The Ramsey Show - Progress Requires Discipline

Episode Date: September 18, 2026

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Brought to you by the Every Dollar app. Start budgeting for free today. Well, it's broke, and common sense is weird, so we're here to help you transform your life from the Ramsey Network in the Fair Wins Credit Union Studio. This is The Ramsey Show. I'm Jay Gorshaw next to me, Dr. John Deloney. We're going to be chopping it up for the next couple hours, taking calls about your life and money. If you want to get involved, the number's triple 8, 825-2-25. Brittany from New York is on the line.

Hey, Brittany. How can John and I help out today? We're doing good. Awesome. So I just have a quick question. I have about $20,000 saved. I have $34 in debt. I had a couple contractors come into my home that I own outright and say that it's not structurally sound. And I'm wondering if I should use the $20,000 for a down payment for a mortgage or if I should use equity on my loan and pay the debt off with the $20,000. tell me what your goals were. Were you in the market for a house before you found out about your foundation? Or were? I was not. Okay. So the structural damage is so bad that you're thinking there's no way to ever fix this. And even if they do, I won't feel good about it. Yeah, that's pretty much it. But also it would take almost as much money to fix it as it would to finance. So what I'm going to

look at is putting a new house, like, right on my land. That's what you want to do. You want to buy, you want to leave this house as it is, build another house on your current land. Did I understand that? Yep. Okay. What's, tell me the value of what you have, like, how many acres is it? Tell me all that. What's the current house worth? Oh, sure. Right now, it's 1.99 acres, so just under two, and the house now is assessed for 72,000. got you and it would cost 72,000 to fix it um they basically said that they're really not gonna they're not even comfortable putting windows in that's what the contractor came for was to change out my windows it's very old it was built in 1980 uh-huh wow okay so you leave that property

there it just becomes what vacant or are you going to like what's the plan no one else is going to buy it yep we would demolish it yep we would demolish that but have the new house right on the land. Okay. And the new house will cost how much? Turnkey, they said $122,000. So I just, I go back to this. And I want to make sure I'm not missing it.

I'm looking at John's eyes through the camera too. And I think he's got the same look at me. Sorry. You're okay with completely walking away from a $72,000 home. That's something you paid for that's worth $72,000. And just going, you want to know what? I'm done. I'm not going to do anything to salvage this. I'm just starting fresh.

I had two contractors come in and look and they said that it would be about 90 to 100,000 to fix everything that was wrong with it from the foundation to the windows to my front door to the moisture that's being let in. How long have you lived in this house? So we've lived in it my whole life. and I'm 31. Okay, and what did you buy it for? What did you put into this house?

How much money? Did somebody give it to you? Yeah. So we got in a car accident. My dad used my settlement to buy the home. Okay. And what did he buy it for since it was your settlement money? He bought it for $25,000.

Okay. So the two acres is worth that? Yes. I mean, at least, right? And what kind of home, this isn't a judgment. question. This is just a reality question. It's a mobile home. Yeah, what kind of home are you going to build for 120 grand? So they call it stick built. It's a modular.

So we're trading the mobile home. The mobile home is the one with all the issues and you're building a modular home instead. Understood. Okay. Okay. And let me just ask, the mobile home, since it's mobile, can it be sold? to someone else? I never thought of that. Even for scrap? Can it be moved off the lot and given or, you know, sold to someone else? Yes. It could.

Okay. So let's do, let's start there. We're not going to just demolish it and leave every dollar on the table. You need to get $2,500 for the trailer. Yes. I don't know what that stuff's worth. Oh, that's true. I didn't even think of that.

Okay. I love the direction we're going. So let's make that call and say, hey, we don't want to live in this mobile home anymore. It's not worth the fix. But let's sell it for parts, sell it for pieces. Whoever wants to take it off the lot. can take it. And then I just want to make sure that you're making a good choice with the next house right of what it is. Yeah, we've looked around the area maybe like seven or eight different

what they're called is like the manufacturer retailing and this one was like the nicest bill for the value because I am a single mom. Okay. So I'm not my concern for you is that you end up in exact same spot you're in. Yeah, I agree with John. I wonder what's keeping you on this exact land, on this exact lot. Is there a better housing opportunity out there for you? Everything around our area is, I would say, I've looked at different houses about 210 plus, and they're still fixer-ups. But they're freestanding in what I'll call traditional homes, right?

Yes. I'm worried that you're going to buy, you're going to build a modular home for $120,000. And the day you get handed the keys, it's going to start going down in value. Yes. Okay. Yeah, I didn't think of that. If that's the case, because those type of homes generally go down in value. And so I would rather you rent a place that you can walk away from,

that somebody else is responsible for all the repairs and everything. Yes. It too. You're handing money to somebody else and you're not quote unquote building equity. But the moment you put $125,000 into this new modular home, it's going to be going down in value too. And so I'd rather you exchange. I'd rather you not be chained to something going down in value. If something's going to, it's not renting is not going down in value. But I'd rather you at least retain your autonomy, your freedom.

Somebody else can fix that sink. It's their sink. And let's talk about the other part of what John is saying, which I love his idea because then it free you up. If you go somewhere in town and rent for a while with your kid or your kids, now you can have the $20,000 to clear up your debt. And you can start this whole thing fresh and go, okay, I'm going to take 19 of this 20. I'm going to pay off the debt that I have that along with some extra cash from working extra. I'm going to sell the trailer. I'm going to sell the trailer. I'll be debt free. I'm, I may be renting, but I don't have the extra expense of keeping up land and keeping

up a, you know, a roof in the windows and the AC. And I can spend this time really safe. giving up a down payment for something that's a traditional house that goes up in value and I earn equity in it when I buy it. And I love that for you because that gives you so much stability. Because I think that's what you're reaching for is like the next safe space. And I think that's why you're moving towards it so quickly. But I agree with John. And maybe hang on to your land. If you've got paid for dirt, two acres in New York, maybe keep it if you can. Like, I'm not saying you have to go run and sell it. Yeah, I definitely would hold on to the land because I love the location.

Yeah, that's awesome. Another thing that's keeping me here is my girls can go out and ride their four-wheelers and we don't have neighbors, you know, cut. All of that. Incredible. But choose, choose freedom. Don't choose yet another chain and another anchor. Choose freedom. And that's going to look different than the world tells us. Yeah. Brittany, thank you for the call and thank you for taking the time to walk through those details with us because we want you to move from this place of, you know, feeling insecurity with your home. Your home is supposed to be a safe space for you. And I think that you were trying to get there. And it was really nice to walk with you to get you to that safe space. So thank you for Sharon. If you are someone you love is dealing

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All right, back to the phone lines we go. We got Brian, who's in Flint, Michigan. Hey, Brian, how can John and I help? Yeah, we had a question for you. When I was younger, I stumbled upon Dave Ramsey, you know, learned about them. Thank you very much for all of the advice that I've been given to, you know, reading the books and things over the years. Now I've turned 50, and I feel like I'm kind of out of direction if I just kind of, you know, keep doing what I'm doing, which is kind of on cruise control, not really at the moment actively involved in my retirement,

or should I get more serious and be very aggressive, probably retire another 10 or 15 years, and just make sure I'm set up for the right path forward here. I love that question. What happens? What is the state of affairs as it sits today? Okay. So I have a new house that I built two years ago. It's fully paid off.

I've got about $2.5 million in retirement accounts. I've got a couple hundred thousand in savings. And just they're not really doing anything. It's just setting there. It's just I'm not really actively watching it doing anything. It's just, I've stumbled. It's invested, isn't it? Yeah, it's invested.

What's the rate of return? What are you getting on it every year? It's usually around about 11 or 12%. Oh, amazing. What more can you ask for? Brian, yeah, what do you? You're a multi-millionaire with a paid-off house. You're winning.

I don't know. You're right. It sounds that way, but it doesn't feel that way. I don't know if that's weird I've... What does that mean? Pay me a picture of it doesn't feel that way. Well, I've got poor kids, touring college. Everything's going well, but I just always feel that, okay, well, I feel that, you know, things are okay, you know, as far as paying bills, things like that, putting money away.

But I just not really actively doing anything if I should be working with an advisor or doing something different or just, you know, it's working and just keep doing what works and not change anything. It's almost like you don't believe that it's almost like you don't believe that you've achieved this thing. that most people never achieved. It's true. I grew up very poor and that was very struggle in my early part of my life. I was about to ask you that question because you have a GPS pin in your nervous system that remembers what it's like to not know if you're going to have grocery money. And so I want you to think of it this way.

Every time you look at that account and you get nervous or one of your kids is like, hey, dad, I need another 50 bucks. and your chest seizes up on you, even though you have a couple of million dollars, just burning money behind you, just growing behind you. You know what I mean? Yeah.

I want you to make a fist and put it in the middle of your chest and say, thank you for trying to take care of me, to your body. Just make peace with it. It has a lived experience of, we may not have lights this month. And feel that thing, and then go on and keep doing the next.

right thing which you're doing. What you're going to get yourself into is you're going to start chasing a feeling, a sensation. And that's when people end up way over their skis. Doing crypto stuff. They start seeking to feel alive in their own skin by playing dumb games with money. And there's a jillion people out there who want to sell you something and try to take, are happy to take your money in a panic state, in a state of searching for a feeling. What you don't have a psychology for is peace, enough, right? Okay, okay. Let me ask you this.

You're 50, you said? Yeah, I just turned 50. All right. How old is your youngest child? He's 12. 12, okay. So you have a kid in college and a kid in 12? You have two in college now and two in middle school, so.

Nice. Nice. So I want you So that's eight years Awesome Yeah I want you to sit down Are you still married

Yeah Yep Do you and your spouse We've been married For a long time Still like each other That's a real question Okay

No I mean I'm not I'm not playing I wouldn't have a job If everybody who'd been married a long time I still liked each other I want you and your wife I want you and your wife I want you to do

planning. That means I want you to get the babysitters. Or if they're 12 and they're old enough and they won't burn the house down, they can stay great. I want you to get reservation somewhere. And I want you to take your wife out. And I just want you all to have the nicest, funnest, warmest time dreaming about the day you both turn 60. Okay. What do you want that to feel like? Where do you all want to be? Because you all going to be empty nesters. Right? And so what do you want that? reality to to be and then you simply reverse engineer because what I hear is um is a 50 year old man who's doing everything right but is slowly starting to lose lose the life in his own skin and so

yeah for you at 50 what hobbies do you have what friends are you doing what adventures are you going on what's where what wild things are you waking your your 12 year olds up and taking them for ice cream at nine o'clock after they're already a bet like what what rambunctious what wild things you and your wife doing when the kids are in bed. Like, where are you getting life from? Because I don't want you to go searching for that excitement, that sense of vibrancy through playing with your money because, bro, you are winning. As much as anyone can be winning these days, you are on the path.

Okay. That's good to hear. I think I needed that. So, and that advice is fantastic. So thank you very much. That's good. Yeah. Go ahead.

I definitely needed that. No, I definitely needed that because I feel that you're right. Maybe I start chasing or doing or trying something and make a big mistake. And that's what I was worried could happen if I didn't. Yeah, it's okay to be done in one area and tie a bow on it and move on to the next thing and be like, all right, I did that. Yeah. And be done with it and move on. And honestly, Brian, you know, you're not alone in this.

I think that there's certain people who walk the plan that we teach. they walk through the seven baby steps and they really love the feeling of being told who they are. You gain kind of an identity when you start walking the baby steps. It's like, okay, I'm in baby step two. I am I am baby step four. I am building wealth. And you're starting to get an identity from that. It makes you feel like every morning you get a purpose of what you're doing with your money.

And then you hit baby step seven. And it's like I'm looking around for somebody to tell me what my next step is. I'm looking around to see what the next thing is. Where's my next identity? Ramsey, what do I need to? do. Y'all are looking at us. And Brian, you're all grown up now, man.

You get to, you get to choose. Well, you know what? Bat this around with me because I will say this, Brian and John. I've been thinking about this because we get this call a lot. And I do think there are some things practically that you can do and that you should be doing. Number one, you've won with money. You should find someone to teach and mentor. Yeah.

You need to find somebody to pass this information down to and be active in that. We have Financial Peace University. You can teach that. You can lead that. you can coordinate that class. I also think like John said, you need to go somewhere, you need to travel. Have some fun. Go someplace you've never gone before. And by the way, these are all things that you wash, rinse and repeat. You do it once. You turn around and do it again so it never ends. Travel somewhere new. You've got the money. You should be going someplace

brand new every year for sure. Now's the time I think you should be prioritizing your health. If you've gone through life, health is wealth. Yes, thank you. And you haven't been prioritizing your physical health, your mental health, your relational health. Let's start focusing on that. That's a huge, your spiritual help. Get your blood work done. Yes. Go see who you need to see. Yes. We're in a little sliver of history when there's some of the most amazing specialist on certain things. Go see the folks, man. So that when you're 60, when you're 70, if one of the things you dream about is, I want to go hiking. Yes. You can do it.

I'm going to get my knees and my hips and my weight and my heart right so that when I'm 70, I can roll around with my grandkids and me and your mom, we're going off to the woods. Yeah. And you go to another great point, which a lot of of people hit the point where he is 50 years old, which is also the time kids are going off to college and you're looking at your spouse going, who the heck are you? I don't know who you are anymore. Yes. That's a wonderful time to really lean in with your spouse and on that relational kind of health tip. So there's so many things that you can do. The other thing on my list is start defining your legacy. Yeah. Like what is, what do you want people to say about you when you're

off this earth? And let's start investing and pouring into that with intentionality. Let me throw this out there. And this is for Brian and those of us who grew up with not very much. It's easy to want our kids to quote unquote never feel what we felt. And that becomes an undefined goal. And we've taken calls where people have $20 million and it doesn't feel like enough. So get a dollar amount that you think in your head you want to leave to your kids one day. And when you hit that line, breathe. That's it. That's the word enough. You're good. You're doing a great job, Brian. If you're waiting for rates to drop before you buy a home, here's what nobody tells you. When rates fall, every buyer who's been sitting on the sidelines

makes their move at the same time you do. That means more competition, higher prices, bidding wars, all that. That's why I tell people to talk to Churchill mortgage before they do anything else. Churchill gives you a strategy so you're not at the mercy of the market. They can show you what you can afford, not just what the bank will approve. And with their certified homebuyer program, your financing is completely secured before you shop, which means when you're a lot, which means when rates drop and everyone rushes in, you're already ahead of the crowd. You're not scrambling for pre-approval while the house goes to someone else. My husband and I bought both of our homes with Churchill and having a real strategy, not just a rate we were waiting for, made us ready when it really

mattered. So start your search with Churchill. Click the link in the description or go to Churchillmortgage.com slash Ramsey Offer for an exclusive Ramsey audience offer. Churchillmortgage dot com slash Ramsey offer well guys if you're working the baby steps the best and fastest way to do it is by using every dollar it's more than just a budgeting app now the plan that we teach is built right in you can track your progress you can get personalized recommendations and coaching for your exact situation this is going to help you free up more money more margin and work the plan even faster y'all is like having one of us walking with you every single day showing you the next right step and holding you accountable Start every dollar for free by downloading it in the app store or Google Play today.

We've got Sam, who's in South Bend, Indiana on the line. Hey, Sam, what's going on? Hi, thank you guys for having me, first of all. I appreciate it. You got it, man. What's up? So I'm having a little bit of a dilemma here. I'm kind of in the middle.

My parents are going through a divorce, and my dad actually, both of his parents passed away, unfortunately in this process. And he ran into a large sum of money, about a million dollars. And my mom is pretty much completely flat broke. They're currently living together in their house. They only owe about $20,000 on it. And they also have my little brother who's just about to turn 13. So that kind of complicates things a little bit.

I'm just trying to figure out how I can get it to where both of them end up in a better financial situation and can kind of move on from all this because right now they're just kind of a playing house and my mom has no real plan as to try to get out and I can't really convince her to get her get the wheels rolling I guess well let me let me tell you Sam here's the thing you've got one move and one move only and that is to get out of the middle of this how old are you Sam I'm 27 okay they They've made it clear through their actions. They don't want your opinion.

They don't care really what you have to say about stuff. And they're grownups. And even if they're acting like children, they're doing what they're doing. You get to decide who you're going to be. But 27-year-olds don't just find themselves in the middle of their parents' divorce. They get dragged into the middle of it. And your job as a 27-year-old is to stand up strong and firm and say, I love both of you.

You're both my mom and dad. I'm not getting the middle of y'all throwing crayons at each other in the sandbox. Yeah, and I'm a lot more on my dad's died here, but I think more than anything, I'm just trying to, I don't know, I'm trying to figure out how to get it to where my dad really just listens to me. He won't.

He won't. Unless you look him in the eye and say, dad, I love you, and I care about you. and I can see this situation from a different perspective. If you want my perspective, I'm willing to give it to you. But you constantly badger and your dad, hey, you need to be and you should be, all you're driving a wedge between y'all's relationship when really what he needs more than anything is just somebody he can trust and lean on. Does he have good friends, your dad?

Oh, yeah, he's got a lot of good friends and they all pretty much have the same opinion as I do. just, I guess it's hard after 40 years of them being together to get him to, I'd stop putting so much trust and faith in my mom, especially since she's the reason that they're getting divorced and why are they? Yeah, why are they? I wanted to ask that too. It's infidelity issues. My mom got with the homeless guy who's on drugs and made it a whole big thing. So she put me in the middle of that as well. I was the one that figured out about it and had to break the news to my dad because she wouldn't do it herself. And you want to know what? And John can stop me at any point because he really is the expert here. But you probably have your own things that

you need to sort out with all of this. I don't know that you do have the clarity to tell anybody what they should or shouldn't do because this is affecting you in your own unique way. And you might spend more of your time sorting yourself through how you're mentally dealing with all of this. And that's, I think Jade's exactly right. And that starts with you taking ownership. Here's what ownership sounds like in this situation. Not my mom dragged me into this. it is I had to go be the adult. I chose to go be the adult and tell the truth in my home. Not my mom made me, nope, I'm a 27, 26, 25 year old man, whenever, however old you were when this happened.

And I had to be the adult. I had to be the person of integrity in a really messy situation. That was my decision. Yeah. Right? And you just start taking ownership. But you also have to understand how. I hate to say it like this is how powerless you are.

Your dad filed for divorce, but then he's letting her live there. She actually filed for divorce. Okay, so she filed for divorce and he's letting her stay. You don't get a vote in that. And the more you try to like get in on their politics, man, it's just you're you're just going to get covered in mud too. Are you still living in the house or no? No, I have my own home.

I have my own family. It's just, you know. So are you mostly worried about your little brother? You didn't mention him again. Is he your biggest concern here? I would say my biggest concern is just my dad's well-being. I just think that he's getting taken for a ride. And I think that he's just going to be, you know, like I said, too complacent in all this

and just kind of let my mom bank off it for as long as it takes until, you know, I don't know what that. He's driving. Yeah, yeah. He's driving. You can be upset with your dad for the direction he's choosing to drive. You can be upset with him for who he's choosing to allow into the car. But he's driving. And there's fewer things in the world more heartbreaking than family members, people we love and care about making choices that we can see are actively destroying them from the inside out.

And they simply don't want our opinions on it. Or they don't want our help on it. It makes us feel powerless. And I've tried all the help I can get. I mean, I've been trying to search for a house for my dad. We've been trying to help. He doesn't want one. He doesn't want one, Sam. Not bad enough.

No. I worry, I actually worry for you, Sam, that if you keep meddling in this, it's going to cause resentment towards your dad because you're inserting behaviors that you want him to do. He's not doing them. And then you're going to walk away from this pissed at your mom and pissed at your dad. So I would love for you to take John's advice, which is, hey, I'm going to remove myself from this. triangle of drama. I'm going to take myself out of it. And I'm just going to be the adult. And I'm going to say, this is between you guys. I love you both. I hope you work it out. And you're going to tell your little brother, hey man, if you just need to get away from this sometimes, come to my house.

I'll come pick you up. And I really do think, I mean, those are the steps that I would take. What would you do, John? Exactly that. And Sam, this is one more complicating thing. I'm not going to ask you this because I don't want to put you on the spot, okay? I would have a hard time in your, if I was you in your situation, not also looking at that million dollar inheritance, thinking some of that should distill down to me someday, and I don't want my mom to get any of it because of what she's done to the family. You have to back yourself out of that, too, and say that's his money. She's already excluded for sure. Do what? She's already excluded for sure because they filed for divorce before either of his parents passed away.

So we've already worked out with the lawyer. Yeah, but dad might just write her a big old check. Yeah, he can still do that. Because it's his money. Honestly, that's what I was kind of pushing him to do at first, was to just buy her out of the house and be done because she wants to stay in the house, but she doesn't have the money to refinance. So that's why we're just kind of stuck.

I mean, they are kind of stuck in the middle right now. There you go. That's good. They are. That's good. Begin to change your language. They are. My dad is choosing to allow these things to continue.

you're right 100% and that can break your it in there's an old proverb and it's not out of the Bible but it's an it's an ancient proverb it says I finally sat down and confronted my anger and she took off her mask and revealed herself as grief I'm sad that my mom blew up our family I'm sad that she's taken like trying to take dad for everything I'm sad that my dad has just curled up in a ball. I'm sad that my 12-year-old little brother's living in all of this mess. I'm just heartbroken by all of it. And I'm out of the triangulation game. I'm out of the, I'm not saying we anymore. I'm saying, that's my dad, it's my mom. That's the choices they're making. And as for me and my household, here's who we are going to be. Because that's what you can

control, man. Yeah, your job is to get out of that and tell both your parents. And to whatever degree is honest, I'm on both your sides. Or mom, I'm not on your side at all. Please don't talk to me about this. Yeah, but I'm not having this conversation with you anymore. Yep. You know where I stand on it. We're rooting for you, Sam. We believe in you. You can do this, bud. As your business grows, everything becomes more complex. There was a time when Ramsey Solutions had too many disconnected systems and not enough visibility across the business. We wasted too much time chasing information instead of making decisions. That's why we got NetSuite. NetSuite brings your financials, inventory, CRM, and more together in one place.

More than 44,000 businesses run on NetSuite, including Ramsey. And now they're taking the next step with NetSuite Next, making it easier to put AI to work across your entire business. NetSuite Next helps you make the most of your time, automating routine work like forecasting demand and following up on overdue accounts. With NetSuite Next, AI is built into everything you do. So you can ask it questions, just like when you're talking to a member of your team. And right now, you can try NetSuite Next for free. If your revenue is at least seven figures, go to netsuite.aI slash Ramsey. That's netsuite.aI slash Ramsey. Well, you may have noticed that a lot of the advice we give is based on a proven plan here.

our Ramsey plan. It's based on seven baby steps that you probably have heard us walk through on the show. And we do that because we know that that is the turning point for a lot of people. They're looking for an easy way to really get control of their life and their money. And we found that the baby steps have worked for over 30 years. So if you're new to the Ramsey show, every answer you hear is going to be rooted in those seven steps. So take a few minutes to learn that plan. And you'll get a whole lot more out of every episode. All right. Let's go to Nick who's in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hey, Nick. Hi guys. How are you doing? Doing great. How are you? I'm doing fantastic. It's great to be on. All right. Let us know what's going on. How can we help? Yeah. Yeah, thanks. So my question's very simple. So how much is it okay to spend on a house based on the home's value in terms of like remodeling, updating, stuff like that? I love that question. So tell us a little bit about the home. Tell us what it's worth. Like what's the

equity in it and tell us what you want to do to it. Yeah, so we are on Baby Set 7, which is a huge blessing. And it's about, I mean, probably as it is, it might be a little bit less, but we'll just say 200,000 to make it easy. And then I already said 200,000. No, 200,000. Oh, 200,000. Thank you. Uh-huh. Yes, ma'am. Yeah, and then we're under contract for about 27,000 to add a bathroom and update the electrical box. But I could probably easily. spend another 60 updating things that need to like a sidewalk that needs be updated as well as some other things to make some space to make like the basement more livable. Okay.

So you could see putting a total of 90,000 into this house between the bathroom and the other upgrades? Yeah. I mean, potentially, yes. Okay. Have you are, it sounds like you named off of not, you named off some of them. We got bathroom. We've got basement.

upgrades. These are the types of things that my guess would be if you were looking to sell it. They're upgrades that people are going to want to see in your neighborhood. So there's part of it that you could speak to a realtor. You could, you know, look at one of our- Get comps, yeah. Yeah, and just see, in our area, what are people paying for? Do they want the upgraded bathroom? Do they care that the basement isn't finished? And kind of get some numbers on that. But aside from the numbers, I tend to be along the lines of if you're in this house and you can afford it and you want the house to be the way that you like it. To a reasonable extent, I think you can say, if I don't get every single penny out of this, I think I might be okay.

For instance, if you were saying, I want to put a pool in the house, you might not get that money back, but if your family really wants and enjoys the pool and you're okay, to Dave's point of taking that money and kind of burning it in the middle of the yard, it's okay, right? Yeah, and I'm not, we're not millionaires yet like we hope to be. I think it's just, I was looking at some, like my own comps, like I know a house very similar to ours that had an upgraded basement sold for about 240, but that might be the ceiling of the street. So it's like if we do spend about 90,000, I bet we probably have about 40,000 that we are putting in the middle of the living room and watching burns. Yeah. It doesn't always feel like that might be the best way, so I'm not

sure. I will tell you, I did a mix of what Jade and you just said. I just did a whole bunch of work at my house. I started back in May. In fact, I just today got a text from Winston saying it's finally finished. And I had comps pulled. So I had a Ramsey trusted real estate person that I work with all the time. She pulled the comps just so I could make sure I'm not going bananas. And then me and my wife sat down and we put what we wanted into this place because we want this place to be our place for a long time. Even if it doesn't ROI. Because we want to have people out there. And we want to have people out there. And my wife is an avid, avid gardener. And so I wanted her to have the best gardening space on the planet. And so some of it, it may not ROI. And at this point, I don't care because I didn't

go bananas. I did have, like, I wasn't just going in there blind. I did have comps. And I have a different situation because out in the woods where I live, a couple people have sold their places and people have put compounds back there. And so I had a lot of room to play with. But I didn't look after that I was more interested in what kind of life to me and my wife want to have and because of the last 20 years worth of the financial sacrifices we're at this point now where we can have that conversation but I probably would not put 200 I probably wouldn't burn $50,000 on a $240,000 house and so if you say I really want a basement because we like to have people over and we that's I need us I need some space I need a bathroom because grandma's always staying with us

and my parents are going to move in with us. That's money well spent. And it may be you're always just going to look at that dumb sidewalk and it's going to drive you crazy. Or you might look at the house and say, okay, I'm looking, $27,000 bathroom. That makes sense. But when I really start adding up all the things

that I think would make this house the house we like, you guys might decide maybe you need it. We're going to move. A different house. Yeah. Because I don't want to, to Jaden John's point, I don't want to burn $70,000 in my living room. I want to take that money and put it towards another house.

that I'd get the equity in. Yeah, and that's really the rub. I think it comes down to either putting money into this house or upgrading. So we have three kids and we're very tight. And so I think when we look at getting another house and we start looking at the prices, it's like if we really want to get something that's better, that's going to have the things that we want. We're looking at 400,000. And so at least right now, we would have to get a mortgage.

And I think going back, it would feel like we're going backwards. And it's like, okay, well, it doesn't work right here. Because you've got the $200,000 already, give or take, obviously, fees and everything if you were to sell the house. And you were ready to put $90 into this house. So you're a quarter of the way there. You're three quarters of the way there. Oh, that is true. You're right there.

So what if you said, hey, this year, instead of doing these rentos that we thought we were going to do all year, let's just cash, like, stack up as much cash as we can. And by the way, I'm assuming you already had the 87 ready to go. If you didn't and you thought you were just going to save it in cash flow as you went, that does change it slightly. But even if you took two years and said, we're just going to stack up a bunch of money and do this move. You could. And if you took a small mortgage, it wouldn't be the end of the road. You could totally do that. But you were about to spend, I mean, you're about to have a total in of $390 on this house.

I'm sorry, $290,000 on this house. Well, it'd be, yeah, so it's $200 now, and I'd probably spend about $90 to get everything done. So you're $2.90 there to a $400,000. Yeah, there you go. Just some things to think about. I think you and your wife have more conversations to have, and I don't think you're in a rush, but there is something to be said. I mean, it was your initial question, which is how much over do you want to go?

If you kind of know, hey, the neighborhood's topping out at 240, 250. If you're building this house up to 300, I don't know. You said you're not baby steps millionaires yet. 50,000 to burn is a lot of money. It's a ton of money. And I don't know because I don't know your situation, but it does sound like it might be time to look for a house where you're not so tight. And it doesn't require as much non-R-wide money to make it what you want it to be.

But I will also shout you out. For a bathroom improvement, a new electrical box, a finished basement, those are all generally speaking high ROI things you can do to a house. It's not like you're carving ornate owls in the columns in the front of the house. You know what I mean? So like the things you're doing are wise, like a sidewalk that people don't trip on. Yeah, you got to do that. All the stuff you're saying is wise. It's just if your neighborhood, if you're capped in that neighborhood, man, just make a wise choice there.

And once you get to that Baby Step 7 situation and you want to, like Jade said, you can put a pool back there? Enjoy a pool, man. That's just a choice y'all are going to make. Why not? Go ahead. I said why not. Yeah. Why not?

Exactly. Well, definitely, if you haven't already, you can check out one of our Ramsey real estate pros. Just give them a call and say, hey, here's what I'm thinking. They can give you comps in your area. And really, for anybody who's thinking about getting into the market, make sure you check out our real estate hub. you can find out so much there. Median list prices, total homes for sale on the market in your area. And you can even plug in your specific area, type it in, and it'll let you know what's going on.

So that's a really, really, really great value. All right, John, I love a question from the inner web. I love a question. What did you say to me? Sure. I'm going to zander up. Yeah. Let's go for it.

What are you asking me to do, Kelly? Y'all don't know. Kelly, the producer, will be. in my ear and I'm like, what do you, Kelly, what is it that you want from me? She's like, John's making a weird face again. I know. I was going to read a question from the community, but we don't have time to do that. We'll do that on the next break. Hey guys, it's Rachel Cruz. If you're working the baby steps, every major expense deserves a second look. And health care is one of the biggest expenses in most families' budgets. And that is why I recommend that you check out Christian

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org slash budget and use promo code Ramsey. That's CHministries. Dot org slash budget and promo code Ramsey. Welcome back to the Ramsey show here in the Fair One's Credit Union Studio. Back to the phone lines we go. I'm Jade. This is Dr. John and we've got Ben in Shreve Point, Louisiana. And hey, Ben, how can we help today? Hey, thanks for taking my call. You bet. How can we help? Yeah, so I am just wanting some advice on whether or not I should essentially take away access to spending for my wife because of her self-described spending problems.

What do the spending problems look like? Explain that a little bit more. Yeah, so just spending a lot of money on hobbies and clothing and things that are pretty, you know, iffy on whether or not we really need them. Do you guys budget together? Do you create a budget together? We try. We, you know, don't keep up with it extremely well, but we try to.

Okay. If we're not keeping up with the budget, how do we know that she's spending too much? Well, we have, we've given, essentially, we give each other an allowance each month. Okay. And we're supposed to be keeping track of, you know, how much we spend on, you know, quote-unquote fund money. and, you know, she pretty frequently goes over that limit. And, you know, when she runs out, you know, she will just kind of use our, you know, we kind of have a separate account that we use for that specifically.

But she, if she runs out, she'll just kind of go to our regular bank account and use that instead. And so she's just kind of doing that month after month. And how much are we saying? Like once she spends the money and the fund money account and then she goes to your normal checking account, how much is she pulling from that normal checking account? Give us some dollar amounts. I mean, it changes a good bit from month to month, but I would say, you know, a few hundred dollars a month. Like 200, two or 300 bucks over? Yeah. Okay. And what do you guys bring it home every single month between the two of you income-wise? Total is probably $4,500.

Okay. Okay. So she asked you for help? Well, yeah. She has specifically told me that she wants me to stop her from doing that, you know, to take away debit cards and take away her access to that. and I'm really resistant to that idea. Yeah, good.

That's her setting you up as the bad guy in her story because she's still going to want to go buy. So I have a personal situation where I needed to practice staying on a budget. And so I've handed my wife my debit card and I changed, I had her change the Amazon Prime account, so I couldn't have it. But that was me going to her not to, to make her the bad guy, but to say, I got to, dude, I got to start lifting weights on my own. And, but she told me, I don't, she didn't feel comfortable doing it.

But for a season, fine. The way you frame the question, should I take my wife's credit, like her debit cards from her, I would say no. Like that puts you, now. Accountability is different from control. Exactly. You're not her dad. And if you need to, because you're, you guys bring home 4,500 bucks and she's, blowing through two or three hundred extra dollars that's a lot that's a lot of money you might need to

go open your own checking account for the safety of your home similar to if she had a she was struggling with alcohol or she was struggling with gambling we always tell folks you at some point you have to make sure you're taking control of the home or it could be as simple as y'all just aren't being honest about fund money and if you need to prioritize 200 more dollars then prioritize 200 more dollars but if you know if you if you were to increase her spending money by the way i would not call it allowance that again that's very like parent child language but like her fun money if you were to increase it by 200 bucks and she was going to she'll go over that by 200 or 300 dollars then you got a problem yeah i just don't like her setting you up as the bad guy or as or as the

person who if it all goes bad it's on it's on him instead of on her i wonder what it would look like to John's point, if you said, okay, what if we tried deleting the apps from your phone, right? If she's a person, if she's an online shopper, let's delete the apps from your phone. Let's start there. And we're not going to do Amazon apps. We're not going to do Macy's app. None of that. Or if she's a person who she says, hey, I'm just running out to pick up the dry cleaning.

And while she's out, she goes to Target, she goes to this or that, right? Are there things that you can put in place to help each other? Because I do think there's a level of accountability that spouses can have, with one another. Like, you know, for me and social media, I'll tell my husband, hey, if you happen to just see me scrolling on my phone, like, come grab the phone. Come grab it from me. Yeah, yeah. And I think that that's a fair, do you see what I'm saying? I think there's a fair amount of play here, but also what you said earlier is what I want to go back to, which is I don't think that the budget is actually as strong and as much of a guiding principle for you guys as maybe you think

it is because when I asked it was kind of like, yeah, we kind of have one, we kind of stick to it, we kind of don't. And if I'm in a situation where it's like, oh, we kind of stick to this, we kind of don't, well, then I'm kind of not this month, right? Whereas if you guys sit down and say, you know what, we've been laxadaisical in every area with our budget. And I think we together just need to start being way more intentional. We've done it with going out to eat. We've done it with clothing. We've done it with hobbies. We've done it with entertainment. We just need to pull the strings tighter. That's a conversation. Now we're both contributing. and maybe we're both.

Is that fair or did I, did I misread it? No, no, that's pretty fair. I guess what I'm most afraid of is, you know, if we do try to be more, you know, way, way more disciplined, what I'm afraid of and kind of what I've had experience with in, you know, similar sorts of like, similar situations is that,

I'm afraid that she's just going to find alternative ways to satisfy that. Okay, then you need to get to, you've got a way bigger fracture in your marriage than debit card spending. Because you've got somebody who is actively fighting against the vision. Y'all are supposed to be co-creating together. And that could be because she's struggling with mental and emotional challenges. She needs to go see somebody. Or it could just be that she's a jerk and completely undisciplically undiscipline. disciplined and just kind of a brat.

I'm going to go with option one. I want to give everybody the benefit of the doubt and say, man, she's just got, she's struggling. And when things get big, when her emotions get big, when she gets scared, whatever, feel anxious, whatever, swiping that card makes it go away for a minute. The same as I might go grab a cheeseburger or somebody else might go grab a drink. Somebody else may go place a bet. And yeah, then you need people who love you enough to stand in that gap with you

and also hold you accountable. But if you, if you, if, if you. You decided we're going to be really intentional together. And your biggest fear there is that she's going to go around that system and figure out another way to blow things up. That's where you've got to start with the relationship that you'll have with your marriage. Because it's in a much more precarious spot than just a debit card spending issue. Let me tell you what I get asked all the time. When should I get term life insurance?

How much do I need? Is it affordable? Those are the right questions to be asking. So let's take a quick review. The fact is, term life isn't a baby step. So if anyone is dependent on your income, you need to have 10 to 12 times your income in life insurance. Now, and most people are surprised by how affordable term life really is. Even if you're not in perfect health.

Look, I understand the hesitation, since most insurance companies make it more of a hassle than it needs to be. Not at Zander Insurance. They're not an insurance company. They're a broker that works for you. That means they'll shop and compare. top-term life companies to find the most competitive options on the coverage for your family. For almost 30 years, I've recommended Zander for straight answers, competitive rates, and coverage that actually protects your family.

Call 800-356-4282 or go to Zander.com for a quick and easy quote. That's zander.com. Well, everyone needs insurance, but it can be hard trying to find pros who aren't just looking to a buck and agents who know their stuff. Luckily, our Ramsey trusted insurance pros are vetted and coached to make sure they're market experts who have your best interest at heart. Go to ramsysolutions.com slash coverage to find the type of insurance you're looking for and connect with a Ramsey trusted agent. All righty, Jan is in Greenville, South Carolina. Hi, Jan. How can we help today?

Hi, thank you for taking my call. You bet. I was wanting to know. So my husband and I are 28 and 29, and we have one little boy, and we're expecting another one on the way. Well, we, thank you. We are in a strong position to buy a new home. And with the current market in our area, there's not a whole lot of movement on the market. And so we have an opportunity with our funds by following y'all's plan that we can really move. move on a house that we want to live in. We would love to have up to four children, but our hesitation here is, are we a little bit too quick to purchase a forever home being this young, or do we really need to be looking at a more shorter term home than that?

What do you mean when you say forever home? It's a very hard, it's a very hard prediction to make that you will be in the same place. I'm on Forever Home Number 6. Yeah. What gives you that confidence, Jan? I think is going ahead and buying the house and the space for all four kids. And then also buying it in the location that really sets us up to have access to any opportunities around us.

So my husband works a job where he could possibly move jobs. So we sit in a location where he can access to something. two strong cities. Okay. But in order to do that, we're going to spend a little bit more money. No, I think what you're saying, if you are framing it like that, I actually think that's a smart way to think about making a home purchase. Obviously, location matters most when you're buying a home.

And yes, you want to buy the space that you need if you can afford it and looking towards the future when you have growing kids. I do think that that's a smart thing. I think what I would guard against is when you say, you say, you know, you say, you're going to forever home, you can start to justify things that you don't really need by saying, well, eventually, well, when the kids get to college and when they get married and you're going so, so far into time that we really don't even know. But it doesn't sound like you're doing that. I would just caution against that. Does that make sense? Oh, yes. Absolutely.

So that being said, what do you guys have to spend and what are the houses in the area that you're looking for? What do they cost? So the cost that we're looking at is probably around the $600 to $750 range. We have a completely paid for house that's worth about $300,000. And then we have a household income of just under $300,000. And then my husband also, it was just announced that a payout in his company, he owns some shares in his company, and a payout will be coming hopefully within the next year or two. And what will that be?

We anticipate probably around $250,000. That's a conservative amount that we're estimating. And tell me again when you would get that at the end of the year? Most likely by the end of next year, but it could be up to two years, depending on how long the process takes. Okay. So is there any part of this where you're like, let's wait and do this thing in cash? Oh, he would probably say so. That's what I'm thinking.

You have two young kids, you have one kid one on the way. Yeah. You'll have a house and it's paid for. It's worth $300,000. We're $300,000. And listen, Jade and I would only have jobs if the things that people were told and their plans worked out. Right. And so I cannot tell you how much both of us want you to get a check for $350,000 on this payout.

And the number of people who are promised that kind of thing and get a check for $350,000. 42,000 because the market has done something weird or something happened or we're we decided to recapitalize blah blah blah and now suddenly you're sitting with a 750 and y'all went ahead and went 790 because it's our forever home now you found yourself in a whole totally different picture oh yeah but i would love for y'all to to stack cash and you're sitting on two or 300 thousand or not 300 you're sitting on 200 thousand dollars in cash and then you get a check for $350,000 and then you sell your $300,000 house. You can buy anything.

Now, don't get me wrong. What John said, I love that. That'd probably be my first thought is, is there a way to do this in cash? But in all fairness, if you sold, if you found a house that was $700, you sold your $300,000, and then you put, do you have any other cash saving that you would go put with this? we probably use probably no more than maybe a hundred thousand of cash savings well they're in they're in the market but i would i would think that we would liquidate it and put put it towards there now this is not retirement this is an attack so let's say is it

fair to say you'd put 400 000 down on this 700 000 house absolutely yeah okay So in all fairness, if you did that, and I'm just using the Ramsey Solutions investment calculator, you'd be well within your range to do this. I mean, you guys bring home $19,000 a month or around that. And this would put your mortgage somewhere around $3,500 a month, right? Like, no problem. You could totally do that. There's no shame in that game.

I'm rooting for you. We just want to lay out both options because everything we do here is about getting people to that shortest path to peace. And so if it feels more peaceful to you to go, you know what, maybe if we wait, one or two years. We could do this deal in cash. I like the feeling of that. Or you could go, you want to know what? We are busting at the seams in this current house. It is not worth it to me. We've sacrificed enough. I'm ready to do this deal now. It's a small piece of our world to have this mortgage. And then on down the line, we'll just pay it off super fast. That's also fine. Either of these ways, Jan, are totally fine and totally doable for you. Can I throw some spaghetti

in the wall at the wall and see if it sticks? Yes. Have you ever wrestled with? being anxious in the past? Yes. This is the pot talking to the kettle here, okay? You and I both have a tendency which unfortunately serves us well sometimes and unfortunately is really hard on our spouses, on our friends and family, and on us.

And that is to look into the future, anticipate any number of potential catastrophes and then try to drag them into the present and solve them today right now. We've got to solve it right now. Oh. Is that fair? Yes, absolutely. Here's what, like, I want, this is just, I know this is easier said than done. I want you, how far along are you? Pregnancy wise.

Seven months. How many? Oh, seven months. Seven months. Okay. will you make me and jade in america promise that you will practice over the next just say six months take all the anxieties of what might happen what we're college your newborn's going to go to and what's the state of AI and your job and we're in this city just keep a journal and call it

the June of 2027 solutions journal and i'm just going to start writing down all the things i'm worrying about, get him out of my body, out of my head, put them on a piece of paper, and I'm going to enjoy the bloody heck out of this knuckle-headed little baby that we just brought into the world. I'm going to enjoy this husband who's kind of clueless now that he's got two babies in the house now, and he's making a great salary. I'm going to enjoy my other toddler. I'm just going to practice exhaling. Is that fair? Yes. Y'all are in such a great position. Y'all can kind of do what you want to do. And it sounds like you're being so wise about it.

Jade, I'm the worst. I'm the worst at trying to solve 20 year problems from now. We were just talking about it in the break. Yeah. I think I'm going to. And it's like, I mean, with homes for sure, when people start talking about forever homes, I get a little bit nervous because it does give you permission to go off the rails.

And that's the last thing that you want to do, especially with, you know, affordability being so high. You don't want to pay more than what you need because it's my forever home. But if you're interested in that. that mortgage calculator, you can see it. It's so easy to plug in those numbers, guys. I plugged in 700,000, her down payment, 15-year fixed, and you can see what your total would be mortgage payment with everything included. Hey, this is Dr. John Deloney. I take my sleep seriously because better sleep means better health. And if you've been losing sleep or waking up sore because you've got some

old, thin, gross mattress that wasn't designed with you in mind, it's time to make a change. I love Helix mattresses. They make mattresses for real individual people. Whether you're a side sleeper, a back sleeper, whether you sleep hot, or if you and your partner have completely different sleep styles, Helix has a mattress designed just for you. I want you to get online and take the Helix sleep quiz. It takes like two minutes and they're going to match you with a perfect mattress that fits how you actually sleep. Helix is not just a show sponsor for me. I sleep on a Helix mattress. Helix mattresses are. The best. The best savings of the season are happening right now on Helix mattresses. Go to HelixSleep.com slash Ramsey for their best of the web offer and get 27% off site wide. That's 27% off site wide at Helix sleep.com slash Ramsey. That's Helix, H-E-L-I-X sleep.com slash Ramsey. With Helix, better sleep starts right now. All right, you guys. Our Ramsey Show question of the day is brought to you by Y-R-R-F-I. Sometimes the hardest financial step is the one you've been avoiding.

If your private student loans are past due, Y-ReFi can help you explore low, fixed-rate, refinancing options and payment plans that are tailored to your circumstances. So go to YREFI.com slash Ramsey. Remember, it may not be available in all states. Today's question comes from Brad in Arkansas. Brad writes, My son is 23 and still lives at home.

He pays rent, his cell phone bill, gas, car insurance, and repairs, tithes, etc. But he's not saving any money. He has packages coming to the house almost every day in addition to buying a bunch of stuff he doesn't need. How do I encourage him not to waste so much money? I think we're fighting the wrong battle.

I think the main battle I'd be saying is how can I encourage myself to tell my son he needs to move out? I think that'd be the question. There's no indicator in this question of the day that the kid is living at home to try to stay out, you know, to try to pay off student loans or something like that because I know that that's a popular thing and I'm not poo-pooing that. Or they're trying to save up money so you can go get his own place. Right. There's nothing here indicating that. And so for that reason, I really do think, John, and I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

I really do feel like 23 years old, 24 years old, 25 years old, still living at home unless there's a really clear plan. plan in place, hey, you're going to live here until you pay off 70,000 a student loan debt, then you're out, it's going to take a year and a half, we've agreed, boom, that's fine, not mad. But if it's just like, I'm just at home because it's cozy here, and I can play video games on my phone, and I can gamble on my phone, and I can have Amazon packages delivered, and I can kind of just seep into, you know, the nothingness. That's not okay. And I think we really have to push back on that, especially with young. boys like we really have to push them to disservice yeah what what he needs more than anything is to

feel the weight of this scary word and that is responsibility and he's he's doing a good job Brad of doing what you tell him but he's not doing a he's not feeling the full weight of the responsibility of it here's a perfect example he's buying a bunch of stuff he doesn't need says you he might think in his 23 year old wisdom he needs this stuff he needs these new fancy socks or these new fancy shoes or this new fancy hair product or this new fancy whatever and part of being 23 is buying dumb crap and realizing i wish i had that money that won't happen again on your own on your own but when dad is saying you don't need that now i'm pitting your value system against my value system and i'm going to fight for my value system against my old man just because right yes but you never

learn yours. But I don't learn anything. So he is paying rent because you say so. He's paying a cell phone bill because you say so. He is paying for gas car insurance because you say so. He's not learning the weight of responsibility that 23 year old young boys who are becoming men desperately need. And so the greatest, you know, the greatest gift you can give him, Brad, is to say, hey, in six months, we're giving you the greatest gift we can give you. And that is you're moving out. We've given you, I'm assuming he went to college, you're two years post college, you'll be three years. I would recommend you save up this much money. You can save up this much money, but at 24 or 23 and half, you're moving out. And me and mom are getting the house back. I'll never forget.

I went to college, not far from home, but far enough that I lived on campus. And the first time, the first couple times I went to the grocery store, I'm going down the aisle and I'm putting in my cart, Campbell's cream of chicken soup, velvita cheese. Name brains. Banquet pot pie. Yeah. And I looked at what was, and I realized I'm only putting this in my cart because this is what my mom and dad bought at the grocery store.

And this is what I'm used to. And I put everything back on the shelf. And I was like, I don't have to do that. I live on my own now. I can buy the things that I want to buy. And it's like you have those light bulb moments when you're, you know, 21, 22, 23, and you actually strike out on your own that you start to realize to your point, what are my values? But as long as you're under somebody else's roof, you're like, I buy the

chicken pot pie. That's what my mom buys. I pay my rent. She tells me, right? And it's so, it's such a discovery moment. You don't want to take that away from them, you know, to be able to discover who they are, what they like, what they don't like, what their values are. Well, and sometimes the weight that all young adults need to carry, and especially in our current world young men need to carry is not even the known bills, but that hovering presence of this could happen. The car could get two flat tires. The transmission could fall out. And I've got nothing to fall back on. And so it's not only the bills that it's the it's the unknown unknowns, right? It's the there's just a wait to what happens if. Yeah. That's that's what an emergency fund is for.

Yes. That's what savings are for. And you learn that when like I had to when I call a friend and say I think I need to go to the ER and I have all of my credit cards are maxed I can't get in the door can I borrow a credit card if I ended needing to go and I remember getting him my buddy's like

I got you and I got off the phone and said that will never happen again and so like he has to experience yes it does. That builds something in you and he has to experience it I got to say this I know I'm not the first one to say it but there's

there's a quiet message that I think that we do send our kids when we attempt to shield them from things like that. And we think that we're doing them a service. Oh, they're 23. They're just getting started. They want to stay at home for a little while. That's okay. But there is a quiet message that's being sent that saying, you know what?

I don't think you can make it out there either. I don't believe in you. Yeah. I don't think you can make it out there. Why don't you stay here? Yeah, you're right. You probably can't make it on your own. You probably can't handle the rent.

You probably, you're not saying it out loud. But what else are you saying? That's the air of their breathing is we don't believe in you. Yes. And so the greatest gift that kid can get is, A, a lifetime of tools. And B, if you've got the resources to put a little extra jet fuel in their backpack, put it in there. Yeah. Shoot them off into space.

And then to look them in the eye and say, I believe in you. My front door is always open. You always come home. Yep. But I believe in you. And now it's time I'm going to shove you out of the nest. Yes. I love that.

And, yeah. So, Brad, you're at a point now where you got an old bull and a young bull. trying to make friends inside the same pen and that's not going to work. You're not going to encourage him to not waste so much money because he doesn't think it's a waste. What you have to encourage him to do is to get out on his own and begin getting stronger in the weight room of life, knowing that you're right there. You're his dad, you love him. His mom's there. She loves him. But it's time for him to start lifting the weights on his own. Yeah. And I think that, I mean, we're talking about a 23 year, you know, 24 year old. but I really do think that that starts really, really young

with just building up people that are going to go out in the world and be young men and women instead of like kids that were protecting from every little thing that happens. So this just happened in my house. My son's 16 and we're about to enter into deer season, which is in our families. It's a big deal. It's a big deal.

Venison. Venison, there you go. And he, he, he, he, he, was telling me this year, Dad, I'm going to be going with so-and-so and so-and-so and so-and-so. Not you? I had my heart. It broke my heart. It made me sad because he's been to everyone with me forever.

I'm sorry, John. But also, it hurts. It hurts, and it's exactly what we spent the last 13 years training up for. And him and I had a long conversation last night where I wrote things out, here are my expectations because you're moving to a different tier. And then I walked out of his room And I was so, I didn't cry, but I was real close, right? It broke my heart because I don't want him to ever go anywhere with anybody else.

I want him to hang up with his old man. And that's not the right thing for him. And so my job is to go get some friends to go with now. And my job is to really cherish the times we do have together. And my job is to make sure he's safe. And my job is to let him go in an age appropriate way. 23 years old, it's time. Okay, I'm going to put you on the spot in a major way.

Yeah. Because I was hearing about a study. The topic is over protection of kids. So I want to know from you, you know, this idea of I'm going to let my son go out and do this thing. I'm going to let my son go out and do this. What do you think is a fair age for a kid to go out in public without a parent and do something social, do something on their own, without you there supervising them? A, I think that's kid specific. Okay. And I also think that depends on the group. Like, who are you with? There's an old,

there's an old adage. Playing outside in the front yard on your own unsupervised. As early as you can. Yeah. Let your kids go be wild, man. Yeah. If you want to free up margin in your budget, one of the first things you should do is take a hard look at your monthly bills. Because every dollar you overpay is another dollar you don't have for reaching your financial goals. And overpaying for your phone bill? Well, that makes zero sense. And it's why I recommend Boost Mobile. Their unlimited plan is just $25 a month forever. No contracts, no hidden fees,

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make the switch today. That's boostmobile.com slash Ramsey. $25 forever requires customers to remain active on Boost Mobile Unlimited Plan. Back to the phone lines where we have Brandon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Hi, Brandon. How can John and I help today? Hey, thank you for taking my call. You bet. Well, I want to start out by saying that I am a three-quarter baby steps millionaire. All right. Everybody listening, work the steps, people.

It will change your life and your family tree. I love that. Well, I really have an issue with how I go about talking to my wife about purchasing a house for my parents. They're getting older and they can't exactly work like they used to. They've been renting their whole life, and I want to bless him with a house. And I feel real passionate about it, but I've asked my wife and talked to my wife about it a handful of times over the past year, year and a half. And I can't seem to get anywhere. I guess she's scared of putting down that much money.

I mean, we could pay cash for it. How old are you guys? I'm 41. She's 36. 41 and 36. and did I hear you have $3.4 million or $3.25 million? No, we're three quarters of a millionaire. Three-quarters of a millionaire. Three-quarters the way there.

So you're $750,000? Yes, ma'am. Okay, I interpreted that differently. Okay. And then what kind of house do you want to buy them that you have cash for? Just a, you know, just a one-bedroom, small little countryside house in Arkansas where they live. What's that cost? I've done research about 150.

I can probably get it down to 125. Yeah. And then tell me about the conversation with your wife. How's it go? Well, you know, it's kind of anymore. It's kind of rough. And she's like, we've talked about this before. You know, I'm against it because we wouldn't do the same for my family.

And which I totally would do the same for her family because I look at those as investments. But it just doesn't go over. far anymore. You know, she's just like, well, I'm just, I'm just against it. This is for our future. This money is for our future. Have you guys, um, that's her main argument, I should say. Have you guys, have you sat down with her? And I'm not saying in an effort to win this battle. I'm just saying at, in a separate instance, have you guys sat down together and said, you know, if we continue on down this road, we'll have X amount of dollars by the time we retire. Or have you guys sat down and said, here's the exact number that we want.

when we're ready to retire. Have you all done that? No. Because if you haven't done that, then there's no point to work backwards from to even know if this will affect your future. Is that fair enough? If you guys said, hey, we want to have $3 million when we retire, and your wife is able to say, hey, if we do this, we won't have $3 million when we retire. She would be able to make that argument. Do you see what I'm saying? But if you've never said that number, then there's no basis for any arguments. Yours or hers, right? I have actually punched what we have into the calculator and what I'm putting in every month into my Roth 401k and whatnot, and I have told her it's over $7 million, but it doesn't seem to persuade her. Yeah, this doesn't

sound like a numbers question. Does she not like your parents? She doesn't hate them. I don't feel. That's not what I asked. Yeah, she talks to my mom probably every other day. Yeah. My mom and dad don't have the best relationship, but they're living together. Is the $750 that you guys have, is that cash money, or is that including your own home? No, I've got, we've got $300 equity in our house. We've got $3.15 in the markets, and I've got $120 in a Roth 401K.

I got to say, when you tell me the numbers like that, I don't know. It doesn't sound like you have $125,000 to... You've got... I see you with $435,000 in the market. And I think I'd be feeling like, I don't know, $150 today. I don't know how I feel about that. But I don't think she's...

I agree with John. I don't know if she's saying this from a mathematical perspective, but I am. How much are you putting away every month? Oh, shoot. It doesn't even, I don't even hit my... It comes out right out of my check, so it's 580 a check. 580 a check, and you get... Yeah. Okay.

So let's just, for round numbers, let's say 1,200 a month. Does that feel fair? No, it's more like... It's more like 2,000. I get paid every week, so it's more like 2,000 a month. So we'll say 2,000 a month. Okay, and we'll say out of the... We'll call it 400 that's already in there.

And I'm just putting this in our Ramsey's... Solutions Investment Calculator, by the way. So we've got 400,000 that's already in there. Your age 41? Yes, ma'am. And let's say, let's just make it round numbers. Let's say 61, so 20 years. If we keep doing that, we're going to calculate that.

Yeah, you're right. That's $5 million. If we went on and on, that'd be over $7 million. So I think, I don't know because we had to run the numbers. But when I look at it today, it does make me feel nervous. When I look at it long term, there's a better opportunity for you to do this. How old are your parents today? My dad's 73 and my mom's 70.

Have you all had the conversation about, okay, then we don't buy them a house, but what are we going to do when? Have you all had that conversation? No, we haven't. Because I've heard you in this one call, so I'm just trying to be gracious towards your wife's perspective. I've heard you call this an investment. I've heard you call this a, I want to bless them. I've heard you call this a battle of wills, me versus my wife. I've heard you say, I want to take care of my mom and my mom and my dad don't have the best relationship, but they still live together. The aim here feels messy to me. And so I think for you getting clear, why do I want to

buy a house for them? Because they're not going to have any place to live. They're going to run out of Social Security. Their health is failing. Because if that's the case, then, all right, we're not going to house in Arkansas, but we got, I, they're my parents, I want us to at least participate somewhat as best we can. And maybe I've got to rally my siblings too to what they can do, but we can't leave them on the street. What does that look like? And for her family, too. Yeah. I, I want to also insert this because I can tell you where my mind is going. And I wonder if your wife's mind is in this place. I guess we won't know because she's on the call. But I look at your ages today. And I go, okay, they're 41 and 36. Today, they've got around 400,000 saved. That's, you know, to take a quarter of that on a parent's house, that feels like a lot. She might be looking in the future and going, gosh, we don't know what the future holds. We don't know if we're going to both have jobs next year. We don't know if we'll be able to continue investing $2,000. Like, I wonder if she's going down that path of, I don't know what's going to change. Therefore, I want to protect what we have, and I want to make sure it stays secure.

Does that sound at all like your wife? Yeah, that's fair. Very fair. So I'm wondering if there's something that we can do and say, okay, for today, here's the way that we can help. It's not buying a house, but here's maybe something we can begin to do that feels comfortable for her, but is also moving you in the direction that you'd like to go. Maybe that looks like, well, okay, we know there's going to be bills coming up from them that we might have to fit the bill on. What if we said, hey, let's start putting aside a certain amount in a brokerage that we know when they're 83, here's the cash that we have. And then whatever cash is there, that's what we have to spend.

Is that something that you would consider? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, if we can't come together on, you know, we have to come together on some kind of solution because, you know, I don't know. I don't feel that they have a, my parents have a big savings or they would probably have already. bought in the house. So something's going to have to happen. But, but, but, but, but Brandon, do you know this? Are you, is this just a story you're making up? Oh, it's, it's, it's true. My dad's asked me for money before. Okay. All right. So, so, so you,

you, you, you do know this. I, there's, there's a thing beneath the thing. And anytime there's a thing beneath the thing, meaning the fight you and your wife are having is not about buying a house or not. It's about something that's deeper than that. And so, getting, out of your house, going somewhere, having a long breakfast in a coffee shop and just saying, all right, our parents are both in their 70s. I want us to start planning. I threw out the idea of buying a house. That's not something you want to do. I get that. But I do want us to be honest about what kind of kids are we going to be to our aging parents and whether it comes to money, whether it comes to emotional support, whether it comes to moving them next to us, paying

their light bill, whatever that looks like. And let's start planning now for when that change happens. And if you've always had a dream of buying your parents a house, it doesn't sound like you have the money to do that. And so it might just always just be a dream, but you may be able to support and take care of them in the best way that you can. Okay, George, we hear from so many people that are trying to live out to the Ramsey plan, right? They're getting out of debt and everything. But the hard thing is, there's not many banks out there that actually support the way we teach people to handle money. Yeah, most banks, they don't want you to win with money. So they charge a bunch of nuisance fees. There's all this fine print. And worst of all, they are

pushing debt products at you nonstop. Yes, but the good thing is, is that Fair Wins isn't like most banks. They're not like the other guys. They're not like the other guys. Yeah, they are not pushing debt. And they actually want you to win with the baby steps. And so what's great, too, is they created the Smart Bundle for Ramsey fans, which includes a high yield savings account and no monthly fee checking. Which is huge, because it's rare to have a checking account tied to a high yield savings account. You can get all of that with Fairwinds. And for the nerds out there, you can have 10 different high yield savings accounts for different goals. So you got your emergency fund, the car upgrade fund, the vacation fund. The world is your oyster. So beautiful. And check out

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dot org slash Ramsey insured by the NCUA. Welcome back to the Ramsey show here in the Fairwinds Credit Union Studio. I'm Jay, this is John, and we're going to go to Edward, who's in Fargo, North Dakota. Hey, Edward, how are you? Good, how are you? Doing all right. How can we help today? So, first off, I'm not good at articulating my words, so try to bear with me because it's a long

store, but I'll make it short. Edward, I'm not either, so I'm glad you're here, brother. We'll get through this together. Thank you. So long story short, my wife called me this morning, who and we're newlywed, so we're still trying to figure out our house and our just life situation. But she wants to sit down with her two older family members to discuss their family business. And I'm trying not to be biased with it, but I've always kind of been against me since day one. But she's such a hard worker.

She's so smart and everything. And it's part of her dream. there's just been so many issues with her family and her brothers to where it's caused a lot of drama between us or just hate and ruin relationships. So I guess the main thing is we're going to be sitting down and talking with them in the next week or so to figure out, hey, if you guys keep disrespecting us, we're walking away. Otherwise, let's try to work this out and make this work. What kind of disrespect is it?

way. So I'm trying to figure out how to word it simply, but it's they've been against me for my beliefs in the way I live my life. And like the last three years, I've lived with my mom to help her with foster care and horse, her horse ranch and all sorts of stuff. And they're just not, they're not believers, they don't understand it. Okay. So your family's, your wife's family doesn't have the same spiritual beliefs as you. How does that, how is that affected in the family business? Because you're saying, oh, she's going to have some business conversations later with the older members of her family. Help me tie together the wife's family business and how that has to do with how you live your life helping your mom and your spiritual place. So my decisions don't affect them at all,

like her older family members. Okay. They just don't like me for whatever reason because I've quote unquote changed her in negative ways. Okay, understood. But realistically, it has just made her realize how toxic some things are. Okay. She's been drawn boundaries and they don't like the boundaries. What is your, what is your, do you work in this business too, brother? I'm a part of it now because we're married.

It's just basically rental properties kind of thing. Okay. But, and they have big dreams to end up helping single families and like lots of big dreams. My thing is, though, is my wife. the only one that has God in it, and then the rest of family members just kind of have like that money hungry getting what they never have. I get that. I get that totally. I guess, go ahead, Jay. I just, and I don't want to step on your toes in any way, because I can tell this really bothers you. But I'm trying to understand how this is playing out in the family's real estate business.

the fact that whether they're Christ followers or not, what are you seeing that they're doing that is like explicitly, man, this is exactly the opposite of what they should be doing and it's causing a moral dilemma for you? They just have a lot of hate and they want control and it's either their way or the highway. They're a big family that hates hard but love's kind of hard. Like kind of that back and forth, it's just in an unhealthy way. So you don't like the way that they communicate? communicate with each other. For you, that feels for them, they're used to it, but for you, you're like,

oh, my gosh, the way this family communicates, it's crazy. What is your wife saying? Because your wife, I mean, obviously it's her family. She like, listen, this is the way it is. I got it. I'm used to it. Trust me. Just let me handle this. What is she saying? So this morning, she finally kind of got on the same page that I've been wanting to be on is we're going to have this conversation with them. If it doesn't go well, we'll walk away. If it goes well and they say, okay, we'll do better, then we'll stay. How many is it? How many of them is it?

How many? So it's her two oldest brothers, and then her mother is involved in it in a weird, complicated way. So she's going to go to her two brothers and her mom and say, me and Edward, don't like the way that you're treating each other and us. We're Christian people, and you're not honoring our Christian values. So you either need to start honoring our Christian values or we're leaving, is that the conversation? Because you can't expect them to honor your values if they don't have the same belief system. Oh yeah. We weren't going to word it like that because we know

but that's essentially what you're telling me. That's essentially what you're telling me. I'm not saying that you're going to word it that way, but that's essentially what you're telling me. And don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that you're out. I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying that's a high expectation is probably not going to happen is what I'm really loading up for. So I guess again, And this is, it's such a long story and so complicated. The best way I can say it is her mother wasn't invited to our wedding. Her one brother wasn't invited to the wedding either. And then we had to change of heart after talking to our marriage counselors.

And we gave him grace. He still didn't show up. And then the other brother during the wedding said some stuff to my groomsman that really hurt me, that he brought it up. So here's a thing. Here's what I think. I don't think you need to rehash any more drama. I think that you guys are newlyweds. I think she needs to go get a job and not work in the family business.

And I think that if she doesn't work in the family business and you guys live in your life in your house and go to your church and do your thing and maybe you only see them on Thanksgiving or Christmas, I think a lot of this drama will just dissipate. And I think it's totally fine, no shade for you to go, you know what? I don't know your wife's name. Amber's going to go work down the road at the medical center. And we're done. And it's no shade.

Thank you. And just move on. Just move on. I miscommunicated that. So she does have her own job. This is just kind of like her side hustle. Walk away, brother. Even better.

Even better. Walk away. Walk away. Oh, okay. She doesn't have to work in that. That's toxic for her. If she has equity in it, they need to buy her out. But, bro, if I'm you, I wouldn't go back.

Well, and that's the thing. I've been wanting to ever since we started getting serious in her relationship. It's just been her dream for so long. But then let it be her dream. And if it's truly. her dream, she's going to want to do it with people who build her up and she feels good working around and feels good being around. She's not so desperate that she has to work in an environment where she feels disrespected or maybe she feels like it's toxic or whatever, whatever have you, there's drama

between the brothers, whatever have you. You guys are so young. She's got her whole life to build her real estate dreams, her real estate empire. And I think that you guys are, how old are you guys, Edward? 27. 27. I think you're old enough to look at something and go, I don't want to be part of that. I don't want to participate in that. They're my family. I can love them from a distance. I can love them on the holidays. But every day, we don't need to be tied up in this because it's just causing more strife between you guys. And I want to double click on what Jade said. I want you to be very clear for yourself and with your wife on when you say disrespect, when you say power hungry,

I want you to be very clear about what you mean. I do a lot of work all over the country with people who have wildly different faith values than me, but they're great people. They're amazing people. And we disagree on core issues. And they're awesome people. And I love showing up and doing business with them,

doing work with them, doing side by side, entertaining people, side by side helping people. That can't be the prerequisite. You have to see the world as I say. I mean, it can be, but you're going to drastically,

limit who you interact within the world. And, man, that's a, that's a tough road to hoe if you, if you circle the wagons at 27 and say, you either see the world exactly as I do it, believe exactly as I do, or I'm going to consider that a sign of disrespect. Man, you're going to imprison yourself and that lock's going to be on the inside of your jail. And so be very clear and have an or what statement. Hey, guys, Dave Ramsey here. Every day on the 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 any time 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 ramsysolutions.com. Guys, if today's episode hit home, please let us know in the comments and do your best to share it. You know, share it with somebody who you know that's financially stressed out, that person at work, that person at church, your sister-in-law, your sister. Just share it because when you share it, the message of hope spreads across the lands. And it's good for everybody.

All right, let's go to Ben, who's in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Hey, Ben, how can John and I help today? Hey, thanks for taking the call, guys. Appreciate it. Yeah, you bet. So a little back story. End of 2024 paid off all of our student loans, credit card debts. So we were officially debt pre-desized the mortgage.

That was exciting. Love and Life, Living Life, saving money in July of this year, my wife's vehicle was up to the 220,000 mile range. End up getting her a nice, reliable Toyota. but that drained a significant portion of our savings. And now, unfortunately, my 2010 vehicle is also having some issues that mechanic is recommending the fixed slash replacements for it is potentially worth or would cost more than the vehicle itself.

So we had kind of just worked on building everything back up, and then the car came, and we had put some money in retirement. And so now it's kind of left us short on the unknown of the unknown with two vehicles going out in three months. So trying to figure out, obviously, without financing, you know, we just paid everything off. We don't want to go back to that. Sure. If there's another solution that maybe we're not thinking of. What do you guys earn every single month combined? We bring in, it's about $6,000 a month. Okay, $6 grand a month. And up until July, you guys were socking whatever margin you have away in your emergency fund.

Is that right? Yeah, so we'd do about $5.50 a month just to the emergency fund alone. And then when the car came up, we quantified that as an emergency. we both drive about 60 miles each way to work. So that was part of the reason we wanted reliable vehicles for it to be reliable. Of the 6K, though, your only margin is 550. I want to get to how we can save up this money and some of the things that we can do in the future to avoid this kind of like, oh my gosh, I'm stuck. We need to upgrade the vehicles.

Yeah. So I will admit the mortgage is 24. hundred of that. So that's a bigger portion. Yeah, it really is. You know, utilities, insurance, all that stuff, you know, gets us there. Gas prices, food, you know, the gym, little things here and there. Okay.

What I'd be looking to do, and I'm guessing what you bought in July was pretty modest. What'd you spend on that? That was 12.5 for that vehicle. Yeah, fair enough. 50,000 miles, one owner, Florida driven, you know, just grandma's car. So it worked out really well. So how much is the repair on your vehicle? So the frame is what they're saying is rusting out on it.

So they're saying between the welding and the repairs there, it could be anywhere from four to $6,500. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, that's expensive. Yeah, that Michigan salt has eaten away the bones of that car. unfortunately so and I've been limping along as much as I can and doing some stuff myself and I mean I hate to I hate to say it but here I want to work backwards for a moment and then that will frame up why I'm going to say what I'm going to say because you're not going to like what I'm going to say okay

obviously you've been driving this 2010 vehicle when you're driving a vehicle that's that old you have to be thinking in the back of your mind okay the day's going to come the day's going to come so Right. At some point, you have to start putting aside knowing that that's coming. I'm going to have to upgrade my vehicle. She's going to have to upgrade hers. Ideally, when you're walking the baby steps, especially once you get out of baby step two, that's like numro uno. I got to be funding this, whether it's, you know, the emergency fund, I'm just going to keep funding that, just knowing these vehicles are going to, you know, pop off any moment now. I kind of think that that didn't happen so much. It was like, okay, we've got the emergency fund. We can stop and we can live a little. And then all of a sudden this other vehicle came and it was like, oh, man, that sucks. So what I think you're going to have to do, and I hate this, I think you're going to have to save up real quick and I think you're going to have to have a beater for a while, like a worse beater than you have now. And I think that as you save, you're going to be able to slowly upgrade that up to what you

want it to be. Because the truth is you just don't have the cash to spend another $12,000 today. And part of that is, you know, you're right. Your mortgage is a high percent. I think it's not quite as high as you think it is. My guess is that 6K that you bring in, that's after medical insurance, maybe after some investing. Am I right? Yeah, so that's take home 401K is funded, called Ross funded all of that.

Right. So if we looked at the number that's just your after tax number, it'd probably be closer to $7,000 maybe? Yeah, I'd say that's fair. And I'm salary to my wife is hourly, so it fluctuates sometimes. But yeah, that's a fair number. So when we compare the $2,400 to the $7,000, it paints you a better picture, which I think that's good to recognize, too. But, yeah, I hate to say it, Ben. I think it's, I think it's beater time for a while.

And I think the lesson that we learn is we've got to, when you're driving beater cars with the saved money, you're putting aside actively for the next car that you can trade up. And you're actively putting aside for the next car that you trade up from there. That's kind of, that's how you break the cycle. Yeah. Ben, you and your wife are at an inflection point, and this is just one of those. People can, I mean, I can follow a workout plan that's in front of me, and I can just show up and do that thing every day. And I can see the benefits. And I, myself, have never changed.

My identity has never changed because I've outsourced who I'm going to be to whatever this piece of paper says. You can work the baby steps that way. We will just follow this plan. The baby steps will work one. hundred percent of the time. If you live on less than you make and you pay these things off in order, eventually you will get there. And so y'all have done that. This is an identity moment. Are we going to be a couple who when the chips are down, we're going to go take out a loan and borrow money? Or are we a couple who come hell or high water? We will never borrow money. And that

might mean I got to buy a $2,000 camry with 300,000 miles on it that's got hail damage, but that sucker still just cooking and we're going to pause all other spending. We're, wife's going to take on a few more hours extra a week, whatever we got to do, and we're going to save up another 10 grand so that I can get myself a 2017 used to Camry or used Toyota. And it's just one of those moments. And I won't beat you up either way, but I want you just to own the choice. We're going to make this choice. And what we've seen is folks who get to the very tip top of the mountain and they choose to walk back down,

it's very, very hard to climb back up to the top again to pay this. If you went and took out a 12-5 loan today. Oh, you would hate the feeling of it. And then you pay it, like you paying that off and then deciding to go back up, it's just you're kind of like, yeah, we're here. Might as well indulge, right? So it's just an identity moment, man, of who are we going to be in our house? And I hate that you're there, man.

Like that the rust problem is real, dude. It is real. Yeah, that's a bummer. Yeah. And that was the frustrating thing. for us was we've been saving 400 bucks a month for cars specifically because we knew this was coming. Yeah. And we got to the point where they were running this fast.

Yeah. And so we actually put $7,500 into our Roth, just thinking like, oh, we can start saving back up again. So now we're at the point where it's like we just put all this money in retirement. We don't want to take it back out. Yeah. And don't. And don't. And now another vehicle.

So it's just unfortunate timing. So can I just tell you frustration's real? Your frustration's right. you're not you and your wife aren't bad folks for shaking your fist at the sky on this one that's right not at all it's a bummer because y'all are doing everything the right way and then they tell you oh no it's not a engine issue it's just that the the bones are withering away like that stinks man i hate that for you it really does but it does bring up an important difference between sinking funds and saving and sinking funds are something that we're doing all along it's separate from our emergency fund

It's money that we're putting away just a little bit every month knowing I'm going to need new tires. Eventually I'm going to need to replace this car. Emergency fund is for something that I don't foresee coming. It's for something that I didn't know what's happening. And when we look at it that way, it's easy to make sure that we're continuing to save for the right things. If we just stop and go, emergency fund's done. Now we can invest $7,500. Well, sinking fund says we're not ready to do that just yet.

Or we only have $2,500 to put in there. That's right. Listen, guys, I've heard just about every excuse for why folks think they can't get ahead with money. So let's go ahead and settle this right now. You get the final say on what happens with your money. That's why you have to start telling your money where to go so you can stop wondering where it went. So if you're going to start winning with money, you have to get on a budget. And the easiest way to get started and stick to it is with the every dollar budget app.

It'll help you make a plan for every single dollar coming in and every single dollar going out every single month. And guess what? It's free. So no excuses. Download every dollar in the app store or Google Play today. Did you file an extension for your 2025 taxes? The October 15th deadline will be here before you know it. I know you don't like me saying it, but it's true.

And if your taxes are pretty simple, go ahead and use Ramsey Smart Tax to finish filing before it's too late. Ramsey Smart Tax is affordable and it keeps filing simple. Plus, it has built-in support in case you get stuck and need a little help. Remember, October 15th is your last chance to file and get that tax stress off of your shoulders. So go to Ramsey Solutions.com slash smart tax and start filing now. Now, if you're looking at me going, Jade, I can't do my own taxes. That's okay. If you filed an extension and your tax situation is kind of complicated or maybe you feel overwhelmed, go ahead and get a pro in your corner to help you out. And you want to do that before October 15th hits as well. With a pro, you're not the one who's battling the IRS on your own.

You have some help in your corner. You'll be able to make a game plan for your unique situation or your business. And you'll be able to find CPAs and enrolled agents that have been vetted by our Ramsey team. So go to Ramsey Solutions.com slash tax pro if you need a pro to help you. And just remember, you can also get free checklists and guides that will help you file if you go to ramsysolutions.com slash tax resources. So you've got, I'm going to go through those again to make sure you get it. Ramsey Solutions.com slash smart tax or Ramsey Solutions.com slash tax pro or Ramsey Solutions.com slash tax resources.

You got it. All right. Olivia and Louisville, Kentucky is on the phone next. Hey, Olivia. How can we help today? Hi. Yes. Thank you.

I am engaged to a wonderful man. We've been together about seven and a half years. We've been engaged for about four. We're getting ready to get married next year. And just have a question really about how to approach him with saying, hey, what are we going to do financially? Are we going to join our money? We're going to not join our money. He has his.

I have mine. Second marriage for me, third marriage for him. Okay. What's the, um, what is the income disparity? What's the, what's the total wealth picture disparity? Okay. So I make about 50,000 a year. I'm getting ready to retire next April. I will be 59 and a half at that point. Okay. He's 62. He makes about $350,000 a year. Okay. He has $4 million. inheritance. He has two million in his IRA. I have 1.5 million in mine. I would strongly recommend y'all sit down and do a pre-up together to make sure the assets are, and here's why. Y'all have been together for seven years, almost a decade. I trust that you know what you're

getting into and he knows what he's getting into. I'm more worried when you're talking that level of money. I'm more worried about something happening to him and his kids or his cousin or his brother's friend's roommate coming in and tying you up legally and you don't have a place to live. You do what I'm saying? And so coming up with here's the path. Do you have kids from a previous marriage that you would take care of? Well, they're on their, they're 27 and 26. Okay. But I do. I do support them a little bit. Okay. Well, I'm just saying like if something was to happen to either one of you,

yeah. You would both be okay. Because you both have significant nest eggs, right? Right. And so unless he wants to say, I just got this four million inheritance, I want to gift you half of it as my fiance. Or you want to sit down with him and say, I think that should be our $4 million to build our life with.

Right? It's just having that big conversation. That $4 million is in a trust. Okay. So it is completely off the table. Okay. Because that's the inheritance, right? Yes. So then he has another close to 2.5. Let me ask you a different question.

And then I have my 1.5. Y'all, this is, neither of y'all, this is your first rodeo. You've been down, you've had hard conversations before. You've been in the throes of uncoupling legal relationships. and you've been together for seven years. What about this particular conversation are you nervous about? I don't want him to think I'm a gold digger. Like, oh, so now we're getting to the money part of our relationship.

Because I pay for my... After seven years? After seven years? Yeah. I know. So here's the thing. But he funds, I mean, we also have a home together, vacation home together. Okay.

That he paid for. That's $1.2 million. Okay. So when you say we have it together, did you put any money into it or he just bought it and you both live there? Correct. We, correct. We, yes, he bought it. He paid for it.

We still owe $600,000 on it. When you say we, explain that to me because you're saying, sometimes it's you guys together and sometimes it's him. So if he bought it, I guess he owes the bill, right? Unless he put you on the title. Are you on the deed? I'm on the title. I'm on the deed. So you're on the mortgage too?

Yes. Oh, you're on the mortgage too? Ooh, that's messy. Yikes. Okay. And so, yeah, what you want to do is, like, this is where I think a pre-up would be really helpful for y'all because it allows you to sit down and say, I want us to do life together. Meaning, I want us to have a single checking account that we're paying our bills out of, that we're paying light bills and phone bills and grocery bills. I don't want us to be Venmoing each other money.

Like, hey, you owe me for the light bill. And I want us to go into this thing with established who's covering what. And since you're on the hook for a half a million dollar mortgage right now on a second home. Yeah. And if something were to happen to him, you don't know that you'll get any piece of his wealth, but you will be on the hook for that mortgage. And so I think it would be right to say, I want a piece of this just to clear the mortgage on this. Right.

I would probably have to sell the vacation home. Right now, he has a house, I have a house, and then there's another home, his mother's home who's passed away in Michigan. So once we sell all our homes, and then we'll move into the vacation home, which will be our retirement home. And then are you going to take the sale of your home and put that in a trust that you've established and he's going to do the same on his side? I don't know. Okay. Yeah, I think it's fair. I think it's fair to sit down with an attorney and say, we want to do, well, first I'd talk to him and say, what do we want to do here?

Because, and just express some of the places where you feel exposed. He can express some of the places where he feels exposed. And then you guys can say, either we're going to do a trust or we're just going to say, we're married and it's a 50-50 deal. And I'm willing to say that, I'm willing to put that on paper. Whatever we have, when it goes down, it's split 50-50. And that's that on that. that that's fair too. Right. Right. But I like the idea of you leading that conversation with. I want to have this big conversation. We're getting older. How old are you now?

I'm almost 59. Yeah. So we're getting up in our late 50s, early 60s. Like it's time for us to have grown up conversations. And I'm really nervous that you're going to think I'm a gold digger. So I just want you to know I'm not. Yeah, I know. And I said to him, look, if I was a gold digger,

digger, I would have married you after dating a year, a year and a half. Has he ever joked about that if it's come up before? Yeah, a little bit. So that's why you're like how much of this is a joke and how much of this is a real worry of his. Right. So that conversation needs to happen too. Are you worried that I'm a gold digger?

You made this joke and I wasn't sure if it was a joke or not. I really want to talk about that because it's been sticking, it's stuck in my mind and it's actually causing me to reconsider having another conversation I really need to have with you. These are, I love Olivia, that this is coming up, and I love that it's coming up before you're married for you guys to have these real conversations to see like the full picture of who each other is and where they stand on these things. It's really important. And here's what I don't love, Olivia. What?

I don't love that after this long together, you'll haven't had this conversation yet. I agree. It just because the disparity has been so great. And he funds, I mean, we go on vacation. And I think that bothers you deep. I think you feel like a little like. Like you owe him. Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's fair to say, hey, if I'm going to be your wife, we're doing this thing together. And if you're going to be my husband, we're doing the same together. And also, let's go ahead and just clear things up so that we both know where we stand. Yeah. Have that talk, Olivia.

All right. Let's cut to the chase. It's easy to get to. 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 a Our Ramsey shows scripture and quote of the day, Deuteronomy 318. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you.

He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid and do not be discouraged. Good word. Brian Tracy said, Character is the ability to follow through on a resolution long after the emotion with which it was made has passed. Yes. Wow, I love that.

It's very good. I need to hear that. Very, very good. All right. Let's go to Matt, who's in Minneapolis, Minnesota. What's up, Matt? How can we help today? Hey, guys, thanks for taking my call.

No problem. So just a quick question about retirement and our contributions. So I have a pension. It takes out about 12% of my income towards that. We've been very diligent about doing our 15% and retirement. I'm kind of curious how much of that I should calculate into it. I love this question. I have a little back story on our situation if that helps.

So typically with a pension, we say to take half of that and count that towards your 15%. And the reason for that is kind of twofold. Number one, a lot of times pensions, if you look at the rate of return that they're receiving, a lot of times they're not as high as what you would receive investing in the market on your own. So kind of covering your butt in that way is good. And then the other thing is it's just good to work that muscle of I'm used to investing the money on my own because if you were to switch jobs and there wasn't investing being done for you in a pension, you'd be kind of blown away with, wait, how much money do I have to put aside to

invest? So it kind of helps you acclimate to. This is what it feels like to invest 15% of my money and I'm used to living off of that. So that's kind of the way we think about it. And for you, the other six and a half percent that they're putting away, it just feels like gravy. Sure. Okay. That makes sense. Fair enough. Awesome. All right. I'm going to call this one done and done, Matt. I love that. I'm usually expecting more. All right, bye, I got to go eat a sandwich. I love that question, man. I love that question. All right, Rose is next. She's in Syracuse, New York. Hey, Rose. How can we help?

Hi. So, I, just to make a long story, short, I failed the bar four times. Oh, no. I'm wondering. Yeah. I have a bit of test-taking anxiety when it comes to that exam. Now what I'm wondering right now, I just started listening to Ramsey, is should I retake it or should I focus? I'm trying to start a business and trying to get my secondary income going. So, yeah, I'm wondering which path I should take at this point. So, Rose, I spent years as the dean of students at a law school. So I know I've been with you guys as y'all are studying for this bohemath of an exam. And I've felt the stress.

and ricochet through a building. So tell me what you would do differently this fifth time studying for this exam. Yeah. So the last time I failed it, it was by about 10 points. And it's gotten progressively better, I'll say. And what I would do differently is I'd start studying,

well, I started studying three months before for each of them. I'd start studying well in advance, probably take about five months. I would take another course. I took a course the last time and that helped a lot. And because what the problem is that when I start taking the exam, I just like thinking about how important it is. And then my mind just goes blank. Sure. And so I would just practice, practice, practice to the point where I could take it in my sleep.

And I studied before, but yeah. So I'd do that. And it's been a few years, but the last I was closely involved with the bar prep world, the rate with which people took a prep course and just simply worked every one of the prep course problems, their pass rate was astronomical. Which was, I will, the courses are expensive, I'll take the course, I will just do all the problems, I will submit them, I'll just do what they tell me to do. on the days they told me to do it, and the pass rate was, the last I remember it was like in the high 90-something percent. Not a guarantee, but pretty dang close. Do what?

Yeah. Oh, I said it helped my score. Like, it got way higher. I didn't pass, but it got way higher. How much of the bar prep course did you actually do, though? I did 90%. Okay. Okay.

So there's your tip. That might be your 10 questions, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's really just me, the anxiety, like I just, my mind goes blank at times during the exam. You don't, you can't afford that. Okay. So that's the second thing I want you to do.

Okay. If possible, I want you to go utilize your resources at your law school. And if you can't, then I want you to hang on the line and we're going to hook you up three months free with our friends over at BetterHelp. I want you to sit down with a professional mental health counselor and say, I have a very particular test anxiety that I want to run. right through the middle of and get some very clear guidance have somebody walk with you on this particular thing and give you some strategies some self-soothing some breathing exercises whatever to

help you navigate this one hard challenge that would be great okay yeah um yeah that would be great but the the the path through anxiety and this is some coming from somebody who struggled with it my whole life the path for healing is right freaking through the middle of it. And that's scary because the closer you get to it, the louder the alarms get, the more you're going to fail, you're going to fail, and then and then and then.

And so we turn and we duck, right? The path is through it. And I've had to sit with a counselor to have somebody walk with me. You do it. It would be awesome. But if you're, if you're this close,

I mean, I don't know what you stand to lose other than a couple thousand more dollars on a prep course. Yeah. Yeah. I would yeah I'll try that. Thank you so much. So you don't think I should kind of put it aside the exam. I can't I can't take that decision from you. I'm not going to be somebody else who takes your agency and autonomy from you. I want you to look in the mirror and say I want this this bad. Or I want to take the skills of critical thinking of being an outstanding writer, a person who cares for the least of these.

in our communities, whatever skills you took from your legal education, I think it makes you an absolute sword fighter out in the world. So you can take that. And the skills you learned are transferable almost anywhere. And if that's what you choose to do, I don't want to practice law anymore, but I want to take these skills and go be ferocious out in the marketplace. Go for it. But I don't want to take that decision from you. I want you to look in the mirror and say, I really want to be an attorney for these reasons, or I want to go start a business. business. Either way, what you've learned and your tenacity is going to carry you far. You're already somebody who gets knocked down and isn't afraid to get back up. You've been

knocked down four times. That's a lot of times to get hit. But you keep getting back up and dusting yourself off. That's the kind of person I want to hire. That's a kind of person I want on my team who never gives up. But I also want somebody on my team, Jade, who's like, all right, that's enough getting knocked down. Yeah. So one of the worst things about anxiety is people come in and try to rescue you from it instead of holding your hand and walking through it. And when you get rescued from it, your body gets the message, oh good, we got to avoid that thing that was scary and actually makes it stronger. And so heading through the middle of it is always the path. It's just a scary, scary path to take. I mean, I for one, hope that she pushes through, because she says

she's gotten progressively better every single time. And I mean, I almost wonder, is it like, you know, when you play sports and you just go through a slump and your brain is just like, you're just so in your head on everything that the tasks that you're like, I know how to do this. You're just not just in your head so much. I know this. One of the smartest guys I've ever met in my entire life ever, ever, ever. A 35 year friend of my name Mike, after he took the bar exam, I called him and said, how'd you do? And he said, dude, I have no idea. And so I have just seen people melt. And so I have to just trust this test is its own unique animal. But let's be honest, outside of law school, all of us have big hard things, hard conversation, like the hard conversation we just had about the money

with her future spouse. Like we all have hard conversation with our kids with whoever. The path is always right through it. And it's just getting the tools and the path and maybe somebody to go with you. But that's always the path. Well, Rose, we're definitely rooting for you. Fifth times a charm. That's what they say.

And hang on the line. We'll get you hooked up with three months for free. with our friends over at BetterHelp and be very specific about what you want them to help you with and get on it. I love that. Well, guys, remember ultimately, there's only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace Christ Jesus.