The Ramsey Show - If It’s Dream Worthy, It’s Wait Worthy

Episode Date: June 13, 2024

💵 Sign-up for EveryDollar today - The simplest way to budget for your life! Jade Warshaw & Ken Coleman answer your questions and discuss: "Should I loan my girlfriend money?" Protecting yourself from a data breach, "How do I protect myself and my investments?" "I bought a truck for $88K and two years later it's only worth $50K," Buying a home in a hot market, Helping an elderly parent with finances. Support Our Sponsors: Christian Healthcare Ministries BetterHelp Zander Insurance Next Steps 📞 Have a question for the show? Call 888-825-5225 Weekdays from 2-5pm ET or click here! 🏠 Find a Ramsey Trusted Real Estate Agent 🚢 The Live Like No One Else Cruise is booking fast! ☂️ Get the right insurance without breaking the bank. 🏡 Use the Mortgage Calculator to see how much house you can afford! 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

From Ramsey Network, it's The Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create amazing relationships. I'm Jade Warshaw. Next to me is the magnificent Kenneth Coleman. Wow. Magnificent and Kenneth in the same sentence. It's going to be a day. It's going to be a good day. We're taking calls all afternoon long. Your life, your money. Hit us with all the questions that you have and we will hit you with an answer, a solution, a way forward, or we'll just spitball creative ideas

with you. Whatever it takes. The phone lines are open. 888-825-5225. Let's get involved. All right, let's go straight to the phone lines. We got Joe. He's in Anaheim, California. What's going on, Joe? Hey, how you guys doing?

Doing great. How are you? Doing good, doing good. I've been watching you guys for a while, and I got a quick question. I'm just looking for a little bit of affirmation here. Okay. I have a girlfriend of about a year and a half, and we do live together. And she asked me, actually, last night, if I could loan her money to pay off a debt that she has on a credit card.

So, she's about $12,000. About? About $12,000 in in debt that's not a little bit that's a lot well yeah yeah oh yeah yeah it's not yeah that was not a little bit um but yeah she had asked me that and um i gave her i told her i would call you guys i kind of know the answer i'll get back to you on that, babe. Let's put it on Jade and Kenneth to see what. Sure, sure. Okay, so it's $12,000. Did you say it's for a credit card?

Yeah, yeah, for a credit card, yeah. And just to clarify, this is a loan. So when you say the word loan, that makes it sound like somebody's got to pay it back. Got to pay it back, to pay it back yeah absolutely absolutely she had gotten to a yeah she had gotten to a little situation i guess with her uh last partner um he ended up using it uh without her uh permission and um yeah that's how she ended up being in that situation can i ask you this how do you feel how would you feel being in a position where your girlfriend owes you $12,000? That's the thing, too, because I've been looking at you guys for a while, and I remember one thing Ramsey said is, you know,

dinner tastes a little different when you're sitting across from somebody that owes you. And I know I wouldn't be the one owing anyone, but just the fact that that kind of tension would be there, I wouldn't necessarily feel too comfortable with that. Yeah, Joe, how's that going to feel when she starts missing payments that she owes you? That's got to be weird. Hey, we're going to Red Lobster

tonight. How's that payment plan coming along? But she's still got her nails done and still got her hair done. Yeah, yeah. Joe, listen, I appreciate that done and still got her hair done oh yeah yeah Joe yeah all right so can I Jake can I Joe listen I appreciate that you told your girlfriend you were going to call us but what was your gut reaction when she hit you with this idea my gut reaction was I'll be honest I was like okay like am I in a position to do so yeah like yes like yes can I can I hope her like that yes but um i i just think like like

just like um like character wise i really feel like you know you know um you know attacking debt is you know a character builder too and i you know i definitely want us to grow in that regard i want her to take her finances serious too as well joe joe joe listen to me joe jade and i are on team jo, okay? Why don't you stop spinning and just tell us, how did you feel when she hit you with that? Did you want to do it, yes or no? I got you, I got you.

No, no, I didn't. There we go, there we go. I'm with you, Joe. And there's nothing wrong with that. Yeah, you're not a bad guy. There's nothing wrong with that. She, you know, I do have more questions just because I want to know and I want the people to also get a clear picture of this. You know, first off, we're not big on loaning money here, you know, to a friend, to a family member, somebody loaning money to you.

Debt in general is just we're anti-debt here. So now if you called and said, hey, she's asking me if I can give her this money, that might be a different conversation. And you're like, I have it to give. And if I don't ever receive it back, it's no big deal. Like that might be a totally different conversation. But the aspect of loaning it, you're right. It does put a different taste in your mouth. And it's going to make the whole relationship, the power shifts, right?

You become the lender and she becomes not the lender i gotta ask a question joe because jade's here and i love getting the female perspective on this are you worried about her reaction if you tell her because i think you called us to get us to go well this guy this guy and this gal said this and are you worried about what her reaction is going to be if you tell her no um be honest a little bit she she can be yeah no no she can be definitely emotional you know when it comes down to things like that emotional like crying or emotional like i'm gonna hit you with this cast iron pan maybe a sandal i don't know about the cast iron but she'd probably do something like yeah but um i think that's important like yeah yeah no no it definitely is i know like she's

not the type to like swear up if you tell her no but i i just wanted to um yeah i just want to get like affirmation on that just to say like you you know, like Hey, you know, I mean Me being in the position I'm in Is because I've listened to these You know, I've listened to these people And, you know, I really want to You know, I'll call them And maybe they can give you some more clarity too

On my standpoint Are you going to marry her? That's my question Oh yeah, that's definitely the plan for sure Does she know that?. Does she know that? Yeah. Does she know that? I wouldn't say that.

I mean, we've talked about it, but as far as like a time frame on when we're going to get married, that hasn't been. All right, so here's the deal. So since you called us and I know where this is going, you need to give her a legitimate explanation as to why we think what we think and if you agree with us. So the reason that we want to keep this separate is you two are not married. Now, if you go down to the courthouse tonight, and I'm not trying to get you to do that,

but all of a sudden this debt becomes your debt, but right now it's her debt, and the relationship needs boundaries. And this is because you believe in a healthy relationship, and so you need to explain to her that that is your debt, not my debt. And the minute that I give you money, it changes our relationship. And I don't want that because I'm looking long term. I miss anything on that. I agree exactly with Ken.

There's a protection for both of you, legal speaking, you know, when you become married. And so if nothing else, this is a great time to start that conversation of what, you know, when you become married. And so if nothing else, this is a great time to start that conversation of what, you know, the define the relationship. Now's the great time to start talking about that. And I think it will reassure her to say, you know, if the time comes and you agree that we should be married, as I believe that we should be married, then I am happy to take on your debt. It would never be alone. it would be us working together and you know i look forward to that day but unfortunately we're not there today i have a question for you jade and and she's she this is for you joe but it's to jade i overthink everything so the giant asterisk here

is i overanalyze everything okay my brain right now is going if he says that which you and i are on the same page does she put pressure on him to to to get married and does this fast forward a marriage proposal I'm a little nervous about that I hope not uh do you see what would you say he needs to guard himself with I hope not if you sense that if you sense that now all of a sudden she's trying to you know rush you then I think that could be a bit of a red flag that's good now that's what I want him for. Now, let me then ask you this question. How long have you been dating? Because if you've been taking her for a ride for five years,

then she might. It's been a year and a half. Okay. I mean, in my mind, now's a good time to start talking about it. If she does say, well, you know, Joe, I've been trying to get married for the past, you know, six months and you're the one stalling. Like if she she starts saying stuff like that then you have to be open to the things that

she's saying as well at the end of the day if you both want to be in a married relationship make steps towards that and then to ken's point that's when things become one french we we that's what dave ramsey would say. This is The Ramsey Show. Hey, when you go against what society thinks is, quote, normal, like avoiding debt, for example, it might seem weird at first, and that is totally okay. We want you to be weird if that means doing things intentionally, including how you spend your health care dollars. And one way to be intentional is with Christian Healthcare Ministries. CHM isn't health insurance. They're a health cost-sharing ministry that's helped hundreds of thousands of families

like yours take care of healthcare costs without sacrificing their freedom. Find out more and join at chministries.org slash budget. That's chministries.org slash budget. That's chministries.org slash budget. You're listening to The Ramsey Show. I am your host, Jade Warshaw, joined by Ken Coleman, author of the bestselling book, Find the Work You're Wired to Do. Inside of it is what, Ken? The assessment called the Get Clear Assessment and it measures three things. What you're good at doing, what you enjoy doing, and what results motivate you. And it's a self-awareness

tool. You cannot grow who you are until you know who you are and that's what it does. Sets you up for what's my professional path where I have the opportunity to make the most money. That's what this audience needs to know. You want to make the most money, you got to be in the right seat of the bus doing work you're wired to do. But it started with the tool and I love that. The tool leads to, you know, being able to have the outcome. And it's the same thing with every dollar, guys. We talk about every dollar all the time. It's the best budgeting tool out there. Okay. So look no further. It's here. It's the best way to make the most of your money. And it does that by helping you create and stick to a monthly budget.

Out of all the things that we talk about here on the Ramsey Show, the baby steps, all of those things, the budget is the crux of all of that. It is the chief cornerstone, if you will. And so every dollar makes it simple to plan your spending. In there, you can track your transactions. You can do your saving. It's all in one and it's easy to use. It's an app that fits into your lifestyle. And better than that, it fits into your pocket because it's on your saving. It's all in one and it's easy to use. It's an app that fits into your lifestyle

and better than that, it fits into your pocket because it's on your phone. So if you don't have every dollar, get into that. And if you don't have the premium version, I'd advise you to look into that too. It'll help you keep a pulse on your spending. It'll help you make progress with all of your money goals. So if you haven't already, be sure to download Every Dollar for Free. You can do that in the App Store or Google Play today all right let's go to chris who's in houston texas what's going on chris good afternoon um i was calling just for some career type advice i was 11 years in the military before i was asked not to re-enlist because I did not take the COVID shot. I'm calling because I was trained to do a job,

and that job doesn't really translate into the civilian world very well. So I've been doing entry-level jobs. I've got three kids I'm marrying who are going to be at nine years next week, and I'm tired of scratching by. Tell me what you did in the military, and I want you to lay out the skills and experience that you had, that you got. Yeah. So a big aspect of what I did was just boat driving.

I was in the Coast Guard. I did search and rescue and I did ace the navigation, which is all the little buoys and signs that you see going up and down rivers, bays, channels. My job was to fix those. I've got a myriad of random little skills that have tied into that with electrical, even hydraulic construction type work, but none of it really translates directly over. I've done odd jobs fixing elevators and pest control. I've done a little bit with merchant marine work.

What were you making in the military? At the time that I got out, I was making just shy of $5,000 each month. Okay, so $60,000 was the top. And you said you drove boats and you also did some mechanical work on these same boats. Is that what I'm hearing?

More maintenance for those. my job didn't do the mechanical i'd help with it i've got a little bit of mechanical knowledge um i've never been trained mechanically sure anyway i'm just tinkering all right let's go back let's go back go ahead before you got into the military if i were to meet you on the side of the road or at a coffee shop because nobody meets on the side of the road or at a coffee shop, because nobody meets on the side of the road, I'm not sure why I said that. But if we met at a coffee shop and I said, tell me, Chris, what you do naturally really well. Your whole life has just come easy to you. People compliment you on this type of thing.

This is pre-military. What would you have said to me? Pre-military? I was in high school. So my answer, I don't honestly know what my answer would have been. That's part of the reason I joined the military. Yeah, I think that's because you don't have a lot of self-confidence. Is that a true or false statement?

I'd say that's probably a true statement. What's going on there? Where do you think that comes from, the lack of self-confidence? Honestly, that probably goes back to a childhood issue um issue which i've i've been working on that okay so chris i'm not going to do that with you here on the show we don't have time but i do yeah yeah yeah relax i could i could tell you were like please don't go there the goal in asking that question chris was not to make you cry or to try to do therapy i love that you're working on that i would really recommend that when you get a little bit of financial space, and we're going to talk about that a lot here,

that you finish that job and get there. Because when I ask someone to tell me what has come easy for them in their life, what people complimented them on, and they can't give me an answer right away, what that tells me is you actually know an answer but you don't believe it does that sound about right and i'll leave it at that but i want to know does that describe you well yeah probably okay so why don't you just for a heck of it tell your brain to shut up and why don't you just tell me one or two talents that even as a high schooler your whole life you can look back and go i was able to do these things a lot easier than other people can can i just no i won't interject one can i please get his answer okay all right um go ahead i actually really enjoy studying

okay learning learning okay and doing what with the learning what kind of stuff did you enjoy learning the most about? I've got several answers to that. Good. Give me the first one. Okay. I really enjoy aviation. Okay. All right.

So go ahead, Jay. I'll come back to this. I just wanted to get that from him. Get one from him. But I'm going somewhere. The weird thing is what you said was exactly what I was thinking in my head. When you listed out all the jobs you've done, I'm like, oh, he's a quick study. Like he sees something, you see something, and you pick it up very quickly. That's right.

Which is really of high value. That's right. So where I'm driving, Chris, is the reason I'm going back is I'm trying to get you to a point where you see some patterns. And driving a boat and flying a plane, a of similarities true or false yeah okay so there's something there let me tell you something Chris you because of your Coast Guard training and background I if I were you I'd be looking into in the Houston Texas, the opportunity to operate large machines because you're going to be very attractive in a job application, somebody who learned how to drive a boat, right?

Somebody who learned how to do all those things and do it for the Coast Guard of all organizations. I think there's something to the precision. There's something to the efficiency of There's something to the efficiency of the driving a boat and flying a plane that make you get a little excitement. Am I right? Absolutely. My friend, you have so much from your experience that's transferable, it's not even funny. And Jay just hit something that I thought was very profound.

The quick study. You figured out how to turn a wrench and do some stuff on the boat just by paying attention. If you did some type of mechanical school, you could make really good money. Listen, you could go into welding. Let me tell you about guys that are welding right now. Welding is a do as much as you want, and you could be making $60 an hour. Chris, I'm just ideating.

I'm not putting any of those things on you to wear today like that's your future, but I'm trying to drive this message home that you don't believe you have anything to offer, and that comes from your childhood. But here are two strangers who've only known you for a couple of minutes. We both see evidence that you have a ton of skill that is very transferable. And maybe your greatest skill is the fact that you're a quick learner. 100%. Yeah.

Before we get off this call, I definitely want to get you set up with Dr. John Deloney's book, Own Your Past, Change Your Future. I think that's going to be great. And I agree with what Ken said. I hear very clearly you're a quick study. You're a person who's not afraid to get their hands dirty and learn a new task or learn a new skill and I think you know other than what Ken said I don't have anything else to add. Well I do want to give him the book Find the Work You're Wired to Do. Chris that's our gift to you so hang on the line. This assessment is going to take you about 20 minutes and what it's going to do is give you a self

awareness that you've not had maybe in a long time if ever okay and it's literally going to take you about 20 minutes. And what it's going to do is give you a self-awareness that you've not had maybe in a long time, if ever. Okay? And it's literally going to help you see, this is what I do best. This is the kind of work I enjoy doing. I'm motivated by this. We got a lot of it out on this. But then the book is going to help you see where these opportunities are in the world of work to do the stuff you're wired to do. So hang on the line.

We're going to get that to you. But Chris, it's time for you to start thinking highly of yourself and seeing I'm really good at operating big things. And that's a skill set that's in high demand. And oh, by the way, high income. Come on, Chris, stand up straight, believe, and go do. 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. You're listening to The Ramsey Show. If you are at home or at work or in your car and you've got a burning career question, if you've got a burning money question that you want answers to, we can help with that. The number is 888-825-5225. And myself and Ken Coleman will do our best to give you some good advice. Karen in Columbia, South Carolina has chosen to call the line. So let's see what she's talking about what's going on Karen well I have received an email quite recently that my personally identifiable information has been compromised

and it came from a well-known utility company. And in inquiring further, not taking the number on the email seriously, but going back through past receipts and invoices, I found a number and I called them and it has been confirmed. My name, my previous address, my phone number, my social security number, my banking information. And so, yeah, I'm not sure what to do next. Is it just you or was it like, you know, every once in a while I'll get one of those emails that's like, Yeah, I'm not sure what to do next. Is it just you or was it like, you know, every once in a while I'll get one of those emails that's like, you know, we had a data breach in your name.

You know, your information may have been part of some of the information that was leaked out. Is it something like that? And then after the utility company said to call the Experion, am I saying that correctly? Experion, uh-huh, yeah. Yeah, and that they would offer free protection for a year, which I did. But then after doing that, I received an email stating that my phone number was visible on the dark web. And that kind of freaks me out. I just want to make sure that you're following valid information. And it may just be the way that you're saying it, so I don't mean any harm. But the way that you're following valid information. The way that, and it may just be the way that you're saying it, so I don't mean any harm, but the way that you're saying it,

it sounds a little bit scammy. And I'm not, it might not be a scam. However, I will say this. If you haven't seen any, if you haven't seen any evidence of this, if you haven't had any fraud take place, if you haven't had anybody,

in many cases, it's like, okay, you're're fine what i would do if i were in your shoes is i would go through and i'd probably change my bank login i would change the passwords on those really important accounts i'd probably call my bank and say hey i got this notification just beyond just reporting it being on alert i'd probably keep an eye on my credit to make sure no one's opening any accounts and then what i would suggest i would not do anything through Experian because they're a credit monitoring, like they're a credit agency. They sell you a lot of debt. I would go through Zander Insurance and I would do the Zander Identity Protection Insurance.

I do it. It's super cheap and they monitor everything for you. And here's the thing, Karen, if something does happen, they'll go to bat for you and they'll help you to recover anything that, you know, may get stolen. But nothing like that's happened yet. So I think you're kind of worried about the future. And I'm not going to lie, this sounds scammy to me. I don't like that they're like telling you who to call and telling you what to do. And it's just you. It feels it feels off to me yeah well that was my first inclination and then that's why I didn't do anything for several weeks but it then

it just kept haunting me you know what if this isn't a scam here's the thing even if you're not I mean I'm not trying to I'm not trying to make light of your frustration, but I do want you to see that how, how big of a deal this may or may not be. If you just Google someone's name, you can usually find their phone number. So whether or not it's on the dark web or not, it's on the real web. It's on the light web. So it's in many ways, it's not as huge of a deal. You know what I mean? mean I just I don't want you to lose sleep about it but what I do want you to do I want you to call up Xander because that is going to help you sleep and feel good that someone's monitoring it you don't have to do the hard work and it's like 12 bucks a month it's so cheap okay um I did um prior prior to getting that email for over a year, I've had, because of other personal situations, I've had my credit frozen at all three credit people.

Okay. Then nobody's going to be able to do anything. So just call Xander. That's all you got to do. She gave you two clear checklist items. That's all you got to do, and you're going to sleep really well. Love it. Yeah.

For anybody, if you're afraid of identity protection, Xander offers a really good product. Everybody here at Ramsey has it. Yeah. And like I said before, it'll monitor all of your accounts for you. And every couple of months, I think once a month, they send me an email to say, hey, you're all in the clear, or we saw this and we're going to monitor it. And if someone were to steal my ID, I don't have to be the one to hunt them down and track them down. Xander will do all of that for me, which is

really great to have. So let's take another call. We've got Ryan who's in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. What's going on, Ryan? Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my call. A little bit real quick about my finances. I make about $2,500 a week after tax. And I'm looking for some green flags and some red flags. I've when looking to set up a Roth IRA. Okay. What do you mean by that, green flags and red flags? Just like, you know, what are like some things that I can look for that may set one company apart from another as far as like returns or like how I should invest my money and stuff like that. Okay. Well, first, the first thing I'd want to look for is if you're ready to start investing. So what we would teach here is the person who's ready to invest is the person who has paid off all of their debt except their mortgage.

You don't need to have paid off your mortgage. And the person who's ready to invest would also have around three or six months of expenses saved. And then at that point, the purpose of that is to just make sure that when you do start investing, your investment is protected because it's not riddled by the risk of debt and it's protected by the fact that you have savings in case something were to happen so you don't have to dip into those investments. So do you have those boxes checked? So I don't have any current debt right now. We don't have our three to six months nest egg saved up quite yet.

But other than that, I don't have any outstanding debts. Okay, good. I'm glad you don't have any debt. What would it look like? I mean, you're making $10,000 a month, right? Yes. So how quickly could you save up three to six months of expenses? And I mean, when I say that, I mean basic expenses.

It doesn't have to be your full bells and whistles budget. I'm going to say probably within six to seven weeks, I could probably have that comfortably tucked away. Love it. So at that point, once you get that stacked away, the next thing is the amount, right? So we would say 15% of your gross monthly payment since you're going to be doing this monthly, yeah? Okay. And then what we're looking for, you said Roth IRA. I'm guessing at your work, there's no 401k with a match? So I'm a union employee. I have a structured annuity plan and I have a regular retirement and I also have 401k. Okay. And the 401k, there's not a match towards it. It's just you put in what you put in. There is a match from my contractors, but I don't know what it is off the top of my head.

Okay. So what we would say is to take the match first. So with 15% of your income, go over and meet that match and then after that you go to the roth ira now we get to your question so i just wanted to set all that up for the folks listening um so for you what you're looking for is you want to invest across four different types of mutual funds growth growth and income aggressive aggressive growth, and international. And what you're looking for, you want to take a look at their track record. I look back sometimes. I'm looking for funds that have been around for a long time. I want a long track record, a long history, and I'm looking for the annualized rate of return.

I want to see that this has been making money over a long period of time. And we usually find just the S&P 500 has had an annualized rate of return of above 10%. So that's what we're looking for. And that's what I want you to be looking for. And if you're finding that you're not able to do this or you're confused, get with one of our SmartVestor pros. They're not going to tell you what to invest in, but they are going to help teach you. And I think that's what you're looking for. And once you get on the right track, you'll be off to the races.

This is The Ramsey Show. These days, it's not if your identity gets stolen, it's when. And the only ID theft protection plan I have ever recommended is from Zander Insurance. It helps real people with real-life situations. Like the call we got on the show recently where a woman's abusive ex opened a credit card in her name and racked up over $8,000 in debt. Then the bank sued her, even though the charges weren't hers. What a mess.

With Zander's help, she was able to get the entire nightmare cleared up, and now her family is officially debt-free. Listen, Zander's identity theft protection is the best option out there. They have all the cyber tools and monitoring services you need. They cover all types of ID theft and they even include up to two million dollars in stolen funds protection. In the end though, you need an ally, someone on your side to take over the work and fix the problem. That's what Zander is all about. Go to Zander.com to learn more or call 800-356-4282. You're listening to The Ramsey Show.

Hey, if this show has provided any value for you, if you just like listening for entertainment, or maybe we've helped you pay off some debts, do us a favor. It's totally free. We would love it if you were to like this show, subscribe to the show if you're watching on YouTube, if you would share the show, or head over and check out our Ramsey Network app. You can watch some of the episodes in there and share them through there. That would be great. It's totally free and it's a way for you to kick up this show and other people's algorithms so they'll begin to see it

and that life change can just spread like wildfire. Like I said, it takes two seconds, it's absolutely free and it's a way to kind of get involved in this life change movement that we're doing around here, Ken. We talk about money in ways that culture doesn't talk about it. We talk about, you talk about people's careers and the work that they're wired to do

in ways that culture is not talking about that. And so it's a very important message. Dr. John Deloney is talking about relationships. And these are voices that need to be heard, and they have the ability to change lives. And you can be a very, very big part of that for a very small portion of your time, a very small portion of your day. So we would love it if you got involved. All right. Thank you so

much for doing that. Let's go to the phone lines. We've got Jared. He's in Little Rock, Arkansas. What's going on, Jared? Hey, guys. Thank you all so much for taking my call. How are y'all today? I'm very good. I'm holding myself back because i want to go ask jared oh i see what you did he's only heard that a few million times i know i'm sorry i can't resist what can we do for you besides sing to you yes that's right i'll take it um okay so uh my my Okay, so my dad passed away towards the end of last year, and so I've got an inheritance from him that he left me. And the short of it is I'm wanting to know the best financial plan going forward for my family to be able to handle this, to not make an irresponsible decision,

to be able to take care of us in the future. We've got two kids, young kids, and also to be able to bless others in the process as well. How much was it? So total between 401k life insurance and checking account that he had, It is, after paying off the little bit of debt that we have, it is $539,000. Ooh, okay, that's juicy. What a gift. Wow, $539,000. Okay, so clearly you're wanting to be really good stewards of this. Can you give us a little picture of your current financial situation, aside from the inheritance? Besides the inheritance, my wife and I both work for a ministry here in Arkansas. Household income is right around $69,000. That's not bring home.

That's before taxes and stuff. So, I mean, we have no mortgage or anything. We are looking at possibly buying or building a house in the future. That's kind of part of the question here on when the proper time would be and how to do that. But other than that, we have about a little bit of medical bills. Total debt and all is right around $6,000. So we've got everything else paid off. That's all we have left. No car notes,000. So we've got everything else paid off. That's all we have left. No car notes,

nothing. Excellent. So the $6,000 in debt you're renting right now, and do you guys have any other money saved? Yes, we have savings. We've got right under $32,000 there. Good. Okay. And would you call that three months of expenses, six months of expenses? What would you call that? I haven't figured that 100%. I'm going to say three to be on the safe side. It could be six. It's closer to six. I mean, you said your gross income is 60.

So after taxes, I mean, that's a big chunk of your income. That may be close to 75% of your income, correct? Okay. Yeah. Yes, sir. I mean, it's up there, just rough math. So you're already at the three to six month level. I'm pretty confident of that at 32,000. So what are the big ticket items besides building a house that you guys have on your list? Really, that's the biggest one. Anything else I can't really think of right off the top of my head. I mean, we're pretty good as far as vehicles go. We were able to buy a newer vehicle, 2013 model, last year, pay cash for it.

Nice. And I'm good. I inherited my dad's truck, which is a 14 model, and we're good there. So there's not really any other big expenses moving forward that we can think of, and we're okay where we're at right now as far as the house. The ministry has actually provided a place for us to be able to stay. Oh, cool. So you're not spending any expense? You're not spending any renting expense?

Correct. Okay, that's great. So I mean, if you were looking to buy a house, which I think is, I mean, that's the point that you're at, right? So you're right in line. What would you want to spend? What are you looking to spend? And is your goal to 100% cash flow it? Well, that's kind of the question, because here's the thing with the 401k side of the inheritance that that has. It goes into a non-spousal beneficiary account. So from my understanding, I have to take distributions on there and exhaust the account within 10 years. So the biggest question is what I can do with that because of the taxes that are going to hit and everything. So I don't know how much I'll have left and to be able to work with. So I don't even know if I'm able to cash flow it. How much is in this situation? How much is in the 401k versus the life insurance? I should have asked that. The 401k as of today had just over $453,000.

Ah, so the bulk of it was there. And then you've got less than $100,000 in the life insurance. Correct. What is it, $80,000 or $90,000? Okay. That does change things greatly. And then what was the other component of it? You said it was a 401k life

insurance. What was the third component? Out of his checking account, it was right at $29,000. But after we pay off that six, it's eight. I figured eight. So it's going to be 21 in that. Okay. We'll say 21. So really accessible cash that's not tied to a 401k is really like a hundred thousand is that right yeah that would be yes okay um i would want you to get with a smart vestor pro to find out what the stipulations are on this 401k because to be honest with you i can't sit and tell you on the phone um whether or not you can get to that and even if you could it would be in like you said distributions it wouldn't be you going in and take all this taking all this money and honestly i wouldn't advise you to so the question is what is a what does a 100 000 down payment do for you because i think that's a pretty good gift and then even if you allow this 401k to

continue to grow i mean that's pretty that's pretty awesome. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, either way, I mean, it would work out great. It's just trying to make the smartest decision that we possibly can, you know, while not being selfish about it. Because a big passion of both of ours is we want to get to a point to where we can bless other people as well. And we're already there to where we can in moderation. We want to get to where we can do even more. So we want to make the best decision to where we can still do that as well. We don't want to be selfish with it.

Yeah, I think I love that. I think for you the next step is to get with one of the SmartVestor pros. Christian will pick up and give you that information. But I don't want you to do anything that's going to cause you, the next step is to get with one of the SmartVestor pros. Christian will pick up and give you that information. But I don't want you to do anything that's going to cause you to be penalized or for there to be extra fees because you pulled out money earlier because you took a greater distribution than what you could. It sounds to me, I may be wrong, and I'm likely, well, maybe, but it sounds like only that you've only got a really safe access to this 100k right now and I mean that's a pretty sweet down payment depending on what you were hoping to spend on a

house. Yeah which we never got an answer to that let's circle back to that so you said early in the call that you wanted to build what what size excuse me what price were you looking at building um i mean realistically yeah uh somewhere between 150 to 200 000 is what we would be you know okay then so there's there's a massive down payment so i don't see why you couldn't move forward on that with 100 grand in cash okay but again this is up to you i mean we we can't give you what you should do with this but based on what i'm hearing jade i think they should take a percentage of this hundred and give But again, this is up to you. I mean, we can't give you what you should do with this. But based on what I'm hearing, Jade, I think they should take a percentage of this $100 and give it to something that they really believe in. Not a massive percentage, but more than they could normally do.

And then they still have a massive down payment. And they have no rent right now, so they can take their time. They can take their time. And it sounds like there's no bad choice here. As long as you're not being penalized or doing anything out of order, there's no bad choice here. And that's what's great about this. What a great blessing that was left to you. This is The Ramsey Show.

From The Ramsey Network, you're listening to The Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. I'm your host. I'm Jade Warshaw. Next to me is Ken Coleman. We'll be taking your calls all afternoon long. Give us a call. You can talk about your life. Talk about your money. We'll give our best take on your situation and try to help you out.

And, you know, Dave Ramsey used to say, some say the advice is what you pay for it. Yes. So there you go. Give us a call. The number is 888-825-5225. And we'll do our very, very best. We've got Dawn, who's in New Haven, Connecticut. What's going on, Dawn? Hey, guys.

Thanks so much for taking my call. My question is this. My husband and I have been following your plan for about, since about 2008. We have achieved a net worth of just over $2 million. Wow. And, yeah, we're pretty excited. We just hit that recently.

Congratulations. Thank you. And we're wondering, how do we protect what we've accumulated? It's kind of a litigious world out there, and we're not really sure if there's anything that you can advise us on that might be helpful. Let's start with, where are you concerned that you might get attacked in order to ask a question like that? How do I protect myself? Yep, absolutely. Nothing going on at present, but my thought was, you know, you get into a car accident, you're, we have good insurance, but there are limitations to that. Or you own a property. Someone has some sort of an accident, they turn around, they sue you.

And yeah, we do have an umbrella policy for a million dollars in addition to our insurance. But we're 54 and we intend to continue our wealth and as it grows, it feels like our insurance isn't going to grow with that. Or maybe it will, I'm not sure. Okay. This is new territory. Really good questions, Dawn. And just to let you know, Like our insurance isn't going to grow with that or maybe it will. I'm not sure. Okay. This is new territory.

Really good questions, Dawn. And just to let you know, your phone's breaking up a little bit. So make sure you're in a spot where we can really hear you. It just sounded like, it sounds like you've got all the right things in place because I would have suggested an umbrella policy on up to a million bucks, which is just right. You know, long-term disability is something that you can consider if you don't already have that in place. It sounds like you've got the right auto coverage. If you wanted to, you could go on ramseysolutions.com

and do the coverage checkup. And just, it literally goes line by line through all of the different coverage that you should have and the amount that you should be covered for. So that's really good. It sounds more like you're worried about somebody suing you than you are something kind of outside happening that's random that you can't pay for, like a health thing or a, is that right? That's correct. And we have, we've had Zander Insurance, the identity insurance plan for years, which is great.

We do have disability insurance. We've got term life insurance in place. So I feel like we've got a pretty good amount of protection. I will definitely check the website. No, you're stacked up. I think I think you're great. Here's the thing. I think two million dollars in net worth is amazing. I mean, do you guys, if you had properties or something and you wanted to drop those into, you know, LLCs to protect those and kind of have them individualized, you could do that? Do you recommend that for your primary residence? Say that again? Do you recommend that for your primary residence?

I wouldn't. It's not something that we would say here. But if you had, you know, if you were saying, hey, my net worth is comprised of all these separate real estate deals, then that might be something you look into. But it doesn't sound like it. It sounds like you guys, for lack of a better word, are just, you know, everyday folks and you've done well with your money and you've got nice, strong 401ks and investing. And for that reason, I don't think there's as much of a target on your back as you think. My guess is to look at you, Dawn, no one would go, that's who we need to go after. You know what I mean?

Right? I mean, am I wrong? I don't know. Maybe you, if you're flashing your wallet and, you know, flashing cash all the time, but I don't think that's you. No, we live very conservatively. I mean, our condo is under 400,000. We drive, you know, used cars. They're decent, nothing fancy. Yeah, we're pretty conservative. Do you have a property? One of the scenarios you gave us was a property. If somebody gets hurt on your property, does that even exist?

It does. So, well, it's possible if someone was, say, inside our condo and something happened, we do have our previous primary residence, we converted to a rental and just found out about the two and five rule. So we are selling that property. And that, aside from a new rental property that my Roth IRA owns, which I am also selling, that's it for investment properties. And we just kind of want to take a beat after that. We did attend the Ramsey Investment webinar a couple weeks back, which was really enlightening. And I was at my husband and I said, we're never doing this the wrong way again. We're following Dave's plan. He's gotten us this far. Let's keep going. And we're both 100% in agreement with that. Listen, I agree with everything that Jade said. I personally know Jeff Zander. I've known Jeff

a long time. And if I were in your situation, because I get to know Jeff, I'd call Jeff. And Jeff would probably tell me who to talk to in his shop. But I would just call Xander and talk to them and just say, here are my concerns. Just walk through your situation with Xander. You're a client of theirs, correct? Did I hear you say that? I am. Yeah.

Yeah, we are. You know, Jade and I have an opinion, but they're on the ground experts and it's who we trust and it's who I use. So I call them and walk them through this and go, I just want to make sure that I'm not, you know, wringing my hands and clutching my pearls unnecessarily. And I think when they walk you through all that, everything that you've got from a specific insurance standpoint, along with the coverage check. And I think this is a little more nuanced with your question. do both things and i think you're gonna sleep great tonight i think so too well done you're a person who dots their eyes and crosses their t's i mean no no no doubt about that very very good very good question it's almost like we're to a point where if i had some land like that i was just sitting here thinking while you were talking

to her i was like i'd have some i'd have a lawyer draw up some like type of something. Like if you step, like, so I have to sign a disclaimer if I step foot on your land. Let's say I had some land and you and Sam come out, you know, and we're riding four wheelers or who knows. I'm making all this up. Riding four wheelers. So that's why I said playing pickleball. Yeah.

I like pickleball. Right. But it's like, yeah, if a legitimate insurance expert said, you probably don't have to do it, but you could. But we just live in a world today where, you know, I get the point of the call here. You know, if you've got strangers. Somebody cleans your house. Acquaintances. And it's like, yeah, I'd probably have people sign stuff too to go

listen you know if you do something dumb and you get hurt I'm not paying for it yeah I mean that's what the umbrella policy is for that's true I think she's fine I'm just bringing up she's fine too I think she's extra scared but you know why because she's worked so hard and you acknowledge the fact that they've worked so hard to get where they are she's like I don't want some jerk coming along and you know trying to take some of my nest egg. That's true. The thing though is with most of our everyday baby steps millionaires, it's not like a flashy thing. There's more people driving around in expensive cars that you would think had a high network that's actually broke than the people who really do have a net worth.

And they're driving a used paid for vehicle that looks, you know, completely unassuming. They're wearing, you know, normal jeans that they got from Target. You know, it's not, no one would know. So I don't think anybody's, you know, drafting a plan to get at them, you know, and take their money, take them for all their worth. So I think she's done a good job and she's trying to be a good steward and good on her for doing that, Dawn. Thanks for the call. This is The Ramsey Show. You're listening to The Ramsey Show. I don't know about you, Ken, but I feel like the last couple of calls we've gotten have had something to do with protections, making sure that an inheritance is safe, making sure that the money and the net worth that we've amassed is safe, making sure that

my identity is safe. It all has to do with insurance. And everybody wants to have the right insurances. After all, insurance is there to mitigate risk, right? Whether it's health insurance, home insurance, renter's insurance, all of these things are out there to protect you in case a cost comes up that you yourself cannot cover, your insurance is there to kind of fill that gap for you. And it can be very confusing to navigate all of the insurances and going through, I don't know, Ken, that is something that if we start talking about insurance, my eyes glaze over and I want someone to handle it for me. Yes, I would concur. And so our Ramsey Trusted Pros, they shop the market and they compare all the insurance

quotes so that you don't have to and so that I don't have to. And your pro will compare the quotes. They'll look at the discounts and they will bundle the deals for you at no extra cost, which is great. When my husband and I moved here, Ken, we were in a new house. We had to have the housing insurance for that. We needed to get the umbrella coverage and all that. And they shopped all the quotes. They rolled it into one nice, neat bow. And we got more coverage for less money.

Like that. I love that. So Ramsey Trusted Pros will make sure you have all the coverage you need and nothing that you don't. So there's not going to be any fluff here. Ramsey Trusted Pros, they're interviewed, they're vetted, and they're coached to make sure that they're market experts. And here's the best part. They truly do have your best interest at heart. I've experienced that, Ken. I know that you have experienced that. So the question you need to be asking yourself is, do you have the right coverage based on your individual needs?

OK. And so to do that, go to RamseySolutions.com slash coverage. Again, that's RamseySolutions.com slash coverage. And let me just add, because I hear it in the wind, insurance, guys, is not a baby step, okay? It's not something that you wait until you're after, you know, after you've paid off your debt or after you've saved up your savings to do. Insurance is something that you do the moment that you've learned about it. And so if you've been listening to the show

for a couple of segments or even just this one segment and you're like, oh, you know what? I don't have life insurance. That is your signal that you need to act on that today, not once you've paid your debt off, okay? If you don't have health insurance, that is your signal that you need to act on that today. Not once you've paid your debt off. Okay. If you don't have health insurance, check out health trust. That's the partnership that we have. You need health insurance today. If you're a renter and you don't have renter's insurance, this is your sign from, Oh, this is your sign. You need renter's insurance. You are

out here with no coverage. Anything can happen. If you don't know, insurance you are out here with no coverage anything can happen if you don't know if you have the bare minimum of auto you need to do our insurance checkup and make sure that you are covered because if you get in an accident and your coverage isn't what you thought it would be you're about to be up a creek without a paddle so please please please prioritize this in your every dollar budget it is so so very important to get the coverage you need today our ramsey trusted pros will help you do that all right let's go to the phone lines tyler in buffalo new york is here what's going on tyler hi how are we doing today doing good how can we help hi so i'm looking into possibly starting up a home inspector's business come this winter here, and I was just curious on what the right steps would be to do that.

All right. So home inspection. Why did you pick that problem or that solution? What drew you to that? I guess the big part that came out of it is the flexibleness. Because I have a job right now that's kind of seasonal. It pays very well with the seasons on, but then wintertime you don't have hardly anything going on.

Okay. All right. And what's the homes inspection business like in the brutal winters of Buffalo? I'm guessing you Buffalo folks, I mean, you just know how to handle that kind of snow. I mean, you guys were in the news last year during the football season, crazy snow. Is it a normal rhythm and there is not a big drop off in the wintertime in Buffalo as it relates to home inspection? Nothing too crazy. You know, at that time right there, I actually live south of Buffalo and there's a lot of new builds going on. So there's a lot of possibility for it. You have a background and some expertise,

some skillset that lends itself to doing that well? I did plumbing for about five years. I've shat on electrician. I've worked with carpenters. When it comes to the nuts and bolts of it, I feel like I know it fairly well. Trust me, you had me at plumbing. I mean, I was like, okay, you've got the skill set for that. You enjoy the work. It can be a pretty good business. I mean, you can build this thing and to where it could replace your seasonal income. So I'm not seeing any red flags on this. How much is it going to cost for you to get qualified to do that? Is it a certification? Yes. The bits I've looked into, you know, you can go online

and file through a course and then that right there is roughly probably about $2,500. $2,500. Do you have the cash for that? Yes. All right. I like that. So no red flag there. And is the market saturated? Is the market moderate as it relates to people out there that are your competitors or is there hardly anybody doing it um in my micro area there's there's two and um they you know honestly the quality of the work they do it's not very well and you know it's something i actually see an issue when I was working on the trade still. Okay. So you've heard this from viable sources that these guys or gals aren't doing a good job. Yes. And even seen it myself. Are they covered up in business or are they,

what's their business like, the flow of business? They seem to stay fairly steady. But at the same time, the exact grid, I'm unsure. What's your gumption level as it relates to talking to realtors, bankers, mortgage pros? Are you a guy that'll get out and connect and shake people's hand, look them in the eye and go, I'm the newest home inspector on the block, and I come from the trades, and I'm telling you my competition, they ain't so good, I'm fantastic, give me a shot. Are you willing to do that? Absolutely. All right, Jade, I ran him through my questions.

I turned the balance of my time over to you. You used the word gumption. I love that word, gumption. I love that. The reason I asked that question, Tyler, is because this is a business where you, sir, are the product. That's right. Jade and I are in that same business. Jade's the product, I'm the product. So you got to have

that gumption necessary to put yourself out there. And the realtors that you want to work with are going to be the type who are doing high volume because they're going to be able to give you a lot of work. And if they're high volume realtors, they know how to talk. They know how to command a room. They know how to, you know, their BS level is very low, right? So it's like this guy, you know, but if you come in there and you're like, listen, we need to work together. Here's why. I love that.

So my question that I, the only question I wrote down, which I kind of feel like that's what we're into now is how do you get clients? Like, what's the strategy for you to go in there? Because it's not like you're trying to railroad anybody or, you know, you're not intentionally trying to, like, steal anybody's clients. But at the same time, you want the work. Does that make sense? So it's like, how do you see yourself getting in there and kind of pulling the boat close to the dock and getting those clients? See, that's one thing I'm kind of unsure of.

I don't know really where to start with it. I wasn't sure if it's something you get in with the banks or you contact realtors or if it's just a matter of just talking to everybody you can to get your name out there. Okay. Well, it's the list that I ran through earlier, but I would start with your mortgage companies in the area. They're the ones that when a house is going for refinance or the actual initial financing, they are the ones that are getting the home inspector out. I know when I've refied, the company I refied with, they're the one that chose the, they have their guys and they get their gals. Okay. So for certain mortgage, I would check on the realtor side. I'm going to say, I don't know. I think that's more of a mortgage play. Okay.

Because again, the mortgage company are the ones, the banks, they're the ones that need to know what the house situation is, you know. Now, realtors do it as well. I'm not saying realtors don't, but I'm saying realtors and mortgage companies, when they do refinancing, they'll have a, I'm sorry, I've confused the whole situation. You're talking about home inspection. I apologize. I got in my head home appraisal. Sorry. Mortgage companies are appraisers.

That's right. Okay. Home inspection is realtor. You're right. That's okay. My brain just got all cobwebby. That's all right, Ken. I got the broom out.

You're all swept clean. Appraisals. So home appraisers, that's different than the home inspector. So realtors, realtors, realtors. All day. And hey, listen, can we tell them? Tyler, if I were you, I'd start with the website, RamseySolutions.com, and find those pros. That's it.

The realtor pros. That's a goldmine right there. Start calling them and go, I called the Ramsey Show. I'm a big Ramsey listener, and you are a trusted pro. Can we talk? Can I help you? So that's where I would go. Look at this guy.

Come on, Ken. I had to get the cobwebs out of the way first. It's what he does. It's what he does. You're listening to the Ramsey Show. I'm Jade Warshaw. Next to me is Ken Coleman let's go selling author of many books but most recently find the work you're wired to do

home of the get clear career assessment which is very very great very fun very fun tool and it's always good to be with you by the way you're a best-selling author too yeah money's not a math problem pick it up you can find them all at ramamsaysolutions.com slash store. Get into it. Get involved. I want to get involved with these phone lines. And by the way, if you want to get involved with us, call us. The number is 888-825-5225. And we will pick up your call. Let's pick up Alicia's call. Alyssa actually is how we're going to pronounce that. Green Bay, Wisconsin. What's going on, Alyssa? Hi, thanks so much for taking my call. Did I say it right? It's Alyssa. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks. So I have another insurance question for you. Wow. It's the day of insurances. Wow. All right. Hit us with it. So mine's about life insurance. So my husband and I were actually in disagreement on how much we should have.

Okay. So, and we're actually on the same page about most everything else when it comes to finances, but this one, so I'll just lay it out. Yeah, what does he think? Yeah. How much? Okay, so we both right now have $500,000 on on each of us and he is completely fine with that. Okay. Um, and I used to be, but then I've been listening to you guys a lot more and now I know

that it should be 10 to 12 times our annual income. Um, and so we're just not at enough and he is like, not about it. Well, this makes him wrong and this makes you right. Well, yeah, I agree with Ken. And let's talk deeply about it. The purpose of insurance is to, if something, God forbid, were to happen to either of you, anybody that's dependent on your income, they will be set up, right? And it's not just for the moment. It's ongoing.

And so what's your income and what's his income? So mine's right at about $100 and his is about one 30. Okay. So yours is at a hundred. His is at one 30. So if something, God forbid were to happen to you, he's, he's got five year salary basically, but you're saying, Hey, I'd love for this to be even better. I'd love for you to be that if we do what I'm saying, which is you'd have, you know, over a million dollars of coverage. 2.5 is what I'm recommending. I'm bumping it up. Okay.

Yeah. Okay. Because you got them at 230 combined income. Yeah. But I'm saying individual policies. Right. I know. But my total is going to be 2.5 between the two.

Yes. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. But if something were to happen to you, like for you to be able to provide 10, basically 10 years of your salary to him, what a great gift. Yeah. I mean, that allows, and vice versa. So what's the difference?

Like he's probably thinking about quarterly payments or monthly payments. What does this look like? Have you priced out the numbers with Xander? Yeah, actually i did um and so basically like he thinks it's a waste of money and honestly we probably would have none if it weren't for we're in the military so we have to take that 500 each okay um and so thank goodness but um and no and he does have a point like he says you know like if if one of us were to pass the other one, you know, with that 500, like could easily pay off everything. And then we each make enough to like, you know, live with our daily expenses.

So I get it. But I was telling him, because I heard you say actually not that long ago, and it kind of made me like really look into this and like be like, wow, I never thought about this before. Because we'd always had that same mindset as like he's had now. But you said, um, you know, the intent is that if they pass, it's not just to like, oh, here, pay off your debt. And, and like not a retirement plan. It's like, Hey, invest this. And then the interest should pretty much make up for the income that you're losing. And I was like, oh, my goodness, that makes so much sense. So I really want to do it. Yeah.

But he is like he just doesn't he thinks it's a waste of money. And of course, like he jokes when I mention it and he's like, you know what? I'm not going to die until we're way older anyway. So it doesn't even matter. And I'm like, well, I love your confidence. That makes me a little uncomfortable almost. I think he's uncomfortable. I think the whole, like you said, it's the 500.

It's part of work. It's required. So in many ways for him, that was a no-brainer. But when it's time to actually turn on the lights in his brain and start thinking about it, it's an uncomfortable conversation. You're talking about what happens when you kick the know, kick the bucket and that's not exciting. I'd flip this on him. I think he's a real cavalier about this. I think he's too cavalier about it, to be completely honest. But okay, play it his way. Go, all right, I did the numbers. I ran the

numbers, got some quotes from Xander. Let me show you the quotes. And since you're okay if I die just living with a 500, turns out I'm okay with that too. But tell you where I'm not okay. If you die early, Sparky McGee, I don't think 500 is enough for my safety gland. And I got some numbers I ran. And I'm pretty much telling you that we need to do this. I'm not asking your permission.

I'm just getting you to buy in from my piece of mind, and I'd lay the real numbers out, which, by the way, I'm just curious, what would the total increase be year over year with the numbers you got from Zander? I'm just curious. I want to know, too. Okay. So, yeah, and actually actually I was really impressed. So I did a quote on just mine for another 500 because that would put me at a million. And that's only going to be like $17 a month. So I go back to Sparky and I'm sorry,

I'm calling your husband Sparky, but he's kind of irritated me a little bit and I'm trying to be nice. I'd go back to him and go, Hey, listen, I know you're good with the $500,000. If I kick the bucket early, I'm not. I just bumped it up to what this guy Dave Ramsey's been teaching for decades, and it's $17. I mean, come on. That's one drive-thru. That's one time through the drive-thru for the month.

Yeah, that's two Starbucks. You know, come on. So I would just present it that way and say, I'm doing this. Yeah. Yes, Ken. Oh, by the way. Well, we do have to agree on everything. Like, that is something that we are sick of.

Oh, I know. I know. I'm having some fun with this. I know. But we're also talking about $17 a month. I don't think this is a knockdown drag out is my point. Is he being stingy? Are you guys still in debt?

Is that why he's being kind of tight with the purse strings? Okay. Yes, we are. We do have debt, but it is not out of control. Okay. Um,

is he super tight? Yes. Oh, yeah. Um, and, and the thing is, is like,

I, it's not that I don't understand it and I value it and everything. But I just think that like he thinks it's unnecessary. So we are not about unnecessary spending. And I would get in like, no, we're completely covered. Like, like he is like, oh, no. Like, you know, if the five hundred thousand that would take care of everything and we both make enough income that like all of our, you know, monthly expenses are good. There's just no reason for it. Let's go back to the basics of everything. And we both make enough income that like all of our, you know, monthly expenses are good. There's just no reason for it. Let's go back to the basics of this. We need to, and this is what you tell him and Hey, play the call. Like the whole, this, this is, this is documented. I can't wait. Sorry. Sorry, man. So here's the thing. Let's go back to the basics

on this because when we, uh, what we teach here teach here, the baby steps and getting out of debt, the whole entire purpose is to change your family tree. It's all legacy built at the end of the day. It provides peace now, but it's also providing peace for the future and for the people that come after you. And such a huge part of that is insurance until you can self-insure because we're building wealth, not just for us, but to be able to pass down. And until you can self-insure, depending on insurance companies to help you with that is such a huge part of the wealth building process for you. Because, again, I hope you guys live until you be as old as Methuselah. I don't care. Live as long as you want. But if for some reason you don't, this is here. It's kind of just that fail safe that kicks in and to spend a Sparky, Marky Mark, Biff, whatever your name is, to spend the extra $17, bud. It's $204 a year. It's $204

to make sure your family has half a million more. By the way, for your peace of mind, I keep playing that card. I was having fun with it, but I'm not joking around. He's tight. Play to that. Go, you're tight because you're fearful about money and stuff. And I appreciate that. There you go, Ken.

But guess where I'm tight? I'm nervous about this. And it's $204 a month. So you know what? Yes, we've got to be in agreement. I'd say, Sparky, it's time to4 a month. So go. So you know what? Yes, we got to be in agreement. I'd say Sparky it's time to have a new budget meeting. We have, it's like calling Congress back for a special session. We're having a special mid month budget meeting and I am going to find $17 a month to make sure that I'm not stressed out when you die early because you drink too much Diet Coke. Or whatever.

Sorry, Diet Coke drinkers. You mean sorry, Sparky. Sparky. We love you, Sparky. We want the best for you. We do love you. Help your wife out, dude. Come on. This is The Ramsey Show.

You are listening to The Ramsey Show. Thanks for listening. I'm Jade Warshaw. Next to me is Ken Coleman, taking your calls. Let's get into this Ramsey Show question of the day. Today it comes from our buddy Robert, who's in Dallas, Texas. He asked, my wife and I started a pest control company three years ago when I left the military. We've always had the dream of starting our own business and taking control of our lives.

Growth in our first three years has been good, but the seasonal aspect and weather-dependent demand caused me to continue working full-time in another career. With only so much time in the day, I fear we are treating this business like a side hustle when it has become much more than that. My question is, how do you balance both or know when it is time to dive into your business full-time? Well, I have a simple, simple equation on this. It's not actually an equation. It's just a number. Robert, when you can bring in what you are making in your day job in this pest control business, so in other words, you can pay yourself what this other company is paying you. That's when I'd go full time. And I would add one small caveat to that. I'd like to see six months at

minimum of your salary in the pest control bank account. So I kind of, it's like a version of the emergency fund that we teach in our baby steps. But I want to see someone who's walking from a day job where they're getting paid by somebody else, they've got health care and all the things, and they're going to go to their own business. I want six to 12 months, somewhere in there, of your salary in the bank account so that you don't walk from the day job

into this thing working for yourself and you're stressed out of your mind. That's how you turn a dream into a nightmare. So in this situation, I don't know from this email if, in fact, he's done this. And the seasonal issue is what's telling me that's why he stayed in the other career is because it's not making enough money due to the seasonal. So what you've got to do is be patient. You got to build it up. And I would also point out he's got a delegation issue.

He might need to hire a couple of people to do some of the work so that he's not double dipping as it relates to time and build that business up to where he can walk from the day job to this full-time job. That's the way I coach. I wish I knew what his income was or what he could pay himself. Yeah, I agree with that. Nothing to add. Yeah, I just, well, just very quickly, I want you to talk about from your point of view, you know, I love this entrepreneurial spirit. We have 70% of Americans actually want to work for themselves, but only 6% do. There's a massive gap there.

One of the reasons is it's very, very hard. But I don't want people stepping too soon into this dream entrepreneurial thing. Because when you got to put food on the table and you don't have enough money to put food on the table, you can break your dream into a million pieces really quick. Because it just becomes this thing that you resent and you're exhausted, you're scared, you can break your dream into a million pieces really quick because it just becomes this thing that you resent and you're exhausted, you're scared, you're starving. Just wait. If it's dream worthy, it's weight worthy. I think so too. I think it depends on how you want to view this thing. You know, if you have the comfort of kind of a nine to five,

that's meeting your needs and you can kind of do what this guy is doing which is little by little step by step get closer to that dream whether it's the income goals that you stated it's like okay we're almost there let's just keep stepping stepping stepping as opposed to like i know when sam and i first started uh we didn't have a a main career that we were tethered to it was was kind of like, all right, everything is a scrap and, you know, your life kind of depends on it. You're not eating until you do this thing. So in many ways, I think if you do have that, it's buoyancy, right? It's keeping your head above water and giving you, it's kind of like renting before you buy a house. It's buying you time

to set this business up in the right way. i think in many ways that's a great security to have there um and there's no shame in taking your time to ken's point and building it the right way very good i'm with you ken yep i like it all right let's go to it savannah georgia we've got rebecca on the line what's going on rebecca hi I am curious, y'all thought on buying a house in the town where our daughter is hoping to go to college for her to live in with potential roommates. And in terms of versus living on campus and how that may help us financially to get her through college. Do you live in the town where your daughter lives? Do you live in the same college town? So this may seem a little premature, but my husband and I are,

we don't make any financial decisions quickly. And so she's actually about to be a senior in high school. And so there's a lot of variable of, you know, if she gets into school. But she wants to go to the University of Georgia in Athens. So it's about three and a half hours away. Yeah. And then we also have four younger children that several of them say they want to go there. You know, I understand that may not happen.

But we're kind of thinking long term down the road if we have several children who go to college in the same town does it make sense to cycle them through something that's you know i mean putting five kids through college is going to be expensive enough um i wouldn't do it if that's even no no i wouldn't do it but i don't know your cash situation i mean do you have a it doesn't sound like you have the margin to where this is a no-brainer just by the last statement you made. It sounds like it's going to be expensive enough, and now you're going to buy a house.

Can you pay cash for a house in Athens? That would be acceptable? Not right now. Okay. How much would you be able to put down on a house in Athens? We would be planning for at least 20%. What's that going to put you at? I'm sorry? What would that put the down payment at? 20%? What is that going to be? The house, like, I mean, who knows what the market will continue to be, but a house we were looking

at, like 1,500 square feet, three or four bedroom, would be between $350,000 and $400,000. That's kind of what we were thinking. You know, nothing fancy, of course, just something for a college student and some roommate. And this is all to avoid the cost of a dorm? Well, I just, I mean, I think a lot of times they live in the dorm their first year, which is what we would want.

But a lot of times they move off campus. So more like apartment living versus, we've had a few people who have sent their kids to college who said, man, on the back end, I wish we would have done this. And so we were just trying to think, would that be a smart decision or not? I don't, I feel like it's a lot. I want to ask more and more questions about your financial situation. Are you guys out of debt? Tell me more about your financial snapshot. I'm pretty sure my answer is going to be no, but tell me more. We're in baby step seven.

Okay, good. So we have zero debt, and we currently have 529. We are saving for college at this point this first child of ours should receive um the georgia scholarship to pay for tuition fantastic so we you know we're and she has done some dual enrollment in high school so there will you know hopefully she'll only have three years of college instead of four. Do you foresee being able to pay for all of your kids' college? That's the plan. We do not want them to come out of school with any student loan.

Okay. And everything is in place for that to take place? Yes. Okay. My thing here is if we, our teaching here is if you're going to buy real estate to pay cash for it. And so if, you know, I don't know how long it would take you to stack up the cash you needed to do this deal in cash.

That's the only way I would do it. And also the other thing, the sidebar that bothers me is unless you guys are planning on going to Athens as well. Like I just long distance landlord is not yeah and there's no guarantee that all your kids are going to go to this college it just feels no it almost feels like it don't get me wrong I'm okay with the idea here but I'm not okay with the idea now yes I'd like to see where first child goes what's the rest

of the situation look like it's too soon to even be entertaining this you guys are such over planners though i understand how you got here but i would chill i'm not i'm not sold on the reason behind it either you know i think in many ways if you're saying hey we can avoid the cost of room and board and we'll make more on the equity there might be some math there that shakes out for you, but I don't like that it's based on the other kids say they want to go there too. And this university has the ability to be in our

life for the next, I don't know, however many years. I don't know how your kids ages overlap, but it feels like a more of a permanent solution for something that's kind of temporary. And what happens if Kirby Smart moves on, God forbid Georgia fans, and Georgia football gets mediocre?

I'm just saying, a lot of variables, and that's just one. I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it. Are you going to do it? No way. All right. No, I'm not doing it. All right.

The fat lady has sung. This is the Ramsey Show. From the Ramsey Network, you're listening to The Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create amazing relationships. I'm your host, Jade Warshaw. Your other host today is Ken Coleman, and we are in the house taking your calls. You can give us a call. The number is 888-825-5225. Talk to us about your life and money. Talk to us about the business that you're trying to start. Talk to us about if you think the Mavs or the Celtics should win the NBA playoffs. Please. I think that thing is done over.

I know. I'm sad about it. Put a fork in the Mavs. And I'm not happy about it. I'm not happy about it either. Me and my boys have been pulling for the Mavs. I know. Me too.

It's not looking good. Hey, if you're out there and you want to be making more money so you can get through the baby steps faster, I'd love to help out on that. If you're getting better, your paycheck is getting bigger. So we want to help you do that. I'd love to take some of those calls. We've got a lot of insurance calls. I could talk about how some people can make some more money.

No more insurance. I don't know if my brain can handle another insurance question. That's right. They are important, though. We've got it. Okay, we've got a good one on the line here. We've got Caleb in Boise, Idaho. Let's see what's going on, Caleb. Hey, James, Ken, how you doing? Doing good. How about you? Good. Okay. So the question that I have for you guys is,

is it worth it to sell my recently paid off dream car? Oh, whoa. Okay. This is juicy. I got to lead off with some questions here. Tell us what the dream car is and what it's worth. Okay. Um, so it is a Ram 1500. It has a specialty package, the Rocky Ridge package. And I probably, I did pay more than I should have for it. What'd you pay? Ended up $88,000. Oh! Yeah. Wow. What year is it? It's a 22.

Did you pay cash for it, or was it on payments? So I had a pretty good down payment of about $33,000, and then my wife and I made the last payment about a week or so ago, so we had it paid off in just under a year. All right. What is it worth? So private sale, I could probably push to get about $50,000. So I'd be losing like $37,000.

And I'm just curious, Caleb, how old are you? 32. Yeah. I got to tell you, I'm a little disappointed Caleb by the way everybody's dream car is their own but I was thinking this was going to be some classic but I'm also a lot older than Caleb so I'm sitting there going oh so my answer is immediately yes well what we don't know why what does he wants his payoff debt okay I listened to the question all right yeah he said should I sell this dream car to get ahead on the baby step?

So what would it do? Is he on baby step two, though? Is it baby step two, Caleb? I'm on baby step three. Oh, okay. I missed that part. Plot twisting. Okay, so you're on baby step three.

How much do you need to get saved and how much do you have saved? So we want the full six months, which would be about $35,000. We'd be able to save that up in about eight months. I'm changing my opinion. Okay. I wouldn't sell it now. I'd keep it. You work really hard.

It's a great truck. Yeah. I know. Interesting. I just flipped. Yeah, you flipped the script. You can keep going. you flip the script you could keep going okay i've already decided i've already made my decision you're like missy elliott over here flipped it and reversed it well because he's out of debt i thought this was paying off debt

it's a truck it's a dodge truck to me it It's all, and again, it's my vote, but because he's trying to get the emergency fund through this and he can get there in eight months, you need a car anyway. There might be some emotional reasons as to why you called. I might be with you, Ken. I might be with you. Let me dig further, Caleb.

Okay, so without the car sale, it would take you eight months to save up 35k is that what what you're telling me yes okay and then after that i want to know about your home situation are you renting or do you already own a place we own a home okay i think that's a key component to this as well you already own a place um what's your income i should ask that what's your income it's about 151 000 oh yeah 151 and then what's your wife's car like base what's your income? I should ask that. What's your income? It's about 151,000. Oh yeah. 151. And then what's your wife's car? Like base, what's your wife's car worth? What I'm trying to get at is I want to make sure you're not more than half of your income in vehicles.

Yeah. So hers is about 23,000 also paid off. Um, yeah, you said 23. So you're right. You're right at it. Okay. There's not a wrong answer here. The vehicle's paid off. If you can cash flow the savings in eight months, I'm not mad at that. You already have a home. It's not going to keep you from saving up a down payment. It's not going to prolong a longer timeline, if you will. What do you owe on your house? About $360,000. $360,000. How old are you guys? 32.

Yeah. Are you investing? No, you're not investing yet because you're... You know what? There's not a wrong answer. If you want to do this, you can. And if your wife agrees and you both agree, you can. But no one here is going to say, you need to do this. Were you leaning this way that you were thinking about selling it and

you called us or was your wife suggesting this and you're like, I mean, you called us for a second opinion. What was your opinion? Yeah. So honestly, it depends on the day. There are days where I absolutely love it. It makes me feel awesome. I love being able to do what I can in that truck. But then other days when we're thinking about our goals in the future, being able to cut eight months off is appealing to us. But then it always comes down to losing the $37,000 and what we could get for it now based on what we paid. Yes, it was a dumb choice.

We should have done it in another way. I just can't stomach the $37,000 and that's where I'm having the biggest issue with that. The $37,000 hit. The hit because it lost the value. The value is lost whether you sell it or not. Yeah, I'd get over that part uh-huh i'm with you the question that i would be asking if i were you is what would i downsize into from a cost standpoint so if i sell it for 50 i'm getting 50 back uh so you got 50 to play with what kind of truck are you going to buy and then that's going to dictate uh or what car would you buy? And that's going to dictate how much you have to put towards the emergency fund. He's got like 15 to spend if he takes 35 of it and puts it.

No, he's already paid this off. He just paid this car off. I'm talking about to go towards, because he's got to have 35 go towards the expenses, his savings. So then he only leaves himself. I know, but I'm not saying he's doing a one fell swoop he's got to buy a car you can't do it on one car correct correct all right so what are you thinking you've thought through this what what what would be your your purchase price on the other car if you sold this truck so if we did do it um whatever access we'd have after funding the

emergency fund would go towards the car. So that means if you're going to do it that way, then Jade's right. I don't think that's smart. You really want to buy a $15,000 car now? If the whole purpose is to do the emergency fund, then that's all he's got. Yeah, but I think you're overdoing it. I do too. I don't think you have to fund it all with the car.

But if he's going to sell it, then he may as well do what he set out to do. I would say that. I get it. I think you're going to regret driving a $15,000 car after working your butt off to pay off this dream truck. I'm just trying to keep it real. I do too. If you owed payments on this, it would be a totally different story, but you don't

owe anybody anything. You paid it off. You're in baby step three. You have some savings. You just don't have all the savings you want. You're 32. You paid it off. You're in baby step three. You have some savings. You just don't have all the savings you want. You're 32. You're not 56. I think I agree with Ken. I would keep it unless it makes you sick. If it makes you sick to keep it, then get rid of it. But I think selling it and losing the 36,000 and feeling that makes you even sicker. Yeah. That's what I would do. You know, get with your wife and you guys decide.

This is The Ramsey Show. You're listening to The Ramsey Show where we give you advice about your life, your money, your career, your relationships, all of it. You can get in the action by calling 888-825-5225 and we will get into it with you. We're always telling you the

services we provide. We're always telling you the right way to handle your money, the right way to handle your insurance, the right way to buy a car. We just want to make sure that you understand what you need in order to have good financial footing and make the good choices and the right choices as it relates to managing all of your assets, managing your money. And one of the things that goes along with that is home ownership. It's a big hot ticket topic right now, Ken. We got interest rates going up. We got low supply on the market. It's tough out there. Where are you on this? Let's just assume, let me turn into CNN, CNBC, Fox Business, whatever host. And I go, Jade Warshaw, what do you tell people if they

feel like they need to sit on the sidelines right now on buying or selling? What do you say? What I would say is that right now, house prices are up 47% since 2020. 47%. It's a lot. Thank you, Lord. Okay, that's a lot. And people are like, Jade, what's going on? Why is this happening? And of course, we know interest rates are higher. That's deterring a lot of buyers. And then you've got the supply. The supply is so low, Ken. And some of that is because some people might argue government is not biggest factor to low supply is right now 60 of home buyers have an interest rate lower than four percent yeah home sellers home sellers yeah so they don't it's almost like they're golden handcuffed to a home that for sure they don't necessarily want to keep you're right but they're like am i really going to trade less than four percent for seven you know a little over seven percent right now And so that's what's got supply low.

And so if you are out there, you're thinking of selling, there's already a lot of uncertainty. The last thing you want is to not have a real estate agent you trust, you know, not, you know, just feel like you're alone. And so for that reason, if you are selling a home, we want to make sure that you're doing it the right way. If you're buying a home, we want to make sure you're doing it the right way, the Ramsey way, so that it's a blessing and not a burden. And so the Ramsey Trusted Program is the only way to find your house and they will help you also find the right house for you. And so we send, we set you up with top agents that are in your area. These are folks that we trust and you get to review their stats. Like you get to, you know, interview them and decide who it is that you want to work with. But at the end of the day, Ramsey

trusted agents, they've got years of experience. Okay. And they're going to help you make wise decisions when it comes to pricing, marketing, and choosing the right offer. Because here's the thing, it's so desperate out there right now, Ken. And just to break away back to our CNN or Fox News segment here, here's the thing. Because it is so crazy out there, people are getting desperate. And you know what comes after desperate? Stupid, right? And so we're seeing right now, we're seeing an increase of really kind of like early, pre-2007, 2008 housing market crash. We're seeing a lot of those things surface up again. We're seeing a resurgence of 40-year mortgages, Ken. We are seeing zero down.

Arms as well, I'm guessing. Yes. Adjustable rate mortgages, Ken, are up 15% just in the last three weeks. Yeah. That's where people get hurt. That's where they get hurt. Because if you survey, if you go back and survey the folks back before 08 who took out arms, 70% of them say they wish they'd never done it. And the foreclosure rate on these things are so high guys so so work with a ramsey trusted pro because if you even try to bring that mess in they're gonna go don't do it that's not smart for you and you need someone who's gonna hold you accountable so these ramsey trusted agents like i said they've got years of experience

and if you're looking for one you can find one at a ramsey trusted agent for free by the way at ramsey solutions.com slash agent. That's what you're looking for. All right, Ken. Love it. Love it. Thanks for the media. Yeah, you know, sure. That's what we do. All right. We got Joseph in Charlotte, North Carolina. What's going on, Joseph? How y'all doing? Doing great. How are you? I'm doing all right. So me and my wife, we are kind of talking exactly about what I'm about to ask about. We are looking to buy a house. And like you said, the market is insane.

And, you know, we've taken all the steps to buy a house. But now that we're provided with the numbers and the pre-approval letter and all that, it's honestly disheartening because we don't know what to do. We have, I'm 23 and my wife's 23. We have no debt. and all that, it's honestly disheartening because we don't know what to do. I'm 23 and my wife's 23. We have no debt. We've saved up some money planning for this, but when you look at the monthly payment on a house that we would be looking for,

it's ridiculous. I mean, it would swallow us up, and there's no way we could do it. So my question is, what steps do we take? Do we wait? Do we rent? I mean, we kind of, we live with her parents and we're trying, we have a, we have a two-year-old and so we're trying to get out and, you know, grow our own family, but we don't know where to go or what to do. Can I ask a quick question really quick? I'm going to get out of the way because this is Jade's expertise, but I am going to ask this question from a provider standpoint, and I've been where you are. Forget where you are right now. Let's just take a real number, okay? What is realistically, based on what we teach, what's the number that is a very smart and safe down payment and mortgage?

What's the price of a house that you can buy and it doesn't stretch you at all? What is that price point? As far as the down payment? No, I'm sorry. I kind of led you the wrong way. I don't care about down payment. She'll talk to you about that. She's got the formula. I'm saying, what is the price point that is a reasonable purchase price for you with your income where you guys are in your life right now? What's that reasonable housing price? Honestly, it would probably be from like 280 to 300. Okay. I'm going to get out of the way because, because Jade's great at this and coaching you, but I'm going to get out of the way because Jade's great at this and coaching you, but I'm going to tell you what I think. If I were you, I'd be looking at places where I can get a house between 280 and 300.

This is really not a grand mystery. Now, you may not like that, and I get that, but that's where the renting question, she'll walk you through the rest of it, but I thought I'd jump on the front end of that. Yeah. Because I feel like that needs to color the rest of the conversation and go, this is what your realistic situation is. So waiting versus renting versus maybe we can't live where I'd like to live right now. In other words, when Stacey and I started out, Jade, I could take you to the place in Franklin where where you know never in a million years would i

live there now but we thought it was the greatest thing ever yeah back in the day when we had no kids it was our very first home and by the way it was 198 000 and i thought that i had lost my mind i mean you're right ken you can only afford what you can afford and then there's there's certain parts of the country where it's like what i can can afford is just not out there. And so here's what I want to say. You guys are 23. If you rent for five, six, seven years, it's not the end of the world until you can afford it. I don't think it's going to take you that long. The houses that you were looking at now that you got the pre-approval on, what was that price point? Real quick. $400,000. Okay. So you're looking $100,000 more than what you can afford. And then

you have to ask yourself, okay, what does the down payment have to be for us to get in at the bottom of this thing? 400,000. What does my down payment have to be? And what do you have saved so far? So what do you have saved so far? And what do you need in order for this to balance out? And if you don't know the numbers, it's okay. You can go on ramseysolutions.com. We have a really great mortgage calculator there. We'll put it in the liner notes and we'll make sure you get that information. But that's what you need to figure out. And if you can save up that down payment and in the meantime, if interest rates can go down, that'd be even more, you know, that'd help everybody out a little bit. But the key point is

you're a smart, smart guy. You looked at this and said, there's no way in the world I'm going to get a mortgage that's 50 or 60 percent of my income. Right. And for that reason, you're on the right track. What we want to get you to is to where it's no more than 25 percent of your take home. Right. So where were you at when you were looking at these? So we sat down and we've been binge watching all this stuff. So we're trying to put all the numbers together. But we have like 36,000 saved. And I bring home about four to five grand a month based on overtime or not.

Yeah, you guys got to keep crunching those numbers. Use that calculator because when you use that, it's going to tell you exactly what you need to have saved. And then you guys can say, okay, what's the timeline in order to make that happen? Okay. So that's what you want to look for. No more than 25% of your take home on a 15 year fixed rate conventional mortgage. That's the homework. This is The Ramsey Show. Thanks for being with us. You're listening to The Ramsey Show. I'm Jade Warshaw.

Next to me is Ken Coleman. We're taking your calls. So if you want to talk with us, get your call in now. 888-825-5225. This is a live show where live callers come in. They get screened. They get put on the board. We pick up and instantly we are talking to someone live in real time. So if anybody's ever wondered, that's what it is. If you

didn't know, now you know. So we've got Ryan live on the phone lines from Washington, D.C. What's going on, Ryan? Hey, Jade. Hey, Ken. Thanks for taking my call today. You bet. How can we help so i needed to get your uh your advice on what to do with um my wife's old 401k while we're still trying to tackle uh baby step two um we we started this about a year ago actually uh just yesterday was our was our year mark in baby step two uh we paid off a little over $90,000, and we have $30,000 left. Woo-hoo! Way to go. It's been a lot. So I'm real proud of us.

So now our income has changed drastically. So my wife decided to stay home with our two boys, which I fully supported. Okay. She's working for her mom now as a 1099 with a travel agent company. Okay. I bring home anywhere around $3,500 to $4,500 per paycheck take home. How many paychecks, too? She went biweekly.

Okay. $4,500 per paycheck. Got it. Okay. Yes, ma'am. And she was making about $2,400 bi-weekly, and now she's down to $1,500 a month, which is fun. So about $10,500 between the two of you? Yes, ma'am.

That sounds about right. Okay. So I pick up overtime where I can. I take work trips. I've really been crushing it over this last year. And now that she's not working for that company, she's got, like I said, we have about $30,000 left before the mortgage. And her 401k is sitting at a little over $26,000. And it's a traditional. So she doesn't contribute to it right now just with her

1099 being lower. It's a newer company for her mom. So eventually that'll bump up and she'll contribute. So we're wondering whether to... It's with her old job, right? I'm sorry. It's with her old job. So we didn't know whether to knock out debt with that or roll it over into a roth yeah you need to do it and and i know what i want to do but you know what do y'all want to do what do you want to do she she wants to roll it into a roth um and just take the you know the income tax hit um because it wasn't a traditional or is in a traditional. I'm on the fence because we're so close. No, do that. Your wife is right. Do a direct transfer rollover into the Roth IRA. That's

what you want to do with this. The money was set aside for retirement. That's what it's for. And if you take it, you're taking a hit on retirement funds. And so you would be hit with taxes and penalties because you're taking it before the time period of 59 and a half. So for that reason, and for, like I said, this money was earmarked for retirement. So much of money is about behavior, right? And so if we say this money is for this, that's what it's for. And we kind of learn how to discipline our behaviors in that way. So that's what I would do. And that's what you should, truly, that is what you should do in this situation. Way to go. You paid off $90,000. Yeah, it's amazing. That's really, really great. We're celebrating with you. Very good question. Yeah, Ken, never touch the retirement. I know it's tempting, but don't touch it. Very good question. Good call. We got Robert who's in Cleveland, Ohio. What's going on, Robert?

Hi, good afternoon. Thank you for taking my call today. Yeah. How can we help? Yeah, I was calling because I have been wrestling with my mother over the past three to four years on her finances. She's in her mid-70s, and the only income that she receives is Social Security and VA survivor benefits. Her total income is exactly $2,352 a month. Okay. When I add up her monthly expenses, they come out to just a hair under $1,900. Okay. And what I did was, is to help her out, during Mother's Day weekend, I went ahead and paid off her first mortgage.

Oh, wow. And I did it as a gift. How much was that? The difference was about four thousand dollars okay it wasn't a lot but i figured if she if i paid off that for her then i would eliminate a couple hundred dollars a month yeah now she's just taxes and insurance right taxes and insurance now she's got a home equity line of credit that's small. It's about $18,000 to $19,000.

And the bank that she's working with has given her a fixed rate of 2.5% on it. Okay. So her monthly expense for that is about $200 a month. Okay, so how can we help you today? I just need some advice because she's given me a lot of pushback on helping her out. Whenever I ask her, you know, I like to take control of your finances to where I see where her income comes in. And my wife and I would pay her bills for her because she has, she struggles paying her monthly bills. She gets her mail and sticks it in the corner and doesn't want to look at it. She needs your help. Yeah. I've tried every avenue possible and I've been

working in finance for 31 years and she's the toughest person out of my 31 years that she'll say, oh, none of your business. I don't want to tell you what's going on. Yeah, she's embarrassed. She's embarrassed. And she's a strong personality. She's also right. Her finances aren't your business. Yeah.

She's your mama. But she needs help. I didn't say say that i'm just saying i get it yeah this is a boundary issue and the her i mean he's he's a great son i'm just saying when she says it's none of your business it's technically none of your business i think you keep doing what you're doing she's not gonna she's not gonna sign over the keys to the kingdom to you which is kind of what you want and that She's not going to sign over the keys to the kingdom to you, which is kind of what you want. And that's okay. Just keep doing what you're doing. And when you see things that are like, oh, that's a hot stove, reach over and turn it off. Reach over. I love what you did to help her out with that first mortgage. I think that was really kind of you and really generous

of you. And I think you keep doing the things that you've been doing, Robert, and the time will probably come where she realizes she doesn't have much of a choice, but I don't think that day is today. Yeah, we're coming to critical mass, I think, at some point because I just recently discovered that her auto insurance was about to be canceled for non-payment. I stepped in, paid that. Her home insurance, it's not being canceled because her old escrow had paid for it. But the problem just recently discovered is property taxes are due in the middle of July in my county. And it's about $3,000. Do you have access to her account at all? You know, great question.

I set her up with bank accounts at a local bank here, and then she transferred that money to a different bank and didn't tell me about it. She doesn't want you involved. I know why. It's none of your business. Now, one thing I want to bring up, Robert, just a question. Yes.

You know, not saving the money for property taxes, not being able to pay insurance. Is she capable of change to be able to deal with these things, yes or no? No. She's not capable, meaning she does not have enough money to be able to do these things? Well, she has the ability with the income income but it's a matter of her being financially okay okay that's different so robert so the answer to my question you gave me the wrong answer the answer is she's capable and and meaning that the income is there for her to be able to do it yeah every time you step in and fix something she's allowing you to to do that. You just stepped in and paid her insurance. She ain't going to change as long as you're there to be the good son.

That's the point I'm making. Ken, you're right. I mean, she's 70. She's not 90. You know, my dad is 70. There's no way in the world he would let me step in and just be like, you know what, dad, let me handle it. He'd be like, you need to step on, get to step it. Like, there's no way he would let me do it

and so unless you told me like she's you know she's showing early signs of dementia or there's if there's that that's another case but if you're just looking at her and going yeah i don't like the way you handle your money you're not doing it right you gotta you gotta step off this is the Step off. This is The Ramsey Show. You're listening to The Ramsey Show. Hey, thank you for being here with us. Our scripture unquoted the day, but you take courage. Don't let your hands be weak for your work shall be rewarded. That's 2 Chronicles 15, 7.

I love that. I agree with that one. That's exactly it right there. All right, guys. Thanks for listening. If you want to get your call in, the number is 888-825-5225, and we'll try to scoop you up right quick. In the meantime, we've got Susan, who's in Spokane, Washington,

the city I was born. What's going on, Susan? Did I make you laugh? Yeah. I was born in Spokane. Oh, that's cool. How can I help? So I went to college 2008, took a break,

went back, graduated in 2015, and I did make the mistake of consolidating my student loans into a private bank. Yay. But, yeah. And so I had been paying on those loans, um, you know, since then about 10 years. And last October I started getting emails from the federal government saying that I, you know, deferment's ending, you're going to have to be paying. And I was like, I don't have anything. I consolidated them all.

And I went into it and there was like saying that there was like $20,000 of loans from like some of them from 2008 that had like my name on them, my parents' names on them. Neither of us had any idea they existed. We had never paid on them before. And I, you know, called the place or whatever the company and they're like, Oh, that's because of the deferment you know there was no you know um penalty and I was like well no I haven't paid ever and this is almost 20 years some of them and like how is that possible how did they exist with no hit to our credit neither of us knowing I mean my parents have purchased like multiple properties and stuff are they on your credit if you check your credit score, are they on there?

And what does it show as the origination date? I guess my credit score, I haven't checked a credit score. Somebody bought a car. The origination date on some of them is 2008. Some are like later, 2012 and such. The time that you were in school? Before 2015, yeah. on some of them is 2008, some are like later, 2012 and such, but all of them before 2015. Yeah. I would double check on your credit report and see if they're there and see how long they've been there and how long they've been reporting. And then, you know, you might just have to do some basic math and kind of go back and see, okay, how much did it cost me to go to school?

What do I know that I paid out of my pocket? I think these are your loans. It's very possible that when you went to consolidate, maybe some of them were taken and some of them weren't and something was left out. What I'm curious of is what did the loan start at and what is it now? Like, has it been accruing interest? Because I mean, there was only, I mean, the pause was only from 2020 to what was that, 23 or whatever it was. So did it accrue during those other years? Not that I could recognize, no. Okay. Well, that's the upside of this whole thing. The, the thing that makes me feel like it definitely is you is it was during the time that you went to school, it's got your name on it. It's got your

parents' name on it. And you kind of said, yeah, I haven't really been checking my credit and student loans. Aren't going to necessarily keep you from buying a car. I mean, is it just me, Susan and Jade, I'm jumping in here. It feels like you should be talking to somebody and And maybe you have, you just didn't tell us in this call, but emails popping up. And this is like, I'd want to get on the phone with some people. And I'd like to get to the bottom of this. Yeah. I mean, I did call the company because I guess it all sprang up when I guess whoever these phones were originally with sold them to a new company. And yeah. And so I did. I mean, I called multiple times and I was like,

well, can I talk to your supervisor? Can I talk to that supervisor, supervisor? You know, trying to go as high up as I can. And actually at the end of, you know, as far up as they take me, they just said, we don't know. We don't know what. It sounds like they got sold off and they don't know who sold yeah yeah yeah well they don't they don't know like how these loans have existed with no penalties because my thought was like well maybe like these were ones that were consolidated but then you know there's some error or something

and they're just popping up but is that the answer what i'm digging into is that the answer you're trying to get i don't you don't want to be digging into why they haven't been there's no penalties right i'd slow your roll on that but do you question whether or not they're actually yours i'm questioning whether or not yeah basically whether they are ones that hey i've been paying on that were consolidated, that they were just like, I don't know. Well, I do know what you mean, but again, I'm playing dumb here because I'm probably dumb, all right? But if I'm sitting there with you at your house, I'm going, okay, do you have some paperwork on when the initial loans were taken out? I mean, this is not, you did take out loans. Yeah. Do you have the paperwork on when the initial loans were taken out? I mean, this is not, you did take out loans. Yeah. Do you have the paperwork on them? Um, probably my parents.

Okay. They're in their file. Okay. So now, okay. So actually dumb guy finally figured something out. That's the problem. Go to your parents' house and get the paperwork. We've got to know what we're dealing with. It sounds like you don't't even know and if you're trying to dig into are these actually my loans i want to make sure that i'm not getting overcharged by the way all things that i would be digging into but i would be starting with the original paperwork and let's track this that's tough ken because you i i mean do you think you have that original promissory note? That's a long time ago. I mean, I have no clue. You should. Somebody who took out a loan should have some records of what you took out. I know I did.

Yeah, I mean, they probably do. It's the loans that they were co-signed on. They still keep their checkbooks and stuff. Here's the are they are they parent plus loans i honestly i you gotta dig into you gotta dig into she doesn't know enough to even make this phone call to us you gotta dig into this more because what could have i mean what what could have happened is you had a semester come came up if mom and dad are on the loan they could have been like well we don't know we'll just we'll sign for this loan like you you're telling me it's 15 years ago i mean i you don't know i don't have any yeah susan and i'm not being unkind i'm just telling you you can't even hold up under my basic questioning so you got some homework to do and i get why you

called and i get that you're trying to make sure you don't get overcharged but my goodness you don't know anything go find out what's going on with the original stuff and track it okay all right my loan was with my loan was for x amount of dollars and it was with this company and I didn't make any payments from x date to x date and then I've tracked it and I figured out that this company sold my loan to this company. This is not difficult stuff. You do not require an investigative degree to be able to figure this out. I want to figure it out. I do feel bad for her though, because can you imagine?

You're like, yes, I'm paying my debt off. And then this zombie debt from whenever pops up and you're like, could I get a phone call? Could I get an email? Could I get a letter in the mail telling me about this? I agree on that. Susan, I feel your pain and I hate this for you but to Ken's point become a detective and find out about this we've paid so far and we just got to match it up yeah because I'm concerned about what they could do to her come after her you know well they are now well I know and so this becomes very stressful and And I take the stress out of it by going, I now have a clearer picture of what I'm dealing with.

What I think happened is whatever her loan servicer was probably prior to COVID was probably lackadaisical. They probably, for whatever reason, it may have gotten lost in the shuffle. And she didn't hear it. And Susan, I hope you're still listening. She may not have heard much about it but then in 2020 after after the pause and all of these loans got resold and re you know they all resurfaced and went to different providers maybe that specific loan went to a provider that is on top of their business and that is collecting and that does see her and I think that's what happened and now suddenly it's like oh yeah the new company is like, we bought this,

we're going to collect on it. There's no question about that. And I think that she owes the money. I think when she looks back on her credit report, she's going to be, it's been reporting all this time since 2007 through 2015. I didn't hear about it. No, no, it was just kind of cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching.

And I'm going to say she's lucky that she didn't get hit with any fees and late fees and crazy interest. Oh, boy, oh, boy. Count it all joy. All right, folks. This was The Ramsey Show. Thanks for hanging out with us. Until next time, we'll see you on the flip side. Thank you. If you're a leader, your personal growth matters for your organization,

because whatever you lead can only grow as much as you do. I know from experience. I've been CEO of Ramsey Solutions for over 30 years, and now I'm sharing that leadership and business coaching experience with you on the Entree Leadership Podcast. I'm taking your calls and helping you figure out how to overcome challenges within your organization.

One episode could change your business. Check it out on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or on the Ramsey Network app.