The Ramsey Show - Sacrifice Isn’t Easy but It’s Always Worth It

Episode Date: March 25, 2024

💵 Sign-up for EveryDollar today - The simplest way to budget for your life! Dave Ramsey & Ken Coleman answer your questions and discuss: My fiancee's parents want me to sign a prenup..." The importance of boundaries in marriage, "Should I take a promotion into a toxic work environment?" Dave reads mean YouTube comments, "When should we replace our vehicle?" "We don't make enough to pay our bills," "How do I get out of this financial storm?" Support Our Sponsors: Zander Insurance BetterHelp NetSuite Churchill Mortgage Next Steps 📞 Have a question for the show? Call 888-825-5225 Weekdays from 2-5pm ET or click here! 🏦 Take Your 3-Minute Money Assessment - Get a personalized money plan! 📄 Need help with your taxes? See who we trust. ✂️ Share hope by leading an FPU class at your church! Listen to more from Ramsey Network 🎙️ The Ramsey Show   🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 💰 George Kamel 💼 The Ken Coleman Show 📈 EntreLeadership Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host, Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, number one best-selling author and your host, Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, number one best selling author and host of the Ken Coleman show where he helps you have a better life at work and at your career and all of those kinds of things. So we're going to talk to you about your life and your money as we always do. The phone number is 888-825-5225. Josh is with us in St. Louis,

Missouri. Hey, Josh, welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave, thank you so much for taking my call. I just want to take a second, and I appreciate all that you do. You've truly changed my life over the last few years, and I just want to take a second to say thank you. Sure. What's up? Awesome. My question is, how should I feel about a prenup? I know your stance on prenups,

and I know kind of extreme circumstances, and I believe kind of like my circumstance is kind of extreme on both ends. So a little bit about my background. I am currently 28. I followed the baby steps through and through. Currently on 3B, I make about $300,000 a year, and that's divided up into about $100K000 in retirement, $100,000 for a down payment, and $25,000 to $35,000 in just a bank account checking account for an emergency fund.

So I'm getting married in June to my wonderful fiance. Um, and her family is extremely wealthy. And although I do not, and her parents and grandparents are extremely wealthy. So, uh, they are apparently I'm supposed to be signing a prenup, um, obviously before the marriage and kind of, we're going to go over that. And my question to you is how should I feel about that as well as, um, you know, what to look for in a prenup? Like what, I don't, I don't necessarily know what questions to ask my lawyer. And just one last thing is my income could be going from, you know, to 400, 500 plus over the next two to three years annually. So, yeah, that would be my question. Yeah.

Wow. How old is your fiancée? She is, I am 28. She is 25. Does she have any money? No. And you didn't ask her for a prenup? I have not, no.

The prenup was for the potential inheritance. The prenup is for the potential inheritance. I have not had a sit-down discussion with them. When did the prenup discussion come up? After you were engaged? It was after we were engaged, yes. But I kind of had an idea. I don't know the specifics on

their net worth, but I, they are extremely, extremely wealthy. Yeah. Okay. So, all right. Um, I, you know, the only way I know how to answer a question is, uh, what would I do if I woke up in your shoes? Okay. Um, so, um, when my children were married married my net worth was in excess of 100 million dollars already at that point um and none of them signed a prenup and we didn't and we didn't ask them to none of my son none of my in-laws signed a prenup and we didn't ask them to now i have my estate plan set up to where certain things are controlled only by ramsey blood and trusts so you can't get to them in the event of a divorce uh thing number one thing number two i just not that guy so uh i'm not worried about it um this is god's money

i'm managing it i figure he can take care of it. Um, I understand their concern. Uh, if you were, um, you know, if you're making 30,000 bucks a year or something, uh, it would be more of a concern, but it's, you know, um, it's, uh, frankly, it's a little bothersome. Um, if I'm in your shoes, um, and I'm not enough to cancel the whole thing, but it's troubling, bothersome if I'm in your shoes. Not enough to cancel the whole thing, but it's troubling that these people, obviously they want to protect what they built and make sure it goes to their kids. Let me ask you, here's another thing I would want to find out, and I don't know. In most states, the divorce stuff we've been involved in on the financial side, an amount of inheritance generally in the event of a divorce

goes to the person that inherited the money. They don't split it in most states. So if you inherit your mama's house and you get a divorce, you get your mama's house. You don't split it with your ex in most states. Okay, now I don't know Missouriouri law and i'm not a lawyer uh but i've i've experienced that in you know being called in in the middle of divorce situations when we're helping negotiate and all that i've experienced that to be the facts that the judge uh or the

statutes award that that way so i would learn about that in missouri um number one they may have that protection built into the law, is what I'm saying. And then you've just got to decide how much you care about this issue, because I don't think, and what this issue means, what does it mean to your relationship? What does it mean to the family you are marrying, because you're marrying her and her family and so um you know it's really low class that this came up after you made a contract to get married they bring up oh but by the way after you've got a contract to get married called getting engaged uh we're going to add something to the terms of the contract after you've already signed it. That's low class. I'm curious, Josh, what does

your fiance think? How does she feel about this? Is she completely in line with the parents or does it make her feel weird? What's going on here? To be honest, I mean, she's, you know, she's the oldest of four daughters total and they're an awesome family, super down-to-earth people, but they never really had to work. You're not answering my question, and you're being really nice because you're a classy dude. I'm going somewhere with this. How does she feel about it? When it came up, what was her comment on this deal?

She understands. She understands it. I mean, what I was getting at is she just doesn't really have, like, she doesn't know. So she's okay with it. My point is it wasn't a head tilt or a red flag or yellow flag. It was just like, oh, okay. Is that what I'm hearing? She does what she's told.

Exactly. Okay. That helps. She listens to her parents. Yeah. She listens to her parents. Well, that makes this relationally a little bit more difficult. Had she had the same feeling, the yucky feeling you had, I assume you have a yucky feeling about it? Or am I making the wrong assumption?

Well, I just like go back to what you guys feel about prenups and that it is an extreme situation. But, like, I don't, you know. It doesn't i don't you know it doesn't feel good is there yeah it doesn't feel good like it do i need to do anything on my end what else is going to come up after you're married that they tell her what to do well the one other thing was exactly yeah the one other thing is apparently they're so so the family is are in development so they're big into real estate and they build houses and have a lot of land. Another thing is apparently they're going to be building us a house

and putting it in a trust to where we don't have a payment. Apparently? This has all been decided. Apparently? Wait a minute. This is my freaking house. There's no apparently. I'm involved in the decision.

I think this ought to be premarital counseling. I bring it up with your fiance. I'm shooting up flares now. I think the two of you need to sit down with a pre-marriage counseling. You're getting married in June. This family has problems with leaving and cleaving. That's right. This is the Ramsey Show.

I've been doing this show for over 30 years, and some of the saddest calls I've taken are from situations that are completely preventable. Yeah, and what's so hard is I feel like one of those, especially the ones that I'm like, oh, it's terrible, are people that call in and their spouse has passed away suddenly, and they don't have life insurance. When you have to think through how am I going to pay my bills in the middle of all that grief, it's terrible. So life insurance is the one thing, especially as a mom with three little kids that I'm so big on for people to get because it's inexpensive. Zander is the place that Winston and I actually get all of our life insurance. And it doesn't cost much because Zander shops among a gazillion different companies. It doesn't cost much. You just have to admit that someday you're not going to be here. You got to say it out loud and you got to say, I'm going to say I love you

to my family by taking care of them and taking the time to put this stuff in place. The cost of stinking pizza. To get a free quote, call 800-356-4282. That's 800-356-4282 or go to zander.com. Thank you for joining us, America. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host. Ken, I know this about me. I really like to be in control. I think that's a fair assessment.

Yeah. I know this about me, and I know this about wealth, that as you add wealth, it makes you more of what you already are. And so having some money has given me the ability to control a lot of things in my life. The variables. I don't have cars that break down anymore because they're nice ones. I used to drive crap when I was broke and I was broke down on the side of the crappy road in the crappy car and my crappy life. And I hated it.

I hated it because I felt out of control and desperate and freaked out. And so now I drive cars that don't break because I got some money by doing the stuff we teach here. And I also know that that control in that sense, controlling the variables, control the controllables, that's a good feature, but I'm also well aware that it can be a bad feature. Yep.

You've probably seen that. I cannot recall. Oh! I cannot recall. You! I cannot recall. You are so full of crap. Well, that's also a great demonstration of what you do in that situation. Just go Congress. Act like a congressman.

I cannot recall. Do nothing. Yeah, no. Yes, but in a situation like that where we've seen it, you snap back because you are healthy. The point you're making is the hardest parenting I've ever done in my life. Because when they're little, you just freaking tell them what to do. And if you don't do what I say to do, I'll take you out and make another one look just like you. Okay?

So you're going to do what I say to do. I'm in charge. The inmates are not in charge of the asylum. When they're like grown and paying their own bills and stuff, you don't get to do that'm in charge. The inmates are not in charge of the asylum when they're like grown and paying their own bills and stuff. You don't get to do that anymore. I heard it's a rumor. So like when they leave and get married and stuff, it's a problem for control people.

Right. And control people with money like me. Sure. It's a real problem. So I've had to be, I've had to read like Henry Cloud's book, Boundaries. It's like every weekend I have to read the whole book again. Yeah. Because otherwise I invade my grown children's boundaries because I have the money to control

and tell people what to do. And I'm used to people doing what I tell them to do. And my grown kids don't always do what I tell them to do. Yeah. It's just shocking. It's just shocking. It's called, you know reasonable relationships and sometimes when people get money maybe the last caller situation sometimes when people get money

it makes them more of what they already are and they learn to control the variables that's how they get money which is good that's right it's a good part of control but then you learn to control the variables. That's how they get money, which is good. It's a good part of control. But then you try to control your kids' lives. And we're going to give you a house, but we're really not going to give you a house. We're going to put it in a trust so we can take it back if we change our mind. And we're going to give you some money, but we're really not going to count the fact that you got married because you don't really get to count that. You just are you.

And, you know, we're going to – you could real simply in any state leave the money into a trust and the only people have access to the trust are blood relatives and so the spouse or soon to be ex-spouse if there's a problem you have a built-in yeah that's wise you have a built-in uh thing there like the stock for the ramsey solutions company right it's held in a the ramsey Solutions Company, okay? It's held in the Ramsey Family Children's Trust. Right. And the definition of that trust, one of the absolute pieces is that if they get divorced, they're not going to get the company, okay? Which is, you know, they shouldn't.

That's right. Okay, they shouldn't get it. But that does away with the need for a prenup. And so I guess I'm still controlling, but i'm not over there in their daily business telling them how to pay their bill okay so let me look as the outsider here in the scenario i don't know how that's different than what i just griped about maybe it's no it's not no it's very different i'll tell you why because what you did was you you put it in a trust and this is the ramsey family business it's a family business and it takes it off the table. What you did not do

was force a signed agreement. See, this is a boundary issue. And so- I didn't do it after the engagement. If I was going to thump one of them, it would have been when they were sitting at coffee going, can I marry your daughter? I'm like, no. Here's the problem with the last call. This is a 25-year-old. I believe she's 25, he's 28, I believe somewhere in that range, or maybe 23, 25. Here's the deal. They should have been super wealthy the way they are and having controlled the environment, and they've set her up and all those assets.

They should have already let her just grow up. And the thing is, is she's got to learn how to figure life out on her own. And the fiance very kindly said, she's pretty much just had everything dictated to her like a menu. Like, this is what your life is going to look like. And that's not reality. So I think the concern on that last call, Dave, is less about the money. I think it's more about their role in her life. That's what I'm talking about.

I know you are. But I just think it's that simple. The money thing is the smallest piece of it. They're very, very out of control with their influence. It sounds like. It sounds like they are. My point is that I could do that. I mean, I'm one eyelash away from being the same exact thing.

I mean, I'm not that far off, really. That's right, because it could teeter to unhealthy quickly. But the truth is it's so easy to be who you is in spades when you got a few dollars. You know, you get to be who you is. Nobody bother you on that. And if who you is is telling everybody what to do, including your grown kids, then wow. And so now I told Winston when he married Rachel, she's your problem, man. That's it.

This one's got drama, man. You just better be ready. so um she's your deal man and don't don't come crying to me and they've done crying to me and don't and rachel don't you come crying to me either you talk to him he's your your hair is problem you're his problem and and let me tell you that i've done it i mean they're they're good friends we we do dinner they don't they're legit they're legit they're stand they're healthy and they're figured out if i was this young man i i would bring it up as a, we can't go forward. And then I'd bring it to a therapist and I'd say, babe, I can't do this. That's how strong of a position

I would take because she needs to decide what she's doing. Yeah. And I guess the point is, one of the things that always comes up when I'm coaching with wealthy people, I was with about 60 of them in a room for a day and a half the other day. And the main concern they have is how do I keep my wealth from destroying my kids? I've worked so hard to get this and now I don't want this wealth to destroy my children, to make them useless human beings, okay?

And so my answer is don't raise useless human beings. Raise human beings who know how to work, who know how to sacrifice, who know how to serve, who are humble, not self-centered, they're not entitled, they're not brats. And by the way, they know how to work. Did I mention that? And they know how to work. Did I mention that? Yeah.

By the way, a simple way to get all of that. There's great joy and dignity comes from that. So raise kids that do that, and then be ready for this very difficult, and I'm saying it's hard for me almost daily or weekly. It's not, I don't get a vote in their house, and it pisses me off down inside. I can tell. I really want a vote. I really want to tell these people what to do. I feel it right here, actually. The energy is coming over this way. It's a a vote. I'm feeling it. I really want to tell these people what to do. I feel it right here, actually.

The energy is coming over this way. But I'm just saying it's a human thing. It's absolutely right. My point is the other family who are over there, they're probably great people. I completely can resonate with their motivation. Their tactical implementation of their motivation sucks. Which I want to weigh in on that. All the things that

Dave just said to raise good kids, can I tell you, it starts with just allowing them to experience hardship and pain. The data is coming out. I'm reading like crazy. I'll spare you all the data. I could nerd out on it for 20 straight minutes, but I'm telling you over and over the message is coming back. We have removed the obstacle of hardship and suffering. We, meaning Gen X, my parents, the boomers, Gen X, we're all guilty of it. And I'm telling you. Well, we wanted to make it better for our kids. I know. But to make it better is to make them tougher.

And what you do with your kids, and I can speak to all three of them because I know them. They need a callus. You allowed them to experience hardship. They had to work for it. They went through stuff. And so all of a sudden, see, here's the deal. They had to work for it. They went through stuff. And so all of a sudden, see, here's the deal. Massive money creates massive ease.

And massive ease, absent of hardship, makes soft, entitled people. And that's where the money can really be dangerous in this situation. God, I feel soft and entitled right now. No, you're not. You're the antithesis of it. I'm completely soft and entitled. You're like a human callus, Dave. You're tough. You're tough, man. You're tough. You've been

warned by failure. It's good. That's a compliment. We'll be back with the human callus. Folks, I'll have to explain that to him on the break. Pray for me. On the Ramsey Show. I might be back. We'll see. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. This is the season for Halloween. It's October. We're wearing costumes and we're wearing masks.

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

reflect and learn, and you can accept all the parts of yourself over time and start living an authentic life. Masks and costumes should be for Halloween parties, not for our emotions and our true selves. And if you're considering therapy, try calling my friends at BetterHelp. BetterHelp is 100% online therapy. You can talk with your therapist anywhere, so it's convenient for you and your schedule. Just fill out a short online survey and you'll be matched with a licensed therapist.

Plus, you can switch therapist at any time for no additional cost. Take off the costumes and take off the mask with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash Diloni to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp.com slash deloney. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host, number one best-selling author, The Paycheck to Purpose, meaning you can have purpose while getting your paycheck. Hmm, there's an idea.

Maria is with us in Detroit, Michigan. Hi, Maria. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi. Hi. Thank you so much for taking my call. Sure. What's up?

So, I'm sorry. I'm so nervous. So, what happened is we have worked so hard to have basically everything we have paid off. And we had this condo that was still, we still had a loan. And the loan was kind of low interest loan, so we thought we're going to keep it for a little longer in case we need an equity loan or something. So we decided to rent it. And now we're facing where, well, before everything, we were told always to open an LLC, and we never did.

Everything is under our names, personal names, everything. So we rented this place and now we're facing a very possible lawsuit from a lawyer that just does this for a living for evicting them for nonpayment. Have you evicted them? Yes. They're gone? Yes. Great.

Okay. So here's what you do. Here's what you do. You start interviewing attorneys, and I want you to find an attorney who has one eye in the center of his forehead, who slobbers and has sharp teeth teeth and is so angry and mean that you don't even like him and i want you to hire him and turn him loose on this jack leg who's thinking he's going to jack you up for some money and i want you to go after him and pound him to dust you don't sound like you're going to do that. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Maria, you sound like a victim. Why don't you sound like a victor? Throw your shoulders back and let's get in a fight, girl. They're trying to take your stuff. Yeah. And they're jack legs, okay? The freaking attorney is he's trying to get some easy money and once he understands it's not easy he'll go away

i've taught a couple of my lesson in my life i like it i just take them all the way to dust is there any way we can protect what we have um i mean not now it should have been in an llc like you were told you didn't do it Is there any way we can protect what we have? I mean... Not now. It should have been in an LLC like you were told, and you didn't do it. You can't buy fire insurance after the fire, honey. You've got to buy it before the fire. So the way you protect it now is you hire an angry, mean, nasty attorney, and you turn him loose off his chain and let him go bite.

I'm dead serious kiddo you think this is like a joke this is how you do it the way you handle a bully is you hit them in the nose hard so the problem is we tried to hire attorneys before we even were in the middle of this and they and there are no detroit attorneys in detroit yeah they are okay what happened this you you don't have any belief in this so what happened before did you do something wrong no um so we we waited for payment we. No, no, I didn't ask that. I said, did you do something legally wrong when you evicted them? No. Well, no, that we know.

Okay. No. What happened with the other attorneys you tried to get? What's the rest of the story? They all say we didn't need an attorney for this. Why? They all say we didn't need an attorney for this. Why? Because once we tried to hire, they say it's going to go away because you have an order from the judge to evict.

Okay, then what are you worried about? Then why are you stressed out? Because they file some paperwork to... I know they're doing something because this lawyer that they hire all right i disagree i think you don't know nothing about nothing on this yeah and i think everything every little thing every time some dog barks you run and hide in the cave so you need to get an attorney that represents you that knows what's going on and you need to give them a thousand dollars for peace of mind and you need to tell them to put this people in a stranglehold until they tap out. From the beginning, we tried to give them money, and they didn't want it.

Darling, are you listening to me? Yes. Okay. Go get an attorney. You're trying to make me convince me that crazy can be dealt with. Crazy and bullies can't be dealt with. The only way you can deal with crazy and bullies is smack them and not physically darling don't go hit somebody but i am saying get an attorney and put these people down put them down and shut them up and then go if you need to go take the attorney's

fees that it costs you from them to teach them a lesson. I'm in the middle of doing that right now myself. Just to say, you shouldn't do this to me. It's not going to work. You picked the wrong hillbilly, right? You got to let, you got, I mean, I'm not trying to pick a fight. You didn't pick the fight. They did, but you got to finish it once it's picked because you're sitting around wringing your hands, worried you're going to lose everything to some jack leg attorney that doesn't even have a thing because you don't even understand what's going on. Go get a lawyer. And if a lawyer tells you or multiple lawyers tell you there's nothing to worry about because you got the judge's signature, then show up at the court, throw those shoulders back and go, I got a letter from the judge. Yeah. But here's what's going on. We've got a lot of fear in this call and everybody can sue anybody, but just because

they can sue you doesn't mean that they can win. So stand up to them. I think she's got a couple options here. If a lawyer won't take your case, go, I'm begging you to take my case because I'm not strong enough to stand in the courtroom and wave the judge's letter in the air. And that's what he's saying, Maria. If you can't do it yourself, then force some lawyer to go, all right, I'll take your money if you're that scared, because that's where you're at. They got nothing to worry about. You need to hire the guy on the football team to take on the bully.

That's what it amounts to. And that's, you know, because this is what happens. People will sue just because they freaking get away with it. And these lawyers, some of them, they think that you're just going to settle just because you're weak. And if you send off weak signals, then they really start thinking that. So you've got to go, uh-uh, wrong choice. You're going down.

You know what it reminds me of? It's the rattling of the saber. It's that scene from Indiana Jones. I forget which movie. The guy's in the alleyway, and he's like, ah! And he's waving the swords, and Indy just kind of looks at him and then pulls a gun out. Yeah, and just shoots him. Rachel's in Austin, Texas.

Hey, Rachel, welcome to The Ramsey Show. Hi, sir. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. What's up? All right. So my husband and I have about $75,000 in our bank right now. Cool.

We're kind of at a loss for what to do with it. Send it to P.O. Box in care of Dave's Bahama Fund. No, I'm kidding. All right, so are you debt-free? Not yet. We have, you're going to hate this, we have one $5,000 student loan, and the only reason we still have it is because it's at a 2.75% interest rate, whereas our bank is at a 4.6% APY.

Yeah, and that's making you rich. 2% on five grand. You can't even go to Burger King. Okay. Pay off the student loan. What else? Okay. king okay uh pay off the student loan what else okay we have a mortgage that has i just checked it today 262 000 left on it at a 3.125 interest rate okay and the um that you have you have an

emergency fund other than the 75 000. What's your household income? I make $108,000. He makes $85,000. So you're making $200,000. Good for y'all. Well done. Good for you. Thank you. Okay.

What we teach folks, Rachel, is a thing called the baby steps. I'm going to send you a copy of the book, The Total Money Makeover, that outlines them in detail. Baby step one, save $1,000 as a beginner emergency fund. Two is be debt-free, but the house, so pay off the student loan. Three is have an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses. Any money beyond that, we put them on four, five, and six. I want you to be putting 15% of your income away for retirement. Five is kids' college, if that applies. They may be grown and gone. And six is pay off the house. I think you're

going to pay this money down on the house after you pay off the student loan if you have that emergency fund set aside and you follow those baby steps. That's what I would do. What does the future hold for business? Ask nine experts and you'll get 10 different answers. Economic growth or a recession. Business taxes will go up or down. AI will help us work or it will replace us all. But there's no such thing as a crystal ball. That's why more than 40,000 businesses have future-proofed themselves with NetSuite by Oracle, the number one cloud enterprise resource planning system. Ramsey Solutions uses NetSuite, and you should too.

Whether your company's earning millions or even hundreds of millions, NetSuite helps you respond to immediate challenges and seize your biggest opportunities. With one unified business management suite, there's only one source of truth for the visibility and control you need to make quick decisions. NetSuite's real-time insights and forecasting help you see into the future with actionable data. And when you're closing the books in days, not weeks, you can spend less time looking backward and more time focusing on what's next. And speaking of what's next, download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning at netsuite.com slash Ramsey. It's free at netsuite.com slash Ramsey. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today.

Ken, I'm going to be doing something I've never done before, a brand new event, Dave Ramsey's Investing Essentials. I'm going to dive deep into investing. First time ever, I'm going to go into my personal investing playbook, what I do, how I buy real estate, how I do all my other investments. And so this is not theory that someone taught you that you ought to do. It's actually what I do. Then you can decide if you want to do it or not. But this is what I do. It's a two-night virtual event. We're going to cover one set of subject one night, another

subject the next night. So it's not the same stuff over and over. It's two different nights. You need to be there a total of four hours, two hours each night, May 21 and 22. It's online. You can watch it from the comfort of your home investing is something you can at you guys ask me to dive deeper into all the time and there's all this garbage on these social media platforms these people who just have an idea and opinion they're just trying to get your money and all that kind of stuff we don't actually do investing so we're just going to teach you because we're not trying to sell you anything now we are going to sell you a ticket to this but we're not trying to sell you any. Now, we are going to sell you a ticket to this, but we're not trying to sell you any investments. There's no free steak dinner,

and I'm going to put you in a bad life insurance policy crap, all that thing. Y'all got those, right? Everybody gets those, right? Now, how to maximize the 401K, of course. That's kind of a baseline. And then real estate strategies and what other investing trends are out there, which ones are bogus and so on. Tickets are $199.

RamseySolutions.com slash events to get your tickets today. Today's question of the day comes from Angela in Maine. Angela says, I'm up for a promotion where I would return to a unit I worked in years ago. I've heard the team has already been talking poorly about me. What? And have actually said I should watch my back if I get the job over one of their current team members. It's been a very toxic environment in that unit for decades. My question is, it may only be a three to five percent raise and I don't think I want twice the amount of work for only $55 more a month, but I like the work in that unit

and have about seven years till I retire. Do I take the job or stay put? Oh, no. No. If what I'm hearing and reading is absolutely true, this is a no-brainer. Why would you want to go somewhere? Do I stand neck deep in a septic tank for $55 for seven years? They're already talking bad about you and threatening you to watch your back. You're not joining a job. You're joining a gang know i would say no thanks pass hard pass golly angela it bothers me that you should have to ask yeah i mean no no no yeah i wish there was more to add but there's not i mean here's how here's how bad these people are. They already sent word to her.

Oh, yeah. I mean, these aren't just passive gossips. These are active gossips. They sent word. They sent a little messenger person over. One of those little messenger people that's kind of trying to be Switzerland. They're trying to be in the middle, but they're really not. This is mafia level stuff.

Because they kind of enjoy being in the middle, but they kind of don't. Yeah. A little Switzerland person. Yeah. They bring that message over and just deliver it. This is the level stuff. Because they kind of enjoy being in the middle, but they kind of don't. Yeah. A little Switzerland person. Yeah. They bring that message over and just deliver it. This is the metaphorical horse head in the bed. Watch your back. Don't dare come over here.

It just feels like a mob shakedown, and it is a mob, by the way. No, let me tell you what this is. This is horrible leadership. Yeah. It's not even leadership. Because it's run on fear. It's not even a good boss. Yeah.

What they need to do is fire a whole bunch of those people and start fresh with some good ones. Ugh, gross. Patrick's in Dallas, Texas. Hey, Patrick, welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hey, thanks for taking my call. Sure, what's up? Yeah, I was just wondering, I'm on Baby Step 5, trying to go into 6.

Good. I'm out of debt. I'm trying trying to go into six. Good. I'm out of debt. I'm trying to stay out of debt. Good. We have our fully funded emergency fund, no debt other than the house. But we have major expenses that are foreseeable coming up, HVAC units, septic tank. Both our cars have over 100,000 miles. My emergency fund won't cover the costs.

It's not an emergency. Those are foreseeable. Emergencies are unforeseeable. Okay. So you're not on baby step six. You don't put the money on the house until you get some money set back for these things that you know are going to be done. And you need to prioritize them and put a number beside each one of them and start attacking them and building a separate savings account for the septic tank,

a separate savings account for the car replacement, a separate savings account for the HVAC. Okay. And so should I still be maxing out my 401K while doing this? You should be putting 15% of your household income in Baby Step 4 into your retirement, not maxing it out. That's what we're doing now. Is that maxing it out? That's what we're doing now. Is that maxing it out?

That's what we're doing now. Well, I'm putting about $800 a month towards my 401K. Is that 15%? It's a little under. Okay. You should be putting 15%, and then you ought to look at the rest of your budget, and instead of paying extra on the house, whatever money you squeeze out of your budget goes into the next item that you are going to fix first,

car replacement, HVAC, or I'm sorry? Treat it as debt like the snowball? No. I'm just going to save for it. It's just a savings account. I'm going to save money to pay off. What's the first thing we're going to do, HVAC, car, or septic? Probably the septic is coming out of our emergency fund.

I'm going to have to rebuild that. Oh, you're already doing it? I'm going to have to rebuild the emergency. Yeah. Okay, then the first thing you're going to do is you've got to rebuild your emergency fund. Yeah, well, it's enough to where we're still at three months. The first thing you're going to do is rebuild your emergency fund. You didn't think three months was enough last time.

Correct. So you need to put it where you think it needs to be. You think it needs to be at six, put it at six. Once you get that, then save up and fix the HVAC and then save up and replace mama's car because mama gets the good car. That's federal law. And then we save up and we replace your old truck, right? Yes. Okay. So we have an order of attack, and we're going to put our money towards that very intentionally and very directly while doing 15% of your income into retirement.

You can do all that, and you may have to work extra a little bit. You may have to sell some stuff. You may have to do some things to keep it moving. But, you know, these are very predictable items, and this normally does happen, by the way, when you get to this stage. Because you've been doing it. You've been fixing nothing and driving beaters while you got out of debt. Way to go.

That's what you're supposed to do. Now you've got to fix crap and replace the beaters once you get out of debt. And you get up to maybe four, five, and six. This is the perfect place to do it. You did it exactly right. Way to go. Good job, Patrick. Good job.

Well done. Patrice is with us in Canada. Hi, Patrice. Welcome to The Ramsey Show. Am I pronouncing that right? Yes, it is, Patrice. How are you? Perfect. Better than I deserve. How can I help? Good. My question is, how do I attack the next few data steps of 4, 5, and 6? Because it's kind of complicated for me, and how do I sell my home and ensure everything is 50-50 between my sibling and I legally and ethically. Long story short is that I'm out of my own paying $2,500 a month in rent. I make about $100,000 a year. Ten years ago, I bought a home with a sibling and we had a verbal agreement that my mom and the younger

sister would chip in for my part of the mortgage. I went through a lot of life happened between that time. I got a divorce, moved back and ended up paying a little bit more. Then I moved out on my own again. And my sister volunteered to chip in more. So now I'm thinking, and she said, I don't have to pay anything, but now I'm thinking that probably wasn't the best decision. So it was long before I knew about your teaching. So I'm just wondering, right now I'm heading towards maybe steps four, five, and six. Where do you want to end up with this house in five years? I would prefer to sell it, but I'm thinking about my mother. How old is your mother? She is in her mid-70s is she broke yes okay and so she's living in your house that you own part of because you're taking care of your mother and my younger

sister lived there as well too so and how old is your younger sister she is 38. And she pays the bills, like the payment. So my older sister pays half of the $1,500 mortgage, that's all that's left, per month. And basically the three of them are splitting $1,500 in the mortgage cost. Okay, so you're not paying anything out of pocket today. No. Okay, and you own this with the older sister. Yeah, cost. Okay, so you're not paying anything out of pocket today. No. Okay, and you own this with the older sister. Yeah, correct. God, this is confusing. Okay.

Yeah. All right. So I think you talked to your older sister that says, at some point I want to be out of this deal. I want it to sell. And then you talk to your younger sister and you tell her what the timeline is. Okay. And then you figure out how you're going to take care of your mom if that's before mom passes.

It might be that we run this until mom passes and then younger sister gets out on her own and we sell the house. That would be clean. Okay. And is that ethically okay since it's kind of wishy-washy like my sister may be paying more and then they're covering my portion and they're not paying well i think you all need to get clear clarity the wishy-washy is where people get pissed off yeah for life i know i've spoken to my brother in 10 years because he didn't do well yeah that's because we all need to write it down this is our timeline and this is our agreement in the interim of that timeline. You three are going to pay the bill.

When mom passes, we're going to sell the house, and little sister's going to go have a life. And that's probably a good plan, something like that. I don't care. But write it all out, and everybody sign it. Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, number one best-selling author of the book

Paycheck to Purpose, is my co-host today. Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. One of the great joys, Ken, of being me is that from time to time, our team helps me out by sending me the things that people say about me on YouTube comments and other social media, because I don't look at any of that stuff and so my team here they're they're they're generous and charitable in that they want me to know what people are saying Dave is an idiot a poor man's smart man German drummer 13 booster 6969 says, Use a debit card and not a credit card at the gas pump

is some of the most idiotic and dangerous information I've ever heard, especially considering there are so many people that actually follow this guy's, quote, expert advice. Benjamin8581 says, What a stupid waste of money. Dave Ramsey is too rich to give advice to anyone. Yeah, because you'd want to listen to a poor person's advice about money. If I went broke and lost it all, which I did, and started again and stayed broke,

that would give me credibility. You're not bright, are you? Okay. Thomas Marlow 1254 says, it's not bad to use credit cards if you pay them off when you get paid and don't accumulate interest and then use the credit back davis an idiot by saying don't use credit cards it's free money if you pay it off hey thomas is not free you had to pay it off remember that part There's no free money helping you with this. This is my favorite.

Psychatic. Psychiatric? Psychatic, yeah. That's pretty cool. I like that. I like that. That's a good handle. I don't know.

What is this? This is, I guess, YouTube or something. Dave Ramsey gives dinosaur monetary advice. Don't listen to these idiots. Buy Bitcoin. There it is. gives dinosaur monetary advice don't listen to these idiots buy bitcoin there it is well there's a pattern folks if you're listening and watching i saw a pattern idiot is mentioned several times as a pattern i saw yeah but you know what the pattern is never listen to the comment or advice of anybody with a dumb username followed by four numbers. Every one of them.

German drummer 13, booster 6969, Benjamin 8581, honey badger 2986. There's a pattern here, folks. These people aren't creative enough to come up with a username without four random digits. You shouldn't listen to those people. That's my takeaway. Really? Honey badger 2986? I'm giving him a lot of coverage i wonder if it was honey badger that's a cool name yeah but stop there you ruined it with 29 you probably couldn't

get it through there's probably 73 of them exactly again so you gotta get it it's not really original yeah exactly these people aren't enough, and yet they're criticizing your financial advice. Aristotle said there's one way to avoid criticism. Say nothing, do nothing, and be nothing. Isn't that true? And we say a lot, all the time, rather loudly, to 100 million people a week. So it's kind of a problem. Yeah, that's what it is.

So it just goes with the territory. Hey, it's the price of admission to be me, and I'll it it's a good gag it's a good gig i'm gonna start i'm gonna create a uh a new username dipwad 6437 and i'm just gonna go start commenting everywhere people the people in the audience like that one dipwad dipwad 6437 watch for him at a website he's a he's a new troll a new troll has been born we've watched the birth of a troll rescue us from this day john is in tulsa oklahoma what's up john hey dave thanks for taking my call my pleasure how can we help okay so i'm selling a business i've had for 27 years wow and i need to know what to do with the money on top of what I have kind of going on already. How much did you sell it for, man?

Well, I'm going to be selling it for a million dollars. Wow, good for you. Thank you. Started it with a $100 bill, actually, and a pickup truck. That's nice. That's a good return. And 27 years of freaking sweat. Yeah, it's been a lot of work and a lot of listening to your shows and reading your books. I've been applying the principles, but I'm at the place where I've got about $625,000 between mutual funds, IRA, a simple plan that I've had at work that we basically set up for ourselves to have a savings plan. So I'm going to sell this business. I don't really

own real estate except my house is paid for, of course. Don't know what to do with the money when I get it. I can't put it in the bank. Yeah. Well, you can. I'm going to tithe. You know, I'm a tither. So I've been supporting the church for years. I believe in it. I believe it's the right thing to do. I enjoy that privilege. But, you know, I'm not going to give it all away either. So what do we say? Yeah. Very good. Good for you, either. So what do we say? Very good. Good for you, man. So what kind of business was it? Electrical.

Electrical contracting. Love that. How old are you? I'm 59. Started in the work when I was 17. I started the business when I was, I forget what year it was, but it was 27 years ago that I started the business. For any of you out there that heard somebody say you can't be a millionaire in America anymore, I'm just talking to one.

He's worth $1.625. He's 59, and he's an electrician. That's right. So just to help you out. Oh, and parents? Don't tell me America's dead. Okay. Way to go.

I'm so proud of you. Good job. All right. So your baby steps millionaire. So on the money part,'ll step in and then i'll have ken talk to you about the career kind of the side of it in a minute but um i i always tell folks when you get a windfall like this a big check coming uh to put uh three names on it after you paid your taxes and your tithe okay after you after you do that, then put three names on the rest of the money. Lifestyle, in other words, enjoy some of it. Additional charity, additional generosity, and then invest it. And I don't care what the percentage is, you put a percentage on that. So I want you to, are you married?

Yes. I want you to blow your wife's mind with the best trip that you could ever think of. You've worked with $1.6 million and you've never traveled enough. You've never enjoyed enough of the good things. And buddy, you've earned it. So go blow her freaking mind. Do you hear my instructions? Yes, sir.

Have some fun. Have some fun, dude. You've earned it. You're a good man. You work hard. You've watched your penn You're a good man. You work hard. You've watched your pennies. You know what you're doing. So pick out something, and y'all go do something fancy.

Okay? Okay. So that's the lifestyle percentage. And you can say, I'm going to spend X percentage on lifestyle, and that can be upgrading a car, fixing some stuff on the house, going on a trip. It could be all of those things. I don't care. We're going to put another percentage, and you decide what the percentage is, into generosity,

and we're going to put another percentage into investing. I only invest when I'm using that formula for Sharon and I in two things. I invest in real estate that I pay cash for, and I invest in mutual funds. Okay? Okay. And that's where I would go. And Ken, as we head into the break, tell him right quick what's some good advice from a career perspective. Yeah. Once the deal closes, you've worked really hard for this. And Dave already talked about the celebrating

part. I would make sure you rest and just take some downtime and just rest and do something that is restful for your mind and heart. And then I would do some good. Take some downtime and just do good. Work for free. Bless some people. Use that skill set. Mentor somebody. And then finally, after all of that, I'd let your mind begin to wonder and dream again.

And you've got some time left statistically. I think that's a good way to enter the next season. Yeah, you can start something else and be very successful again. This is The Ramsey Show. Buying your first home is a big deal and sets the stage for your financial success. So, work with a mortgage advisor you trust, not just some random website. Churchill Mortgage is Ramsey trusted because they help you avoid hidden traps and expertly guide you through every step. Learn more at ChurchillMortgage.com.

This is a paid advertisement. NMLS ID 1591. NMLSconsumeraccess.org. Equal housing lender. 1749 Mallory Lane, Suite 100. Brentwood, Tennessee 37027. The Money in Marriage Getaway is back this fall, October 24th through 26th. Dr. John Deloney and Rachel Cruz join them for a weekend away here in Nashville to focus on your marriage. It's right here on campus at our Ramsey Events Center. You'll participate in two and a half days of teaching focused on communication, intimacy, money, all the stuff you need to do to win at marriage. Lots of Q&A. You get answers to your real questions.

It gets a little icy in there sometimes. Yeah, I was a little bit embarrassed, but John Deloney, he tackles that stuff head on. Platinum tickets already sold out, but there's a few VIP tickets left, which include meet and greets with John and Rachel. Get them before they're gone. Tickets start at $7.99. It's a whole weekend on campus here with us. Get here early on Friday. You can watch us do the show. It's a whole weekend on campus here with us get here early

on friday you can watch us do the show well it's a lot of fun that's free by the way it's worth what you pay for it too visit ramsey solutions.com slash events yeah we're on the glass here we've usually got 50 to 200 folks out here watching the show eating our homemade cookies drinking our coffee all for free and we're here from one to four central time monday through friday two of us will be sitting here doing this show for three hours a day we invite you there's a good crowd out there today so thank you guys for joining us and thanks for stopping by on your spring breaks and everything else you're doing out there good stuff melissa's in atlanta hey melissa welcome to the ramsey show hello thank you so much for taking my call. Sure. What's up?

Well, I have a 2012 Tahoe that I might be a little bit emotionally connected to, and my husband is telling me that it might be time to sell. So I'm wondering, when do you sell versus when do you repair? I haven't heard it discussed on the show since I've been listening. Interesting. How many miles? About 170,000. That old Tahoe raised your kids, didn't it?

I'm telling you, it's even sentimental to my children. I mean, they're goldfish from 1972 are in the back. It's the truth. Essentially. And I can't tell you how amazing this car has been. Like, the only thing we have ever done to it is an oil change, religious oil changes. What's wrong with it now? Any mechanical issues?

So there are not currently any mechanical issues. However, my husband, who is a mechanic, can fix these things himself, albeit he doesn't really have the time, says that it's looking at a transmission in the future and is starting to have some suspension problems just with things being worn out. And so he's telling me that the value of it is starting to approach the cost of repair. Yeah. Well, when the husband's a mechanic, Dave, we pretty much don't have a discussion here. I'm afraid he's right. That's right.

Yeah, that's a good formula. When you spend $3,000 on a repair and when you finish the repair, the car is worth less than $3,000, that was a bad move. Agreed? Okay. Like if you change the tires on the car and the car is worth more, that's a problem. Yes. Yeah, that's where you get to, right? I've done this. This is how I know.

But now, technically speaking, if you want to run the numbers, you could repair a car cheaper than you can buy a new one the rest of your life. But it reaches a point that it's just not worth the crap. And so, yeah, I think you need a new car. Yeah, I'm with you. Not a brand new car, but, I mean, I think you need to buy a better car. And, I mean, you've gotten the life out of this one. It's served you well. Oh, Bessie, it's time for her to go to Tahoe heaven.

Well, and we're on baby step number two, so not a lot of cash set aside. However, we'll be able to sell it and use that cash. Yeah, you got to wait. You got to wait then. I'm not going to trade $3,000 car for $3,000 car. Well, that's what we would be doing essentially. No, I'm not doing that.

I thought you were, I thought, I'm sorry. I made an assumption that was wrong. I thought you were in better position. You get out of baby step two and you get your emergency fund, then you save up and move up in car. I'd drive that one until then. Until the wheels fall off, yeah. No, until you get out of Baby Step 3.

How much debt you got left, kiddo? Yeah, we only have $30,000 left, and we're scheduled to pay that off within the next 15 months. Okay, you're going to be fine. You'll be fine. This car will make it a while longer. It's just you ask a question of when the car, when it makes no sense to keep the car. Now, when we put that into the context of I got $30,000 in debt to pay off,

and it's going to slow down the debt payment if I go buy a $10,000 car, I'm going to wait and drive the old beater. That's what I did. That's what Ken did. Yeah, that's right. We drive the old beater that's what i did it's what ken did yeah that's right um we drive the beater until we get out of debt and you just keep patching it together with duct tape and bailing wire you keep it running and the good news is you got the guy there who knows how to do it that's right yeah yeah you you got some sway with the old mechanic so i tell him hey look what's transmission going to cost if you have to take care of it? Because you'd be surprised how much less expensive it is when you're not paying for labor.

Now we're down to it. Now we're down to it. Yeah, that's it. He's got it. He would be the guy to have to put the new transmission in. Which is a pain in the butt. Okay. Exactly.

Sophia is in Des Moines, Iowa. Hi, Sophia. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi, Ramsey family. Hey, what's up? Okay. First of all, thank you. I am living with my mother, or my mother and I are living together, and she is 88 years old,

and I just found out that she has whole life insurance. It's $6,700 face amount and 2342 cash value. I don't know how to advise her whether she should cash it in or continue paying the $50 a month that she's been paying. and it's been a while yeah she has four thousand thirty three dollars in her savings if i had found her years ago i would have canceled it in a heartbeat at 88 how's her health uh she had some issues but in fair condition okay well i yeah what the life insurance people use is they use an actuarial table where they statistically try to predict death. Mm-hmm.

Okay. And that tells them how to price these things. So here's what you've got. You've got a $6,700 life insurance policy that has a $2,500 cash value. Did I get that right? $2,300. $2,300. Okay. Did I get that right? $2,300. $2,300, okay. And so you actually have $4,000 worth of insurance

because they're going to keep the $2,300 and they're going to give you the $6,700. So the net is all that the insurance is worth. Does that make sense? Yes. You put $2,300 in your hand today and not have the policy anymore. Cancel it. That's one option.

You did away with $4,300 worth of insurance that you're paying $600 a year for. So if she lives seven years, you lose money. That's the math. Okay. If she lives less than seven years, make money in no case are you going to lose or make much because it's not got zeros on it it's

just a couple grand right so it's not anything stress about how does she feel about it well at first she felt that she should cash it in because she's already paid like $13,000. Yeah, she's paid for it 60 times. I mean, there's no question she was ripped off. But the only question now is from today forward what makes sense. And you're paying $50 a month, $600 a year to get $4,000 worth of insurance in your 88. So you've got to make it to 95. If you make it past 95, you've lost money on this transaction no case if she dies tomorrow you're not going to make much you

make four thousand dollars is all for for 50 bucks a month i just want to make i just want to make sure that her final expenses are covered she's concerned about leaving something for her kids she's not going to leave anything for the kids we're grown no she doesn't have anything i mean 6700 plus a savings account small like that pay for a funeral and that's about it right final expenses are covered and that's fine there's nothing no shame in that but um emotionally i'd probably keep it i I hate the stupid things. On principle, I'd cash it in in a heartbeat, but I just kind of think it makes this lady feel better

that she's got this laying there to take care of her funeral. Okay. And, Dave, can I thank you for getting me to four months of emergency fund? Oh, very good. Well, I am on my way as well. I'm so proud of you. Thank you for all that you're doing. Thank you.

Thanks for being a listener. Yeah. This is The Ramsey Show. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today in the lobby of Ramsey Solutions. We have the debt-free stage. On the debt-free stage would be Juan and Arielle. Did I say that even close? Close enough. Arielle. Arielle. Arielle. Arielle. Yes, you got it. It's hard to say it in hillbilly. Okay, good. Arielle. I got it. I'm close now. Way to go, go guys so where do y'all live we live in clearwater florida fun and how much debt did you pay off we paid off a little over

37 000 very cool and how long did that take five months in 19 days i love it and uh your range of income during that time we were about 103 to 150 000 oh wow nice jump in just a little bit good what y'all do for a living? I'm a registered nurse. Ah. And I'm an area manager for a gaming company. Okay. Very cool. Good to have you guys.

Yeah. Thanks for having us. Proud of you. What kind of debt was the $37,000? Sure. It was everything from a car loan to credit cards. We even financed a dog. Oh, wow.

We did. What kind of dog? Yellow Lab. Yellow Lab. Oh oh they're good dogs he's great they're better when they're debt free though and that's our little dog can't be repoed that's him i love it good for y'all very fun so what happened five months ago what was the wake-up call put you on this ramsey stuff well um back in january of 2023 um juan ended up losing his job and so we didn't realize how much debt we were in.

And having to be on a single income really just shook our world. And so we... I can still hear the fear in your voice right now. It's all gone. That's all in the past. She's just remembering it. You can hear her vocal cords tightened up. Do you hear it?

I know. That's just me. No, that's good. That's the truth. You were feeling it. Yeah. it was a really rough time and then um i want to say it was one day at church that came across someone that i was just venting it was it was a dark time for us just because we were fighting a lot and um we were just like man how are we gonna get out of this hole while i was going to the next job and then someone at church mentioned uh like mentioned hey that ramsey guy and we were like all right cool um i i checked it out and i'm like a zero to a hundred type person so i came home and

kind of freaked her out i'm like we're doing this plan and we're selling everything and that's how you know that's how we got into it. Yeah. And the smart conference that you guys did in April really just helped jumpstart that. We were like, you know what? This is when we're going to start budgeting. This is when we're going to get our life in order. And we did. Zero to 60. We both got two new jobs.

We both were working two jobs at the time. Literally seven days a week. So it was a crazy fast time. That took you from 103 to 150 that work thing yes yes there there was that and it was the first time that we started tithing consistently yeah um and just things that we couldn't really explain just happened like we ended up getting some refund money from a collection agency yeah uh refund from yeah that's a tithe story for sure only god can make that happen exactly and uh i want to say more than halfway through initially we were scheduled to be debt

free within like i want to say 12 13 months and then um in the beginning when we were in the program shout out to vanessa fields by the way she was an awesome coordinator oh you went to Financial Peace University yeah we went through you um and I remember she was asking us like hey do you guys have anything to sell and of course I flat out lied and I was like no I have nothing and um I have a whole game room uh just full of stuff that was worth a lot of money and just I want to say halfway through just uh God really tugged at my heart and was like, hey, this is stuff. It's not worth marriage. It's not worth your future.

So I sold it all. It was worth like $12,000, like between $12,000, $13,000. What was it? That we got. Video games, stuff that I collected over the years, stuff that I had from when I was a kid. All associated with gaming, though. Yes. Yeah.

Okay. Yeah. So, and, I mean, the secondhand market's really, it's really hot right now for stuff like that. You can get big money for that Atari, right? I'm kidding. Yeah. Well, yeah, Super Nintendo, regular Nintendo, all that stuff.

Really? Okay. So, yeah. But, you know, all that stuff. Really? Yeah. Okay. So, yeah. And then. But, you know, just watching your body language, he did something for his wife that was, meant the world to him, but did it for the good of the family. That's what's called a man. Yeah.

Right there. It was a big sacrifice. You sacrificed for your family. Yeah. Because I can see it in your face. It's still a little painful. I'm curious. You mentioned you guys were in your face. It's still a little painful. I'm curious. You mentioned you guys were arguing a lot.

It was dark. You took us to the church moment. You said it was a dark time. I'm curious how quickly the tension and the arguments went away once you guys got unified and got gazelle intense. Can you remember? So first two to three weeks, and for anyone that's listening out there uh getting on a budget that monthly meeting that rachel talks about uh it was not it was not monthly it was

daily yeah i get it it was daily because we didn't know how even though we were married you know on paper and in the faith we didn't realize how separate we were in that area so yeah um but i want to say after a month especially when we started tithing i mean that's where just slowly but surely things just started changing and then we realized man there is a lot of peace in this yeah and so now on the other side of this about ready to your scream how would you say the tension around money is now now at this moment it's doing better i mean yeah at the end of the day like we're not perfect by yeah and i like that i want people to hear that it's not perfect but the point is you're on the same page on this stuff yes we

are on the same page and we worked really hard together to get through this so it definitely grew us you know together in our marriage but also individually as well. Yeah. Yeah. Good for you. Thank you. You guys are incredible. I'm so proud of you because I'm watching a whole bunch of stuff happen right here in front of my eyes. This story is riveting because you really, you mentioned tithing twice.

So you've done a complete flip where God is now first. Your relationship is second and everything else is after and it wasn't that way before you lined up on this stuff yep yeah that caused you to force you to face that and flip it yep yeah we didn't realize how selfish we were um especially in our spending so this way we oof yes we got it in order you know the lord she's preaching now i was telling you that that that hits everybody everybody to go i'm so that's what i was observing i wasn't gonna say it that way but yeah that's very well done very well thank you you guys so you gotta have some folks that are watching you from the outside that are just going you guys your transformation is

amazing i'm so you gotta have people cheering you on yes we do we have an amazing uh church family our families themselves um my brother is a huge dave ramsey like he literally looks like you he got bald hair and he's got the goatee going too oh my gosh bless his heart um so yeah he's big like dave ramsey and so he really really encouraged us um so that was really helpful all right way to go guys what advice do you have to somebody who's in a dark place and has 37 000 worth of debt how do they get out start don't quit yeah don't quit no matter what no matter no matter how tough it is i mean god's with us in the dark time he's with us in the high time he's with us all the way time. He's with us in the high time. He's with us all the way through. Just keep going no matter what.

Don't stop. And if you're married, you got a spouse, communicate. Overcommunicate. Doesn't matter how tiresome it gets. You keep going. Yep. Yep. And two big things, budgeting for sure.

I mean, y'all talk about it all the time, but staying in the budget really, really helped. And then also using cash. It is inconvenient when you have to go to places that, you know, it's easier to use a card, but I will say using the envelope system, using cash, it helped us stick to our budget way, way better. Yeah. Yeah. It's a lot easier when the envelope's empty, you quit. Exactly. Especially when you're in the new training program like this. Yes. Very, very well done. You guys are incredible. I'm so proud of you.

Hey, we've got a couple of every dollar one-year subscriptions for you, one for you guys to use to stay connected to every dollar on the budget and stay signed up. We'll pay for it now, and you can give it away to somebody else. We'll give you two of them. So thank you guys for making the trip all the way from Clearwater. You're absolutely heroes. Thank you. Very, very well done. Thank you. Man man we watched that happen right before our eyes really special very cool all right juan and say it again ariely ariely juan and ariely from clear water florida 37 000 paid off in five months making 103 to 150 but most importantly a complete transformation of their relationship and their view on life count it down let's hear a debt-free

scream three three two one that's how that's done, boys and girls. Woo! I love it. This is The Ramsey Show. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today. I'm Dave Ramsey. Carol is in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Hi, Carol. Welcome to The ramsey show hi how are you better than we deserve what's up um um so i'm gonna try really hard not to cry my husband lost his job three years ago um and i had an accident so we started at $10,000 a month. We are down to $2,400 a month. I have sold everything. I own nothing. I don't even own a car no more. We live in a house.

My husband farms now with his dad. Um, and his dad's like 83 years old. And so he feels like 24 is wow. That's a lot of money, you know? Um, and, um, and we are very thankful for that. Don't get me wrong. We are so thankful for what God has given us. We have a house that we live in because John farms the ground. We get it free. So God is definitely providing. However, I'm out of savings. I'm out of money completely. I'm barely making my bills.

I had an accident. It was an accident three years ago. I've had eight surgeries. Oh, my. Like had an accident. There was an accident three years ago. I've had eight surgeries. Like an automobile accident? No, I don't want to go there. Let's not go there. But

I don't know what to do. I can barely make my bills. I don't know. Like, they want me to... What bills do you have? Um, utilities, internet for school. Um, how many children do you have? Water, One. What age? Eleven. Okay. And I homeschool.

What was your husband doing before he lost his job? He was working for a power company. He was making really good money. What's really good money? Well, we were bringing home ten grand,000 a month. He was? No, he was bringing like six. Okay, and you were making four. Six to seven, somewhere in there.

And you're unable to work now because of the accident? Mm-hmm, and now I don't even have a car to even make it to work. No, that wasn't what I was asking. Are you physically unable to work because of the accident? No. What I did previously, yes, because my body, I don't have the grip in my hands no more. My leg, my whole right side basically has tried to reconfigure it or fix it. And it's, yeah, it's, I mean, I can walk. Okay, if your husband can make $6,000 a month at the power company before,

why could he not do something like that again? That's three times more than he's making now. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. He's always, I mean, before he went to the power company, he farmed. And then he went into the power company, he farmed. And then he went into the power company. Well, he didn't ever want to go into the power company, but his ex-wife made him, I guess, or she wanted more money. I don't think she's evil.

You called me with the same request. Right, right. So he wants to farm. No, I don't. He's Right, right. So he wants to farm. No, I don't. He's always wanted to farm. He wants to farm. And it's his daddy's farm, and it's the daddy connection. There's a couple things going on here.

Does your husband think that your father-in-law should be paying him more, or is he hunky-dory with what he's getting paid? Well, he's not going to go to his dad and ask for more i had to write a letter to his dad um and point it all out and then he gave him a little bit of a raise but yeah your husband needs to step up right now and step up in a big way right yeah so here's the thing the language you're using tells us that yeah i can't make my bills which means your husband is not involved in this at all which is wrong okay so you need to sit down with him tonight at the kitchen table and say i cannot be the only adult in this house anymore i need some help bubba you about to help me you don't

have an option you're going to help me figure this out because i can't make this math work and you don't want to do anything about the income side of the equation so you show me where the magic's going to happen because i can't figure this out i'm not carrying the stress and the pain of this anymore all by myself while you go out there and play farmer and act like everything's okay because it ain't okay, Bubba. You need to have that talk tonight with the television off and the kid in the bed. This is very serious because this is not going to last. This is how he got an ex-wife the last time. He did not attend to the needs of his household.

Well, I don't know about that. I do. do i do i've been talking to you for five minutes and i believe it that's exactly right he's not a bad man he's just absent emotionally and financially he works hard during the day comes home and does nothing at night yeah well i agree with that okay he's a good hard-working man. He's an honest man. Yes. But he does not understand. And let me just tell you, guys, I'm one of them. We're pretty thick. You've got to explain it to us. I don't know.

Tonight is going to be the explaining. You've got to use a verbal to before and hit him in the face. This is stopping tonight, Bubba. I'm done. I can't do this anymore. The surgeries and the stress of the finances, being the only person in this household making adult decisions, is over. You're going to have to sit down and look at these numbers with me

and decide with me. I've already given him that. I've given him. I took my name off the bank account. No, you didn't. given him i took my name no you didn't i yes i did no yes i did i don't believe you i did i took it well i did i took it off my the bank account i i do not i told him i wanted no more to do with the bills um because mentally i cannot handle what was his response but i'm the one to pick up the mail what was his response what i i'm going to choose to believe you dave doesn't i'm going to believe you for the moment what was his response when you laid it out that way

he was upset um but nothing changed he goes well how do i pay how do i pay this bill online well i went and i showed him and i said but, but, you know, it's this amount. Don't ask me how you're going to pay it. That's not what I'm talking about. Yeah, he's talking about money. You've got to make more money. I'm talking about the two of you sitting down and adding up what it is coming in every month and what's going out every month, and both of you looking at it.

Just get a yellow pad out and write it all down. Here's what it costs. Last night we did with a friend. With him? With him. Your husband husband with him yeah and what did he say then um well we have like five dollars left over so he's just not he's detached from reality that's the bottom line dave nailed it this is a guy who's playing farmer and it's a fun role for him. Yes, he's working hard, but I will say you got to work too. You said earlier that you felt like you could still do

something. It's time for you to do something too. You can't do what you did before, but maybe you're going to have to model the way. And I'll be honest with you, sister. I'm not sure that your relationship's got a lot of hope if he doesn't wake up to this. I really, I'm serious. You got to get self-sufficient. I think the two of you need to sit down and get some help with your marriage to where you start working together because you're not. And there's like, I'm going to make him do this. No, that's not what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about we need to agree that we're going to carry the weight of this together. Last night we sat down and went through all this together. The next day you call me on the radio crying. Yep. So last night didn't do any good. So you didn't, you didn't get there yet. You got,

you got more work to do. So the two of you have to sit down together, lay out a game plan. And then there's a wake up call that says, I'm going to have to get a job. You're going to have to get a different job. You're going to talk to your daddy about a raise because this is not going to work anymore. These numbers don't add up, and it's freaking me out, and I'm not going to live my life in terror.

And I'm not going to take responsibility for something that you won't participate in. We're going to do this together, two grown adults. I'm not your mama. I'm your wife. And, you know, so that's what's going on. So you don't need to write a letter to his father. You live in his house. Walk yourself up into the living room and go, hey, me and the kid over here, we're hungry.

We can't pay the bill because you don't pay your son nothing because you're living in 1950 on your wage rates. And so we got to do some changing here, pops, or we're going back to the power company like the last wife did. This is how this works. This is The Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. Thank you for joining us, America. We're glad you're here. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, number one bestselling author of the book Paycheck to Purpose, is my co-host today.

We're talking to you about your life and your money. Twin Cities, Minnesota, Chris is calling. Hi, Chris. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave and Ken. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. Yeah, I was calling to seek wisdom and advice from you guys.

I've been a listener of the Dave Ramsey Show and trying to intentionally get on the same page as you guys. Just breaking the cycle on my own personal life. I have done a lot of dumb in my life in the last several years. I'm in the midst of a storm right now, and I'm trying to get help from you guys. What kind of storm are you in, Chris? Right now, well, I'm the person that you guys have be cohabiting whenever trying to do the Financial Peace University. So you're living with somebody and it's a breakup?

What's happening specifically? Yeah, yeah. So I basically separated and we had children in it. We weren't married, and basically we're going through the court system at this point since 2023. The court system to establish child support and so forth? Yeah, child custody and everything. And basically, she's being vindictive at this point and putting a wedge between the children and I. My lawyer thinks it might come down to me getting the children full time. I'm not certain on that.

Our next hearing is coming up in April. I'm trying to think of set goals, I guess, during this time. I think I know what you guys would encourage just during a storm is just hunkering down and putting things on hold. I don't know if that's correct. Chris, I feel like you're talking around your question. What can we specifically help you with? Well, I guess I need to create more margin in my budget. I see that's going to be a problem.

And I think out of the life domains that you guys talk about, whether it's, uh, uh, I feel like my family's being hit the, uh, the, um, my health and my finances. And, um, I picked up a side gig, uh, um, whenever all this started going down because I knew I was going to use up a chunk of my emergency fund. And so I was able to rebuild that back up. But I feel like I'm going to get hit again coming in 2024. So you need more income. You need more income and soon. How much more income do you need?

Give us a round number that you feel like would take care of some of these upcoming responsibilities. Is it $3,000, $5,000, $7,000 more per month? What's your goal? So my goal is you guys talk about $78,000 being the average income. What's your goal? What's your goal? How much do you need? I make $54,000 a the average income. What's your goal? What's your goal? How much do you need? I make 54,000 a year.

Okay. How much more do you need per month? Probably, you know, a couple of thousand. Okay. And you're working a side gig to get that. How are you doing on that? Yeah. So, yeah, I did the side gig,

and I did make a couple uh thousand and that really did help um but i felt like with all the uh everything that's kind of going on it wasn't sustainable i was kind of running low at the very end um it was able to help me get my emergency belt back up. But, yeah, I was in that field. Okay, so if you're sitting at home at night after work, instead of working the side gig, what are you doing? I'm either taking care of my children. Okay, so you get part custody yeah i get part i get temporary custody and uh until um yeah until the temporary full-time you they live with you

well no they don't live with me okay um so how many days or nights a week have you got them every other night every other night okay so then the other nights you're working right yeah and why is that not sustainable for the short run i guess it is i mean i was working all weekend i was just kind of tiring out and i didn't know whether i need to uh look start looking for another job as an option. Sure, sure. It should be an option. You don't have to put all your eggs in that basket, but you absolutely need to be working right now stacking cash,

and I know you're tired. If you had $20,000 in the bank and you retired, you'd feel better. That's right. Yeah. Um, I definitely, uh, uh, I was working on the, uh, the, the, your material can, and, uh, I got clear on that. Okay. All right. So hold on.

So Chris, uh, here's, I'm going to walk you through really fast. I need you to give me the fastest answers you can. You cool? Don't think I just want you to react. All right. What did you get clear on? What job or what career path did you get clear on that? Boy, you sure would like to have it.

Just say it. What is it? Being an entrepreneur in a glamping business. Okay, so glamping. So we want to start a glamping business. I can tell you right now, I don't care how great your idea is, you need to put that on hold. You are in a season of flex right now and flux, which means you've got to be flexible. That second job right now, you need to be back at

that. It sounds like you're not doing it anymore, but you need to be doing that, stacking cash, working every available hour you have to put this money away to be able to take care of these kiddos and pay these legal bills. Now, the glamping idea and any entrepreneurial idea that's going to cause you to spend time and money, we don't have time and money to spend right now. Correct? Okay. Correct. All right. So I love the dream. I'm putting the dream on pause. We will get to that once we get stable. Stability, stability, stability. Those are the top three words in your mind. And the way we get stability is more cash, more savings, and get through this custody issue.

Then we start to build. Does that make sense? Yeah, that makes sense. All right, brother. Thanks for calling. You're running about 43 directions at one time. Pick you two. Kids, lawyer, stack cash.

That's three. Kids, lawyer, stack cash. that's three kids lawyer stack cash that's three and just just think about those three things all the time nothing else right now this is the ramsey show oh i hate taxes me too tax season gag Me too. Tax season. Gag. A lot of people got questions about taxes. You know why? They're freaking complicated. That's why. There's enough paper in that IRS code to choke seven horses. It's unbelievable.

So one of our listeners sent this question in about taxes. I want to avoid overpaying taxes each month. What do I need to change with my paycheck? Well, let's change your question to start with. You're not overpaying your taxes. You are, well, you're not, well, yeah, you are. You're paying too much towards your taxes. I guess it's the same thing.

Actually, you're not overpaying. You're just giving, yeah, they don't charge you more. You much towards your taxes. I guess it's the same thing. Actually, you're not overpaying. You're just giving. Yeah, they don't charge you more. You just get it back. So you don't want more coming out of your check. You're right. Then you need to pay. So you need to figure out what your actual tax bill is, and that should be the amount coming out of your check,

divided by 26 or 24 or 12 or however many paychecks you get, right? So you divide it into that. And if you don't know, there's a couple of easy ways, a couple of cheats and hacks that you can get to on it. If your situation hasn't changed, you haven't moved, you don't make more money, you didn't get married, you didn't have a kid, nothing has changed, then just adjust it by your refund for the last couple of years. So the last three years I've gotten $3,000. That's $250 a month. Nothing has

changed. Then you just need to have $250 less taken out of your check. So just go to payroll and say, change my W-4 by my W-2, whatever, by $250 per month, please. And they can do that. Okay, that's the easy way. Now, if something's changed, then get like Ramsey Smart Tax Software and run your taxes out and figure out what your actual tax bill is. And then based on your actual tax bill is $12,467 or whatever it is per year. What is it you actually owe? Have that amount taken out per year out of your check. And so again, divided into the number of

paychecks until payroll, this is the amount I want taken out. Now that's exact. That's going to hit it perfectly or within $50 one way or another, and you'll be just fine. So you just got to go to HR, fill out another W-4 that has the amount withheld. Here's the stupid thing. Seventy-something percent of Americans get a tax refund. That means seven out of ten of you people are sending the government more money than you need to send them and then you dance around in april like santa claus sent you a present well i know santa claus i'm old he's a personal friend he does not live nor does he stay anywhere near washington dc he has nothing to do with that place good people don't go there i'm kidding but not much it's

awful it's horrible no he has nothing this money was your money you gave them your money you loaned it to them you put it in a savings account with the federal freaking government at zero percent interest and they sent it back to you with no interest and you act like you did something smart. Seven out of 10 of you. What is wrong with you? Stop this. Was I unclear, Ken? No, I think I got the message. Okay, good. So ramseysolutions.com slash tax.

If you need help with your taxes, you want more great information like this, we'll help you. The Ramsey Smart Tax, if you've got an easy return, it's not complicated. Ramsey Smart Tax software is very inexpensive. It's not like those other guys. We're not going to try to sell you six ways from Sunday. We'll loan you money on your refund. Oh, my God. Payday lender.

What is wrong with you people? No, we'll issue you a credit card. What? No, they want to sell you debt. We're not going to try to sell you debt. We're just going to help you do your taxes. If you've got a complicated return, you can get with one of our thousands of ELPs, endorsed local providers, to help you with your taxes. They're tax pros. They can help you. Bethany's in Dallas. Hi, Bethany welcome to the ramsey show hi thank y'all for taking my call certainly what's up so i am very underwater in two vehicles and trying to figure out if it's worth to keep them and just paying them off or if i should try to sell them

before starting my debt snowball okay so you? Yes. And your household income is? This year should be right at $140,000. Good. Okay. And vehicle number one, you owe how much on? $50,000. What do you think it's worth? Kelly Blue Book says private party, $ 000 ouch must have rolled negative into that puppy i didn't oh it just sucks what is it it's a 2021 yukon really sucker dove yes you put a million miles on it or what i i've had it i bought it um last year in april so i've had it almost a year. It had 65,000 miles on it, and I just rolled into 105,000 miles. What'd you pay for it? By the time,

I didn't put anything extra down, so after taxes and fees and all that, it was 57,000. And one year later, it's worth 35? Yes, sir. So you overpaid? I did. Yeah. That was market price for uh that month no that's just the car did not lose fifteen thousand dollars in one year

okay something's wrong with one of these numbers but anyway okay next one um it's a 2018 dodge truck it's my husband's truck, and we owe a little under $30,000, right, like $29,000 and some change. And Kelly Blue Book says it's only worth $18,000. Okay. So you have $80,000. No, that's $80,000 worth of debt. You have $53,000 worth of vehicles.

So based on the $140,000, you wouldn't have to sell it. You're making 140. How much other debt do you people have? $18,000 total. We have $5,000 in medical debt, $6,000 in credit cards, and $7,000 in student loans. So 72 clears you, and you make 140, right? Yes, sir. 36 a year is $3,000 dollars a month are you willing to do that

yes sir if you can do that you can keep them okay um but i probably would rethink how i'm doing car deals based on the way you did this yukon deal absolutely something's wrong with that deal okay um because those numbers don't drive. So the, um, but if you want to keep it, it's a fine vehicle, nothing wrong with it. Um, the, as far as I'm concerned, but the, um, so our rule of thumb is if your vehicles value everything with motors and wheels that you own is less than half your annual income, you're okay because you don't own too much that's going down in value. Everything with wheels and motors goes down in value.

So your, your boat, your sea do your camper, all that crap. Okay. It all goes down in value. It isn't the ultimate depreciating asset because they're all large too. Okay. And all that so you own uh basically the value on your stuff is 53 000 bucks you make 140 so you're under half so that's fine the second rule of thumb we use is can you be debt free not counting your house in two years or less

you can be if you pay three thousand dollars a month towards debt or more for the next two years which means you're not going out to eat. You're not going on vacation. You ain't doing nothing but getting out of debt, but you'll be clear and keep these two cars. If you're going to dump one of the two cars, you're going to borrow the difference, either 12,000 or $15,000 per car. And then you got to go get a car.

So you're going to be, you know, like if you got rid of your Yukon, okay, you got to borrow 15 K to cover the whole $ thousand dollars for a hoopty so you're going to be 20k in debt instead of 50k in debt so you're going to move the needle about 30k on that which would move the needle about 10 months in this program so if you wanted to step all the way down you can be out of debt 10 months faster okay that an option. As long as your credit's clean enough to go do to borrow that money to get out of this thing. That's how you do it. But the, you know, again, it's just how much do I love these things? Do I love these things enough that I'm willing to have zero life for a little while? Yeah. And I'm the guy that goes with option B, Dave,

I've already realized I've made a bad purchase. I want to get it out of my life emotionally. I want to attack it. I'd rather drive a hoopty to remind me of my mistake. Now, that's just me. That's my approach. Either way works. Yeah. Either way, in four years, you're going to be back in a paid-for Nike Yukon.

Yeah, that's right. Either way. And there's nothing wrong with that. You step back, step back, then step in, or you just hang on, push through. Either one works with these numbers. It's a tough two years you're signing up for, really tough. And you and your husband got to lock arms and go, we don't do nothing but pay debt right now.

We're getting out. Game on. Game on. This is The Ramsey Show. Hey, folks, we want to say thank you to our listening audience. Last week we got some of the highest ratings in the show's 32-year history. Thank you very much for that. Our podcast numbers, our YouTube numbers, our radio numbers are all through the roof.

We really appreciate you out there. Thank you very, very much. And we could use your help. We continue to need your help. Spread the word for us. You can share the show. Click the share button on your platform or subscribe or follow. Those are big helps. help and we continue to need your help spread the word for us uh you can share the show click the share button on your platform or subscribe or follow those are big helps leaving a five-star

review is a big help it's uh we really appreciate you we weren't we don't own any football stadiums like sofa excuse me it's the allergies in the spring and the uh we don't own anything like that it's just you guys out there and we appreciate you tribe uh spread the word help us help us spread the word subscribe follow share let people know share them send them the link that kind of stuff dave and bobby are with us from kalamazoo michigan on the debt freeze scream welcome hi dave hey good. Good to have you guys. How much debt have you paid off? $230,000. $230,000.

How long did that take? 38 months is when we got focused. Love it. All right. And so your range of income in that three years and two months? We started at $140,000 and now we're currently at $240,000. Nice. Yeah. Very nice.

It's amazing what you can accomplish when you're enjoying your work. Yes. And what you can achieve. There you go. What do you do? I'm a project manager in the renewable energy field. And I'm a registered nurse. Very good.

Very good. So you brought that up. So what happened to the income? What drives it up 100K in three years? COVID. So, right, never waste a good crisis. And so during COVID, right, when everyone was kind of sheltered in, we were both kind of working, or I was mostly working a job I didn't really enjoy. And that's when I chose that time to start focusing on what I want out of life, especially with a career.

I used a lot of that time to start searching for jobs that made sense. A lot of employers were starting to offer remote work from home. I took advantage of that and was able to increase our income significantly. Good for you. And scary time for being a nurse, but you could make all the money you wanted to make, right? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the pay increase was definitely all him. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Way to go, you guys. guys congratulations so what kind of debt was the 230 000 that was our house you paid off your house we're weird looking at weird people how old are you two um i'm 48 yeah 38 and 41 in a paid four house what's the house worth uh about 440 I love it.

Very cool. And how much in your retirement accounts? We've got over $650,000, $700,000 in retirement. All right. So your millionaires are 40 years old. Woo-hoo! Way to go, you guys! Baby Steps Millionaires, I'm so proud of you.

Thank you. Very neat. Very neat. Man, that's impressive. Okay, $230, 000 is a lot in three years how in the world did you do that go ahead no i mean it was mostly him with a pay increase and i think we just were really motivated to sell off our um debt yeah yeah i mean we stuck to the budget right so that was that was obviously the. Um, we actually have been on the show before back in 2015, uh, when we did our first

debt-free screen with you, Dave, over at the other, uh, other location. And so, um, you know, obviously we experienced the gazelle intensity at that point. And then we took a little bit of time to what we decided to call appreciating life and having children. So actually we were just a couple of months pregnant when we were on your show. And so just a couple of weeks after that, we got a diagnosis. We had a 20-week ultrasound with our daughter. And we got the diagnosis that she was going to have some medical complications throughout her life. And because we were debt-free, though, at that point, we were able to focus on things that mattered the most and not really worry about having to clock in every, every

minute, um, to capture that paycheck. Um, so then we just kind of enjoyed life, um, expanded the family, bought a house. And then, um, you know, it wasn't until we started refocusing again, again, like I said, COVID, um, never waste a good crisis. We started looking back at, Hey, we were in a really good spot. We don't have any of these student loan debts. Well, everyone else is freaking out during COVID, right? And you have to do all that pausing of the student loans.

We didn't have to do any of that. We have to worry about that. We said, okay, look, there could be another crisis coming up at some point in life. Let's focus on getting this mortgage paid off. And then we never have to worry about anything like that again, right? Then we're in complete control. And that's where we came from. So, Bobby, go ahead.

I'm sorry, quick math, and I'm not very good at math, so double-check me on this. But basically, almost all of your raise, you just put it completely to the house. Is that what I'm understanding? Correct. No lifestyle creep. Yeah, no lifestyle creep at all. Which is really huge.

I mean, a lot of people don't do that when they get a raise. And you got a nice bump. I mean, it's a $100,000 bump, and you just you just said nope i'm putting it all to the house correct tremendous discipline yeah well i mean i've got i mean she's being modest but i mean i had her as my anchor for for all of this right and and focusing and then the kids too right every day i look at the kids and i'm trying we're trying to establish a future for them and that was a constant reminder so yeah that's impressive yeah very cool so you're 40 years old not yet i'm not he's not i'm glad yeah yeah yeah i round up yeah and so and you got a paid for house approaching a half million dollars you got over six hundred thousand dollars

in retirement how's that feel? It feels surreal. It's been a long journey for us. But, I mean, it feels great. I mean, the biggest thing is being prepared for the unexpected. Yeah. Yeah. That changed your issues and everything you dealt with the first child, changed your look on everything.

Yeah, 100%. You look at everything through a different lens after that,'t you yeah yeah and then and then just do a little overlay of a Fauci pandemic and now we got real we got real vision real clear vision yeah yeah yeah exactly good for y'all good for y'all thank you y'all are heroes yeah you're great moms and dads well thank you we try to be you are you know what you're the right kind of people. You're the people who give us hope for the future. That's right. Dave, I mean, we got to admit that we are human. So, right, in 2020, we refinanced to a 10-year note. It was 1.99%, right?

And so, yeah, that gets people excited, right? It's so low. And then now with interest rates with a high yield savings account at being over 4%, right? You're net positive as far as making money and beating the man and beating the system. And so there were a lot of months where we were saying, hey, listen,

let's just put the money in the bank instead of paying it towards the debt because we're gonna make a couple dollars extra. And then when you look at the math and it's not really that much, that's not life-changing money that we're making there, right? I mean, it's a couple hundred dollars a month. That's great, I would love to have that much, that's not life-changing money that we're, we're making there. Right. I mean, it's a couple of hundred dollars a month. That's great. I would love to have that, but it's not life-changing at all. And now people that are using that argument,

we can go around and say, well, you've got a 1.99% interest rate. That's great. We've got a 0%. So mic drop. Yeah. Yeah. I see your math and raise you more math. Yeah. Yeah. That's good. Don't be mathing with the math people. Yeah. Right. Very good.

Good job, you guys. Thanks. Very cool. All right. Bring the kiddos up. What are their names and ages? We have Peyton, who just turned eight on Friday. Wow. She's beautiful.

We have Everly, who's four, and Sawyer, who's six. Way to go. Oh, look look at that good looking kiddos well done well done you guys well we're proud of you congratulations heroes excellent job not only they pay off their home but their baby steps millionaires and he's not even 40 yet see there we go i got it in oh my god he's holding on i appreciate that's. That's it. All right. Dave and Bobby, Peyton, Sawyer, and Everly, Kalamazoo, Michigan. Proof it works if you'll work it. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream.

Three, two, one. We're debt-free! Yeah! Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo! I love it. That's about as good as it gets. Well, we've got a couple of every dollar subscription cards for them. One year subscription for free for them.

And they can give away a friend one year subscription because that's exactly how you get here. You know, Ken, no one accidentally wins the final four. Never does. No one accidentally wins the Final Four. Never does. No one accidentally wins the Super Bowl. It's a series of 1,000 cuts, death by 1,000 cuts, one element at a time, one movement at a time. And it's a series of intentional acts. And that's how they get to be where they are.

So that's what a budget is. It's doing it on purpose. And the Every Dollar Budget will help you do that. Dave and Bobby, way to go. You're heroes. This is The Ramsey Show. Our scripture of the day, Ecclesiastes 5.3. A dream comes with much business and a fool's voice with many words.

Elizabeth Elliott said, never pass up an opportunity to keep your mouth shut. It was like one of my teachers. It makes for bad radio. It makes for a bad show. But we should follow the advice. Dave, I feel like that was every report card I ever got in the elementary school. Oh, he talks too much in class. Dave talks too much.

Now he makes a living talking too much. Mike is in Tallahassee. Hey, Mike, welcome to too much in class. Dave talks too much. Now he makes a living talking too much. Mike is in Tallahassee. Hey, Mike, welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hey, thank you for taking time to talk with me. I appreciate it. Sure. What's up? Well, all right, so my question is, I'm a minister.

I'm over different ministries in our church. I'm not the head pastor, but I'm on staff. And I'm not the head pastor, but I'm on staff. Um, and, uh, I'm 37 now. Um, I haven't put a lot of money away for retirement. Uh, at the time when I graduated, um, uh, you know, a couple of, you know, not too long ago, I just got into ministry full of energy, full of life. Didn't think much about it. Um,'m 37. Praise God, I'm married. We have two kids. And I'm like, man, I realize I'm getting tired more, and I know that I need to put money away for retirement.

So I put away, I think, $24,000 now in a 403B with Guidestone, and I know it's not enough, and I know I need to do something different. So I'm just trying to figure out the best thing to do. I love my church. I don't want to leave or nothing what do you make on the best what do you make on your pastor salary uh so i'm so after taxes it's 888 37 okay a week and is your wife uh home with the children no she was just a nurse she makes about the same. She makes $800 a week, so like $45,000 a year. Yeah, I think that's after taxes are taken out. So I think I'm about $53,000 maybe.

Okay, and she makes what? I think she makes about $70,000 maybe. So that's a household income of like 120 000 a year yes you guys are going to be okay what is she's putting away she's um she's i think she's maxing it out right now um uh what she can do and you have no debt on our beds uh we have just our house and uh i paid off on i have a master's got my dad i got that paid off um uh just just our house maybe you know we have like an interest-free you know couch and bed or something yeah maybe two thousand dollars that we're paying off you know uh sounds like you're not very involved in the money. Well, we have a car, too.

A car debt? I think my Jeep has $18,000. Okay, that's pretty substantial. Yeah. Other than that, no. All right, the first thing, all right, Proverbs says, be diligent to know the state of your flocks and herds. Solomon wrote that in an agrarian economy when flocks and herds

would have been any representation of wealth that one had. So be diligent to know the status of your money is what that says, Pastor. then flocks and herds would have been any representation of wealth that one had. So be diligent to know the status of your money is what that says, Pastor. So the first thing I want you guys to do is you and your wife to sit down and say, this exactly is our income. This exactly is how much I owe on the Jeep. It's exactly how much we owe on the stupid furniture bill. And the borrower is slave to the lender, and I don't want to be slave anymore. So the first thing we're going to do is we're going to clean up this debt. Do you have any savings

other than your Gladstone? I have, we have about 9,000 in savings account. Okay. Then we're going to sit down. I'm going to send you a book called The Total Money Makeover that's going to walk you step by step through how to apply biblical financial principles to your situation. Okay. Okay. The first thing we're going to do is clear off all the debt except the home and keep $1,000 in the bank.

We don't want to be below that then once the debt is all gone and you should do that pretty quickly with your income then you should be able to build an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses because in the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil representation of wealth in other words wise people save money um and of course we're going to have a detailed written plan because jesus said don't build a tower without first counting the cost lest you get halfway up and you're unable to finish and all who see you begin to mock you. So we're going to have a plan. The mind of man plans his ways, the Lord directs his steps. These are all familiar to you, right? Oh, yes, sir. Oh, yes.

Okay. So my point being that God's given you a pretty good handbook on how to do this. We'll give you some ways to apply the ancient scriptures, which, oddly enough, are common common sense to your situation and help you clear through this and then get your retirement going with making the money you're making. You should be debt free and have your retirement going in about a year, year and a half. And you should really have a good, clear vision about where you're going, because where there is no vision, the people perish. We're going to have an exact, detailed dream in high definition laid out.

And then the next time I ask you numbers, it's not going to be, I think, I don't know, maybe, sort of. You're going to know where you are, and you're going to clean the freaking mess up you made so that you can get on with having a good, high-quality life because you guys make $120,000 a year. There's no reason you should be broke or retire broke, none whatsoever. You've got the ability to do that. So I'll put you, I'll tell you what, I'm going to do better than that. Go ahead and put him just all the way through Financial Peace University. He's a pastor trying to make it out there. We'll help him. Just go through Financial Peace University and put him in the every dollar premium, so the whole package, so we can, we'll just love on him and help him and um mike you're a good man

yeah you know it reminded me when i was a kid uh we'd watch saturday morning cartoons that's how old i am it'll age me but there was always this public service measures message about knowing is half the battle it was just they it was just this little little commercial they'd run knowing is half the battle and in this case knowing what well they would tell you some just best basic fact oh it was a little factoid yeah you know just in between commercials but the point i'm making is is that in his case and i think in all of our cases when it comes to really getting control of our money you got to know what your situation is before you can fix it and he was a classic situation we're not picking on him at all but just not a clear picture himself of of what their

reality is. And getting clear on that all of a sudden allows us to go, Oh, now, now we can actually see a path to the future. And we took our four wheelers up in the mountain and the, um, the roads were a little unclear to say the least. And, uh, I was real glad the GPS thing said you are here, right? You got to know where you are before you can know how to get there. That's exactly. And you are here. Oh, based on that, I can turn left up here and I'll be okay and not get my throat slit

up here somewhere. That's exactly right. That's exactly right. Yeah. Yeah. Wind up in a deliverance. Get out of this neighborhood. Yeah.

Oops. Yeah. You are here. You got to first know where you are and this is how you get out of the mess you gotta first know where you are and then know where to go next right you are here so get and then and then dream in high definition like your high def television real high detail exactly this is what i want it to smell like this is what i want to feel like five years from now 10 years from now i want to be in this situation i want to be when i get in that car i want to feel like five years from now 10 years from now i want to be in this situation i want to be when i get in that car i want to feel that i want to feel a different

feeling than i feel right now in this hoopty you know i want i want you want to lay it all out in detail and this is how i want it to be when i'm holding walking my grandson down the street and he's four you know and you can look out there in the future in detail. This is how I want it. This is where we want to do it. This is the feel of the, how we want family to look like and all that. And that, that then gives you very clear motivation because you immediately, your brain immediately starts saying, now, what have I got to do to get there? That's right. So here's a fun little thing. Clarity leads to confidence, and then confidence leads to courage, the courage to actually be gazelle intense, the courage to take the comments and the snide remarks from friends and family, the courage to live completely like no one else, as Dave has said for decades. drilled this into all of us here in what we're offering to every one of you in the area of money and work and relationships is a clear path because clarity is the key to everything. Yep. Ken Coleman, that puts this hour of the Ramsey Show in the books. We'll be back with

you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Dave here. You want to hear even more life-changing content from Ramsey? Download the Ramsey Network app so you can catch all your favorite shows all in one place like the Ramsey Show, Smart Money Happy Hour, and the Dr. John Deloney Show. You'll get real talk about life, relationships, money, and your career. Plus, the app lets you browse by topic like debt, business, or selling your home. Get the content you want whenever and wherever you want to listen. Download the Ramsey Network app today.