. But I would go with the one that pays the most right now because of the reason why we're getting it. It's just all about cash here. So it's not about great fit other than if I've got the talent to do it. So, for instance, if the forklift driver, I'm guessing that one pays the most, but do you know? Yes, I did check with some warehouses, and they said that minimum they pay $20, and with the experience they'll pay even more. And then if I were to pick up up weekend shift and there's extra money.

What's it cost to get the license? Somewhere between $100 to $300. If I were to learn the most common forklift, the counterbalance, they said it's $100. And if I were to learn all seven, then it's like $300. You'd have to compare the numbers because in Toronto, I don't know what people are earning driving Uber. Did you run the numbers because in Toronto, I don't know what people are earning driving Uber.

Yeah. Did you run the numbers on Uber? Yes. I mean, I did research online, and majority of the reviews are that they don't make even minimum wage. Okay. But, like, yeah, if they drive at night, then they say they make some money, but they still say that we aren't here in the car it's not worth it like that's your answer that's the easy answer

i'd rather drive someone else's forklift and drive my car and put wear and tear on it you know and i think that's a pretty decent skill to have seems like you can get overtime as well yes yeah and that's what i'm hoping for, that I can do evenings and weekends. And I put my study on hold because I really want to pay it off. And again, I know that this one will, even when I'm in school, because after reading the book, it makes more sense that I want to cash flow the study. I want to pay cash for it. Yes, come on, man.

Because I was thinking to get a student loan, but not anymore. Like, my mind just, like, I woke up in the morning and there was a paradigm shift. It just, like, I'm like, that's it. Nice. So, Hill, you just gave me... I don't want to borrow money.

Jay, you're fired up, aren't you? Yeah. That's great. Yeah, I'm like, even mortgage, like, I want to save up cash. And even if I have to move away from Toronto, I'm buying in cash, like, going for a cheaper house.

Wow. This guy gets it. And that was the reason. Because the book made me so frugal, I'm even thinking about spending $100. But back in the days, I wouldn't think at all to spend $100. And that's why I called. I'm like, okay, I'm going to check that I'm making the right decision, because I'm careful with every single penny now. Yeah. And then I was like, yeah. Yeah. You got it. Listen,

choose the one that makes you the most cash because you know what to do with it. We're not worried about you. You've got a clear focus. So love that. Let's go to Palm Beach, Florida next where Charles joins us. Charles, how can we help? I guess it's a little similar to, I currently make around $16 an hour. I'm 20. I don't have any debt. I have a little bit of an emergency fund, but I don't feel like it's enough for what I want to do with my life. What do you want to do with your life? I'm not, I want to life I'm not I want to be

I want to be more successful I want to be less reliant on people I live with my mom I know that that's not something I should be ashamed of right now but I don't think there's anywhere for me to go at my company I'm a barista and we've talked about management

and stuff but I just don't want to rely on that and even that wouldn't be making that much. I want to go through a program to become an aircraft mechanic. It's about an hour and a half commute, so I don't think I would be able to work through it, or at least not as much as I would want to. So I would have to do a student loan. Why? I don't think so. How much is the aircraft mechanics school?

It's about $50,000, and it's a year and a half. Growing up, my mom's company offered to pay for school, but right when I got around 13, 14, they pulled that, so that's why there was no. Okay. All right. Well, let's just play this out real quick, okay? So it's going to cost you $50,000 all in, and you said it's an hour and a

half commute. Is it a five-day-a-week, four-day-a-week program? How many hours? Five days a week. Five days a week? They said six to eight hours a day. Six to eight hours a day. So that's a pretty big all-in deal. But you said you had a little bit of savings. How much do you have in savings? So I have $1,000 for an emergency fund, and in my Roth IRA, I have about $10,000. $10,000? I can't touch that. No, we wouldn't want you to. That's not why we do Roth. Okay, and you're living with mom, and you're making, what did you say, $16 an hour?

Just about, yeah. And you're how old? I'm 20. Yeah. say 16 an hour just about yeah and you're how old i'm 20 yeah i gotta tell you i have you just thought about doing the basic math on 50 000 and just say all right over the course of a year could i put away two grand three grand a month because i'm living with mom and i don't have any responsibilities starting early next year and i would be able to save up I think maybe 10 by then but I would I would need no you keep saying you need loans no you don't you need some patience here's why I'm going to challenge you you're in you're 19 okay if you saved two grand a month okay for two

years that gets you to the 48,000 it gets you two grand shy okay come on man two grand a month here's my challenge jade what do you what does charles need to do to save two grand a month by the time he's 21 he's able to pay cash for the aircraft mechanics he's already doing it he lives at home i know i think it's already there it's already there tell me you know what else do you have to spend money on besides, you don't have a car note, you are not paying rent, I'm assuming, unless you're paying mom a little something, something, but, you know. I pay for the house taxes every year.

The taxes. So how much is that per year? It's like $3,000. Oh, $300 a month. Okay, that's nothing. That's one paycheck. Less than $300 a month. Yeah. So what I would do in your shoes, Ken is exactly right. You've got, you know, you're before taxes, you're, you know, $2,500 a month. And why can't we work more and make this happen fast? You're doing the barista thing. Are you working 40 hours a week? Yeah, I try to. The way that the overtime works is they don't want us to touch overtime.

Not overtime. I just want to know are you working 40 hours a week. It ends up that it's a little over 35 because of the way they schedule it. You need a new job or two jobs or three jobs. You're 19, bro. You want to be successful and make money? Go do it now. Not wait for it. In your position, I want you with like two jobs.

I want you with a nice full-time one where you're working 40 hours a week, more than $16 an hour if you can pull it, and then a nice full side hustle next to that so that you can stack away this money as quickly as possible. You're in a good position. I love that you're at home with your mom in this situation because it's going to allow you to save up more money and you have the margin you need to really make this happen. And Ken is right. On a bad day, this takes two years. Yeah. So on a good day. I bring home about $2,000 a month. Yeah, but you're 19.

You're missing what she's telling you. You have no expenses. You live with your mom. This just means you're not going to Sonic. Like you're not going to. Maybe you're not partying. Yeah. Bro.

Yeah, I don't do any of that. Then you have the money. Then go make more money and save more money. And before you know it, you've saved up the 50 grand to not have debt. And in the meantime, Ken, what can he do to determine if this is really the path he wants to? I'd be hanging out with mechanics, car mechanics, aircraft mechanics. You don't have to drive an hour and a half to hang out with some old bird who's been doing it 40 years. knuckles are all beat up let's find out if we really want to do this because fifty thousand dollars and the time it takes to save that is no joke so let's let's figure this thing out hang on i'm going to give you my my new book in the assessment find the work

you're wired to do this will help as well thanks for the call young man please don't do the debt jade warshaw always awesome to be with you my my friend. Great show. Thanks to James Childs, our fearless leader. And you, America, this is The Ramsey Show. Hey, folks, Dave here. You want to hear even more life-changing content from Ramsey? Download the Ramsey Network app so you can catch all your favorite shows all in one place like the Ramsey Show, Smart Money Happy Hour, and the Dr. John Deloney Show. You'll get real talk about life, relationships, money, and your career. Plus, the app lets you browse by topic like debt, business, or selling your home.

Get the content you want whenever and wherever you want to listen. Download the Ramsey Network app today.