The Ramsey Show - Wealth Gives You the Freedom To Make Your Own Choices

Episode Date: October 29, 2024

📱Watch the full episode for free in the Ramsey Network app. Jade Warshaw & Ken Coleman answer your questions and discuss: "I'm $2.5M in debt, what can I do?" "How do I talk to my family about money?" "Should I use my savings to buy my wife a car?" "Do I need to invest 15% if I have a pension?" "I'm afraid that AI and robots will take my job" Support Our Sponsors: 🌱 Get 10% off your first month of BetterHelp 🏥 Learn more about Christian Healthcare Ministries 🏡 Get started today with Churchill Mortgage 🏦 Go to FAIRWINDS Credit Union for an exclusive account bundle! 🥗 Save 15% on your first Field of Greens order with code RAMSEY 💤 Visit Helix Sleep for special offers! 💻 Visit NetSuite today to learn more 🗂️ Use promo code RAMSEY for18% off at The Nokbox 🏛Get started with YRefy or call 844-2-RAMSEY 🔐 Visit Zander Insurance for your free instant quote today! Next Steps 📞 Have a question for the show? Call 888-825-5225 Weekdays from 2-5pm ET or click here! 📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a Free Personalized Plan 🏖️ Invest in Your Future With a SmartVestor Pro ❓ Reconnect with the NEW Questions For Humans Conversation Cards: Intimacy, Couples, Friends, Parents & Kids Editions  🚢 The Live Like No One Else Cruise is booking fast!  💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app! 🎟️ Get tickets to our NEW Money & Marriage Date Night virtual event  ✅ Shop the right coverage based on your individual needs 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 Ramsey Solutions is a paid, non-client promoter of SmartVestor Pros. Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy

From the Ramsey Network, it's the Ramsey Show. I'm Jade Warshaw. Next to me is one of my favorite guys out there, Ken Coleman. Hello everybody. Hosting the show together. Hey, we're talking about your life, your money. We'll throw in careers. Ken is the resident career guide. I will help you with the money. You might have some relationship issues. You can toss those in as well. The number is 888-8255-225. Call us up. We'll get you on the line. Let's dig right in. We've got Tyler. He's in Charlotte,

North Carolina. What's going on, Tyler? Hey, how are y'all? We're doing good. How can we help today? So I have about two and a half million in debt between mortgages short-term Different car loans stuff like that I'm aggressively paying off kind of all the all the debt except for the mortgages currently Okay, and I'm just trying to see, and I should have that done in about a year, so a year and a half based on the way I would set up.

And I'm just trying to see if I should make bigger changes and try to attack everything a little bit more aggressively and get it paid off sooner. Yeah. Let's roll it back. Or if I could just kind of continue the way I'm going. Let's roll back and see where this lies. Cause when you first tell me

I have two and a half million dollars of debt, my, my, my pulse quickens. But then when you mentioned real estate, I thought, okay, that makes this a little different. So tell me about the real estate. Can you just go by property by property and I'll ask you about each one. So the first property you have, is it a rental? I'm guessing.

Yeah. So first one was a duplex. It's worth about 260,000. I have about 158,000'm guessing. Yeah. So first one was a duplex. It worked about 260,000. I have about 158,000 on it. So I'm going to pay about $1,500. Yeah, I'm going to pay about $1,300. Income is about $2,150. Okay. So let's go to the next one.

Single-family $270,000 asset value at about a hundred and fifty nine Payment a thousand income seven fifty seventeen fifty. Okay in the next one Worth about three ten debt two hundred thousand Payments fourteen eighty one income twenty two hundred. Okay, is there more Yeah Another single family that one. we're actually actually trying to sell. We have on Airbnb currently is worth about 540 debt, 460 payment, 3,600 and income about the same. I think after everything said no, we'll probably lose them up 500 a month on

that one. Okay. Anything after that? Number five. Yeah. We have a, we have a we have a duplex value 360,000 debt 205 payments about 1460 income 2800. Okay, anything else you want to keep going on? Yeah, it's quite a few more. Oh, gosh. Okay, well instead of going through these, here's what I would do if I were in your situation. I don't like that you're carrying two and a half million dollars of debt. And I love that you love real estate and I love that you want to get into real estate. Here we would teach a way to do that that's in cash and it would be

you paying off your debt first and saving up to buy cash, you're you've gone far beyond that. And it is true that some of these may be good investments for you, but not at the tune of you being in two and a half million dollars of debt. So what I would do if I were in your shoes is I'd list them all out and I'd say, which ones can I sell off in order to clear this debt out? And are there a few that in the end that I'll be able to keep that do you know create some income for me? Because how many do you have total? It's 18 units total but we have a Mortgages how many mortgages? Nine, mortgages count in the personal property, one that's paid off.

So yeah what I would do is try to get right side up on this and figure out which ones Nine. Okay. More discount in the personal property. Okay. One that's paid off. So. We're flipping. Yeah. What I would do is try to get right side up on this and figure out which ones can I sell that are going to bring the right amount of profit in order for me to clear out this debt. Have you sat down to kind of figure that out yet? Well, the problem with doing that, I mean, I've thought about that in the past, but being

that pretty much every one of these are make a pretty good income after the debt. When I factor in selling them off to pay off the other ones, reduces the income pretty substantially. Is this your only income? It's not as much income as you think. Your margins per house are actually not impressive. And I'm not saying that to be unkind.

I'm saying that because I agree with Jade. And I think the best play here is to actually get rid of the duplexes. I sell the duplexes today. Those are just bad investments in my opinion. But the point is, I think Jade's right. You can still come out of this thing on top. You got enough equity in these homes,

just as you were listing through these, that if you sell X amount, so I would take, I'm making this up. Let's say you got eight properties, I'd take the best four. I'd start there and go, what are the absolute best four properties if you're looking long term, Tyler? And I think you probably know some of these are better than others, true or false? Mm-hmm. Okay. So once you've paid those off, as Jay told you, now it's straight profit. But on some of these you were listing, you're like, well, my mortgage is a thousand,

I'm making 17.50. That's $750 gross times 12. That's about 10 grand, a little over 10 grand. And that's actually gross. That's after your expenses and taking care of things. All I'm saying is, is that you're gonna be better off with Jay's plan, because now you're actually making a sizable chunk and you don't owe any debt and you have no risk.

I'd get out of this now. I mean, the truth, what Ken is saying is right on, and I don't say this to be condescending in any way, but the truth is, revenue minus expenses equals profit. And you're in debt, you're in the red because you owe two and a half million. It would be very different if you're carrying all these properties and you're like,

Jade, I've got, and don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I'd be a proponent to this, but if you're like, hey, I'm carrying all this debt, but because of the way it's cash flowing, I'm in the green two and a half million, but you're in the red. So these are not good investments for you. What signals a good and healthy business is profit.

And so what you're saying, you're cash flowing, it's not actually profit. It is, what really should be happening is you need to be filtering back then in that end to pay off the debt. And so for that reason, yeah, what Ken said, what I said before is your way out of this. I want you in the green and I want you doing deals that that end with a net profit and that's not what's taking place here

Could four of these pay off the other four just gut check real quick Well, I have so there's two about if I take my personal property out of here that reduces it down to about So there's two. If I take my personal property out of here, that reduces it down to about $1.75 million in mortgages. And then the value would be somewhere around $2.7 million. So we have about a million dollars in value. Man, okay. So let me paint a different picture for you.

Let's just real numbers. Okay. Let's say that you now have a million dollars. A million dollars. And now you're paying off your personal home, no debt in your life at all, and now you get real cash flow plus cash. Why is that not the better play in your mind? Zero risk.

Yeah, and your place is paid. Yeah, like is that not a better vision? If you don't agree, you just have to what? You're acting like this is impossible. Well, the thing is we crumbled, we just crumbled your empire. Like I sense that, you know, you have, you've acquired this over time.

Yeah, but those four are gonna spit off how much? That's what I'm trying to get you to. Let's say you were left with four houses. You got cash, plus they're spitting off, you know, the four left are gonna spit off what? How much per month? I would have to see which ones the best here but if I yeah I mean just off the top of my head probably looking at like if I just say three they equal up close to that it'd probably be somewhere around I don't know six thousand,000 or so. Okay, but that's real money now.

That's 72 grand in the clear. Not paying any debt. You'll have some expenses on that. Yeah, the truth is, Ken is right, if there's anything good about any of these investments, you should be able to sell off some of them, pocket some cash, get your residence paid for, and keep some of the properties.

That's what should be happening here. If for some reason you can't sell these to clear the debt, then something really is wrong. This is the Ramsey Show. You've been working the Ramsey Plan and you've made real progress. But if something happened to you tomorrow, would your loved ones be able to access all the account info you've got stored on your computer, phone, or even scraps of paper, KnockBox can help. That's KnockBox. N-O-K-E-A-S-I-N-Next-of-Kin. Box is a complete system that organizes your important documents, accounts, IDs, tax returns,

insurance policies, estate plans, and other personal history in one secure place to help protect what you have worked for. So ditch the thumb drives and file cabinets and organize your digital and paper files with KnockBox. You'll leave memories not a mess. Get your family's KnockBox today at knockbox.com slash ramsey that's n-o-k knockbox.com slash Ramsey. That's n ok box.com slash Ramsey. You are listening to the Ramsey Show. I'm Jade Warshaw. Next to me is best selling author Ken Coleman, host of the Ken Coleman show. If you don't know about Ken Coleman, you need to get on it because he offers a lot of things that you need in your career and professional life. Also, if you want to call in and have questions about your professional life, he's the guy that's going to help you out. I'll help you with the money. The number

is 888-8255-225. If you didn't know it's a live show. So if you want your question answered, call in right now. Okay. We've got Matthew in Springfield, Massachusetts. What's going on Matthew? Not much Jade, how you doing? How you guys doing? Good, how are you? Good, thank you. I'm calling in because I am curious how to go about having the conversation with my little brother on paying on his parent plus loan. Okay, There's a lot going, you're not even third party, you're like fourth party on this, right?

Yeah, I've been listening to you guys for about a year now and I've had a couple of family members come to me with money advice just from listening to you guys and kind of what direction to go and then some people are like, ah, you're crazy. I mean, what makes you feel like you're the guy to talk to your little brother about paying for the parent plus loan

that your parents took out? Tell me more about that. Why you feel you need to step in? Just... He would listen to me more. He doesn't really see eye to eye with my parents. We don't really talk to him that much. He comes home here and there.

But other than that communication is minimal. Okay. I mean, the truth is when I'm looking at Ken's face, I wouldn't touch this with a 10 foot pole. It's not your battle to fight. That's right. And in case and point, I tried to talk to my younger brother about his parentless loans. Oh, you did? I did.

How'd that go? It didn't go. It did not go. And were you close with him and are you close with him? Yeah. So this is a strange relationship. Listen, I'm a Ramsey personality and he didn't even listen to me.

So that's my point is you gotta let people fight their battles. If your parents want your little brother to pay the loan, they need to talk to him. Did they come to you on this, or did they passive aggressive kind of drop some things around you to where you felt this burden?

No, it's just the family member comes to me and talks about it. And... Yeah, which family member? It's my mother. So you said no, but the answer was yes. She straight up dropped it on you kind of passively, aggressively griping about it. And you felt like, all right, I'll take up the cause because you're a good son.

I mean, thank you for the good son part. But it's just talking to him between the two of them. She tries to talk to him and he gets very upset, almost triggered essentially and wants nothing to do with the loan. Well, let's let's find out and I let's make it clear this is fourth party information, but to your recollection, when the loan was taken out, did they talk to him and say, hey, we're signing for this loan, But it's up to you to pay it back Did they say that? Yes, he was oh well. It's just my dad didn't sign. It was just between my mom and my brother

Mm-hmm, and it was to go to a school that Mom and the brother signed it or just the mom both okay signed on it. Um, and then she had told him he should come back to a college in the area that was much cheaper. And he continued to disagree. But again, at the time we weren't listening to you guys and, um, well here's the truth. Here's the truth. And I'm not suggesting you get involved in it, but just in case your brother

or your mom happens to listen to this call, the truth is a co-signer is in place when the first party is deemed unfit to pay the loan. That's the truth. And so a lot of times a parent plus loan comes into place where it's like, hey, you've already maxed out the other loan options available to you. We're not going to loan you any more money just on you. So now you've got to get a parent to sign or, you know, vice versa.

And so the truth is, if you sign the loan, you know, if as the parent, you're kind of the one on the hook for it. That's the truth. Now I get it. And that's why I asked if there was some, some, something that they worked out in the beginning. But the truth is you really don't know the nature of all the conversations that have taken place between the two of them. You know what your mom has said. Obviously there's something that's triggering your brother.

And if I were you, I ain't in it. That's what I would say is, hey, you guys figure this out between the two of you. I hope you can come to amends on this, but mom, please leave me out of it. Brother, please leave me out of it. That's what I'd be saying. Ken Coleman?

Yeah, if you called and said, how should I go about it? I'm with you. I wouldn't do it. Because now the tension between your mom and him, now you're getting in the middle of that and now it's on you. I would stay out, that's choice A. However, if you wanna talk to him,

I think you got one shot and this is what I would do. You only get one shot, do not miss a chance. Got one shot, thank you with the M&M, she's always there for me. Thankfully, this time she made a music reference that I understand, usually I'm like the old boomer, like what, what you talking about? You're done good, Ken.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. If I was going to do it, which I wouldn't, but if I was, I would take the high road and what I mean by that is, hey listen, mom dropped this on me in the conversation. It's none of my business. Like this? Liking the caveats? Uh-huh. But as your brother, you know, and I don't want to see you and mom have this fight. You all got to figure this out.

But I'm telling you, you owe it to them, to mom. You owe it to mom. You signed on the line. You went to the school you wanted to go to. I'm not going to belabor this, I'm not going to belittle you, I'm not gonna judge you, but I'm just gonna say, bro, you're gonna regret this if this becomes a big issue between you and mom when you're an old guy.

So I'm just saying, I think you need to step up and fix this with mom and take your responsibility. And then I'd walk away. I think you just at that point, you're trying to say, man, I just think this is best for you and mom. You did sign up for this. I'm not going to bring this up anymore. I'm not going to bring it up anymore.

And I'd walk. This is why I hate them because the truth is, can you write? If you're listening to this, you have a parent plus loan. If you can, let's, let's, let's play out a couple of scenarios here. If your parents are in their 70s, they're in debt, there's no way they're going to pay this thing. In both of you signed for it. The truth is, it's going to affect your credit, like they could literally pass away and it's still going to go to you

because you're signed on it too. And so that's one way this plays out, which is in the end, it's going to you because you're signed on it too. And so that's one way this plays out, which is in the end, it's gonna fall on you anyway. If both of your names are on it, then there's some situations where only the parent signed the loan. And if that's the case, it's like, listen, if you don't plan on paying this,

you took it out all in your name, it's all on you, truly the student has no need to go in there and fund that. And then there's the situations where it's like, hey, we spoke about this ahead of time. And we said, hey, if we sign the 60, you pay it back. And if that's the case, you have to make good on what you said you were going to do, regardless of whose name it's in. If you make an agreement, you should hold up your end of the bargain. So there's a lot here. There is. I'm going to bring one more scenario because I think this is very likely. There's regardless of whose name it's in, if you make an agreement, you should hold up your end of the bargain. So there's a lot here. There is, and I'm gonna bring one more scenario

because I think this is very likely. There's a scenario where the brother is sitting at a graveside service. Ooh, Ken. And he's broken, and he's dealing with an almost unbearable weight that he let this create a division and things are left unsaid

all because of a commitment that he made. I just think the regret on this will be almost unbearable. I hear that. I just, I think you have to talk real, real about this. This is where this ends up. Yeah, but the brother, the party who's, the two parties who signed need to talk. That's right.

This is not sideways conversations. Yeah, it's not on our friend who called us, Matthew. Yeah, so the moral of the story here, guys, is parent plus loans, don't do it. And I'll tell you a real story. Ken, I went to school on full ride scholarship, but I went a fifth year and my scholarship didn't cover the fifth year.

And I remember asking my dad to sign a Parent PLUS loan for me. Do you know what he said? No. No. Good man. He said no. He's like, I'm not signing that loan. So it's okay to say no. And just know that if you sign something with somebody,

you're connected for life. And if they don't pay, it's on you. And if you don't pay, it's on them. Parents, this is not a gift. Signing debt to your child is not a gift. It creates strain and strife and contention and all of these things. So do not do it, find other ways. And if you're dealing with this situation, you need to have open and honest

conversations with your parents about it and figure out a plan forward. And both of you hold up your end of the bargain. This is the Ramsey Show. about it and figure out a plan forward. And both of you hold up your end of the bargain. 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. 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 gonna pay my bills in the middle? How am I gonna eat next week? Yeah, in the middle of all that grief.

Like it's just, it is, it's terrible. So life insurance is the one thing, especially as a mom with three little kids that I'm like so big on for people to get because it's inexpensive. Xander is the place that Winston and I actually get all of our life insurance. And it doesn't cost much

because Xander shops among a gazillion different companies. It doesn't cost much. You just have to admit that someday you're not gonna be here. You got to say it out loud and you got to say I'm gonna say I love you to my family by taking care of them and taking the time to put this stuff in place. It costs to a stinking pizza. To get a free quote call 800-356-4282. That's 800-356-4282 or go to zander.com. You're listening to the Ramsey Show. I'm Jay. Next to me is Ken Coleman.

And here at Ramsey Solutions, we have a wonderful debt free stage. People come here all the time to give their debt free scream. And Ken, something very cool is happening right now. I think it's cool It will be cool, but it's strange. It is strange for us because our two friends and colleagues No, don't give it away. Don't give it away Ken. I stopped. I got a yes, ma'am I stopped build up that we discussed was see now everybody's wondering who am I talking about? This is the first time we've had a non married couple. That's right on the debt-free stage

I know it's why it's kind of cool and weird. Okay, so now, in keeping with the theme, let's do the big reveal. We are not a couple. Ayo! But! Do you know those voices? That is the one, the only, the graceful, the incomparable Rachel Cruz, Yes. joined on the debt-free stage by...

It's Beauty and the Beast. Yes. Joined on the debt-free stage by It's Beauty and the Beast. Yes. They got throughout the mold. He is the one, the only doctor, John Deloney. It's kind of sad that we're all separated by glass. By glass wall. I feel like you and I have a virus maybe. We do. And they cut us away from everybody.

Yes, we're contaminated. But tell us why you're on the stage. I mean, we just had a really great weekend. Tell us about it. So yeah, we just got off of money marriage weekend here where 600 plus couples came from all over the country and actually all over North America that came from Canada too And it was an amazing weekend and we are having a money marriage event tonight a live stream event, okay

This is virtual so we knew not everyone could travel to Nashville for having multiple days here because you know life it's expensive There's kids. Yeah, so we did want to create an experience for couples out there that can't make it here live So we were like well a few days after the big event Let's just do a virtual night kind of a mini and I can still sign up you can still sign up right so And it's only 49 bucks Like you spend more on that on a couple apps. Yeah. These days, couple appetizers.

App set, on the plate. Oh, I was like, food? I thought you meant on your phone. Sorry, I meant at dinner, I'm thinking date night. I'm thinking tonight's a virtual date night. It is, yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes. And if you miss it tonight,

we're actually going to still have it live. So you can still go and purchase a ticket and still watch it after tonight. But we're gonna be live at seven o'clock central time. All right. What are you covering? Because the marriage, the money marriage weekend is a extravaganza over multiple days. You got to shrink it into one night. What'd you choose to cover? What are they going to experience? I think we're going to be talking specifically to the chaos that everybody feels in their

house right now. We have an election coming up and what you're talking about. My house is serene. Exactly. Mine is too. It's just like a walking pack in my house. But, we have an election coming up. I don't know what you're talking about, my house is serene. Exactly, mine is too, it's just like a walking tassel in my house. But there's chaos in everybody's house, there's just an electricity in there, and we're heading into the holiday season, right? So how do you keep your family intact,

both psychologically and emotionally, and just have some joy, it's the holidays coming up. It's marriage and money, are you talking about S-E-X? There will be some of that, we're talking about some in-laws, and not together. Not together. That was an acronym. I didn't get that.

Yeah. So choices, making wise choices in life is important. So John's talking about that. I'll be talking about budgeting, your money, your time. So again, it's kind of the pro-activeness going into the season that we're going in when you're a married couple. So how do you do that well? Should couples, here comes the fastball.

Come on, Ken. Should couples budget time for the SEX? Yes. And if you're talking about special exotic xylophones, no. But if you're talking about- I wasn't, but now you've got me thinking about it. Well, you're talking about acronyms. Unfortunately.

But yes, you should budget time for joy, you should budget time for sex, you should budget time for sex. You should budget time for everything. And Rachel's going to cover that tonight and more. Okay. Speaking of budgeting time, if I'm going to sign up for this money and marriage virtual night, how much time should I budget to watch it? How long is the event going to be? We're gonna throw out hour and a half. Yeah, hour and a half, two hours. Okay, sounds good. So there'll be some live Q&A too.

So if you're there live watching, we be answering your questions and so they can ask questions Yeah, and I mean it's sold really well we're excited so they'll be it there'll be a lot of people watching all over Wow, so what you're telling us is we make a plate of nachos we get some drinks we set it up on the big screen Yeah, we just enjoy and let's be honest, it's a Tuesday night. What do you people have going on on a Tuesday night? Let's be clear, we don't talk to exciting people because we're not exciting people. We're not.

So what else would you have tonight? Take a night off from the election drama. Oh, 100%. Just pause the Netflix series. Yeah, that's what I'm getting at. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then tune us in. And hopefully we will help, right? So it'll be entertaining. It's gonna be Yeah, that's what I'm getting at. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then tune us in. And hopefully we will help, right?

So it'll be entertaining. It's gonna be fun. It's gonna be a blast. Okay guys, tickets are $49. Get yours at ramsysolutions.com slash events. And again, if you can't watch it tonight, you can still sign up and watch it whenever you're ready. You can click the link in description

if you're listening on YouTube or podcast. Rachel, John, thanks for coming and hanging out with us. It's good to see you on the other side of the glass. I feel like James we need before we let him go. I feel I'm calling an audible. James told me I need to get rid of them. Shouldn't they scream something? Oh no.

We're not married. We're not married. Okay, three, two, one, we're not married. And then you're out here. All right, count it down. I'm a bad screamer. I am married though. But you're not married to each other. That's right. I like Rachel's thing. Go ahead, count it down. I'm a bad script. I am married though. But you're not married to each other.

That's right. I like Rachel's thing. Go ahead, count it down. Three, two, one, we're not married to each other. Three, two, one, we're not married to each other. That was pathetic. All right, get out of here. All right, we went with it.

We did the sound effects. That was a great freedom. That was fantastic. Thank you for Winston Cruz, we love you. Yes, and Sheila. We did the whole thing, sound effect, everything, and they literally just, they didn't even give it a college try. Well, you know, sometimes people do do their debt-free

scream and it's kind of like, we're debt-free. And you're like, what's happening right now? Well, that's their style. That is their style, yes. That's their style. Just to wrap this crazy segment up, yes, Marriage and Money is doing a virtual event tonight. It's a marriage date night.

You can sign up, it's 49 bucks. RamseySolutions.com events. If you can't attend tonight, still sign up. It'll be available for you to continue to enjoy. Okay, after that, Ken, we need to go to the phone. I think it's time to help somebody. Knoxville, Tennessee is where John is. What's going on, John? Hey guys, how's it going? We're great. How can we help? So I got married about two years ago. Five months ago, we had our first baby. We moved into a bigger house. Expenses are up, incomes a little stagnant. And she, the wife is talking to me that we need a new car. And I've spent all my 20s saving my pennies. And I'm worried about opening up the cookie jar.

I love the way you're setting this call up, John. I think this is great. It's very delicate. But he's laying it out, though. He's done. John has no capacity for more expenses, Jay. Okay, John. What's the current vehicle situation? Let's see if this is warranted. What's going on with the cars right now? Mine's probably 13 years old. It's got 105,000 miles

on it. I bought my first property about a mile from my work, so I wouldn't put a bunch of miles on it. It's paid off? Oh yeah, it's paid off. It's been paid off for eight years kind of thing. Hers, we've got four months, maybe five left on it. And hers is relatively newer. It's a 2017 Honda Accord, but she wants something bigger to haul the baby around. What is your car? Mine is a Kia Optima 2012. Is that a car or an SUV? That's a car. Okay. It's a car. Yeah. Okay it's not so her Accords still has payments is she in her mind is she thinking hey I want to roll this into another car payment and get the van I want or is she thinking hey

Let's let's get out of this and pay cash for something. What's her plan? So, I mean it would be probably turning my car in because it's kind of dinged up and old and me taking her car and me purchasing the next vehicle. How much? Okay, let's figure out if that can work. What do you owe? What's the balance on the accord?

She's got three or four more months of payment. And what does that equal to? I think it's $500 a month. So she has like two grand left on it. Okay, so it's got about two grand left. And then what do you have in savings? That's not emergency fund because this is not an emergency. Yeah, probably 500,000 something like that in non retirement savings.

Yes, non retirement. Why are we talking? Go buy a car John. You're you got half a million in savings and cash. You better loosen up those purse strings. What do you make? What do you make a year? Mama wants a minivan.

What do you make every year? We wants a minivan. What do you make every year? We make, together we make 160. Okay, so don't spend more than half of that. Your two vehicles combined do not need to be any more than half of your take home pay. Go get this woman a car and pay cash. Now. This is the Ramsey Show.

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all of that good stuff. Ken Coleman is my cohost today. Talking about your life, your money, your careers, your relationships. The number is simple, 888-825-5225 gets you in. We've got Sarah who's in Houston, Texas. Let's go. What's going on, Sarah? Hi, I am a stay at home mom.

And my husband and I don't have any debt other than our mortgage and we live on a budget. Um, but it's pretty tight. And I find every time I'm saving money, I ended up dipping into that. Um, my, my question is, my husband has a pension cause he works for the city. Um, but we also give to a different investment account like for retirement just in case the pension gets mismanaged. And I'm just wondering if we're overdoing it. And well, tell us the numbers. What percentage goes, what percentage goes to his pension

and what percentage are you guys putting aside in the additional investment accounts? So 12% goes to the pension and I think it's almost it's almost 15% goes to the 457. Wow okay um typically what we would say is treat the pension like half so maybe in this case you could treat it like six percent and then you do the other nine percent to another investment account that you have more control over. So in that way you could pull back and I think having that extra six percent would help things feel less tight, yeah? Yes, for sure. Yeah. And then maybe help us save for kids college a little bit easier. Let's talk about income. So it feels like you guys are pretty good at the budget and it's just an income issue. Obviously, you're stay at home and that's the season of life and it's a great choice.

What is he making and what does he do for the city? He is a firefighter and his income varies with overtime. So it's about 5,000 a month, I think is our average. So what other skills does he have, experience does he have that's transferable? Because one of the things about a fireman's schedule is he's got those three on, four off, or whatever it ends up being.

And so he's got, my point is, he's got a really unique situation where he's got some downtime or he could be making some money. And this is not necessarily something he has to do for the rest of his life, but certainly in this season, where it's just one income,

adding some more income right now, I think is a must for where it's just one income, adding some more income right now I think is a must for you guys. Number one to have some margin because you guys are disciplined. So imagine how much more progress you guys could make financially given your discipline if you had more coming in. You tracking with me? Yes I think I feel like the time off gets sucked up with things like fixing cars and fixing the house. That's when he comes back and is part of the household. I get that. All I'm saying is I get that but that's still a choice. Yeah. You guys have got to make choices right now. You got little ones, you're trying to save for them and

you're gonna have to make a choice. What's most important? I can see one day a week, he messes around with an old car or something like that. That's a hobby, I'm all about hobbies. I got my hobbies, and they are religious for me. Okay, because I need them. Well, but fixing the cars is more that we drive old cars

that need fixing all the time. But again, more money means better cars. More money means investing for the kids' colleges or their future education. How old are the kids? They range from 12 to one. Ooh, mama! How many do you have?

Four. Oh boy. You know what? I'm not gonna lie, Sarah. When I first started talking, I said, Sarah sounds stressed. Yeah. And you are stressed.

I am. You're doing a great job though, to Ken's point. Yeah, you're doing great. You guys have got a handle on the budget. I love that. What I really love is that when I ask you direct questions about the numbers, you knew them, which lets me know you're on top of this.

That's right. And I think Ken is right, if there's a way to bring in a little bit more money to bring some breathing room into the situation, it would probably help you guys out over time. I'm not sure what that is, but I think that there's some margin to make that happen. Either way though, I think dropping that,

investing down by 6% and taking advantage of the pension that is there, I think that's gonna give you guys the breathing room that you're looking for. All right. By the way, just a quick follow up on this for anybody that feels like they're in this situation. What I would do is reverse engineer this thing and go how much more money,

this is for people who know their budget like she does. How much more money net to our household budget every month would take us beyond just some breathing room, but would be like, ooh, we got some momentum with this amount of money. So if that number's 500 for some of you, get after it. That's six grand a year, gross. These are all gross numbers.

So I'd like to see in this situation, a fireman like this, he's got some skill. I'd like to see him aim for 25 to 30 grand additional income a year. Once you pay taxes on that, that's gonna more than give them breathing room and actually allow them to make progress. That's right.

This is the way I think you have to separate this out so it doesn't feel so overwhelming. Like, oh, I gotta get another job. Well, listen, for a season, yeah, you need to bring in an additional 25 grand, but we don't focus on the work. We focus on what the freedom, what are the options as a result of more money, more money. I'm going to tell you something, I know a lot of rich people and I can break it down to this.

You know what rich people have? Tell me. Freedom. Options. All kinds of options to do whatever the flip they want, whenever they want. And so we don't have to aim for that. We're not keeping up with the Joneses. I'm simply saying that if you talk to wealthy people,

what they love most about being wealthy is not the actual money. It's options, choices. And they've got some very clear things, choices. They wanna give their kids choices for education. So if that's the issue, I got to bring in some more income in their situation because they're already tight and they're living discipline.

So that's half the battle. That is half the battle. That's good, that's good, Ken. I mean, luckily for them, they don't have any debt besides their mortgage, but even with that to make the progress to pay this off quickly, it's going to be. Yeah, so let's play your point out.

So now let's take, let's say they an extra money and it takes care of the kids education futures. But then you got this sweet couple that's worked really hard and they've been great parents, great Americans. Well they want something left over too when they get to 65. That's right. So that additional 25 don't get me started with you and your investment calculator. I know. You start plugging in those numbers for themselves, and all of a sudden now they've got a really, really comfortable retirement options when you're old.

Yeah, this is very true. And let's talk about this in a bigger picture because Sarah kind of hit on something that I think a lot of people feel. They're in baby step four, and there is kind of this feeling like, once I hit baby step four, like there should be no, it should, there should be no tight feeling anymore.

I should be able to just go and, and sometimes people hit baby step four and they're not feeling that freedom, that options that you're talking about. And the truth is, some of it can be income, like they're facing here. Some of it can be a season of life, because if you're, she's a stay-at-home

mom, but if you've got two kids in daycare, if you've got kids in private school, Ken, there's different things that can put strain on your budget and baby step four that is just for a season and if you can decide, hey we're going to side hustle for a little while, you will come to that point where there's a clearing in the woods. You know what I'm saying? And you'll be able to. That's a great way of saying that. That's really good. That emotionally describes that. You know, cause everybody wants to get to that.

You'll be like walking through in briars and little branches hitting you in the face and it's hard to walk. I love that. Then you eventually see that clearing. That's really good. And that's why the extra income. Yes. Yes, it's hard.

Yes, it's inconvenient. But look, that's why the extra income. Yes. Yes, it's hard. Yes, it's inconvenient. But look, that's the reality. I mean, over 40% of Americans have side hustles. There's a reason for it. And Detroit. Because it's expensive. It's expensive. As my brother used to say,

when he was little. I know, that's right. It's expensive. It is expensive. Things are expensive these days. You got four kids trying to go to college. You got a kid, you know, all of that matters. If you're in a season of life where you're trying to get pregnant

and you're paying for fertility treatment, all these things, and so basically what I'm trying to do in this moment is kind of normalize the feeling that if you are in baby step four and it's a little bit tight, it doesn't mean that you're doing something wrong. It simply means that you have chosen a value for that time period and it's okay.

And the solution to that is, hey, maybe we bring in a little bit more money for the short term, or maybe we just accept it's a little tighter right now, but it's only going to be for the next three years. And then there's the clearing in the woods that we talked about. All right, Ken Coleman, that does it for this hour. All right, stay tuned. We'll be back with you with more on the Ramsey Show. Do you ever feel like you're finally making progress towards your goals only to get quickly distracted by something else in your feed? Well, that's why we created the Ramsey Network app, your single source for content that keeps you motivated.

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From the Ramsey Network, it's the Ramsey Show. We help people build wealth, do work that they love and build amazing relationships. I'm Jade Warshaw. Next to me is Ken Coleman. We are your host for the next little bit of time together. If you want to get on the line, you can call it's a free call. It's also a live show. So the number is 8 8 8 8 2 5 5 2 2 5. We will get you on the line. I'm here to talk money. Ken is here to talk professional development and career growth. We've got David who's in Palm beach, West Palm beach, Florida.

That's my neck of the woods. What's going on, David? Hi, Jade. Hi, Jen. Hey, um, so my question is, is it worth joining the military? No, there's more, there's got to be more to that question. Oh, okay. Give me a why. Well, given my predicament, I guess you could say my immediate family, we're not that close. I guess you could say my immediate family, we're not that close. I know everyone has problems and we all love each other, but I think it's going to be good

for me to just get out of my hometown and potentially travel, meet new people. How old are you? I'm 19. And to the extent that you're comfortable. What's going on? What what can you tell us that it's making you want to leave your zip code and join the military? well My brother, you know my older brother he's 22 he you know He's had a couple running with the laws and you know, I love him. He has a good heart

And my father he's 65 and You know, he's talked about selling the house, you know time and time again and You know, I feel like it's eventually gonna get to that point You know last thing I want to do is you know go overseas and kill somebody I you know, I don't you know, kill somebody. That's not my whole point of joining. Just want to be able to travel and be a part of disaster relief work and humanitarian aid. Okay, so that's what I was digging into. Thanks for sharing a little bit of that.

Is your mom in the picture? She is, but my mom and my father are divorced since I was about I think seven We don't live in the same household with her my brother. My older brother helps her out However, it does get to a point where you can only help someone I hear a young man who's craving some stability some structure. All right young man who's craving some stability, some structure. Am I right? And I think the military for you provides a paycheck to do the things you want to do. True? Potentially, yes. Yeah, where he's actually serving people and providing stability and stepping into brokenness, which I think he's been swirling

in for some time. And when he said disaster relief, like he... this is not a burning desire to serve our country in the military. It's not what I'm hearing. Tell me if I'm wrong. I didn't hear that either. So I... well, tell me... talk to us. I'm not very patriotic, you know, I was raised in a, you know, a religiously divided household, but fortunate, you know, for that, you know, you know, I was raised, I had Bible study, I went to my local congregation. I know some brothers and sisters who served, but for the most part it was before they started

studying the Bible. So was I on the mark or off the mark? If I had a job for you today, and that you were overseas, and you made plenty to be comfortable, and you were serving people in a much less fortunate situation than even you've experienced, would you take that, or would you take the same amount of money working in the military? Which one would you take today? The latter, the first option you mentioned. The first option, not the military?

Not the military. Yeah, so my friend, I actually think this is a great idea. Jade, I actually think this is a kid who needs to change his scenery. I think so too. And at 19, this puts him right in that gap year, service year, there are countries in the world

where every kid coming out of high school spends a year serving their country. If I were president of the United States, I would institute that. I think every American young person coming out of high school ought to spend a year, either abroad or in our borders, serving, because I think it's huge for their development and maturity.

So in this case, because you're in a broken home, I'm all for this. So I want Jay to weigh in, but my last two cents are, I would be looking at non-government organizations across the gamut here. Charity, missionary, whatever, and where they're looking for a body, somebody who just cares about people,

you don't have to be super skilled and super experienced, they'll train you, and I say go abroad and serve. And don't limit it to just going abroad. You may find something in the United States, but changing your zip code, love this. Yeah, I think for me just listening to you, it was clear, it's very clear that you have things that you want to run away from

and I get that. I just wanted to make sure that you had a clear clarity on what you're running towards. Yes. And I think that, I think it's there. At first I wasn't sure, but just listening to you throughout the call, I think it's there. I do think that you have a heart to serve. And I think that that'll be developed more as you do this. Yeah, that was all I was looking for is just to make sure that you're not picking anything just to get out, you know. You have too many options at 19 because you only have to take care of you.

So I don't want you going to the military and then feeling like you're stuck there. Yeah, that's right. That's right. The last thing, even though the structure would be good, the opportunity to serve is there. I just don't think that's the thing. So when I said NGO,

I don't want to insult your intelligence. Yeah, tell them what it means. Non-government organization. So the idea is there are a lot of, so habitat for humanity or a compassion, a world vision, basketball without borders. You know, I mean, there are sports, there are so many non-G, excuse me, NGOs that are doing something good around the world.

And quite frankly, they're looking for somebody young. And how does that work? I mean, is there- He applies just like anything else. It's like a job, like anything else, you get a decent salary. You know, decent, I mean, you know, that's relative, shall we say.

I mean, because these are donor-funded things, so you're not coming out of law school and going to work for a law firm. You're going into an organization that is donor-funded and it is in the relief space or humanitarian space. And so, yeah, they're not apples for apples. You're getting to travel. Yes.

Interact with other cultures. Serve, travel, and escape the chaos. And make it about other people. Can you already know, I love if you can take an opportunity that allows you to get out of the United States and travel. I think that as an American citizen, I think one of the United States and travel. I think that is one as an American citizen, I think one of the most important things you can do is go visit other countries, go visit third world countries, go visit underprivileged countries, because you will

come back here and go oh my you will kiss the ground you walk on. Isn't that the truth? You truly truly will. When I came out of college, I started working on cruise lines. You already know this, my husband and I did 92 different countries. I mean, go to Sri Lanka, go to Malaysia, go to Vietnam, go to Cambodia, and you will come back here and go, oh my goodness, thank you, Lord. And so I love that for this 19 year old. I think that it's going to be a great opportunity for him to see what else is out there, to learn, to experience other cultures. Here's what he's going to do. He's going to be a great opportunity for him to see what else is out there to learn, to experience other cultures. Here's what he's going to do.

He's going to find some peace and more importantly, he's going to find some purpose by just exploring. Yeah. I love it. Love it. Yeah. This is the Ramsey Show. What does the future hold for business? Ask nine experts and you'll get 10 different answers.

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smart vester. You're listening to the Ramsey Show. I'm Jade. Next to me is Ken Coleman taking your calls this hour about your life, your money, your business, your relationship, your career, whatever's on your mind, we'll be here to help. We'll go to Los Angeles, California, where we've got AJ on the line. What's going on, AJ? Hi, Jade and Ken, how are you both doing?

Great. If I do say so myself. Yes. What's going on? Awesome. Awesome. Well, first's going on? Awesome, awesome. Well, first of all, thank you guys for taking my call. I'm calling because I'm starting a real estate media business here in California.

I'm very excited for it, and I have support from friends and family. Just the one thing that keeps bothering me, I guess I could say, is just a fear of AI. I have this fear that AI could essentially replace my work and could make it less valuable. And I really just wanted your guys' opinion on it. Yeah. Be more descriptive. Give me a 30 second description of what your company's service is going to be. What do you do for folks?

Yeah, of course. Drew Real Estate. There we go. It is a new company, but we're going to specialize in video work and more lifestyle work for agents who sell higher-end properties just to help elevate their brand and make it stand out from the rest of the market. So you're a production company and you're going to be shooting video of their homes, the inside of the homes, outside making the homes look great, but also making them look like those big shots on those reality shows. Selling sunsets. Thank you, yes. That's what you're gonna do.

But you're a video production company. Exactly. Okay, so AI. How is AI going to affect the video production industry? Have you done any homework on this? Have you begun to see trends? So I've just seen things where editing work is being replaced, where a lot of the background work is being replaced, like stuff behind the scenes. So I'm just seeing that trickle in to that part of it. Not really seeing it on the front end,

but it kind of worries me. Well, but let's keep playing this out. So I'm leading you down a path here. So if AI tools allow you to do the editing or your team to do the editing quicker and better, does that replace you or does it enhance your business? I would say it enhances the business. Yes, it does.

Absolutely it does. And so what you have to look at is, okay, so I had cigars with a very successful movie producer about two weeks ago, Jade. And he told me point blank, and this guy, he's producing the latest rock movie that's coming out next year. So this guy's big time.

And he said to me, and was showing me on his phone, a full movie trailer. That was AI start to finish. Not one real person in it. That's why. All right. Now I bring this up to say, in this case, if I was an actor in the actor's unions and that's already happening, that's why the latest strike happened in large part.

What is AI going to, is AI going to replace real actors? Because if you can do a blockbuster action film and not pay an actor 20 million. That makes me so mad. I'm getting angry sitting here, Ken. So AI would threaten actors. No question. Yeah, 100%. And he told me as much.

I'm getting mad. You cannot replace creative people doing creative things. I'm just putting that out in the world, not to you. And he doesn't want to, by the way. He's not pro that. He's just going, somebody's gonna do it. It's gonna be crazy. So everybody's gonna have to adjust.

All right, now, all that to say. No one will ever connect to it. I'm just saying. To AJ, someone's gonna have to always do the filming. Someone's always gonna have to consult the realtors on their brand. AI cannot do what a human doesn't program it to do. Make sense?

Yeah. So I would run it through that. Instead of just letting your fears run wild, go, wait a second, will the human touch be more needed than ever in my industry? And I think the answer is yes. It is yes. AI cannot do what you're gonna do.

And the truth is, let's put it through, obviously AI is new territory for a lot of folks, but in many ways it's not, right? There's always been a tool available to do something easier That's right And as professionals we get to decide are we gonna be the person who picks up the tool or not, right? And so there's always a vacuum cleaner. Some people don't want a vacuum. So they call a housekeeper

There's always or you know that one that just roves around Yeah, that's right. That's technology Roomba. Yeah, and so I mean right now there there There are more apps than ever before to make, you know, digital media and all that kind of stuff. But some people are like, I don't want to learn how to use those apps. So they still go to companies that'll do that for them. So the point is, as long as there's tools, there's always going to be people who go, I don't want to learn how to do that. And you're still going to have the ability to do it for them. Here's what, there's always gonna be people who go, I don't wanna learn how to do that. And you're still gonna have the ability to do it for them. Here's what, last point on this.

AI folks, for our large audience, if you learn how to work with AI and use AI and also find yourself in industries where the human touch will always be premium, then you're gonna be fine. Yeah, I like that. It's gonna make us want human more. It is, Ken.

It really will. I, you know, I'm a creative at heart. I hate the idea. I hate that I'm hearing music that is by not real people. I hate this idea of not real people being actors. I'm like, people need people. If there's nothing we didn't learn from 2020, it's that people need human touch and human contact

and humans create art and art is a reflection of culture. And there's, I can't understand what the world would be like if that continuum was disrupted. Anyway, this another conversation for another time, but anyway. If it gets to that, you'll find me somewhere at my own restaurant, James in the Caribbean serving people. Listen, beat me up.

Spinning yarns, telling jokes. Spinning yarns. Alright, let's see if Carl has a yarn to spin in Sacramento. Carl, spin us a yarn. Okay, alright, can you hear me? Yes, what's up? Awesome. So I'm 45 years old, married.

Nothing safe for retirement, regrettably. I do not own a home. Okay. So currently renting a home. I have about $250,000 in a high interest statement account. And I started a small business about five years ago, which I currently still own. But obviously getting older without, you know,

any backup on the investment or even a home is worrisome. So I've, and I'm married and I don't want to leave my wife without a home or, you know, without some resources in case something were to happen to me. Sure. Does she have resources in her name? Um, no, nope. Nope. She's in the same situation. She has a good job, but that, you know, that doesn't last forever. So, um, so anyway, uh, so I decided it'd be a good idea to sell my business where it's at so I can start playing catch up on some of those important items.

If you sold it, what would it bring? So after taxes, so after I pay capital gains to Uncle Sam, I'll probably have net about 500,000 left. Okay. So combined with my 250 I'll be at about 750 liquid cash that I can deploy in one direction or the other. My first thought is... And then what would you do for work? I probably go start another business. Probably the same thing. And you wouldn't need capital for that? You could just go right to it? Yeah, I'm still going to have a lot of money. The purchase isn't he's not going to be purchasing all the assets. So I'll still have some of the assets so I can literally start the same business. Okay. And what do you think you'd earn? I'm sorry, I'm just trying to get the numbers before we hit

the clock. No problem. No problem. Obviously day one, I'd be at zero, but I think I could probably get to about I could probably get to about 4,000 net within six months. I could probably within a year I could be, you know, comfortably, you know, six to seven thousand net probably within a year. Okay, good. Worst case scenario if things didn't go well, because I am pretty established in my industry, I can go work for another company if I thought change weren't really getting traction and I'd probably get a job pretty easily making, you know, 80 to a hundred thousand. Excellent. So the question is, do you take, what do you do with the 750?

Exactly. Yep. So I'm in, I'm in, as you guys mentioned, I'm in Sacramento, so nothing's cheap in California. Yeah. And so just a small modest home in my area, you're looking about $550,000. Okay. Well. Nothing special, but it's, you know, it's a beef of the head and you know, it's, you know. The truth is, you're going in the right direction.

I'd want to stabilize. That's the biggest line item on all of our budgets. It's rent or mortgage. So I'd want to stabilize that as quickly as possible. You've got the money. If you can pay for something in cash and not have a payment, I love that for you and start investing the rest. When you get this money together, you need to be investing 15% of your gross every single month. This is the Ramsey Show. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. October is the season for wearing costumes and masks,

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You just fill out a short online survey and you get matched with a licensed therapist. therapy. You can talk with your therapist anywhere so it's convenient for your schedule. You just fill out a short online survey and you get matched with a licensed therapist. Plus you can switch therapist at any time for no extra cost. Take off the costumes and take off the mask with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com slash Deloney to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterH-E-L-P dot com slash deloney. Hey, Dr. John Deloney here. Data suggests people who have amazing marriages are happier and they're healthier. But in the modern world, marriage, especially a deep intimate marriage, can feel impossible.

And that's why I'm thrilled to announce the launch of Questions for Humans Intimacy Edition. These cards will help you build a stronger marriage, help you learn to feel connected, and yes, there's a lot of questions about the aw yeah stuff. Get yours today at ramsysolutions.com slash store or click the description if you're on YouTube or podcast. You're listening to The Ramsey Show. The Ramsey Show question of the day is sponsored by WIREFI. It's hard to make progress when you're trapped under an avalanche of defaulted private student loan debt. But Yreify helps you dig out and get momentum with custom refinancing that's based on your ability to pay and a lump sum payoff option that you could qualify for

after 24 months. Go to yreify.com slash Ramsey. That's the letter Y, R-E-F-Y dot com slash Ramsey. Remember, this may not be available in all states. Today's question comes from Brad in Connecticut. Back in 2017, we tragically lost our little girl and received a large settlement from a lawsuit. We received $150,000.

I am an inspiring trader in the stock market, but I'm afraid to manage and account the size. We are living off of this for income. I don't want to work a normal job. I want to use the power of money to increase my family's wealth exponentially. I would like to do what Dave would do in this situation." Whoa. This is a crazy heavy, Brad. I'm so sorry for your loss. But I'm gonna answer the question because you said I'd like to do what Dave would do. So Jade, you can edit my best Dave response.

Go ahead, go ahead, Ken. But if Dave were here, he would have a lot of questions about how you're living off $150,000 from seven years ago. So I got questions about that. Number one, number two, 150,000 is not spitting off a lot of money. No, I mean, even if you're getting a 10% return, that's below poverty.

Yeah, that's right, that's right. So Dave would have questions about that. The math is not working. And this idea of, I don't wanna work a normal job, okay. Don't hate that, but the next line is the most confusing in the whole question. I want to use the power of money to increase my family's wealth exponentially, but you're not making any money.

You've been living off of a very small settlement, so there's a lot here that's just kind of contradicting. So, Dave would say in this situation is increase your income because day trading is extremely risky. It is not a hobby. It is not for people who do not really, really know the game. It is highly speculative. Extremely low success rate.

So we would say go get a really good paying job or get a good job at this point and let's work. Let's add skill, add experience. Let's live on a budget. Let's invest and let that work, let's add skill, add experience, let's live on a budget, let's invest and let that work, let that money work for you, but I don't like this plan. Yeah, day trading success rates, less than 5% of day traders are considered successful.

Yeah, and most of them quit after two years. Only 1% are successful, and I'll put successful in quotes, successful over a five-year term. So essentially it's gambling, and to do that with the money from a tragic loss would be just heart-wrenching if you lost that. So I would use the money to go towards whatever baby step you're on.

And if you need more information on that, you know, that's found at Ramsey Solutions dot com. All right, Ken, let's let's liven it up a little bit. Let's go to Jenny. She's in Gillette, Wyoming. What's going on, Jenny? Hi, I in 2004, I had a judgment happened to me and paid off.

But one of the credit reports still has it on there. So how do I get that off? Is it important to get off? Like I just became debt-free so like I don't plan on using my credit. I obviously don't feel like that's important. Is it just something I should just drop? It's probably gonna fall off on its own. A lot of times those negative marks on your credit score can take some time to fall off. Some things like bankruptcies and things like that can take up to like seven years to fall off.

So in your case, I think your credit score is gonna disappear long before this would have fallen off naturally. Most of the time when you pay off all of your debt, your credit score will roll to zero, whether it takes six months or 12 months, it just depends. It's usually somewhere in that timeframe. So good, very good on paying off all the debt. How much did you pay off? Somewhere around 120 to 140,000. Nice. How long did it take?

15 years. 15 years. Wow. Okay. How's it feel? Amazing. I feel like I can start over again. I'm 43 and I feel like I'm just starting my life over. You are. You got a clean slate, girlfriend. I am proud of you.

Very good call. All right. Let's keep them rolling. We got Holly in Columbia, South Carolina. What's going on, Holly? Hi. Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Okay. Hi. What's the on, Holly? Hi, can you hear me?

Yes, we can. Okay. Hi. Thanks for taking my call. I really appreciate it. You bet. So we bought a house about three years ago. And we thought it was just a cosmetic fixer upper. But unfortunately, it's a lemon. We've been in a lawsuit for the last two years that isn't really going our way. And my question is, should I let the house go into a foreclosure? What's the lawsuit?

What makes it a lemon? So it has basically so much termite damage that the foundation is is not really fixable. Our estimate to fix the just the foundation problems, there's a lot more problems, is over $165,000. Wow. Was there no inspection when you bought it? No, there was. We were lied to by basically everybody involved in the sale, including our own inspectors. Why? Who is gaining from this? I honestly don't know.

We moved to a whole new town across the country and from what I can gather, this happens quite often here and nobody ever does anything about it. Okay. What are the lawyers saying? Are they taking the case or are they like you have no case? Tell us more about what the professionals are saying. I only found one lawyer who would help us. I've contacted a lot of them since. I don't know if our lawyer is really doing his job or not. He just keeps telling me it's gonna be fine, it going to be fine. But the judge keeps letting everyone out of the lawsuit. Um, is it because there's, and I'm not saying this to, I want to be on your side, but I also want to look at this, you know, unbiased. Are they saying, are they letting people out

of the lawsuit because they don't think you have a case? The judge let the real estate agents out of the lawsuit because the laws are in favor of the real estate agents that they don't have to find any defects with the house. Sure. But what about the inspection company? So the inspection company and the termite inspector are still technically in the lawsuit. Okay, good. Because I feel like they would be the ones at fault, not the realtor.

Just me looking at this from where I'm at. The sellers are involved in the lawsuit still too, but we probably won't get any money from them. The reason I'm asking about the foreclosure is I got offered a promotion with my job, which I'm currently working remotely, but I have to go back to the West Coast to take the job. And I have to go by the end of the year and it's a significant promotion. Okay, so you're like, we gotta get out of this house. We can't sell it because it's got this damage. Tell me what you paid for the house.

We paid 200,000 for the house. Okay, and if you were to sell it as is, is it still worth 200 because you know, nothing new has happened to the house. It's not, it's worth the land, which is only worth 30,000. Oh my Lord. Okay. Yeah, this is a foundation issues with plumbing doesn't work. Um, they put a new roof on it as part of a selling agreement, it's leaking everywhere, the company didn't get a permit. If I'm you, listen, based on the laundry list

of things you're listing out, there's no way I'm taking a hit for this financially. I would fight this tooth and nail. If you did a reputable inspection as you're supposed to do, because I asked, because a lot of people during this crazy market have waived inspections and done crazy things in order to get property. But if you went through the proper channels,

I would sue the inspection company because they're giving you their seal of approval and they go through these things. What's your mortgage on this, your mortgage payment? It's 1200 a month. Yeah, and if you move to the west coast with the bump in pay, could you absorb that into your budget? We could stay with family for two years and pay off our other student loans and car debt. I'm with Jade. I'd go get a better lawyer. I think there's more fight. You need more

fighting you. I'd go somewhere, another town, go find some hot shot in some firm in South Carolina where they want to really I mean I would just get at least a little bit more opinion on from somebody who who's used to winning these things I'd fight a little bit longer. Yeah, do not tap out on this. I Based on what if what you're saying is true. I'm going to the mat on this one. This is the Ramsey show Based on what if what you're saying is true, I'm going to the mat on this one. This is the Ramsey Show. Hey folks, Dave here. If you haven't booked your cabin on the Live Like No One Else Cruise, now's the time because it's 90 something percent sold out. You do not want to miss joining me, the Ramsey personalities and amazing guest

entertainers for the ultimate debt-free celebration. We'll be sailing the Caribbean March 22nd through the 29th 2025 stopping at the incredible Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and the Bahamas. Hurry to secure your spot with a $600 deposit today at Ramsesolutions.com slash cruise. This is The Ramsey Show. We're here for you. Here to talk about your life and your money. I'm Jade Warshaw. Ken Coleman is next to me. I love getting to host with my good buddy Ken. I have to say that. I appreciate that. It's always fun. Always fun to take calls with you as well. Indeed. All right. Hey, by the way, let me give you a little information here about our

Ramsey Trusted Pros. They shop the market for you when it comes to insurance. I told George this the other day. Insurance, I understand the value of it, Ken. It's necessary, we need it. I don't like dealing with it. Oh, okay. Okay, and my family, I don't wanna be the one

to deal with it, and so I love the Ramsey Trusted Pros because they do it for you, okay? They compare it and shop all the quotes for you so you don't have to do it. Your pro gets out there, they find the discounts, they bundle the deals, and they do all of this at no extra cost, which is amazing value. They'll make sure that you have all the coverage

that you need, and they'll make sure that you have nothing you don't. And I remember we did a checkup the other last year around this time and it turned out that we did. They were able to get us more coverage for less money. Nice. And so the Ramsey Trusted Pros, they are interviewed, they're vetted and coached to make sure that they're experts at what they do, okay? And they have your best interest at heart. The best way to remember that is here we teach you the Ramsey way of how to handle your money and you know your assets and that sort of thing and they understand that. You're not going to have to explain them well you know I do this thing

called the baby steps or here's my philosophy with money. They're going to understand that so that's what makes it easy. So shop the right coverage based on your individual needs. You can go to ramsysolutions.com slash coverage, or you can click the link in the description if you're listening on YouTube or podcasts. And by the way, Ken, when we help people with their budgets, when we coach them on ways to find margin, this is one of the areas that we look at. There's always money here.

Whether it be you have too much coverage or you're paying too much for the coverage you have, there's usually a decent amount of money to be found here. So ramsesolution.com slash coverage is where you want to go. All right. I want to go to the phone lines. We got Dawn. Seattle, Washington is where she's located. What's going on, Dawn? How are you doing, Jade? How are you doing, Ken?

Good. How are you, sir? Well, I'm a little nervous and maybe you guys can help me out. We'd like to try. Well, I'm a little nervous and maybe you guys can help me out. We'd like to try. So I work for the Boeing Company and for the last, going almost two months now, we've been out on strike. So I fortunately have enough money in my bank account for four months to sit out on the picket line and support my fellow union members and everything. But I don't want to dwindle that down to nothing.

I've been going out looking for part-time jobs, driving for like Amazon, seasonal work and everything. Amazon now says, hey, we're not gonna take any more Boeing guys because when you guys go back to work, we won't have any seasonal drivers. And everybody, I'm contemplating crossing that picket line, but I don't wanna get myself in that situation.

Well, what would happen? Tell me what would happen if you crossed it today. What would be the penalties or the realities? So reality is you go back to work and you're exiled from, you know, all the work. You know, your co-workers shun you and everything like that. They shun you, they shun you, but do you still work for Boeing? You still work for the Boeing Company. Do you still make the same amount of money? Still make all that money and everything. Still get all the stock options or all the

benefits, all the things? Everything, everything except for, you know, if you're talking, you know, talk to the wrong person, you know, they're not going to help you out on if you need to, you know, if it's a two-person job, yeah, screw you. I'm not gonna, sorry about that. But they're there too. Yeah, but what about your, what about your superior at Boeing? How are they going to view you when you cross the picket line? Yeah they they they're trying to do our job right now. So I'm gonna answer my question I'm walking you right into my answer okay what is your

superior at Boeing gonna do if you cross the picket line today what would he he or she do how would they react to you you? They would let you come back to work, you know, for sure. You know, they... Okay, and so what would happen, what would happen in the scenario you just gave us, where it's a two-man job and we're assuming that the union member is mad that you crossed the picket line, and they say, oh, I'm not going to help you out. What happens in reality with your superior if you can't do the job? Because they're pulling that stuff. If we, if, well, in the long run, if you can't do your job,

then you will actually be disciplined. Right, and so is there, is this a real scenario where you wouldn't be able to do your job because of a coworker not wanting to help you? It could be, yes. I mean, how much of a chance? Give me a chance. One out of a hundred, fifty out of a hundred, what are we talking about?

I'm going to go fifty up, fifty-fifty. Well, I'm going to tell you what I would do. I would cross the picket line today because I like paychecks, number one. I like working for the company, not being a part of the union where I can get held hostage. Oh, by the way, you'd save some money on those union dues too, wouldn't you? Oh, no. You have to pay the union regardless of, you know... Also the entire workforce is union, whether you want to be or not.

Correct. Oh, well, that would to be or not. Yes, correct. Oh, well that would have been helpful information. Okay, so. I'm sorry about that. I wouldn't work for Boeing anymore. I am not a, oh boy, I'm gonna catch it for this, but I don't care. Go ahead, King. Stand on business.

There was a time in America where we needed unions. So at the, I'm not gonna get into a long philosophical thing, I'm gonna say that there was a time in America when the formation of unions, they were serving a worthy cause, there was need for this. Unions have since become massive political organizations and I don't believe that it's the best thing for business. I don't think it's good for capitalism and capitalism works best when you, like you Don,

get paid for what you do and you're being held hostage in this situation. If it were me, I don't see any benefits for you crossing the picket line unless there's something you didn't cover. Sounds to me like it's a no-win situation. You're going to get paid but you may end up losing the job, right? Correct. And so I don't want any money else controlling my ability to do the job. So I'm out.

And the end was, yeah, I've, but I've been here for 28 years. I don't care. You got a lot of skill and a lot of experience. Don't you? Sure. Well, I do't care. You got a lot of skill and a lot of experience, don't you? True, I do. Yes. I've been called up by multiple different companies, too, but I would have to relocate to Louisiana and everything like that. But Don, what are your options if you don't do that? You want to go through this again and again and again? Yeah. I know your answer. You've done it. How many times you've done this in 20 plus years?

This is my third time. You want to keep doing this for the rest of your working career? Not especially. Then I'd get out. I've got at least two more times. Then I'd get out. I would change my environment and it's going to change my life. True or false? Correct. Then choose positive change.

I got nothing else to say. I know you were going to say something. No, I was just going to ask Don, how old are you? 53. Oh, he's a young man. Yeah, you got, this is just the beginning. You got plenty of time to get out there. Is it, are you married? Married, yes. Okay. Will her job allow her to uproot? Is she willing to go on a new adventure with you?

She doesn't work, but leaving our situation and leaving our home is one of those things that I don't know if she's willing to do. Well, listen, I won't tell you that it's easy because I've done it and it's not easy and it takes time. But I think Ken laid out a very clear picture, which is it doesn't sound like you have a lot of other options. And in this case, the fact that your wife is not working, that kind of creates a clear path for you.

There's nothing on her end that's really stopping this from going forward. But yeah, 53, you're young. You got a whole other life. I would be, I'd grow weary of being a pinball and a pinball machine. And that's what union workers are. Sorry folks, it's the truth.

It's just the truth and it's unfair, it's ridiculous. Yeah, Ken Coleman said it. If's just the truth and it's unfair, it's ridiculous. Yeah, Ken Coleman said it. If you wanna email him about that, you can do that at Ken. I'm just kidding. I won't touch it. I won't read it. Ha ha ha ha ha.

That does it for this hour. Thank you, Ken, for your expertise as always. Thank you for the guys in the booth. Hey, head into the Ramsey Network app if you wanna finish the next hour, that's where we'll be! Hey, you're still here? What are you doing? You do know that the rest of today's show is playing right now over on the Ramsey Network

app, right? All you gotta do to finish the episode is search Ramsey Network in the App Store, Google Play Store, or just click the link in the show notes to download the app for free. Yep, you heard me right, for free. Then right there on the home screen, you can watch the rest of today's show. Badabing, badaboom. Alright, I'm getting out of here. Enjoy, we'll see you on the app.