Take Control Of Your Money So It Doesn't Take Control Of You

Live, this is the Ramsey Show. It's where we help you win in your life. Winning with your money, winning in your relationships, and winning at work. In other words, getting more income, 888-825-5225 is the phone number, 888-825-5225.. I'm Ken Coleman, joined by the incomparable, the illustrious, George Campbell, ladies and gentlemen.

I'm always impressed with your vocabulary, Ken, and your generosity.

It gives me a chance to really work on some new words, try to work in some old words. We always love being together. It is a Friday, and I'll just tell you, I always have a little extra juice on a Friday, a little bit excited.

Ken lets his hair down. Usually, his hair is on a little man bun, but today he has let it down.

I have grown it out, but man buns never happen.

If you're not watching on YouTube, you're very confused. Ken, does he have a man? bun guy? No.

I know that Kelly, by the way, Kelly, Daniel, the producer of the Dr. John Delaney show, is sitting in for James Childs all week, so she'd give her some love.

Absolutely.

I will tell you that Kelly and I have been working together for a long time, and she would rightfully punch me in the throat if I wore a man bun. Is that fair?

That's the kind of friend you have.

I didn't want to misrepresent you.

Yeah, definitely. That's why we love her.

That's why we love her. All right. To the phones. we go. By the way, we're taking your money calls, and we'll take your income calls, so I'm the work guy, and so I'll chime in on the money calls, and George will chime in, but I'm here to help you make more money.

You make more money? No.

You get through the baby steps faster.

I should have got that.

I thought that was low-hanging fruit for you.

Everything's pretty high when you're my height, so thank you for that, Ken.

That's true, and George is medicated today, so pray for George. I'm going to try to get his energy up. He's medicated today. He's not feeling well, so here we go.

I'm here for you, America. Ready to take a call? Let's go.

You got it? Yeah. You summoned the energy?

I got it. All right.

MJ starts us off in Baltimore, Maryland. MJ, how can we help?

Yeah. Hi. Thanks for taking my call. You bet. So my husband and I have been retired for a few years.

This is a fun game. Let's go, MJ. Roll it out for us.

Okay. So with our retirement, we make about $14,000 a month income. We own our own home. It's probably worth $800,000 or $900,000.. We have a condo, probably worth $300,000 or $400,000..

I got questions, George. Real quick. The motorhome is $300,000, huh? Brand new for this thing?

Brand new. It's one of those big buses. Yeah.

And do you rent this condo?

No, no, no. We own it.

It's a second home.

No, I don't rent it out.

So life is good. You guys got one. You got the home, the condo. Now we need another gigantic home on wheels, because life is just so fun and we need to get out there and travel some more. Is that what I'm hearing?

We're retired. We worked hard all our lives.

Hey, you're crushing it. No, listen. No judgment, MJ. You're crushing it. I mean, as you were laying out all your stats, I was like, hey, can George and I come visit?

Hit the road with MJ.

Way to go. Okay. All right.

Now, this retirement income, you guys are bringing in about $170,000.

Yeah, I know that's consistent forever.

Yeah. Is this like pension, social security? Where is this coming from?

It's pensions and social security.

That's pretty good. So you don't even have to touch your actual nest egg?

No.

Well, we spend a lot of money traveling and eating out and that sort of thing.

So have you been tapping into your retirement accounts thus far?

We have. We've probably taken about 20 grand out a year for the last couple of years.

Okay. Let me ask it this way, George. What's your burn rate? So I know you're bringing in $14,000 a month, but what are you spending per month?

Probably about at least $10,000.

$10,000 to $15,000, if my math is correct.

Yeah.

Okay. Well, here's the thing. Our parameters around this, you guys are obviously Baby Steps millionaires. You've done a great job. You have no debt.

Yeah. Yeah, we have a fifth wheel motorhome, actually, that we could trade in and probably get about 50 grand for it.

What about this camper? Do you need the camper at that point if you have the motorhome?

No, that's what I said. We could get rid of the camper.

Oh, that's your fifth wheel.

Yeah, the fifth wheel and get probably 50 grand for it. It's new.

I'd like to come at this. George is right on the money side, but I want to kind of pipe in here on the practicality side here. Yeah. I mean, at your age, at least your husband's age, you're younger, but what's that going to look like? Let's just say you went and bought this thing.

I'm not sure. I can tell you we've taken trips to Florida. We're on a six-week trip right now out to Yellowstone.

What does it cost to rent one of these, MJ? Have you looked into that?

I got a better idea. If I'm your age, and again, maybe I'm lazy. I don't think I am.

I work pretty hard.

I just am going to fly.

You can't have a chauffeur taking him around the country.

If I do it right, sure, I wouldn't mind a driver. That's not my point. I just think this is not a smart decision for all the reasons George gave you, but I also just don't think it's very practical either. Fly out to somewhere, rent.

I would go used if you're going to do it, but I'd rather you. You could spend $30,000 a year for 10 years to rent to go on these trips, and you'd be a better bet.

Yeah.

So I would look into that and be more free and have more of your income at your disposal and not have $400,000 tied up in toys. That's one man's take.

No, I'm with you. I just don't think it's practical. Here I am trying to give vacation advice, too. I mean, that's not what she asked for, but I just...

Yeah. That's still a lot of your net worth and your life tied up in that thing going down in value, and that's the part that scares me.

All right, coming up next, George and I accidentally ran into each other at a premium event in Nashville last night, and it was funny. We'll tell you about it next. This is The Ramsey Show.

I like it.

Yesterday afternoon, my wife, she told me yesterday morning, hey, we're doing a fun date. It's an overnight date. And I said, really?

On a school night?

Yeah, on a school night. No, no, the three teens are out of school.

Well, I mean that, as in, you've got to work the next day.

Well, I wasn't sure. I didn't know if she cleared the decks for me or what. But it was just a quick overnight, and it was downtown Nashville. So I said, oh, great. So I go home, and she tells me where to go, the directions.

You're so aloof.

Well, no, I don't pay attention to that stuff. So then I find, oh, that's great. So I show up, and I see a couple of our coworkers there. And they tell me, hey, George is coming. So I see you after the show, and I find out that you used the haggle.

I did. So. Jade razzed me on the show on Wednesday for this. Because she said, George, just go to the show. Spend the money on these StubHub tickets and pay whatever it costs.

Which point in the story here, Stacey did that. She paid the StubHub.

It just breaks my heart. My Middle Eastern ancestors are rolling in their grave for me paying the premium on these tickets. So I didn't, Ken. And what I did do, and you guys can use this out there, America. I searched all over the internet.

Yeah, and you might get killed.

That too. And I found a guy willing to sell them for face value. So I get a balcony nosebleed ticket for $86 for this event. that would have cost $500 on StubHub. I then sold that ticket to my buddy because I found another guy who had better seats.

You need to enjoy life more.

My wife tells me the same thing, Ken.

I would tell you that the ticket is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. And you, just because you aren't willing to pay for it, you can't make blanket statements to America in your position of influence. That's true. You're going to start throwing guilt around like it's candy.

Well, I think there's people out there like me, and there's people out there like you.

Yeah, people like me who enjoy life and you can't take it with you. And people like you bury money in your backyard in old coffee cans.

Well, here's the end of the story. So I go, listen, I can't do $200 ticket. Max I can do is $100 a ticket. He goes, I can't do that, but I'll do $120 for a ticket.

Did you come back and go, the best I can do is $112?

It felt like I was on an episode of Pawn Stars.

Let me tell you something. If I'd have been there, I'd have apologized to the guy. And I would have paid the difference to get you to shut up and get inside.

I wore him down. It was last minute. I paid $120 for 11th Row Center. Those tickets on the ticket showed $200.. So I felt real good about my situation.

But did you enjoy the concert?

I did because I paid what I thought was a fair price.

So it wouldn't have been as fun for you if you'd have paid full price for Jerry Seinfeld, a legend.

100% would not have been as much fun.

Did you laugh at all? You little miser you?

I enjoyed it.

Did you laugh because you cut a good deal? Did you laugh because you haggled that guy into a bad deal? Or did you laugh because Jerry's funny? A little bit of both.

It wasn't a bad deal. I didn't rob him blind. He was willing. He had last minute tickets to get rid of.

I think you manipulated him. But I liked the haggle.

Listen.

America needs more haggle.

I feel like I won. So there's your lesson, America. Haggle and also budget for spontaneous date nights, even after how many years married?

26.

That's how you keep it alive, guys. And gals out there. There it is.

All right. So fun to see you, by the way. It was really fun. Great to see you. We compared notes.

Great. He still got it at 70 years old.

The guy's 70 years old.

Talking about doing work you love. He doesn't have to be doing that.

By the way, I felt old, Kelly, when I walked in the line. Because Kelly and I are the same age. I won't reveal that to honor and respect Kelly. But the people in the line were really old. I did notice that.

Yeah, I thought I was accidentally in the line for Old Country Buffet. I went, is this the line with the right venue? Is there another thing going on?

It might have been a buffet line. It could have easily been confused as that.

I thought afterwards we're all going to get blue jello at Luby's and call it a night. You know, just...

Now look who's doing the Seinfeld lines. Way to go.

I'll be here all week.

All right, 888-255-225.

That was the most social thing I've done in a long time.

Yeah, yeah. Damari is joining us now in Jacksonville, Florida. Damari, how can we help?

Howdy, howdy. How y'all guys doing?

Well, we're having a blast. What's going on with you?

I'm pretty good. Actually, I'm at work now. But I wanted to ask. So I just got, I just started doing nursing. And I got out of school.

How old are you?

I'm 23.

And what do you mean by going back to school? Like, do you want to progress in nursing and become, like, a nurse practitioner?

Yes, for sure.

Okay. So you're a young man. You're making your first real money. I want you to, first of all, make sure that your debts are paid off. Do you have any consumer debt right now?

No debt whatsoever.

No debt. You got money in the bank? Savings?

Not much. Maybe a couple thousand dollars.

Okay. So that's your next goal. That would put you in Baby Step 3.. So, Baby Step 2, pay off all the debt. Baby Step 3, save up three to six months of expenses.

Okay. You recommend renting? Yes. Well, I have a girlfriend, but she's trying to figure out, like, what she wants to do as far as a career. So it's mainly me with the income.

I would pause on that, because you still need money to buy a house. You need a big down payment. You got to have the emergency fund. I want you investing. And so I think we pause on the dream of home ownership.

What's the cost of the nurse practitioner, the next level of education? What's that going to cost you?

The school that I'm looking at. there, I would definitely probably have to take out loans.

No.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. How about we just answer the question first? How much is it going to cost?

Anywhere between 15 and 20.

All right.

So add the 15 to 20, George, into the process there that you just laid out for him, because we want you saving that up so that there is no debt. And, by the way, single guy making 55, saving 15 to 20 is not going to take as long as you think. And boy, oh, boy, is it going to feel good to not have to owe anything when you get out of nurse practitioning school. Do you understand that?

So, Damari, get this in your head. Debt is not an option. If debt was not an option, what would you do? You would just go and save up 20 grand and you do the math as to how much you need to save a month to get there. Right?

Okay.

You don't seem excited about it, but I'm going to tell you something. You'll be excited if you do what we tell you to do, because on the back side of this is freedom to live the life you want to live. Hey, I want to do this for you, Damari. Let's give him the Get Clear assessment and the book Find the Work You're Wired to Do for his girlfriend. Let's see if we can get your girlfriend some clarity going forward.

Then we can work on that house together.

There we go. We can save up a down payment really nicely once she's rocking and rolling. All right, folks. Don't move. He's George Camel.

That would have been very kind of you.

I don't know why that happened.

I would have taken Foreman, Lopez, Costanza, Washington, but thank you for choosing Clooney.

Yeah, well, no, I didn't. It almost, I just went, and I was like, what is happening here? Hey, listen, you know what today is, George? Today's a big day.

You know what today is? It's May 31st, by my count.

That's right, but it's also the last day for the big 20% off discount at RamseySolutions.

Think of Ken.

Think of me. Just do me a little favor there. You know what I mean? Daddy needs a new pair of shoes, too. Oh, gosh.

I've got to fund Mia's 529 still, Ken.

Let's jump in here. George's, well, your book's not, because it's brand new.

It's so new. We're like, we can't discount this yet.

All right, all right. Next year. Next year. That's my year. You get to look forward to May, that your book will be on a steep discount.

I can't wait. It'll be $4..

There it is. It really is. Hey, the point is, really great deals, and we know one thing. You people that listen and watch. That's right, and you people in the lobby.

Yeah, I feel like when you say you people, it's a little bit demeaning, but these are wonderful, sweet people.

There's nothing demeaning about the people. I am a man of the people.

But when you say you people, it's got a tone.

Oh, you people like a good deal. Well, is there anything wrong with that tone? Nobody's offended at all in the lobby, George. So, the point is, we know you like a good deal. You like a good deal.

You know, I love a good deal.

And so, now is the time. The sale ends tonight, May 31st. If you're listening and watching a little bit later in the day, you've got to be looking at the old clock there, 1159..

When midnight strikes, Ken turns into a pumpkin, and the sale is over.

That's right, and the sale is over. So, go check it out. RamseySolutions.com slash store. RamseySolutions.com slash store. Lyra is going to join us in Cleveland, Ohio.

Hi. Thank you so much for taking my call.

You bet.

So, me and my husband, we're on baby step two. We're trying to pay down our debt and hopefully get into a new house in the next, like, year or two.

Golly.

Wow. We've got a very interesting situation. So, I think, you know, there's no conflict of interest in either one of these side hustles, yes or no? Is there some sort of real true conflict?

No. I guess my question is, how can I approach or work with employers? Like, do you have any advice for employers?

I do. I do. But I have one more question. And then, George, if you need a fact, find here. So, you're a nurse.

Actually, I work in medical coding.

Okay, great. I'm sorry. I was jumping ahead. So, you're in medical coding. And what are you doing for the side hustle?

A second coding position, but just a different shift.

For another company?

Yep.

I love that you're giggling like you're getting away with something. I'll address that in a second. This is so funny. Okay. And your husband does what?

He works in IT.

And he's selling real estate in the morning, early, at lunch, on his lunch break, and then after hours.

Oh, yeah. Okay. Most people do, too.

Okay, so here's the deal. You guys just have, it feels like maybe some unhealthy leaders, but you guys just need to shut your mouth. I feel like you're talking too much or being a little too obvious. I wouldn't be doing real estate calls in the cafeteria in, first of all, you're not doing anything wrong. It's just lunch hour.

Yeah.

Well, the point is just go, this isn't affecting my job at all, and just make it a non-issue. Stop talking about it.

They don't have to like it. They don't have to like it. You're not breaking any moral codes. You didn't sign a contract saying that you couldn't do this. So, unless you're actually violating a company policy, it's really none of their business.

Okay. So, just be quiet about it.

Just move forward with confidence. Yeah. I don't know what my co-workers are doing at lunch. Some of them do side hustles. They're doing some video editing or designing something or doing real estate.

Yeah. But this is not happening, right, Lyra? We've got all the facts.

Yeah. We're not stealing from company time.

Yeah. You know what? Here's what I've learned, and I learned this the hard way. Some people can get real catty. They can get real nasty when somebody's trying to make their own life better and their life sucks.

Yeah.

Okay, then. So, what we do is we don't hang around vultures. And it sounds like you've got some vultures in there. And all vultures do is fly around looking for some dead carcass to pick to death. And they're just nasty people.

You looked at me directly when you said the loser part. I just wanted to call that out. I'm kidding. But the other piece of this, Lyra, of the financial aspect, is I think you guys may be doing some things out of order. You're saying, I'm trying to save for a house.

I want to go back into something, George, because I don't want to miss the psychology that is so powerful from the people that we spend a lot of time with. And the audience in this show is trying to do something radically different. Right?

It's weird. And weirdness tends to get some flashbacks. A lot of comments.

So, even on your own journey, I just want your take here. What's the key? What's the mindset key when you're trying to take on a journey like this? You're like, I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm just getting a second job and my boss is stalking me?

Yeah. I mean, I did many side hustles when I was trying to get out of debt or save for a house, whatever it was, while I was at Ramsey. And I would go home and I'd just get to work and I'd shut up. I didn't need to talk to the coworkers about it. If they were a friend, I'd tell them.

George Camel on YouTube, 20 best side hustles.

You're looking for—and I rank them. I tell you how much you can make, the pros, the cons, who this might make sense for. So go check that out. if you're inquisitive. You want to make some more money.

Come on, let's go. I love that. Go, check it out. All right, quick break. Speaking of money, we've got to make some money.

Hi. Yeah, can you hear me?

I can loud and clear. What's going on?

Okay, perfect. Yeah, so I'm calling because I have a dilemma.

How well do you know this, coworker?

Pretty well. I've been to her house, and I know a bit of her financial situation too, so that's like a layer as well.

Do you guys like each other?

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I like her.

There's a reason. I got an angle, George. But I'm going to let you walk through this financial.

Let's do some fact-finding. How bad is the damage?

So I got three different quotes, and they ranged from $1,500 to $3,600.

Whoa, this is a pretty serious situation.

She was in a hurry, huh?

This is not a dent.

Yeah. Yeah, it's a big dent, yeah.

Okay. So let's put her on the high end. Let's say it's $3,600.. She's saying, I'd rather pay you the $3,600 than go through insurance. Does she have the money to pay for it up front?

No. Yeah, so, no. So when I came back with those amounts that I got for myself, she said, wow, are they trying to repair the whole car? And I was like, no, it's just for the dent. And then she said I found someone who would do it for less than $1,000..

No, I'm not going to let Uncle Ricky Bobby handle this. We're going to go through a professional route.

Yeah, she doesn't get to choose the person.

And she doesn't even have the money to cover the repair.

Well, yeah, so that's like one of the dilemmas is like, because I do know her. I know her financial situation. She's a single mom, and there's just a lot of complex things going on in her life, again, because I know her. But I worry that if I did let her go and pay me on the side, what if I have to counter for the money or something like that?

Well, that's not an option.

Trying to be nice is going to rain drama on your life, and that is not worth it for you. Don't take on that burden because you want to be a sweet person, which I can tell that you are, because you're calling in. You're toiling over this dilemma. And I just think the long-term implications of what this could be and how it's going to hurt the relationship is going to be worse if you let her go through this weird process.

Weird question, George. Maybe it's not a weird question. Do you have an opinion here or some actual knowledge on if this co-worker actually filed with her insurance? I backed into my co-worker here. It feels like whatever bump in insurance could be less.

She doesn't. Oh, she doesn't.

Oh, no. Because you know what I was thinking?

Yeah, what she told me. Oh, sorry. Go ahead.

Well, Kaylee, what I was wondering is, is it going to be less money out of pocket for her, even with the insurance hit, than paying you?

Let's say it's $3,600.

Again, not your fault.

Yeah, you've got to protect yourself in this situation, and I don't think that makes you a worse person.

And she doesn't have the money. Yeah. So that puts you in a-. So you understand. That puts you in a collection situation.

Her premium is $350.

No, go ahead.

Her premium is $350 a month.

Already.

Four grand a year for one car. Yeah.

Oof.

She's also nervous too, because she has a side job too, and she has to drive for it, and she's worried that if she has another mark on her record that she might lose that side job. There's just a lot of layers here, obviously.

Yes. I understand it's complicated, and this is going to affect her life in some way. I still would file a claim through your insurance, because it's going to be really tough to get insurance involved later, and all you have at this point is her word that she'll pay, and we don't even know that she'll pay because she's going to say, Well, since this guy can do it for $300, I'm only going to pay you $300.. And it's on you, if you want to go, get it done somewhere else. I'm not okay with that.

Yeah.

But I'd rather you not take on the drama just to be a sweet person.

Well, thank you very much. Yeah, that's kind of where my husband and I have landed too.

It stinks. I mean, I hate that, but my goodness. What I don't understand is why her side job would be in danger. I don't get that part.

Well, maybe there's insurance. Your driving record affects these side jobs, and if you have a certain number of dings, you can't drive for Uber. I don't know how the back end works with that.

Okay, I got you. All right. Well, tough situation.

It's kind of like if someone committed a crime for the fifth time, and now, like, hey, they could have probation because of this. That's not your fault. They backed into you. I want you to protect your finances, and she will survive this. She survived it already with her terrible driving record, so hopefully she has learned a lesson.

I promise you. I will drive to your insurance agent myself with the pictures. I'm not even leaving it up to you, Mr. Cheapskate, because you're the guy that's going to go try to get Uncle Larry Bobby.

Hey, Cheapskate, watch your words.

America heard how you haggled the poor guy last night for a Seinfeld ticket.

That's called resourcefulness, Ken.

I can't imagine what you'd do to a body shop guy.

I rarely have darkened the doors of a body shop. Rarely. Although I do park next to Dave Ramsey, which frightens me.

Well, because his giant truck could roll right over your little electric Hot Wheels car.

And as great of a driver Dave is, he doesn't always park in the lines. That's all I'm going to say.

I'm going to be honest with you. America needs to know this. I have ridden in Dave's truck many times. I'm not going to say that he's a good driver.

I had to get a ladder to climb into that thing.

Is Dave fast? He's fast. Good?

It's hard to have good and fast.

You've got to choose one or the other, and Dave likes to get from point A to B quickly. That's all I'm going to say. Glad for the really nice restraining system that they call seat belts. It can get a little hairy in there sometimes. George, can we get to Kimberly real quick?

Yeah, we can do this.

Let's go to Kimberly in Knoxville, Tennessee. Kimberly, how can we help?

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my call. I really appreciate it. I will start out by saying that we are a large family. My husband and I, we have nine children.

What is your income?

We make $150,000, between $150,000 and $170,000.

Okay. So the question is, once the lease is up, can you go ahead and get the house or do we need to wait?

Yes. And the reason I'm asking is because we do qualify for a real development loan on the land that we would be looking at, which is 1% down.

No, that's not a blessing in your life. Taking on 99% as a mortgage is not a blessing in anyone's life. Okay. So here's what you should do.

Even if we still did a 15-year mortgage?

Don't fall for any of these programs. Go slow. I would just buy an existing home because you're going to have this massive project with nine kids while trying to pay rent, that you're trying to cash flow. So I would just buy an existing home. And if that means you've got to rent this place for another year at $3,000, that's okay.

Yes. Be patient. It's so hard. But you've got nine kids. You've got to have patience figured out by now, I would think.

There's got to be a bunk bed situation going on there.

I'm exhausted, just thinking of nine kids. This is the Ramsey Show.

Well, guys, I've got some questions regarding a couple things, but to start out with, define the benefit plans. I'm self-employed. My net income is between $300,000 and $500,000 annually. I have one employee on the books, including myself, and I'm at a point here to where I've got financial advisors that I've worked with. that I've just lost trust in.

into other retirement plans like a SEP, a solo 401k? I have, yes. I think.

where I get caught up with that slightly, not that I'm caught up with that, but the ability for me to put $200,000 into a defined benefit as opposed to $66,000, $68,000 with the 401k, you know, front-loading that defined benefit to get that in there sooner than later. I'm 47, so I feel like, while I do have a good chunk of change there in terms of retirement investments, I'm a bit behind on that.

Well, you always have, you know, a taxable brokerage account if you run out of retirement options. That's going to allow you to build wealth and keep that money flexible. What is your money making the 1.5 in savings right now? What's the?

interest rate on that? Five and a half percent, surprisingly. Okay. Wow, that's nice.

So that's creating a chunk of change and keeping your money safe. Outside of how much you actually need liquid, I would rather invest it and, over the long term, see that grow at eight, nine, ten, eleven percent. Right, right. So have you worked, you said you didn't like the financial advisors you worked with. Have you interviewed more?

energysolutions.

that suggestion as well. Good. And do you have a good tax pro you work with? Yes, I do. Okay.

solo, that's why. Guy's got nothing else distracted him. No wife, no kids, maybe no life. It's possible. Sounds like you may not have much of a life.

There's a lot of time spent building this business. Basically, yeah, 15 years ago or so ago, there was a lack of product in the hunting industry that I was interested in. So I went ahead, went direct, and started some digging overseas for manufacturing, started a couple of brands, and kind of roller-coasted those, snowballed those brands into something big at this point in.

this industry. Way to go. In the hunting equipment industry? Yes, correct.

Very impressive. Well, that's what I would do. I think the Solo 401k is one of the best options out there for those that are self-employed. But again, depending on your situation, how much money you're making, what your goals are, there's a lot of options out there. And that's where I would sit down with one of those SmartVestor pros and just lay it all out.

because you're asking the right questions. Did you guys cover... what's?

the income? Did I miss that? $300 to $500?? Wow. Yeah, net.

So when you're not working, are you spending a lot of time alone in a?

field trying to shoot something? No, actually, you know, that's the reason I got into it. And, believe it or not, I don't have the time to do that at all anymore. How much are you working?

of 50 to 60 hours. Okay. You may want to eventually look at, you know, some delegation, maybe hiring a team member or two to help offload some of that. You think? Jeff, I know you listen, Jeff, I may.

overstep with you, but I think, I hope you understand my heart. George has helped with all the money stuff. I gotta tell you something. I'm a little concerned that you wake up 30 years from now and you're full of regret because you had nothing else going in your life except this work, work, work, work, work, and I'm a guy who believes in doing what you love, and I think work is purposeful, and I think that we get great enjoyment and contribution out of it, but it's just... I'm just encouraging you, not challenging you, I'm not trying to criticize you, but, man, you're working really, really hard.

percent. I've been telling myself that I'm gonna do that for years now, and I feel like I'm at a point to where I'm realizing that I do need to do those.

things because I am getting old. But you know, I think, can I tell you something? I'm gonna really recommend you sit with a really good therapist, because I don't think your life's on fire, but I think you need to get to the source of the control. The reason you are running the business the way you are is because you're absolutely terrified of letting go. There's some massive control, massive fear issues underneath all of this.

someone with a slight OCD that it's principal P-A-L in the in the question. Oh boy, you see. It's not a. it's not a principal. It's not like a value.

proximity principle, my number one best-selling book that you can get at RamseySolutions.

wove it in. He's a master of self-promotion. Nobody even knew what hit him. So does it matter how frequently you pay toward the principal of a mortgage? Yes, it does.

a quick question for you. I'm gonna make up a question here, but it's based on a real-life scenario. Okay. What would you say for someone who's debt-free and they want to make a very large purchase on a second home? They're debt-free, though.

that we have any Ramsey parameters I've heard of. I don't think so either. I was asking you to make one up. I think the numbers would matter to me. So let's say you've got a net worth of 1.5 million dollars between your house, your nest egg, and you want to buy a second home.

asking you. $400,000?. That's what I'm asking you. What would be the percentage on someone's net worth that you say, you know what, this is okay, because first of all, you're debt-free, but to take on a second home... And this.

house will go up in value over time. It's still a toy, but it's not a depreciating.

house. Is there a percentage? you might... For instance, 10% of your net worth? I would say.

emotionally, with your home and a second home, I wouldn't want your net worth to be too real estate toppled, which Dave's is, because he has an extraordinary amount in real estate, you know, $600 million. He's never going to catch up on the investment side. But again, as a portion of his net worth, his second homes are a teeny tiny percentage. Right. I'm not.

holding you to this. This is not a new Ramsey. I would say a second home, 10 or 20%.

of your net worth feels right. That's what I thought. If it's 50% of your net worth tied up in that toy second home, that feels like too much. Okay, good. I'm.

very happy about this, because I have a friend who had a really cool situation.

Did they get a second home? They got a great second home. Are you gonna get to enjoy the second home as well? It sounds like you have benefit in this. I do, and.

you do too. Are you serious? Are you surprising me? I'm surprising you.

Because I don't have many friends. I had a friend... Let alone wealthy friends. I have a.

very wealthy friend who I called the other day, and I called to talk to him about pickleball. He thought I was calling about a decision that he had told several of our mutual friends about, and I had no knowledge of it. And this friend asked me my advice, and I said, I'm gonna treat this just like I would if I took a call on the Ramsey show. And he was buying a very valuable home that is very important to him, and he was asking me, what should he do? He has zero debt, and he's very wealthy.

Very good friend of mine. I gotta tell you, I thought this story was not gonna have a great punchline, but you really, you didn't oversell it. I did not.

friend is the new owner. And you're telling me I can go visit, because I.

don't know this friend, but you're saying I could go with you? You are a friend of Ken. And a friend of Ken is a friend of this guy. Road trip to

Weneca, Illinois. Let me tell you what I think might happen. A very special Christmas edition of the Ken Coleman show might be filmed in said house. I'm not even kidding. You think I'm joking.

general theory is if you could, if you lost that money, would you be okay? He's got no.

risk on this house. If he holds it, and they have family Christmases there for two or three years, and make unbelievable memories, and he flips it, it's a.

non-fact. I would film my own version of Home Alone. Yeah. I'd hire a camera crew,

script writers, the whole bit. Well, I'll tell you what we'll do. We will do a Chicago road trip, and we will go, we'll go do something. I cannot wait. Maybe some social media.

Well, you know. what's funny, is we actually did a Home Alone spoof for a Ramsey Christmas party. I know. Where I was home alone in Dave Ramsey's house, the.

one that he sold up on the hill. You should ask for permission, of course this is a no-brainer, and put that on your YouTube channel. I'm wondering if it's, if it's safe for public consumption. Of course it's safe. He's not.

live in that house anymore. Yeah, but I was in a bathrobe, Ken. There's certain.

things you don't want on the internet. But I saw the video, and there wasn't too much skin.

You were, it was very modest. It was a fun video. Me opening Dave's fridge, looking for food, hanging out in the pool. Yeah. You know, it was a great time.

selfish play for me to make that video. Yeah. I've never been so excited to tell millions of people about a friend of mine buying a house than I just was. But that is, how cool is that? I'm very excited about it.

principled your way into a lot of amazing situations, I gotta say. You know,

in all honesty, the reason I wrote that book is because I have figured out how to do that. You've lived it. Yeah, but that's a total, there was no intention there. We just met over pickleball. And, by the way.

golf course, we talked shop. Yeah. Now it's pickleball. All right, now let me turn.

this to some real content. All right, so we did talk about the net. That was good. We had a money, two money questions. Yeah.

Dave next time he's around to see what he thinks. But I do want to talk very.

briefly here about this kind of thing. So I read an article years ago, and I want our audience to catch this. As you're walking through the baby steps, one of the great benefits of getting debt-free is that you can then move into places that maybe previously you could not afford. And here's what we know from the data. That if you live, the nicer the neighborhood you live in, the greater success chances your kids have.

Yeah, your environment matters. The people around you matter. That's it.

Harvard's done the longest study on relationships in the world. 80-year study. And here's what they found. 95% of your success or failure is directly related to the people you spend the most time with. That's why I hang out with Ken.

tricky last couple months, so I appreciate the advice. Just to get right into it, a couple months ago I lost my job. It was terminated. There was a question about the actual validity of it, and I've been given very little information, well, actually no information, about the actual concerns around it. And then, a couple weeks later, I lost my fiance, and now I'm starting the job hunt and just trying to get by in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

tricky for me to navigate as well. You want to take the investment piece first?

Yeah, I'd like to come back to the litigation. I just want to say, Ryan, I'm sorry for everything you went through. Your fiance passed away? No, no, sorry, we.

separated. Oh goodness. Me too, because you said you lost your fiance, and I was.

like, oh boy. Okay, I feel a little better. Still a heartbreaking situation. Did she.

dump you?

investments are retirement, and I don't know what the laws are in Canada, the penalties, but I imagine this is not, you're gonna get hit badly, taking out.

this $20,000.

that into an investment calculator, and what that money would have turned into 20, 30 years from now, it's not worth taking it out. I'd rather you use your future income to knock out this debt than rob your future. I agree. Mm-hmm. So, I wouldn't touch this.

moment. I am able to get some personal loans when needed. No, we're not going.

into any more debt. Can you promise me that?

you making?

$85,000 to $90,000.