The Ramsey Show - My Fiancé Broke Off Our Engagement Because Of My Money Habits

Episode Date: February 5, 2026

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Brought to you by the Every Dollar app. Start budgeting for free today. Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So we are here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fairwinds Credit Union Studio, this is The Ramsey Show. I'm George Camel, joined by my good pal, Rachel Cruz, and we're taking your calls at AAA 825-5-225. Rita is in Louisville. Up first, what's going on?

Hi, I'm calling to, I don't, I just went through a breakup over money and I want to figure out how to heal from it and move forward. Oh, so sorry. How long was the relationship? A couple of months, we had just gotten engaged. Oh, what happened? So my, I guess now ex-fiance is, like, he is a very, like, anti-debt person, which I agree with. I have a lot of debt.

I have a lot of student loan debt and credit card debt, both from taking care. I put everything on hold after my dad died a number of years ago, and I was taking care of the family for a long time. And my siblings were still in school. And I was 19 when that happened and just sort of got into a lot of debt afterwards. And so I have not, so money is like very emotional for me because I don't have a good. I don't have a good relationship with it.

My family doesn't. And so when it came time to start going through the finances, it just, it didn't go well. Oh, wow. So he panicked. Did he panic around the amount of debt there is? Or did he panic of your current, you know, your current way of seeing money and how you deal with money currently? It was over the behavior. The number itself wasn't concerning to him.

It was the behavior and my relationship with it. Yes. Oh, my gosh. Okay, so he ended it. Was there any conversation around, hey, Rita, you know, if I'm going to go down this road of marriage, I want us to be on the same page. I want us to be a team.

You know, would you be open and consider handling money differently? Like, did he give you options? Or was it a pretty, like, closed case? It started off with some options, but it ended up being pretty closed case. Okay. How old are you? 28.

How many serious relationships have you had? I've been, I've dated seriously for a couple, I don't know, a couple of relationships. I had a five-year relationship in college and then three and a half years in my 20s and then in an earlier 20s. And then this was the most recent relationship. Okay. So not your first heartbreak, but this one was the most serious in terms of, hey, we're going to, this is leading towards marriage and he's the one kind of thing. Yeah, very much so, yeah. And what are your current money habits that he was like, I'm out?

I can't do this. He was concerned because, so I have, I moved recently for a job and my family moved with me. And I knew because we were selling our house that I was going to have to take sort of a short-term hit to move before the household and my family could move out here with me. So he was concerned that after I had, like, even after I had left my house that I had still accrued some debt. and the I did yeah I and yeah I and but I have so I'm I'm doing the baby steps right now I'm in baby step two and I have my emergency fund saved and I'm paying down my my smallest debts right now so that was that yeah so so I am making progress um but it I guess it maybe it was wasn't enough progress or I don't I don't really know the flavor now.

But it's sort of like my my worst fear has always been like I because the situation with my family has been really bad for a long time financially. I have had a longstanding fear that I have no control over my money and this sort of like brought it back up again. Sure. Yeah. He like broke up with the most vulnerable part of you in your fear. Yeah.

Did your why is your, why did your family move with you? What's the what's going on there? So my sister moved, my sister and I moved to the same location to get, she got married and then I moved out here for a job. And my mom, who is somewhat retired, sold the family house back where we were in our hometown to move out as well because she wanted to be close to her grandkids. Was any of that a red flag for him? Yes. Okay. Yeah, I'm just trying to place, because it's interesting to talk to you, because I'll be very honest with you. You're kind of on the end of you're the person in the relationship that we usually don't get the call from. We usually get the call probably from the ex-fiancee who's like,

hey, I'm engaged, I'm nervous with these money habits. You know what I mean? Like, should I continue? Should I continue? You know what I mean? So to get the person that got broken up with because of the money we don't usually get that side. So I'm trying to, in my head, because I want to be on your team, right? I'm like, I want to be able to help you and us help navigate this. I'm just trying to figure out if what he saw was legitimate or if he's too legalistic, you know what I mean, and broke off a great thing too early. I don't know, and I probably won't know in this call. And you may never know.

And that's the hard truth is you can replay this a thousand ways and it's not going to get you any closer to your future. And so you asked, how do I heal? Well, learn from what broke and rebuild trust in yourself and then create the habits and become the person that you want to be, the person who changes your family tree, and actually gets out of debt and doesn't use it anymore. And so this just might be one of those fork in the roads where you look back and go, man, that was a pivotal time in my life. So painful, yeah. And it's not a fun way to learn the lesson, but now you know, and you can do better.

And so I think a lot of this is your own healing journey of, you know, it's counseling in Jesus. That's what's going to heal you at this point on top of the good budgeting habits and getting out of debt. And I think what's hard to stay true to your plan is money can become such an identity marker in us, and it shouldn't be. You know, your money, your money mistakes, your net worth, like none of this is who you are as a person, right? It's a reflection of our behaviors and our habits and all of it. But in our society today, it's become such an identity piece. So I want you to break that apart from you, that the money mistakes that I've made, even the habits I'm in that are not great, it's not who I am. Who I am is something so centered that cannot be shaken, right? And then

out of that flows a healthy Rita, which hopefully in return, has healthy boundaries with money, is able to say no, is able to sacrifice and get out of debt and all of that. So it's so easy, and I can hear from even your story, those being so married, your identity and money and all of it, it's so closely linked into who you are. And I would work at kind of starting to pull that apart because it's not who you are, your net worth, your money mistakes, none of that is your identity and who you are. I keep hearing John Deloney in my head saying, you are worth being well. You are worth being loved. You are a person who can have a healthy relationship. And a lot of this is detaching from maybe unhealthy family baggage and

going, hey, I need to move on with my life. There's been a lot of codependency that has been toxic. And it's time. I need to grow. And so I'm going to send you a copy of Rachel's book, Know Yourself, Know Your Money. She talks about the different money classrooms and how you grew up. I think it will be a part of your healing journey. So hang on the line. That'll be our gift to you, Rita. Finally, mortgage rates have dropped. And you know what that means? People who've been sitting on the sidelines are about to jump back in to the housing market. So if you've been waiting to buy, this could be your window, but you've got to be prepared and do it the Ramsey way. You need to contact Churchill Mortgage. Their home buyer edge program gives you peace of mind in a wild market.

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NMLSID 1591, NMLS ConsumerExis.org, Eagle Housing Lender. Nancy is in Wichita up next. Nancy, welcome to The Ramsey Show. Thank you. How can we help today? Well, I've kind of gotten myself into the situation here. I like cars too much, and this summer, this past summer, I bought a, car. It was just an emotional decision, bad decision, brand new car, and with it a high payment. And at the same time, trying to pay down about $20,000 worth of a credit card debt that I've been

just kicking down the road for years, years and years. How old are you? I never, I'm almost ready to retire. Well, maybe not anymore. We'll see. Yeah, not anymore. I am 60. Okay.

Single or married? Single. Okay. So tell us about this vehicle. People want to know. Spill the tea. I know what kind of cars is Nancy like? I said, I love cars.

I'm like, ooh, Nancy. What kind of cars? Oh, it's a Bronco Sport, a 25 Broncos sports. I just fell in love with how it looked and everything. and it was a stupid decision. Now I am regretting the payments. What's the balance and what's the payment? It's a balance.

I owe about a little under $25,000 on it. I'm paying $3.85 a month. Did you put some serious money down? Yeah, that's not terrible. Payment-wise. It's not terrible, no. I had a trade that was... Oh.

You had another nice car. Yes, I had none of Broncos sport that I should have stuck with, but I got frustrated with its tech in a moment of stupidity. Besides upgrade to get the better tech, which, you know, I'm paying for literally now. I have been able to get as high as an offer as 27-2 from Corvana. Okay. Yeah. So I could almost get my money back. How much you make a year?

75 grand growth. Awesome. Okay, sorry, what's your question? Question is I recently found a Honda element, which I really love those cars with like 130,000 miles on it, but they're super, super, super reliable. And I found that. for about 11, around 11,000. And it would, when everything's all said and done,

I'd be, my payment would go to 198 a month instead of the 385. But, you know, then I'd have an older car with no warranty, because if I add a warranty to it. Nancy. Please don't do any of this, Nancy. Nancy, Nancy. We're playing the wrong games. Yeah, you're back in the same game. You're back at your, you're still, you're just moving debt to debt. Smaller debt, but you're moving debt to debt. Do you have any money saved, Nancy, any money at all that you can get to? Any cash? No. No, no cash. No, everything I go, everything, all, everything extra, every month, I just pour into the debt trying to get ahead. How much extra? And then an emergency comes along. Okay, how much extra are you putting towards your debt? Like, if you were to stay current on all the credit, cards and the car payment, how much extra would you have a month?

Only like 200. Okay. And so that's why it's a chronic debt situation because things, life keeps happening and I go backwards on the credit card. Are you bringing home like $4,500 a month? What is your take home pay? It's because I have some stuff going in, like pre-tax stuff going into going out into a, well, paying off another loan.

That's another story, but it's almost paid off. You have a 401K loan or something? It's a, I don't remember what you call it. It's not 401K, 457. Is that that sound? Yeah, you took a loan against your retirement plan. Yes, and it's almost, it'll be paid off as of next month, which will free up $350 for a month.

Okay. Next month. Okay. So here's what I would do, Nancy, if I woke up in your shoes. I would, yep, when that gets freed up, you'll have around $500 of margin. Okay. I would go. I'm sorry, could you repeat that?

Yeah, you would have around $500 of margin, right? After this is paid off, that frees up 300. You said you have about $200. $500. I would go and find any kind of work you could do, even if it's driving Uber and your new Bronco. I don't care. and I want you to make an extra $1,000 a month, okay?

So what's going to happen in two months, in two months, you're going to have an extra $3,000. If you can sell this Bronco still at $27,000, you'll have $2,000. That means you have $5,000 cash that I want you to go buy a car. And no more car payments. And no more car payments. And then you're going to be driving.

You're awesome. I just looked up cars. I looked at $3,000 cars in Wichita just now on my phone. Lots of options. They really are there. And one of them was like a 2006 Volvo. I mean, you know what I mean? Like you got to do some inspection, be smart about it.

But like you can get a cheap car that will last you for 12 months. That's all we're looking for, Nancy. This is not your forever car. No, this is a 12-month car. And you tell yourself that. You say, Nancy, this is my 12-month car because you're going to start then working to get out of debt. And then once you have your credit card debt paid off, then you're going to be able to have so much freedom and so much margin to save up and buy a nicer car that Nancy wants.

But I want you out of car payments, Nancy. This game is not working for you. Yeah, we need a big why here, and you said you wanted to retire. How much do you have in a retirement? Well, I have a pension, and I have about $50,000 is all in that $457. How much is your pension going to be? It's going to be around $4,300 a month. Okay, so about what you're making now.

Yes. So let's make this a goal. Let's become completely debt-free with a fully funded emergency fund as we enter retirement. That's your goal, which means I am not going to quit working until I have a lot of financial peace and security in my life. And that becomes your why. It sounds like you've lived a few lives. And so now is the time to go, what is this next chapter of Nancy's life going to look like? Is it trading in for a different car with a slightly lower payment? I still struggle in my 60s? Or is it, man, I don't have the dream car, but I have the dream retirement because I'm not making payments broke every month.

Exactly. Yeah. And Nancy, you really do. I want to encourage you that, you know, to spontaneously go and buy a new car because you got frustrated, there is, you have to acknowledge that in yourself, right? Like, you didn't go on Amazon and buy a new pair of, like, $12 earrings because you got mad. So you know what I mean? You're like, I just want to feel good. I'm going to like, this is a big, it's a big deal.

You bought a car. You know what he mean? And it's not to shame you. I was really frustrated. Nancy was pissed so she went and got a new car, yes. So I want you to acknowledge when those things come up in us, this is a Dave Ramsey quote for you. I heard this growing up in my house and on the show all the time.

But there's a level of maturity that delays gratification. Okay. So adults. Yes. devise a plan and follow it. Children do what feels good. And you're not a child. You're not a child.

You are a grown woman who is smart, who's hardworking, and I just want you to reframe some of these impulses that you're making because it's not just at the car lot. It's probably other places. And really start to get disciplined in this area of your life, Nancy, probably for the first time ever, you know? And it sounds crazy to do something big like this at 60 years old, but people do it every day.

People do it every day. So if you hold on the line, Christian's going to pick up and we're going to give you every dollar, which is our budgeting app. And I want you to be engaged in it. I want you to create a monthly budget, Nancy. I want you to dream and just do some searching when you get off the phone with us. Just Google $5,000 cars in Wichita and just start to make peace with this new future you have. But because of that 2006 Volvo that you may buy, that frees up hundreds of dollars a month for you.

Yeah. Here's the three words we need to take out of our vocabulary. I deserve it. I think you deserve financial peace. I think you deserve a great retirement, which means we need the delayed gratification to say no to the toys right now. If collectors are blowing up your phone every day and you're living in constant fear of the next call, you're not living. You're surviving. You don't need more noise or more stress. You need help you can trust. That's why I recommend Guardian litigation group. Guardian isn't a call center reading from a script. They're real attorneys who can step into the courtroom and fight back when creditors try to sue you. Debt settlement isn't glamorous.

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one else cruise. You can hang out with Dave Ramsey, all of us, Ramsey personalities, March 14th through the 21st, 2027. We're going to the Western Caribbean, Bahamas, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel. It's going to be incredible. We had a great time last time we did it. This is so fun. It really exceeded my expectations. Me too. And when we posted about it, I had so many comments of like, I didn't know you guys were doing a cruise. Well, now you know people. And you got time to budget for it. And here's the thing. Because we've done this before, we gave early access to those folks. And so they're coming. I think it's over half sold out.

I mean, it's like, yeah, it's doing really well. Cabins are limited. This thing will sell out. And right now you can save up to 300 bucks, 300 bucks off when you book by February 7th. All you need right now is a deposit to get your cabin locked in. Click the link in the show notes or go to Ramsey Solutions.com slash events to book your cabin and learn more. All right, Bree is in Indianapolis up next. Bree, welcome to the show.

Hi, how are you? Doing great. How are you? I'm hanging in there. What's happening today? Okay. I'm trying my best not to get too anxious right now. But I am currently going through a divorce.

I've been a stay-at-home mom for almost 11 years, and I'm solely financially dependent on my husband, who is the sole provider. I literally was just watching the video of Dave Ramsey talking about, how it is our money. Like my wife was a see-home mom for how many years and it is our money. It is our house. It is our cars. And I am pretty much in a emotionally abusive and financially abusive relationship at the moment.

And I'm worried about him trying to financially cut me off. I mean, I already talked to lawyers. I already have a petition going, but like, I don't know if it's just the narcissistic part of him, the sociopathic part of him, that he doesn't truly understand that we are one. Well, and the state and then the judge will tell him that. Right. But like, I don't know if his lawyers are truly understanding that. So it's like he, he current, I'm stay at home mom.

I have three kids under nine. I've worked little jobs here and there on the weekends, but nothing that was really substantial. I've worked for MLMs from home trying to make a little bit, but nothing has really been much. It's mainly solely me taking care of the kids, and he's the one who financially provides. I just need to know what is the best way to legally, like, try to have him understand that, like, I am technically entitled to, yes, child support, alimony 401k in pension. Yes. I don't know any of the totals of things. He's trying to like swindle

and gas light of pretty much saying, yes, I'm giving you the house. Do you have child support? I won't take the equity of the house, but don't touch my pension. And it's like, I don't want to verbally agree to something that I don't have full calculations in front of me

before I agree to anything. It's going to truly benefit me and what I'm legally entitled to in the end. Well, the lawyers in the courts will figure all that part out. Okay. So right now it's how do you just keep yourself protected and safe right now in the interim until this all shakes out? Because as you know, this could be months and months and months and drag out and back and forth. And so right now it's like, and I'm not paying your legal fees anymore.

And he's pretty much trying to force me into getting a job instead of staying at home with our three-year-old at the moment. So is he not going to take care of the household and the kids? I don't, I think it's all threats because he's just. just frustrated that is he paying currently anything right now in alimony or child support as you guys are going through the divorce proceedings not right now no currently we're still have a joint um okay joint checking account you guys are still living in the same house i don't even have access to that right now because it has to be unlocked through for the app wise it has to be unlocked through if you're an owner on that account you have access to it i don't care what he did on the app yeah go down in person

and get yes get what you need because if yeah if your name is on that account you have as much right to it as he does. And I would create an account at a different bank. He's not even taking into consideration how much money, like I have saved, like saved us. And he won't. He won't, he won't. Listen, listen. He's trying to scare you.

Yes. And if there's any, what you said, narcissism, if there's any level of who he is and everything you've described, he sounds like a horrible person, you're never going to convince him otherwise. Okay. So I think there is, I mean, and again, this is a bigger working through in your own than me just saying that allowed on a phone call here. but he's never going to understand.

He never, ever, ever will give you the respect that you deserve. He's not giving you that. He never has. It's what it sounds like. It's one of the reasons you're leaving him. Right. So what I would do is, didn't want to go to therapy for the relationship,

didn't want to go to counseling for drinking, didn't want to talk to the pastor. Yep, yep. I know. So he signed his faith. And so now I'm putting my legal fees on a joint credit card. I still have access to the debit and I'm still able to get groceries and stuff, but like he's literally limiting me saying only spend

How is he paying for his legal fees? He's paying it on a credit card as well, even though we have somewhat of money already in the account still. So, Bree, you need to sit down with your lawyer, and if your lawyer sucks, you need a new one. But you guys need to have a plan and you need to know your legal rights. Every state is different when it comes to divorce law. Okay. So we're not experts on that on each state. You need to know what rights you have.

And then you do have to understand, Bree. There will be a point where assets are divided, however they divide the court. whatever you decide. And there may be a time, and it happens where this is the heartbreak of when a life you had built is no longer there, that you may have to get a job, right. You may have to sell, he may give you the house and the equity, and you may look at everything and say, this is too stressful. I can't handle the property tax and the HOA fees. You may have to sell the home eventually and downsize to create financial stability for yourself. Okay. So there's going to be probably in your future some really, really hard decisions that.

is not how you saw your life going, you know, three years ago. But it's going to, but what you're working towards is a life of peace, relationally out of this marriage that's been abusive and creating something for yourself. And so what I want you... He's also currently living out of state. So the custody will most likely be like a 90-10. Okay. To you?

Yeah. Which means you're going to... Which means you're going to have a big paycheck coming in every month. Yeah, you'll be fighting for that alimony and that child support then. Yes. So all of that should be reconciled. on and you need to feel good about that, but you need to know legally where you stand for you to have some peace, right? Because I feel like the pieces right now, which I don't blame you. I'd be in

complete chaos too. The pieces are all over. I'm hiding all of it because I don't want, I need to be strong for my kids. Yes. Yeah. Well, yeah. Yeah. So I would though. I think facts here are going to help you have some peace to know what rights you have in this. And he doesn't get to, I think the biggest fear you have is he's going to just leave in the middle of the night with nothing and you're left with literally nothing. That's not going to happen from a legal aspect. The courts will step in. Or just like the fact that I've, I didn't go to college so I don't have a degree. Yeah. And I have nothing for my name. It's okay. It comes to 401k or pension or anything. Yeah. Yeah. That's okay, for me. Guilty taking his money. But it's like he doesn't understand that his money is my money.

There's going to be no guilt here. You are entitled to. probably half or more of the assets. Right. And so there's no guilt there. You said, well, he provided for the house. Did you not provide for the house the last 11 years? He doesn't see it that way. It doesn't matter what he, I don't care what he thinks.

I'm just telling you you need to release the baggage of, well, I don't deserve this. Because now it's taking a turn to where you're feeling guilty for things you don't need to feel guilty about. Okay. This is what narcissists do. They gaslight to make you think you were the problem the whole time. crazy one. And you're the one that made this all fall apart. When is enough enough?

I've given you everything you wanted. This is what they do on the way out. They have no other cards to play. So they just try to drag you down into the muck with them. Okay. That's all he's doing. So on top of all the lawyer stuff, you know, counseling and therapy is going to help as well. And I want you to paint a picture for like in the next five years.

Once you have some facts, like where is Brie going to be, even in the next two years? Because, again, I don't know what's going to happen, Bree, but there may be a situation where you are a receptionist at a dental office. I'm making this up, right? For four days a week. And when your three-year-old starts kindergarten, you drop them off at school, you may go to work and you may bring home a paycheck. But you are capable, Bree. You're capable of doing something and earning money if it comes down to that, okay? So just know that in yourself. The things and the tools and the giftings that God's put in you, Bree, is valuable. It is. And so you're going to survive of this. But getting some facts on your side, I think it's going to bring you some peace right now

in the midst of all this chaos. But we are so sorry. Call us back if you need more help. Well, Dave, you know, on the show all the time we get calls about cars, used cars. What's one thing you want folks to know? Well, really a couple things. Number one is always buy used unless you got a million dollars. We don't buy new cars. And if you're going to buy used, number two, you want it to last. And that means regular proper maintenance. Yeah, that's a big deal. I know when Sam and I moved from South Florida up to Tennessee, that's the first thing you're looking for. You need somebody who can take care of your car. So when we found Christian Brothers automotive, it was a no-brainer and they've been absolutely great.

We're excited to recognize Christian Brothers as the official auto repair partner of the Ramsey Show. Christian Brothers keeps things simple, honest, and transparent. Every repair is backed by their nationwide, nice difference warranty. Three years or 36,000 miles, whichever helps you more. Listen, Dave, I'm first to admit, I'm not into cars like you. you are. But the thing about Christian Brothers is I feel just as confident going in there, they're not trying to upsell me. I feel 100% confident that I'm going to get the service that I need. Hey, if you want your car to last and stay on track with the baby steps, trust Christian

brothers. Go to CBAC.com slash Ramsey to find your local shop, schedule service, and get an exclusive Ramsey discount, 10% off your visit, up to $250. Yeah, that's cbac.com slash Ramsey. See store for details. Donald is in Toronto up next. Donald, what's going on? Hey, how are you guys? Great. What's your question today?

Hey, so just how to get comfortable with using my emergency fund when an emergency has happened as I recently got the baby step four. Cool, congrats. How much do you have in the emergency fund? So I have 15 in there and slight job, not change recently, but better security recently. so that may be a factor as we go into this. Great. Okay, so let's talk about this emergency.

Give us the most recent one where you went, I just can't dip into that. I got hit by bus yesterday. Good, Christ, Donald. Donald, stop. Stop. Are you being for real right now? I actually am.

Yes, I'm not lying to you at all. I'm, how are you? I'm okay. Luckily, the incident was completely fine, and that's why I'm much more focused on the finances at this point. Because it's like, I'm okay, everyone's okay. Yeah, I got checked out. I'm already.

Oh my gosh, I got hit by a bus. No one can ever say, well, man, I feel like I got hit by a bus today. Donald's like, no, I really did. I raise you. Oh, my gosh. Well, that would be a reason for the emergency fund. I think we can all agree on that. Okay.

So just answer these three questions. Is it urgent? Is it necessary? Is it unexpected? I think we can all agree getting hit by a bus is all three of those things. You with me? I think it's a little unexpected. I think you checked that off, yes.

You didn't plan for it. There was no maintenance you could have done to avoid it. Maybe look both ways, but no. Now, is, was there police involved? Like, are they going to cover your ER bills? It was the city bus? It was a city bus. Unfortunately, due to how old the vehicle is, like, it's a beater because of it, how the insurance claim would work.

Oh, your car got hit by a bus. You were in a car. Yeah, yeah. Donald. Can you lead with that next time, bud? I thought you were walking across the street No, that's why I was talking about the car Okay

Oh Donald, you almost gave us a heart attack No wonder, okay Oh my gosh, okay, I'm glad we thought the same thing George Do you tell me, hey, I got hit by a bus yesterday I assume you were walking Okay, so Donald you were in a car Thank God, okay So the car is not, wait, so go back

Tell us up with the car, car situation So car's old but it's in obviously not workable shape anymore. It's done for. Yes, I expected a car upgrade to come in the future. I got 4K aside for that, but I obviously now I need to kind of pull the trigger on it much earlier than expected. Gotcha. Is insurance going to write you a check? I can't really get anything out of the insurance because my comprehension and collision wasn't on there. I had enough insurance to be legal. I didn't have the proper insurance to get

much out of this because my car is so old. It would basically, they're just going to write it off. and then I might get $2,000 out of it if I'm lucky. But again, because I don't have collision, it'd be a lot of fighting with the city, and we all know that's never easy, no matter of your municipality. Yeah, sure, sure. Okay, so you're just saying, it's a wash. It was an old car.

I have money saved. How do I use this emergency fund? Yeah. Yep. Okay. So what kind of, so you are, you're obviously low maintenance when it comes to the type of car because you're currently driving an older car, right?

So how much, how much money do you think you need? to have a car, maybe it's a little bit of an upgrade that'll last you longer, but like what price range feels right to you? For safe reliability purposes, our markets out here, I would say between 8 and 10 is going to get me a car that's between 2015 and 2020 and somewhere between the 60 to 100,000 mile range. Okay. So take the 4K and then 5K of your emergency fine.

Go get a 9,000, you know. It still leaves 10 in your emergency. fund and then you begin the process of replenishing the emergency fund and that's how you feel better about using it it's not a this thing is depleted forever it's all right now I got to rebuild it that's not fun but hey at least it's an inconvenience instead of a crisis and you're going into debt on a credit card a 25% APR so that's the move okay and the truth is kind of like the better you get at this stuff the less emergencies you're going to have like when you're broke you have everything is an

emergency and as you get to this place baby step four you buy a better car You have nicer stuff that you can maintain better and pay for, you know, repairs and all of that. And so I think it's sort of in your head that you're going to have to dip into this emergency fund all the time. I can't tell you the last time I use my emergency fund because at some point you go, oh, we can probably just cash flow that at a next month's budget. It'll be fine. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

So use some of this for it, though. So hear us say that, please. Please, please. Yes. To go good. Use enough to make sure that it's reliable. Yeah. Don't go good and crazy, obviously.

You don't need a $25,000 car because yours got totaled. So that's what most people do is they go to the dealership and say, I need a brand new car because look what happened. Last time I had a beat her car, I got hit and it got totaled. Yeah, and that's what my brother and others have already said to me about possibly paid in the future or not now. And I'm like, that just doesn't fit my lifestyle. So no. Totally, yes.

You do you. Pay cash. Yeah, take $4,000 or $5,000 out. And then, yeah. How much do you make a year? 60. Awesome. I would work on upgrading that $9,000 car in a year or two.

So set of sinking fund and go, I want to put $500 a month. Yeah, we were trying for $15,000 car, and then this obviously made it that I couldn't. I was planned to be able to do it by October of the end of this year, but now here we are where I kind of got to, I guess, finance myself as compared to finance with somebody else. Exactly. You are the bank and it's zero percent interest with no payments. That's a deal, my friend. So thank you for the call.

I'm glad you're okay. I'm glad that you were in a car. Next time you tell the story, make sure you lead with, hey, a bus hit my car. He probably thinks we're just crazy. He's probably like, duh. I was just, the mental image was just, it was like replaying over and over my mind of what happened to poor Donald. Okay. Glad he's okay.

We're going to get through this. Thanks for the call. Crystal's in Boise up next. What's going on, Crystal? Hi. So as a family, we've been reading Toll Money Makeover, and we've been working to implement the principles and just started baby steps. too. But my question today is regarding term life insurance. So I've had a whole life policy with a term rider for a million dollar death benefit since like 2016, has a monthly premium

of $315 a month. And I called Zander found out that I can get a 20-year term policy for a million dollars for 104 a month. Awesome. I'm 45. My spouse is 55. Our kids are 16 and 17. So my question is, do I do the 20-year term or should I do less with the kids being older? That's a good question. You need life insurance until you no longer need life insurance. So think about the kids are grown, house is paid off, retirement's funded, your spouse would be okay without your income. And so if that's 15 years for you guys saying, hey, the house is definitely going to be paid off, we're going to have a serious nest egg.

The kids are grown and gone. They're not going to be relying on us. I would say 15 years sounds a lot closer. Okay. What would be a serious netting? I mean, I'm just saying if something were to happen, is your spouse going to be okay? Okay. The kids don't need to inherit $5 million to be okay.

They're going to be just fine. It's if something happened, you lost your income. Now we have this policy plus this retirement. Okay. They will be okay if they need to take some time off or not work. Okay. So I would go 15 based on what you've just told me. I don't have all the full picture.

Do you both work, Crystal, you and your husband? Yes. Okay, yeah. Because if something, you know, realistically, if you're past that 15 and the house is paid off, there's no debt, and you guys have, I don't know, three, I'm just making up a number, 300,000 in retirement. And you still wanted to work. You know, you still had the ability to make an income if you needed to, right? So that factors into it too. Okay. I'm proud of you. I know that hurts because you've paid into this whole life policy for what, 10 years now? Yes. Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry to whoever sold that to you. Who was it? Was it a family friend? Yes. It always is. I don't know how I guess that. They are though. Everyone we talked to like, well, my brother-in-law or my cousin or, you know, yeah. And it's always a dude. Let's make that clear. Some dude out of college. 99% went, oh dude, I got the sick job. I sell insurance. The women do the MLMs. That's true. We all have our toil in life. The guys go insurance. It's cool. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Well, it's a good, right.

reminder to anyone listening out there, if anybody relies on your income, you need term life insurance. Not whole life, not permanent life insurance, term. So that's for a specific amount of time. 15 to 20 years is good for most people, maybe 25 if you're really young or you got young kids. Because the goal is, hey, once this term expires, we are self-insured, meaning we don't need this policy anymore. We're going to be okay. And you want to make sure that you get 10 to 12 times your annual income on that death benefit, on that face value of the policy. So you make 100 grand, you need a million to 1.2 in-term coverage so that you could invest that money and the growth of that could help create the income and replace it. That's all insurance is.

It's a risk transfer to replace your income. Zander are the folks that we trust, the people I have mine through. My wife has hers through Zander. You can call them at 80035642.82 or just jump on zander.com. Get it done today. Dave, we got a lot of calls on this show where life happens. One day someone's healthy, they're working, providing for their family, and then a curveball hits. You know, we hear it all the time. A car accident, a cancer diagnosis, a heart attack, and suddenly everything changes. Yeah, and that's why you've always said that having term life insurance from Xander is essential,

because it protects your family if the worst happens. Yeah, that's right. You need 10 to 12 times your income in coverage, no gimmicks, no whole life junk, just straightforward term life protection. But there's another piece that people often overlook, and that's long-term disability insurance. Yeah, it's important to understand the difference between them. Life insurance steps in when you die. Disability insurance steps in while you're alive but can't work.

So it replaces a large part of your income so the bills still get paid while you get back on your feet. Now, if your employer gives you free disability insurance, great. Take it. If it's discounted there at a better price, take it. But if not, Zander can help you find the right plan. Whether you're single or married, it's not optional. If you're going to be out of work for a while, then you need to make sure the money still showing up.

And that's why Zander is our go-to. They make it super simple to get the right coverage at the best price, no pressure, no upselling. I've trusted Jeff Zander and Zander insurance for over 25 years, and so is my family. So don't wait. It's fast. It's easy, and it could make all the difference. Go to Zander.com or call 800-356-42-82. protect yourself, protect your income, protect your family.

Welcome back to The Ramsey Show in the Fair Winds Credit Union Studio. I'm George Camel, joined by bestselling author, and my co-host of Smart Money Happy Hour, Rachel Cruz. We're taking your calls at AAA 825-5-225. Up next, we head to Charlotte, who is in Columbia, South Carolina. Charlotte, welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi, how are you? We are doing great. How can we help today?

My question is, well, my husband and I are, we have $100,000 of student loan debt that we just started paying off. And my dad promised us that he would help pay this debt off. However, in the last year, we tried to cut time. Sorry, you're breaking up with us, Charlotte. Can you speak directly on your phone or try to get to a better spot? I heard your 100,000 student loans. Dad said he would help pay them off, and you recently had to cut him off? Yes, we did. We had to cut ties with him. And so we are now...

Like the relationship is over? Mm-hmm. Okay. Yes. Got it. Correct. Yes. So we are now just looking into this debt now for our own to pay off. And my question is, what tips would you have to pay this off quickly? I don't want this to be looming over our heads for longer than it needs to. We agree.

What did you get your degrees in? My husband got a law degree. Oh, gosh. Okay, perfect. So is he practicing law right now? Yes. Okay. And how much is he making a year?

He is making a little over 100K. Okay. And what are you making a year? I'm just making a little over 20K. I'm working part-time. We just had our first child back in October. Okay. Oh, congratulations.

Thank you. Okay, great. So, yeah, I mean, the most efficient way to do this, Charlotte, is if you have multiple student loans, do you, or is it all one loan? It's just one loan. Okay. Yeah, so it's just going to be, you know, taking it out. Attack in the mountain. Yeah.

Throwing as much as you can every month on top of the minimum payment, just throwing as much as you guys can. So it's make as much as we can every month, spend as little as we can. spend as little as we can and use that difference, that margin to knock out this debt fast. Because if you guys make $120 a year, if you lived on $60,000, Charlotte and you guys basically

had no lifestyle, you're just like, listen, we are just going to just live on what we got and you threw 60 at it. I mean, in a year and a half, you guys don't have this paid off. Okay, okay. So it's just you got to live like

a broke law student and not like a lawyer. And that might be a, I don't know what your lifestyle is like, but that's going to be a big shift. Yeah. Yeah, do you guys have margin every month in your budget? We definitely could. We could have more.

Yeah. So make it a goal. Could you this month, with the next paychecks coming in, throw $4,000 on top of the minimum at the debt? Yeah. You're done in less than two years. I mean, that's the math of it. There's no, like, life hack shortcut.

Now, if you were doing the debt snowball and you had multiple debts, we'd say attack the little one first, minimums on the rest, and create some progress. This is a little bit harder because it's just you're, it's like paying off a mortgage. You're just staring down this mountain going, all right, I would celebrate the wins. Every $10,000 you pay off, you guys have a little fun, whatever you decide to do. And that'll keep you motivated along the way. Maybe make it visual. Maybe you have like, you know, rings and chains across the house or on the fridge, whatever you guys decide to do. Making it visual, having a deep why. Maybe this child is your deep why of, I want this kid to grow up in a house that doesn't know debt that has financial stability.

Yeah, and it probably is, there's probably a painful element too, right? That it came, you guys are doing this because of a relationship that was fractured. So every, you know what I mean? It's kind of like the sad reminder, too, of having this around of like why we have to pay this off. So there is a part too of like, oh, I just want to add. You don't want it to drag out. I just want it out of my life, you know? Definitely.

Is your husband on board with this? Yes. is we're in the very beginning stages of really talking about it, which I feel I feel behind because it's been almost a year that we've had to cut ties with my dad. But it really does just kind of feel like the dust has now settled more with that and then with having our son. But so, yeah, we're just in the beginning stages of like really coming up with a plan. Tell me this, Charlotte. But he wasn't, your dad wasn't paying your husband's debt for law school, though, just yours, right? He was going, he never paid any debt because when all of this came out with my dad, we had just like maybe for two weeks been put on a payment plan for the debt.

Okay. So he had not paid that. Yeah, but was the expectation that he was going to pay your husband's law degree? he had said he would oh okay okay okay so it was the whole day because i was saying is if he just promised your debt and yours is 10 000 of the 100 000 you know i was going to ask why you didn't address but he but but it was said out loud that it would even so this wasn't on your radar and all of a sudden relationships broken and now you've got 100,000 sitting in your lap to pay off on top of the grief and so this is a lot yeah it is sad and it's going to be it's going to be tight but you know less than two

years, the baby won't remember it. It'll be a memory for you guys. Remember that time we worked our tails off for two years to get to a place of financial stability, and you will not regret the sacrifice you're making right now. I'll tell you that much. Yeah. Yeah. Would you take out, we have a high, a high-ish amount of money and a CD account, but a two-year CD account. So I don't think we can't touch it for like another year, but. How much is in there? We're not supposed to, like a little over $75,000. Fantastic. Well, I would also look at what the penalties are for taking it out before it matures.

Because if you're going to pay more interest in student loans than the penalty is, then it's worth cashing out. Okay. And that gets you out of debt so much faster. Yeah. Yeah. What was that money you're marked for? We didn't really have any sort of plan for other than just to kind of keep. it in there.

And then maybe once it was done, give it up more, we were probably going to buy another house or like sell the house where now buy a little bit bigger house as our family grew. We, that money actually was given to us from the death of my grandfather. So it was kind of unexpected. So we really didn't have much of a plan. And then it was like, I got that. My husband started paying the student loan debt. and then everything happened with my nuts.

So I haven't thought about it that much. Okay. Gotcha. Well, the other part you off to grave is, hey, this was going to be like house upgrade money, and now it's paying off debt money, which is less exciting. But I would do that in a heartbeat, Charlotte. I would look into that tonight to see what the penalties are. And then depending on how aggressive you guys want to move up in house,

still look at cutting back some lifestyle and saving up some margin and say, okay, if we were to replenish this, you know, you could do that. in a year and a half still get that money back but I would go ahead and yes I would this new plan is we're out of debt boom six months by the summer we're debt free yes I would do that in a heartbeat and then you guys save your income and decide how quickly you want to save how slow but no one else is determining that for you or you guys could say no we're good and for the next year we're going to just enjoy our life and yeah and maybe you can quit the part-time job but no yeah no one's making you do it where a student loan you have to make this payment yeah life is

going to be on your terms soon enough. And so far, life has just been happening to you and everything's being unexpected. And I hope soon you can start to get intentional and happen to your life, Charlotte. We're rooting for you. Thanks for calling. If you're looking for a more budget-friendly way to save on medical costs and stay true to your values, Christian health care ministries is a great option to think about. CHM is not health insurance. It's a health cost-sharing ministry, a biblical, community-based way for Christians to share each other's medical bills. That means no enrollment deadlines and you can choose any doctor or hospital you want. That kind of freedom is big, especially if you're self-employed between jobs or you just need something that fits your budget better. CHM has been around for decades,

faithfully serving the Christian community. And many members save hundreds of dollars a month compared to traditional health insurance. And that margin gives you breathing room when you're working the baby steps and trying to steward your money well. And right now, CHM's offering new members a 50% credit towards their first month of membership. Get started at CHMinistries.org slash budget and use promo code Ramsey. That's CHministries.org slash budget and promo code Ramsey. Scott is in Bowling Green up next. Scott, what's going on?

Hey, George. Rachel, how are you all today? We're wonderful. How can we help you? I am completely debt-free. Yeah, you are. Great job. Baby Step 7, paid off house?

Paid off house, yes, sir. Oh, everything. Oh, my gosh, real done. I can tell in his voice. He had an ease and, like, he was kind of flexing. He's like, I am debt-free. How old are you? I am 65 years old.

Wonderful. Good for you. Okay. What's your question today? I'm at that point. So, you know, well, let me go back. I do have to replace some money back into my fully emergency fund. I'm fully funded emergency fund.

Okay. Because I pulled that out to pay the house off about $12,000. Nice. Anyways, a little over $12,000. But my fully funded emergency fund is my goal is $50,000 there, and I've got about $20,000. into it right now. Okay.

I've got to put 25 more into it, and I'm completely out. So a couple things here. My questions are at this point, which I've already got a traditional IRA that has about 214, $215,000 in it, and I've got two mutual funds.

It's probably about $36,000 in that. I want to be able to go in to put more money into mutual funds, I think from, you know, the total money maker was something about a high cap, low cap, mid cap, and a foreign cap or a foreign mutual fund. Yep. And I want to learn more about that. And then also put some, I guess, part of that $50,000 into a high-yield interest savings account.

Yeah. Is that, are these the smart moves that I need to make? And also, I want to look at maybe doing a Roth IRA. to kind of balance out the taxable versus a non-taxable. Yeah, I would be focused on those retirement accounts right now, you know, taking advantage of those tax advantages accounts first. And so that would be the strategy here. And did you have a 401K through your employer?

No, no. It's something I've done for the past 15 years. You're self-employed? No, I'm not. I work for a company, but we don't have a 401k program. Okay, no retirement program. I have done that all of my own over the past 15 years. Good for you.

Okay. So your options would be then maxing out that IRA every year. What is your income? Yep. My income is about $100,000. Fantastic. Okay. So maxing out the IRA is a great start.

That'll get you pretty far. And I would keep that emergency fund in a high-yield savings account. And you can open one up with our friends at Fairwin's Credit Union online on your phone, within minutes and keep that park there. I think the rates are currently over 3%. And so you're at least keeping up or beating inflation with that money instead of it sitting at 0% in your local bank savings account. So that's a piece of homework.

Fairwinds Credit Union. You can go to fairwins.org slash Ramsey. And they've got a bundle there with an online checking and the high-yield savings. And there's no fee on that. And they've been an awesome partner because they have the same goal in mind. They want people to be like Scott, financially free, with a paid off house.

Okay. So you've got that. So once you've funded the emergency fund, parking the high yield, maxing out the IRA, the next move would be a non-retirement account, if you've run out of retirement options. And so like you said,

those mutual funds in a taxable brokerage account would be the move. And we do say to diversify across four different types. So a mutual fund just as a giant basket of stocks, and we're going to even go further by going into a growth and income fund, which that would be kind of your high cap.

you've got the growth fund, which is more than mid, aggressive growth, which is the lower, and then the international fund to balance it out. Because what we've seen, which especially 2000 to 2010 that period, the U.S. market took a dive and the international market kind of balanced it out. And so that's what you want to kind of de-risk your portfolio. That's kind of the foreign account, right, that you were asking about, Scott, yeah. Do you work with a financial advisor or have you ever? I do.

I do. I've been working with this guy for about 15 years. That's what kind of got restarted. on things of doing this. That's why I've been... As a matter of fact, I was in Sam's the other day, and he was welcome to see him, and he was welcome to see him, and I told him where I was at and everything. He's like, cool, let's work, let's talk, you know, so...

Awesome. Yeah, you're in a different place now. Baby Step 7, it's living give like no one else, build wealth, and so you can max out all the accounts you can. You could, you know, pay cash for real estate if you wanted to do that. The world is your oyster at this point, especially making $100,000 with no debt. How much is your house worth, Sky?

It's about 325,000. Okay, amazing. Well done. Yeah. That's so great. What is your plan for retirement to sort of replace your income and cut your expenses? Work. Just work.

I'm going to work until the good Lord says, hey, look, you can't work anymore. Or somebody, and I'll just say this, pisses me off, and I say no. There we go. So far that hasn't happened. That's good. But, yeah, that's the Dave Ramsey strategy is, well, I want to stop working. I like what I do, which is great. And so maxing out those retirement accounts, if you work another 10 years, I mean, that nest egg will just continue to grow with compound growth.

And so we are rooting for you to have an awesome retirement. Yeah, that's one thing I know too is, I mean, I'm 65 now, 67, I can double dip so I can go in and, you know, get my regular paycheck and then also get, you know, draw social security. And that's just more money that I can stack. Yeah. And the longer you delay it, the more you'll get in that Social Security. So if you don't need it, just, you know, kick it down the road and take it at 70 to get the max amount. And so you've got a lot of options here. And you have catch-up contributions, which is great because of your age, you can actually put more into those retirement accounts than the average person, the young bucks like me.

Love it. I needed to win today. I love talking to Scott. That was awesome. John is in Cincinnati up next. John, how can we help? Hey, George. How are you doing?

Doing great. Can you hear me? Yes. Okay. So my question is, me and my wife were just hit with a little other $15,000 bill for a car that was repoed that she had signed off on in the previous relationship. Oh, she was the co-signer and her ex didn't pay and got repoed and now dinged her credit. And now the deficit is back to you at $15,000. Exactly.

Gross, I'm sorry. Yeah, it's okay. The dilemma is, though, we're nine weeks pregnant with our first baby. Congrats? It's super exciting, but we're unsure how to tackle this deficit. We don't know if we throw some emergency fund at it. How much do you have in savings? About $10,000 in an emergency fund.

Okay, great. And you guys have no other debt? No, we do. So I owe $6,000 on my truck. She has a car that we owe $20 on and then some student loan. So we have a significant amount of debt that we were paying on before the baby. And then we kind of pivoted into saving, you know, trying to stack up some money for the baby. Okay.

So we're a little unsure on what direction I go in right now. Yeah. Well, the good news is you don't need to just keep saving for nine months until the baby's here. You don't need $50,000. I would figure out what your out-of-pocket max is going to be on your insurance and your deductibles and make sure that you at least have that as your baseline. And then I would move on and hit play on the debt snowball. Okay.

And so smallest to largest balance and when you get to that $15,000 bill, you'll get there. Got it. And maybe they'll settle at that point. I don't know. If you say, hey, I've got $10,000 lump sum cash or $5,000, will you take that? Got it. But you've got how much insubble? student loans?

About 20. Okay. And what's your household income? A little over 100. Oh, fantastic. Will that change it all after baby? Like, is that, is her income part of that? It is, yeah.

She makes about 40. She's a teacher. Okay. And I make about 70. Okay. Will she go back to work, do you think, or will she stay home? We're unsure. Okay.

Yeah. We're trying to figure that out. Yeah. Yeah, totally. No, that's great. Yeah, well, I would definitely keep a big emergency fund in place considering babies on the way. So, yeah, what George said, if you get to a comfortable spot that you feel good and you want to throw some extra cash to get that credit card paid off, or I'm okay if you guys pause it and do stork mode is what we call it, where you kind of just stay current,

but you just keep saving and saving and saving and saving. And then once baby's here, mom is good, everyone's good. Throw all you have at the debt, which means you'll probably knock out, I would say, the truck or I'm sorry, the credit card. and the $15,000 bill for sure and maybe part of that truck. So either way, you guys are doing great. It's going to feel good to get that behind you. I used to be that guy who bragged about running on no sleep. And then I realized being tired all the time is not a flex.

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Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm George Camel here with Rachel Cruz. And in studio this segment, we have a very special guest. You know him. You love him. Mr. Ken Coleman. It's always good to be here, George. I got to get my ears in. I wasn't quite ready. It's fine. Take your time. Take your time. It's your show, Ken. We're here for you, Ken. Well, here's what we're doing. Here's why we thought Ken should join. We are about to do some 2026 financial predictions. I love a good prediction. And we're going to play this back at the end of 2026 and find out who was right because Rachel's very competitive. That is that. Is that right? We are going to do that? We should. We have to. We have to. You guys are in trouble. This is going to be 2-0, Ken. Now, if we're wrong, we're like, you know, the weatherman. It's like, it's fine. You get to keep your job.

So there's no stakes here. We're just having fun. Don't hold us to this. But here's what we think will happen for your money and in the economy. Okay, I'm going to go first. All right. Okay. I think mortgage rates will continue to slowly go down. Okay.

That was a safe prediction. So we started at around 7%. And now it's sitting around 5.48% on a 15-year fix is what we've pulled. That's actually incredible. That's pretty great. Like, people were waiting. I mean, that's a pretty good. So I think we're going to slowly throughout the year

keep seeing that crew. I don't think we'll get back to two to three percent. But I'm going to see, I'm going to rest in the low five's high force. Yeah, the Fed has been moving pretty slowly on this, Ken, with good reason. You know, you can't do it too fast. That'll mess up the economy. And you can't do it too slow. And so they're just incrementally doing their thing.

Not to mention the political tension that has gotten fever pitch as in like, W.W.E. wrestling match back and forth between President Trump and Jerome Powell. So Powell expected to step down. So new chairman expected in 2026. What will that do? What's going to do?

I actually, I don't agree with Rachel on that one. Wow. You think they're going to go up? I think they're going to hold. Okay. So you think it's going to be at 5.48% in December of 26? That's what I'm holding you to. I can't wait for the verdict. I think what

anyone would call a hold, I think it's going to hold. All right. Okay. Moving on. Here's mine. Sports betting will continue sabotaging young men's lives. Wow. You guys are really going out on the end of it. Again, it's a safe prediction, but we've just been seeing more and more of this. The stupidest. And as more states legalize sports betting, as more people jump onto these apps and the companies ramp up their marketing. They make so much money. That's right. 2025 Pew Research study found 36% of men under 30 had placed a sports bet within the past year. So it's becoming normalized. It's just socialized. It's just socialized. It's, hey, I'm having fun with the buddies and we're kind of going to see who's going to win the parlay.

That's right. And this is a higher rate than any other age group. So these young men under 30 are going to get hit the hardest. Who don't have money. Who already broke. I can tell you, as a father of a high schooler, I hear stories all the time of Chase's buddies. Oh, my gosh. And they're betting on crazy stuff, like stuff you wouldn't think.

It's not just a one. It becomes some kind of fun game of like, is he going to be wearing blue or red today. So. What shoes is he going to be wearing? It is so stupid. It's disheartening. So stupid. Wow. Mama Rachel with a strong opinion.

I do. It's the most unattractive thing. Oh, it's unattractive now. I don't own a home. Oh, my God. The housing market. You heard it here first, boys. Who can own a home?

But I'm going to go in freaking sports back because I'm not athletic enough to play the game. So I'm going to have to just. Can't afford to take my girl out because I've lost the parlay last night. I like that. No. All right. Don't. Very good.

Strong prediction. I feel like you guys went really, really safe. I think it's so stupid. I'm going to step out a little bit. So stupid. This might not be popular prediction. Let's talk about Airbnb's. It became a very popular real estate venture, as you know.

Everybody thought, this is my path to prosperity. And it's going through a pretty complex shift. In other words, demand still remains pretty strong. But what we're seeing is the cheaper Airbnbs, less cost, smaller, smaller areas, you will see a continual decline. But your luxury listings will go up. Oh, you're going to double. the money will still be spending.

But other people are more price conscious. That's right. So if you're in the Airbnb game, if you've got a luxury listing, I think you're probably in good shape. The demand will remain strong. Which is a small percentage. Small percentage. But if you have over leveraged yourself, do not think that you're going to eventually

rebound in 2026. In other words, if you can sell, I'd sell. Yeah. Well, people just go, well, it's easy money. People are going to be booking this 30 days a year. And it doesn't always work out like that. The reason that the cheaper market, just to give you a why, really quick, is because is oversaturation. Everybody got in the game thinking, oh, I'm going to buy a place down at the beach.

So anyway, too saturated, too much supply. That's why. There you go. You know, it's the same dude that sports bets that's also on TikTok and it's like, I own like eight Airbnbs. And I'm like, you are so annoying. Rachel, you're right. Rachel is exhausted by you young men. By the way, Rachel's coming for the bros today. She's got the bros and the crosshairs. I feel like y'all I feel like you'll need a little shake up. Wow. I agree. Because you're not cool. She probably hates creatine too. Wow. Wow. And my protein shakes. I work out. Good for you.

Look at you. The bros and you can agree on one thing at least. All right. Here's the next one. I think the stock market will actually stay relatively consistent. We've had a few good years and everyone now goes, there's going to be a crash. It's all coming down and everyone's got their predictions. I think the U.S. economy is strong.

I think AI and tech will carry us for the foreseeable future. And if it went, it dips. Everyone's going to assume it's a crash. It's going to be just a little low. I think we'll come back up pretty quickly and level out. So you're not saying steady throughout the year. You're saying it ends. the year pretty much at a level mark.

Yeah, I don't like, we had a few years that were, you know, negative 20%. And in the past few years, it's been plus 20%, plus 16%. I think we're going to have a positive year. Wow. No camel crash. No. Okay. I think the trend of buy now, pay later.

So I'll get mad at the girls who shop, okay? Because sometimes who uses this. I think they're going to become worse and worse and worse for the consumer, meaning I think there's going to be more fees. I think that you're going to be able to loan sack, you know, take multiple, keep moving. They are making so much money. Stores are making so much money when people take the buy now pay later option. They end up spending so much more.

So they see the money, the banks and the stores, the retailers, and they know I'm going to make so much. So they're going to continue to expand that. Can I affirm your prediction? Yeah. I just saw a firm as rolling out a rent buy now pay later option. So you can put your rent on buy now pay later. That really frightens me. With the amount of money that you're putting on a short-term loan, that frightens me.

So I think you're right. Can I tell you, I want to tell the viewers and the listeners, I have never seen the lovely, sunny disposition of Rachel Cruz so cloudy. I can see it across the desk. She's just sour. I was mad at sports betting. It's not because of her. It's this topic. She's got sports betting, fine out pay-let.

She is disgusting. We're pushing all of her buttons. I love seeing disgusted, Rachel. America needs more of that. Let's get you back on the horn, Ken. Let's talk about the job market. This is the bigger. Everybody's always thinking, what's going on with my job?

It's not been great. We saw a slowdown in 2025. Here's my theme. You know me. I got to go with a little phrase. You love a theme. I love a phrase. Is it a...

2026 job market will be. You ready? Low higher, low fire. In other words, you won't see... Now, she's laughing. Kelly says, oh, well. You know what? Kelly doesn't appreciate that this is rooted in accuracy.

Low, higher. means we're not going to see a hot job market. It's going to stay pretty stagnant. I think you're going to be in the 4.5%. You may see a spike getting near 5%, depending on some situations. We still don't know where all the tariff situation, where all those tariffs, how is it going to shake out? We're still in a wait and C mode, which is why a lot of companies are on the sidelines as relates to hiring. So what I mean by low hire is I don't expect to see companies hiring a lot of people. I think it's going to be a wait and see for 2026. But here's the good news. because companies also in a wait and see,

they're going to be reluctant to fire talent. Okay, so it's kind of a, we're okay with who we got, and we're going to stay in a holding pattern. So that's what I mean by low hire, low fire. Now, a couple quick things, growth sectors, I think there will be hot sectors, regardless of low hire, low fire, and that is health care, skilled trades,

don't sleep on the trades, they're blowing up, logistics and some AI adjacent roles. Oh, wow. So it's not replacing jobs, but they're connected to a white collar jobs right now, specifically white collar tech is getting killed because that's where we're seeing already how AI is beginning to kick people out. How is it effect? I mean, are you seeing numbers? Yes. Yeah. You're not seeing a lot of young people that will be moving into the technology sector as what we would call white collar tech. They're not getting the jobs

because those jobs have been replaced by AI. And we're seeing private equity come in, buy it, clean house, and go, we don't need it. You know what I like to say about private equity. What's that? Private equity equals public misery. This is why we bring Ken on. guys. He brings the heat. Ken is he's all about the words. I appreciate it. I'll be here for 30 more seconds. Here's the truth. Nobody knows what's going to happen. So just stay the course. I do. Okay. Take those predictions to the bank. Yo, we will come back December of 2026. Let's see. I think God, how competitive you guys are. See. I was going to put Ken on hold. That's my dream in life to have a hold button for Ken. Thank you for joining us, Ken. We had a great time. Hope you appreciate our

predictions. Control what you can control. That's all you can do. Hey guys, listen, if you have some money goals this year, you want to get control, you're making good money, you got to download the every dollar app. It is the way people get control with their money in a very tactical way. And here's a quote from someone who downloaded it. Love this app. It makes it super easy to budget with my husband. That's right. We've got a new spouse feature there. Here's what they continued to say. We've implemented this practice since our wedding day and we've had zero money fights because there is full transparency and we're on the same page. And you can do this too. You can take control of your money. You can change your family tree. You can live like no one else. Go download the Every Dollar Budget app for free in the app store or Google Play. Amanda is in Toronto. What's going on, Amanda? Hey.

This is my question. How can my mom and I budget our emergency fund and travel expenses given that my father's ICU expenses are climbing? I'd like to still have some left over for my dad's rehab since not everything is covered by our

Canadian health care coverage. I'm so sorry. He's still in the ICU? Yes. Basically what happened was that earlier this month, my dad had a stopover flight in Seoul, South Korea, where he had a cardiac arrest and is now in the ICU. My mom and I would like to fly over and bring him back to our hometown in Canada once his heart procedure is scheduled. We have travel insurance, but we're not sure what would be covered since my dad's claim is still under review. I've already paid $18,000 Canadian dollars, and the translator said the total cost of the hospital would potentially exceed $47,000 Canadian dollars. But of course, that's just the baseline, and it could go up from there. So I'm overwhelmed navigating all of this as an only child.

Wow. Gosh, Amanda. How old are you? I'm 25 years old. Okay. What is your parents financial situation? Like where your dad and your mom, what they have built as your parents, where are they up financially? So my father, he has been on the disability for quite some time.

She's unemployed and received disability payments from the government. My mom is the sole breadwinner. I believe she earns about 65,000 Canadian per year. Okay. And they do have a mortgage for the condo that we live in. So that's their financial situation at the moment. Okay. Do they have savings at all?

Yes. I don't have access to my dad's bank account. But from what I know, my mom has $71,000 in an emergency fund. Okay. Good. $10,000 was borrowed from her home line of credit. Okay. And she borrowed $10,000 from her sister and $5K from my grandmother.

Why is she borrowing all this money when she has the money to just pay for it? I just found out about this after the fact, so I wasn't looped in on it. I think my mom is just, I think maybe panicking, given that the hospital keeps calling us every other day, asking us to pay a deposit. Yeah, how much is owed right? now? What sort of gets you guys by right now? Because the other medical bills, you can get on a payment plan and pay that off over time, but what are they demanding right now? So they were demanding 17 million Korean ones. So I believe that was, I'd say, 16 to 7,000 or so Canadian dollars. Okay. And is that it, like, at this point,

Do you know how much longer he'll be over there before you guys can bring him to Canada? No, we don't have that information. Okay. The doctor said they want his information to go down before they start the procedure. So he's just an observation at this moment. Wow. Okay. Well, I would make sure to use your dad and mom's money before you're using your own. Is that the case?

Are you expected to pay out of your own salary for this? What my mom and I discussed is that for my own travel expenses, I would be paying for my own. Okay, that's fair. That's what we have decided. So how much will the travel be? Oh, so travel. All in for this travel, lodging, transportation, all of that. About $5,000, just for travel and lodging.

Okay. Yeah, so Amanda, I mean, if I were in. your shoes, you know, we would never tell someone to like go into debt and all of it. But when there's a health crisis, our number one goal is for your dad to be okay, right? And so what do we have to do to create that? And then we can deal with the money stuff on the back end. Now, we don't want to be irresponsible or make bad decisions in the process. We want to have a clear mind about it. But yes, I mean, I would be 100% spending five grand to go with my mom to see my dad, who's in a different country who had a horrible medical situation, get him as healthy as possible.

Sounds like the surgery is going to be there. There's going to be a lot. There's going to be a lot. And then getting him back to Canada. Like those would be my priorities. And I would ask, and I don't know how, you know, the communication with the hospital there, but a part of me would be hesitant to start paying something until we know and have some answers, right?

Like there's a part of me that I would want to get there in person. and to know how they're, I don't even know how their health care works. And yeah, you've got to figure out the insurance claim and all of that and make sure that everything's verified and you're not paying for things that didn't happen. Yes. There's a lot of pieces on the back end you can do. And I wouldn't worry about that right now. Before you start writing checks, right though?

I mean, I would. If they're needing a deposit for whatever, that might be the one thing to cover today out of mom's savings. Leave her debt. Don't allow her to go in any more debt, but just pause on her debt right now until all of this is squared away. We got dad home. We know next steps.

she's covered the medical expenses, and maybe she pays over time, and whatever's left of her savings, she uses to knock out the debts, and then she rebuilds the savings. Do you have 5K for the trip saved up, or are you going to save up quickly? Yes, I have 5K for the trip saved up. Okay, good. Well, the key is that you are not mixing finances together, and they have the money, so you don't need to, you know, give money, to your mom and hey, this is a loan. I would just cover your trip, like she said,

and let them handle the medical expenses out of their savings and then pay off whatever debt is left when you get back. Do you have any debt personally? No, I have no debt. Good. Okay. Yeah, Amanda, I mean, I think George is exactly right that they're, again, a boundary sounds so harsh in a situation like this,

but your parents have $71,000. You know what I mean? Like, that needs to be taking, And that's the pool at which you pull from. And it sounds like your parents have had separate finances because you can't get. Okay. So your mom, I mean, is she under the emotional awareness of that this is my husband? And even though it's quote unquote my savings that I'm going to be spending some of this on him, right?

Will she do that? I think she's a bit, I guess, panicky about it. but she will. Okay, yeah, because that's, I mean, that's it, right? If your husband has a medical situation, you have $71,000, we're not going to go to my sister to ask for money. She has the money. And so that's, I would not be spending your money right now, Amanda.

Now, if all this gets drained and there's something horrible and you feel like as a daughter, you're like, I want to contribute and help, be like, that is totally your prerogative. But I would not be paying money out of pocket for any of his medical expense. is again right now because they have $71,000. And then it's up to your mom to figure out, hey, what's going on with dad's financial situation? And we need to make sure that he's able to communicate all of this. If he's incapacitated, she needs, you know, financial power of attorney.

And so to use his money. To use his money and access at all if it is not tied to her name. And so there's just a lot of other pieces to this. But I would just take it one day at a time. Let's get dad well. The money pieces will solve themselves. We just don't need to go further into debt. We need to limit the damage financially and just take the trip, make sure he's good, get him back home, and deal with the medical situation.

But, man, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. That is so tough. And then being in a foreign country, different language, different health care system. Yeah, there's a translator. I mean, that's difficult. That is, that's a lot. That's a lot, Amanda.

So, oh. For a 25-year-old to be dealing with. I know. Well, we're wishing the best for his health and the financial piece we will figure out. And that's why we have an emergency fund. That turns this crisis into an inconvenience to drain it, but at least we're not in crippling debt coming out of this thing. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show in the Fairwinds Credit Union Studio. I'm George Camel here with Rachel Cruz, taking your calls at AAA 825-5-2-2-25.

Elizabeth joins us in Columbia, South Carolina. What's going on, Elizabeth? Hey, how are you all doing? We're doing great. What's going on with you today? Well, my father, 87 years old, he's a widow of seven years. He's been seeing a, he's a, excuse me, he's a widower, and he's been seeing a widow who's 88 years old. They live about an hour away from all of us here, and he is buying a house at 87 years old with a VA loan.

and we're trying not to read into it. We want him to be happy. But this is one of the worst financial decisions that he will be making. He's not married. He has no intention of being married. Where does he live now? What's his home situation now? Well, he doesn't live in our town.

He's been living with her for about six months. Okay, so he doesn't have a whole thing. He doesn't have a home. He does have a home. He has a home here. He has a home here. An hour away that he's not living in because he's living with girlfriend. Okay.

She refuses to move to his town. Okay. Yes. Does, is he going to sell his home where you are and pay for this home? Oh, I only have a few minutes for this call. I mean, I'm not making a night of it. I'll eat some popcorn and listen up, Elizabeth. You, it's, yeah, very long story short.

Well, my younger sister had financial problems, and she got recently foreclosed on and moved into his house and didn't tell anybody. And so the last thing he's going to do is kick his daughter out into the street. So he's going to take on... We all originally told him, we have no problem whatsoever if you sell your house, right? Use that money and buy something down there. We have no problem with that whatsoever. but now that's not going to be the case and he's still going through it and he didn't tell anybody and learned about it the hard way and he promised me face to face that he would tell me

if he did anything financially like this because I'm his executor I'm his power of attorney I'm on his account yeah and he's I think she's manipulating him what you think the girlfriend is I why else would he be buying because he wants to be And there's girlfriend. Why don't he's, you know what I mean? Who's manipulating as the sister living in the house that he needs to sell? Now, now the girlfriend's not going to be on the house, right? The loan and the deed and anything.

I don't know. He won't really, he hasn't really talked about it because he hasn't really talked about it. I mean, I had to call him out on it when I heard about it. And he won't, I don't know. Yeah. It's hard. She doesn't have, she doesn't have the money. She needs his money.

Oh, okay. How much money does he have? She's living with him. She's got a house. Well, she's renting. And, yeah, she's renting. Okay. So she has no money.

She's broke? Yeah. At 88? She 88? Yeah. Her husband, I think, financially, his health, wiped them out. Okay. I mean, I feel horrible for that.

Sure. How is she health-wise? At 88? She's got her issues that, again, My dad is now become, it seems like a caretaker. Oh, shoot. So you do see your dad. You're like, Dad, you're 78.

You could have another 10, 15 years. Well, he's 80. You say 87? Oh, he's 87. Oh, I wrote down 78. I'm sorry. Right. Okay.

So they're, oh, man. This is a wild one. Well, here's the deal. It sounds like you've been pretty like combative accusatory and he's sort of getting defensive, right? Well, to a certain degree that this isn't our relationship, and that's why it's so hard. Yeah. It's heartbreaking.

that he did something that you guys promised, you know, the integrity of the situation of Daniel, you're going to tell me, and he didn't. That's hurtful. That's hard. Even though he's a grown man, obviously. But have you encouraged him? I'm sorry. Have you just encouraged him, hey, here's the things that I'm personally worried about. This isn't about me. I'm just worried about you. Here's what's on my mind of, you know, keeping finances separate. What happens if the relationship goes south, you know, making sure that it's only in his name and not her name and not, you know, all co-mingled at this stage of life while they're not married? Well, hopefully he's at least doing that.

I mean, but he shouldn't be doing this period. I mean, it's, I mean, my concern, yes, my concern, we just wanted him to be happy. I mean, there's four children. He just, we all just want him to be happy. What is his financial situation, Elizabeth? What does he have? What's his net worth? Okay.

Well, he's got his house here. Yeah. And if he had to sell it outright, I'd say he'd get. 400 for it and he's got about 200 in an IRA. Okay, what does he owe on his current house? Nothing. Oh, he owns it outright. Correct.

Okay. And then how much, do you know how much the house he's looking at when he's going to pull the VA loan? 425. Oh, gosh. And that's going to be nothing down? Correct, because of the, you know, that's what he keeps saying. The VA doesn't need anything down.

I'm like, that's not the point. Well, how is he going to afford a $425,000 mortgage? I guess between sharing expenses. I mean, you told me she's broke. It doesn't sound like he's rolling in money. Well, she's got enough apparently to live on for the next five years. And I haven't asked her exactly what that means. So I mean, she's got enough to be paying her rent.

So I believe that they are sharing some expenses. But my concern is what if my father passes away? and she's living in this house. Yeah, it's under his name. I mean, you know, if she... We need a clear on the same plan. Then she goes back to renting, right? Well, I mean, what if...

Let's just say a year after they move in, my father passes away, then what? I mean, you know, I mean, I doubt we're going to be able to boot her out. And if she fails to make the mortgage, then I'm sure he's putting up his current house. if they're not married at that point and the estate plan is clearly laid out, then you have options. And so that's where I'm saying the best thing you can do right now is say, Dad, I can't stop you from doing this, but I need you to slow down and think clearly and we need to put protections in place because I'm the executor. I'm going to have to deal with the fallout of all this. And so I just need to make sure we're updating wills. We have the correct beneficiaries. We're looking at the whole estate plan

so that we all have a clear plan of what's going to happen when inevitably one of them passes. because he's creating a nightmare for the girl that he loves. And what are you going to do about the sister? If he passes away in a year, what's your sister going to do? Because she lives in... Oh my geez.

She lives in the... Now we have to evict her? It's the most of his whole estate is this $400,000 paid off house. And then that's got to be split four ways. So she's not going to buy y'all out. So that's going to be... These are the conversations

that need to happen before he passes away with the sister and him about... And his girlfriend. I do feel like... Yeah, I'm with you, though, I'm like, how do you kick out a, you know, if this isn't two years, a 90-year-old woman? Yeah, exactly. I mean, I mean, from like... I would sit down with an estate attorney as a third-party mediator because between you and dad, it's going to get too contentious and just say, hey, dad, we have an estate attorney coming by.

He's going to look at all this and make sure that we've got our eyes dotted T's crossed before we make any financial decisions so that it doesn't create a nightmare for all of us down the line. But the hard thing is, too, George, is that he has a grown. He can do this. He's a grown man. So you're going to, that's, oh. You can't stop people from doing dumb things. Yeah. But you can try to slow him down.

When an 87 year old has his mindset, I have a feeling. Gosh, man. That's a wild time to fall in love. But hey, you know what? Good for him. Again, you want him to be happy. Hey, guys, Dave Ramsey here. Every day on this show, we help people work through real money problems and figure out what to do next.

Now you can get that same kind of help anytime with Ask Ramsey. Ask your money question and get answers built on Ramsey principles we use on the show. Whether you're making a decision or just want something explained, Ask Ramsey is here to help. It's fast, simple, and free to use. Go to Ramsey Solutions.com and try Ask Ramsey today. That's Ramsey Solutions.com. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. Rachel, it's time for a question of the day, and it comes from Y-R-R-R-R-E-FI.

Defaulted private student loans, they don't fix themselves, but they can be fixed. Why-R-R-R-E-F-Y-F-Y-Nensing defaulted private student loans into a low-fixed rate payment that fits your budget, so you can clean up the mess and move forward with a plan. Visit Y-R-R-R-E-F-Y-R-R-E-F-Y. To learn more, that's Y-R-E-F-Y-M-Y. May not be available in all states. Today's question comes from Derek in Vermont. Excuse me.

What's the point in marriage? Okay. Here we go. Start strong. What's the point of marriage? My girlfriend and I are not religious and we think traditional marriage is an outdated religious ceremony. We don't like the idea of spending money on everything that surrounds a wedding. We thought about doing a marriage at City Hall, but we already combined our finances,

do our taxes together and call each other, husband and wife. So what's the point of getting the official marriage certificate? Okay. Well, Derek. A pointed question, but a fair one that, you know, a lot of, there's a generation of people who are kind of gone, what's the point in this? Like, why do we need to make it official? We're cohabitating already. We do our thing. It's been going well. Why move forward in this outdated old-timey thing where we have a ceremony and go to the courthouse and get a certificate? What's your take, Rachel? Yeah, well, I would say from like the non-emotional, non-spiritual side, there's a level of protection. with getting legally married from a financial perspective. If you ever have kids in the future,

I mean, there is something to be said that, you know, you have a system in place that helps protect both parties. And I do think kind of along those lines, George, again, I don't have stats on this, but I'm like, there is something to be said when you commit something even legally, there's a level of commitment there where this that's like, okay, the wind blows a certain way, kind of not feeling it, and one's just out.

you're just stuck with what you got, you know? So that's the more legal, non-spiritual side. But I would say from a, gosh, I wish I had Deloney on here because he's been studying this stuff. He was talking about the marriage advantage. And there's something emotional, psychological, like all of these elements. There's benefits in every area. Financial, all of it, yes. When you commit yourself to a partner. So there's something about that. The long-term trust and the shared sacrifice, stability for the kids, the financial benefits, I mean, there's a lot. Emotional safety.

And if you're a person of faith, which, you know, Rachel and I are, like, marriage is a covenant. And we believe it was designed by God. And so there is a reason there of to become one. Totally. And if you don't do that, it's fine. But you're, you know, roommates with benefits at that point. And some people make that work. I'm not saying that you can't have a successful relationship.

I've just found at some point one of you. wants to go to the next level and have that commitment and there becomes resentment and it doesn't work out. We've seen that where we've been dating for nine years, but he just doesn't see the point. I'm like, yeah, because you've been cohabitating for nine years. So he's going, why go further with this? I can just, you know, I can have all the benefits without having to have the full commitment. And so there's a lot there. But again, I think the better question for you is, why is scared a commitment, Derek? Come on, Derek. Step it up. There we go. You know, there's the, there's like, there's a rebel. there that people are like, oh, I'm going to do something totally different, this outdated,

religious ceremony, you know. So, yeah, I would go to City Hall, make it official, be husband and wife, because you're not. It's not about the ceremony in the wedding. No, no. If you want to skip that, whatever, fine. Yeah. But it's about building a life together, and I don't think you can fully do that when you're cohabitated. And I don't think from an emotional spirit. Yeah, I don't think that, yeah. All right. So, Derek, I don't know if we helped you. We said what we said, Derek. That's how we feel. to each his own. All right, Dustin is in Indianapolis up next. Dustin, what's going on? Hi, good afternoon, Georgia, Rachel. It's a pleasure to talk to you guys. I just started listening to you not too long ago, and long story short, because I want to get much as your guys' advice as I can.

I'm about 40k in debt right now. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. I've been listening to you guys as memos, and I want to do something really different, you know, this year with my money. be honest, I really suck at budgets. I just downloaded every dollar yesterday, just bought total money makeover yesterday as well. Awesome. Good for you. I've been very blessed with the opportunity job.

I'm expected to make about 120 to 140K a year starting this month. And I just want to know how can I attack this, you know, rapidly right now, Gunners Blazor Rambo. Hello. So I started doing in December. So I'm able to squeeze like an extra two to three K as well a month. Amazing. Break down the deaths for us.

So I have 40K. I have about 15 in the car. I have about 25 in credit cards. 8,000 of it will be paid off the end of March. And then the rest of 17 will probably paid off about. may, give or take. Yeah, good for you. I want to be able to get emergency fund as well.

I hear people talk about that a lot. And I'm behind in my 401k. I only have about 10, 15K in that. And I want to know how can I max that to catch up from the years. How old are you? I'm 29 years old, turn 30 next month. Oh, amazing. Good for you, Dustin.

You got one of the biggest blessings of all, which is time. And that's what you need to build wealth. and you will do that if you follow the principles that we teach. Because guess what? By the end of the year, if you follow this plan, you're out of debt with a fully funded emergency fund with your incredible income. Yes, sir, a little bit here.

Can I ask, Dustin, what are you doing for a living? Because I think this 120's new, you said. Yes, I'm a truck driver. The past couple years, the pay has been fluctuating, but I've landed a great job, luckily here. Okay. I travel for work. I'm going to be able to travel two, three weeks at a time.

Okay. So it's pretty guaranteed the 120. It's not like if you sell this, you could make it. It's like it's a pretty locked in. Like, okay, I'm going to do. If I do the work, I'm going to get it. Amazing. Okay.

So, Dustin, you're incredible. Okay, so George is exactly right. I think all of this can be taken care of. If you want to be paying your debts off smallest to largest, so the 17,000 that's going to be left in credit cards, is that multiple credit cards or just one? Just one. Just one.

Okay. So what I would probably do, Dustin, is pay minimum. payments on it, and then I would actually probably pay off your car, your $15,000 car loan, and then go back to that $17. I mean, it's a $2,000 difference. It's not like the end of the world. Yeah, the way you're headed, it's going to be so aggressive. It really won't matter all that much, but the momentum you create by using the debt snowball

to a T and just smallest balance is next. Smallest balance is next. Freying up the payment. If you do that, and are you bringing home like $9K a month, you think, with this new gig? Give or take about gross. Okay. Okay. So then if you think about it, could you throw 5,000 at your debt every month total? Yes, sir. Okay. That means you are done in like seven months. Yeah. $5,500 gets you done in little over seven months, and it'll take you three or four months after that to get a fully funded emergency fund. Yeah, what's your expenses every month, Dustin?

Right now, I say about $1,500. I was blessed to come to stay with some family because I'm a truck driver. So real low expenses, real high. Okay. And any, you married kids, anything? Single? Single. Just me. Okay, because a fully funded emergency fund for you could be more, we say three to six months of expenses. Yours could be on the three-month side. Yeah. Because you're pretty nimble. Yeah, you don't really have a lot. Not a lot of people to take care of. I mean, you can make it 10K and be done in two months. And so I'm telling you, man, by the end of the year, this thing's over. Just chunk as much as you can at the debt every month. Minimum payments on the rest, smallest one, attack it with a vengeance. And you'll be done in no time. Yep. And then once you get your emergency fund, then you can start looking at your retirement that you're asking about. And you're going to have plenty. Can you pull up a calculator, George, for us? Yeah, 15% of 140. That's 20K a year you'd be investing. So think about that. You're investing, $1,000. You're investing. And if you put that into an investment calculator, George is going to do it. You're 28. Let's say by 29, you start investing, right? We'll give you a year. And he's got 15,000 already in his 401k. 15,000. We're going to contribute $1,000 a month, 10% rate of return. You're ready? Okay. Okay, Dustin, are you ready for this?

If you do this, guess how much money? What's the age? 29 to age 60. So you can retire at 60 if you want to. Okay, how much do you think would be in your account, Dustin, at 60 if you did this? Just take a guess. I said about 1.5. You ready for this?

4.3 million. Triple it. That's not like us making up numbers. That's just if you follow what the stock market has done and you do this for 30 years, you never get a raise. This is the amount you make. you consistently invest, you will have multiple millions. Well done, Dustin. Stay the track, read Total Money Makeover, do every dollar budget. You're going to freaking kill it.

We are cheering you on. All right, let's cut to the chase. It's easy to get discouraged about crazy house prices and interest rates. But when you have the right real estate agent to help you buy and sell the right way, you'll have confidence to make smart decisions. Ramsey trusted agents aren't just experts who guide you through buying or selling. They're people you can trust to have your back from the first call to closing day. Find a Ramsey trusted agent near you at Ramsey Solutions.com slash agent. That's Ramsey Solutions.com slash agent. Well, tax season is upon us.

Rachel, I've got my appointment scheduled. I'm very excited. We're making it a date. My wife and I are going to go get a nice lunch afterwards to celebrate. And do your taxes. Yeah. So if you need help with this, we've got time. of resources, free checklists and guides that will help you file.

Just go to ramsysolutions.com slash taxes, and you'll feel a whole lot better about tax season. Maybe you'll even get excited about it like I do. You're so excited. I can't wait to see what I owe. Will I get a refund? Oh my gosh. I know.

Do you usually... Will I get close to zero? I'd say we usually owe. Yeah, I've owed the past couple years. I go on the other end of the spectrum versus like wanting a refund. You want to hang on to your money versus the government hanging on to it for you. Put it in that fair wins, you know, high yield checking. account, I yield savings account. I mean, and then if you got to write it directly. Because here's the

thing, that money doesn't come out of your account until April 15th. That's right. So I want to know ahead of time how much I'm going to need to pull from savings to pay the bill. So don't wait to the last minute. Go ahead and at least get your ducks in a row here. Ramsey Solutions.com slash taxes. All right. Ashley is in Atlanta up next. What's going on, Ashley? Hey, how are you guys? Great. What's going on with you? Yes. So I bought a car, and I don't struggle paying the payment, but I mentally struggle with the payment. Like, are you mad at yourself? You feel like it was a mistake? Yes, because I drove a paid-off car. I was doing the total money makeover.

You went back to the dark side, Ashley. And I went back, yes. What caused that, do you think? I'm curious. Well, I needed a new car, or not a new one. I needed a car, and I made a car, and I made a car. the mistake of buying a new one instead of just getting something that I could pay cash for or even less expensive than what I went with. So our car thing. Your heart went ahead of your bank account and I went, well, he wants it now. I'm like, oh, this is awesome.

It's so nice and it's comfortable and it has so many options. Yeah, it's so beautiful. It's a brand new car, you know? Right. You go sit in it, smell it, see it, and you're like, wow. It's enticing. And then now I get in it and smell it and won't rid of it because my kids have already destroyed. Yes, and I meant.

That's the problem with cars. What did you get? I got a 23 Palisade Limited. Okay. Nice. All right. So what do you owe on it? And what's the payment?

So I owe $37,000 payment $805 a month. Is that how much a palisade cost? Yes. Goodness gracious. It thinks very highly of itself. It does. It really does. So if I keep going with the payment, it's actually going to be $41,000 after interest. Yes. So I got on Carvana, put in the information, and they offered me whatever. It was like a $3,100 difference that I would have to pay them. Got it. So they were offering like $30. Yeah, so my question is, do I take the $3,100 loss and just know I made a mistake three years ago?

Yes, because that's like basically four months of car payments, you know? Right. So the other option, if it feels like too much to take the hit, you could always go private party. It's going to be a little more work because you have to deal with it and list it and all of that. But you'll probably get 37 or more for it. Yes. Because Carvana needs to make money, so they're going to give you less so that they can then jack it up to a 38 and sell it to someone else. Do you have any money saved, Ashley?

I do. We have three months emergency fund. How much is that for you guys? $20,000. Okay, good. Yes, get rid of this car. If you want to do the work, do it private sale. Yeah, do it private sale if you can.

If you don't want to do the work, you want to take the hit, you can. And then take, girl, $6,000. out of your emergency fund and go buy a car. Well, so we already have two other paid off cars like that now. So when I got the car, we needed a seven passenger vehicle, but like our kids have grown up, some of them have grown up and moved off. How many kids? Oh, okay.

Yeah, so we have five total. Oh, my gosh. So you can, so you have a car sitting there. You could drive. Great. Ashley, sell this car. Your problems have been solved for you. You've done it.

You didn't even need to call us. You have, yeah, you don't have to do work. It's all right there. How much do you guys make as a household? Oh, you broke up on us. Oh, wait. Yeah. How much?

Sorry, around 140 a year. Amazing. Oh. Okay. And what's the total value of all the cars in your life right now? Everything with wheels and motors. Oh, they're, I mean, they're older. The value, I don't know, probably.

$20,000 if we sold the other cars. I was going to say, if you love the car and just hate the payment, you could always aggressively pay off the car. Yeah, you could, yes. But that's another version of sacrifice. Yeah, do you want a sacrifice lifestyle for a few months and throw money at this? Live like you're broke and pay it off in four months, five months. Yeah, I've considered that too because we do, I put, I do the 10% into our 401K, and then I do $2,100 into our high-ield savings account.

So, like, it's not that we struggle to pay it. It's just like, I don't know if I want to pay it anymore. And I didn't know if it was better to just get over it. It's okay to not struggle to pay it and want to get rid of it. There's a lot of people who take on the payment going, well, I can afford it. It's fine. And then life happens. And so you're kind of getting ahead of this going, hey, let's nip this in the bud while it's still fresh.

Right. And eventually you can get your dream card, just save up and pay cash. You've got the savings muscle down. That too. Or if you guys want to, you could drain the emergency fund and sacrifice lifestyle for a few months, pay this off, build your emergency fund back up and keep the car if you want. But if every time you get in that car, you're like, oh, I don't like this. Yeah, it's not worth that.

But financially, you guys are in a place. You're not over. Yeah, you're in a place that you would be able to keep it if you wanted it. You just got to pay it off. Right. Okay. Just the draining the emergency fund, it kind of makes me panic. It's like I need that just in case, you know, like Dave says, it's not if something happens.

It's when something happens. So I need that there when something happens to be able to like care for my family. Sure. There's just a false sense of security when you owe this lender 40 grand and you have 20 grand sitting on the other side. Right. Yeah. You're still a negative net worth in that sense. You know what I mean if you're just looking at those two numbers.

So it's not really real because it's not really there. It's because you have debt. On paper, it's a net negative here. And so you know what to do, Ashley. You got two options. You guys make enough that this car is not a huge part of your world and income, but there's sacrifice on either side. I got to get rid of this thing, got to drive this other older car,

or do you want to drain the emergency fund and go to town paying this off? And when the kids trash it and you're paying $800 a month towards it, and you're just like. I realize that as an adult. now because I got little ones and dogs, and they've just destroyed all of this beautiful furniture and the vehicles and you're just like, stuff is going to get deteriorated. I know. I know. When we bought our minivan in 2020, right after Charles was born October of 19, we got the minivan and I said, this is my five-year car because I didn't really want it, but I was like, in your head you could

justify it if it was temporary. Yes, yes, where I'm like, I just, you know, I want the cool mom car later, but like for now with littles, we'll do the minivan. And George, can I tell you, we are five, we are six years into this minivan. And I can't budge. I could not imagine buying a new SUV right now or, you know, a nicer car. Yeah. And with it with my kids. You've told me the stories. I mean, Sharpie on the white seats. I'm like, oh my goodness, the OCD and me. And they're not bad kids, but I mean, and I'm definitely not the mom that's like, no, some moms do that. I'm like, no, eat your goldfish. Like we are going to, you, you You need to be happy back there.

Starve until you get home. Do whatever you need to do back there, you know, to be happy. But then that just creates, I mean, just nasty, nasty, nasty. So I don't know. That's a good reminder. That minivan. That odyssey will be in our lives. I also feel like the danger of buying a new car is that becomes your new baseline

mentally of what you're willing to drive. Because going from a new car. Oh, that's a good point. So I always, here's what I've done. I drove like an 09, then to a 13 because I was like, if you jump too far, you're done. You're not going back to a 2016. Great point, George. You just feel like you're going back in time.

You're like, I'm a pioneer woman here with my, I don't even have car play. What world is this? And so there's a real danger to the lifestyle. She sat in the new car. And she's like, look at all this amazing stuff. Her baseline's high. I've got a heated steering wheel. How did our parents survive without the heated steering wheel?

Gotta put gloves on? Ugh. What is this place? Welcome to 2026. Last year is officially in the rear view and you're fired up to find make some changes with your money. New year, new goals. We love it. But let's be honest, old you said the exact same thing last January and the January before that. And before you know it, those money goals fizzle out faster than the fleeting flavor of LaCroix. So here's the truth. New

year motivation only gets you so far. You need an actual plan. And the good news is you don't have to figure it out on your own. Every dollar builds a personalized plan based on your goals and your real life. And it actually coaches you to stick with it. Plus the every dollar app will help you find extra money hiding in your budget. And trust me, there's always something hiding. The average person finds $3,015 in the first 15 minutes. That's basically like giving yourself a raise and a much happier New Year. So don't let future you down. Make them proud. Go download the every dollar budget app and start for free right now. Our scripture of the day, Romans 12.9, don't just pretend to love others, really love them.

Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Elon Musk said, for quality of life, it is better to err on the side of being an optimist and wrong rather than a pessimist and right. Did he say that? I don't know. They just give us these quotes, guys. Who knows what's real anymore? And not on timing either in life. Let me just say that loud. That's right. Good, good call, Rachel. All right, Mary is in Grand Rapids up next. What's going on, Mary? Hello, how are you? Good. What's going on? My question is, I know that Dave is a proponent of long-term care insurance, but I wondered if you ever can get to the point where you're self-insured and you don't need it. Absolutely. I'm 63. I'm still working part-time.

My husband retired last June. He's 62. He doesn't want to take Social Security yet until he can max it out. Okay. And we have about 2.3 in our retirement. Awesome. So we called Xander, as Dave always recommends, and we talked to a wonderful lady that's spent a lot of time with us, and she gave us a quote for like a standard policy from one of the better companies that they work with, and it would cost us about $6,800 a year for long-term care insurance, and that would be going up by about 15% every seven years on the premiums,

and it would cover about 500,000 for both my husband and myself to dip into when and if we need it. But the first three months would come out of our, if we did go into like an assisted living or needed long-term care help, the first three months are out of pocket. So I'm thinking by that time if we needed it, probably the cost would be like 12 to 15,000 a month. And the first three months are not paid for by the insurance. plan. So I was kind of shocked at that. It's still going to cost you. It's kind of, it's like a co-pay there. Yeah. Okay. Well, you got $2.3 million. And so the question is, would you guys be okay if you need to dip in and pay $500,000? Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I just think that $6,800 a year

seems steep to me, and then it's going to increase. And I don't know, I just don't know if I feel comfortable paying that much. But then again, I would like, the rates you'll see anywhere for that at your age. And so it is expensive. There's no, we don't hide, there's no hiding that fact. But the truth is 70% of people turning 65 will need some from it. And, you know, the multi-year costs can reach six figures. So that's the fear. Yeah. But also remember, every seven years, Mary, your, your money doubles. So you guys will have five million, right, in seven years in your investments. So you won't need it anymore. So I'm just, You're not going to pay this the rest of your life.

Or maybe you pay for it for a few years and then decide, you know what? That's what I'm thinking. We're at the point we don't need it, but right now, we're still on the fence. Because it really depends on your expenses in retirement. If you guys are living pretty frugally, 2.3 million will get you very far. Mm-hmm. And so that's the question mark. How much do you guys plan to spend in retirement?

And how long do you plan to work? Mm-hmm. Well, I'm working part-time. I figure I'll work 65 so that we can go on the mess. Medicare or whatever and not have to pay health insurance out of pocket. Yeah. Because COBRA is pretty expensive as well. Oh, yeah.

And what about your husband? He doesn't want to – he retired in June. He's 62. Okay. He doesn't want to take Social Security until he can max out on it. So I think that's – And you guys don't need it. You're not desperate for the cash right now either.

Are you guys debt free? Yes. And what's your household income? So right now I'm just bringing in about $4,000 a month. working part-time. And that's plenty for you guys? You ran $4,000 a month part-time. That's great.

$4,000 a month. I've been having to dip into the investments a little bit because we've had some kind of big chunks of money that we've had to pay out lately. We took two trips and my daughter's getting married in the summer, so we're giving her some money. Yeah. I mean, you've been investing for a long time. It's okay to dip in now that you're in your past 60s.

So there's no penalties or anything like that. So have at it. I would, you know, if you want to sit down with a smart vester pro to crunch the numbers and projections of where you'll be at and when Social Security will hit and how much your expenses will be, that might give you some confidence on not needing long-term care insurance. And I think, based on what you've told me, I think you guys would be okay without covering it. But the truth is, $6,800 a year out of your income is a lot, considering you're only making, you know, $4,000 a month part time. So I understand your concern. Yeah, I think so, too. Yeah. And so it's okay. to say, we're going to just have to cover that. And you just need to make peace with that, too. We might need to dip in a few hundred grandkids in retirement to cover ourselves, and there might be less that we leave to our kids or grandkids. And that's totally fine. Yeah. But you guys are not our financial people are just pushing us to get it. They just think that it's a real good idea.

Well, the risk transfer, you know, when you look at it, I'm going to pay six grand a year for the risk transfer of $500,000 that I don't have to pay out myself. So when you look at it that way, it's not a bad buy considering, you know, age, it gets more expensive as you get older. I mean, even if you did it for 10 years, that's 60 grand, right? 70 grand for 500,000, so in the long run. And you could dip into your retirement to pay it if you don't feel good paying it out of your income, and you'll still be okay. You're not going to deplete the nest egg. And so I think you guys have created a healthy financial picture where you may not need it.

And if it makes you feel better to have it for a few years, get it. And if not, again, just make peace with the fact that this will be on you. Thanks for the call. Jared is in Cincinnati up next. What's going on, Jared? Hey, appreciate you taking the call. Yeah. What's your question?

So I've found myself in kind of a tug-or-war situation being offered a very generous gift with stipulations from my mother. And my wife doesn't want to take it. Nothing like a gift with stipulations. And nothing like a mom and wife situation. What's going on? Sure. So my mom has offered later in the year to purchase me my dream vehicle. And we are currently new in Baby Step 2. We have our own debt that that money could be used to pay off. So my wife is unhappy with the decision, but the gift can only come in the form of this one particular vehicle. Why? I'm just curious. Is it like a family car or something or what? No, no, so the brief back story, my grandpa was a very good, wealthy businessman, and he offered this deal to my mom and uncles about a year before he passed away.

And he kept telling her, I wish I'd done this sooner so I could watch you all enjoy, you know, having your dreamt home. Oh, yeah. So now she's retired and she has the funds to do it. So she started with me and my brothers. My brother was first, and now it's my turn. Okay. What's the car? Yeah, I don't understand why is your mom mad just because she'd rather have just the, I mean, your wife,

because she'd rather have the cash to pay off the debt? Yeah, it's kind of a history of these kind of gifts. So the car would be a brand new Ford Raptor. Wow. Are we talking like 100 grand? Yeah, 100%. A lot. In the area, yeah.

How much debt do you guys have, Jared? How much debt do you all have? We have 86,000 in personal debt. We just started knocking this out this year, beginning to January. And I have a plan. I mean, our plan is to have it done in 16 to 18 months. Yeah, how much y'all make a year? So last year was my wife's first year back working after being a stay-at-home mom.

Okay. And we grossed 220,000 together. Amazing. Good for you all. Incredible. Okay. Jared, I'm going to be honest. I don't know.

I'm trying to really... Now, if there's weirdness between your wife and your mom in general, and then this is just another annoying thing that your mom's doing in your wife's opinion, I get that. Okay, so that's one thing. But if someone offered me a new car,

I mean, I think I'd take it. Yeah. The one thing I'm thinking... I think there needs to be a compromise here. No, I think there's more issue. I think it's more the issue of your mom and your wife's relationship. It's not the truck.

There's a pattern of her stepping in and maybe crossing a boundary line into your marriage and finances that I think your wife is uncomfortable with? Just, yeah, in a way. My wife, you know, she, this is our first time having money, her first time having money. I grew up with my mom doing stuff like this. So this is her first time having money and her first time earning her own money. We've got our plans and goals.

And she's thinking, you know, mom could snap her fingers and pay our debt off, but that's not. No, yeah, no. I'm kind of my mom's side. She's worried that we're going to look in the job. That's not what mom wants to do. She doesn't get to control what the gift is. That's right. The thing to think about is, can you afford the higher insurance, the maintenance while you guys are in this debt?

And so if you can go, hey, mom, wait until we're debt-free and then give us the car, I think that's a great compromise. That puts the sour in the books. Remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus.