Don’t Rationalize Stupid Money Decisions!

2024-04-17 01:54:47

The Ramsey Show believes you can build wealth and take control of your life—no matter what stupid mistakes you've made with money. Join as Dave Ramsey and his team of experts answer your questions on the top problems holding you back. Listen now or ask your question live by calling 888.825.5225 weekdays from 2–5 p.m. ET. Learn more at www.ramseysolutions.com

3Speaker 3
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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions. it's the Ramsey show where we help people build wealth, do work that they love and create actual, amazing relationships. Number one best-selling author of the book Breaking Free from Broke Ramsey personality and host of the very popular George Camel show on YouTube. George Camel is my co-host today. Thank you for joining us, America.

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The phone number is 888-825-5222. So, George, when, sometimes when people think of Dave Ramsey, they think cheap. I don't like that. They think, if I'm doing Dave Ramsey, I can't ever have a life the rest of my life and that was happened early on in my career. I got associated with, you know, beans and rice, rice and beans, junk cars, drive the hoopty, drive the hoopty, never have a life, can't have any fun.

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and that's all about Dave Ramsey. and the truth is that that's exact opposite of me. and so we had to try to communicate that to our team and we started saying okay, here's the deal. yes, you're gonna pay a price to win, but the point is win. That's the point.

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So, live like no one else so that you can live and give like no one else. Drive a car like no one else so that later you can drive a car like no one else. Yeah, it wasn't the end goal. You know, and so the goal is not to stay, you know, be worth 80 million dollars and live in a cave, collect lint and only come out on triple coupon Thursday. That's not the goal.

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Okay, the goal is to be outrageously generous, enjoy the money, to live like no one else. but you got to get your crap cleaned up to do that right? You got to get out of debt, you got to get your emergency fund in place, and then you hit baby step four, five and six, where you're investing and building your emergency fund, and now you're starting the process.

1Speaker 1
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of living like no one else. You can let your foot off the gas a little and start to upgrade some of the stuff, go on vacations again, all that good stuff. So a.

3Speaker 3
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couple of years ago, we launched a live like no one else cruise, and the cruise date was approximately the same date that we shut the entire nation down for the Fauci pandemic. and so guess what? We didn't cruise, which was a problem, because I mean people were getting on those boats. it was, it was it. y'all remember, it was a mess, and so it was so painful for all of us here because we had the thing sold out.

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it was gonna be such fun. I had my bags packed. It was ready. I mean I was. we were so ready to go and, like weeks, you know, days before it was.

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it was March 23rd. 2020 was the sale date. That's when we were gonna go and leave the dock right? No, no, no. not enough masks or flattening of the curve or vaccines on the planet to cause that puppy to sail.

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It was done. But guess what? Today we are relaunching the live like no one else cruise. We are going, baby! It just took a little while.

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We're going next year at this time and it went on sale today to the public, and as soon as it went out on the public and went out to our, you know, we sent out the email newsletter from the people on our database and so forth. we shut the cruise website down. We broke the internet. Oh boy. So many people want to live like no one else with us.

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So it's all the Ramsey personalities. George Campbell. I mean you got seven days of George Campbell trapped on a boat with you, and Rachel Cruz and Jade Warshaw, and Dr. John Deloney, and Ken Coleman and me. I'm gonna be there the whole week.

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That's right, and we're bringing some friends with us. y'all. It's gonna be so fun. It's Holland America, so it's an upscale cruise. It's not like Walmart on the one, okay, and some of those other ones, y'all know what they are.

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Not a great value cruise. Yeah, this is not a value cruise. This is a fun upscale, because you're now, you're living like no one else. You don't need to come on this cruise, though, unless you're in baby step 4 or beyond, because that would a make us hypocrites and be. you wouldn't be following our system, because we tell you not to go on vacation until you're out of debt and have your emergency fund in place.

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Baby steps 1, 2, and 3, and we're gonna stay with that. We stayed with it last time the cruise sold out in about. I think it was about four and a half five weeks. it sold out last time we did it and based on the response this morning, it's not even gonna last that long this time. Well, think about it in.

1Speaker 1
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the last five years. people are in much better shape financially. if they've been following these steps. Yeah. They've gotten out of debt since that last.

3Speaker 3
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cruise. That's exactly right and a lot you know. the first people we offered it to and we sold a whole bunch of them were the ones that didn't get to go last time. So they had up until yesterday to sign up and you people didn't know about it. So we're going to Turks and Caicos.

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Oh, have you ever been to Turks and Caicos? Sweet! That water, so clear, makes Gomer say Shazam. I'm just saying. St.

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Thomas. Oh, the US Virgin Islands. San Juan. The Bahamas. These are the stops.

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and it's again. it's Holland America. It's a first-class ship and we're gonna have the whole ship. It's all just us. It's gonna be Ramsey people.

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That's it. Live like no one else cruise. and I said we're bringing some friends. Stephen Curtis.

1Speaker 1
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Chapman. How many Grammys has Stephen got? He has five Grammys. I've set five Grammys, 59 Dove Awards, an American Music Award, 50 number one singles, 17 million albums. Those numbers hurt my brain.

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And a little-known secret is he's.

3Speaker 3
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also just an incredibly nice guy. Amazing. We've been friends for about 20 years and he is a world-class talent and a great guy. He's gonna be with us on the cruise. Monique Chauhan from the Food Channel.

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World-class chef, winner of Iron Chef and a whole bunch of other things, and she's become a friend in the last few years. We've done several events with her. She was at an event I did that we did just the other day at one of our one of our VIP events. Oh yeah. The man, that food.

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She's gonna do cooking demonstrations, all kinds of fun stuff with Monique Chauhan. Dina Carter, country music star extraordinaire. I don't know how many Grammys or whatever she's got, but she's a big deal. Been around Nashville forever. We're bringing some of the country music songwriters.

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We're gonna do songwriters nights and these two of the guys, Wynn and Phil, they've written some of the biggest hits out there, like Wynn wrote Waiting on a Woman. Oh yeah. Little song that Brad Paisley did. and so these guys are gonna be on there with us. It's got an incredible lineup.

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We're gonna be talking and doing events and doing sessions all week and we're gonna play together and we're gonna splash in that blue water. That's on top of all the normal.

1Speaker 1
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world-class cruise entertainment and we're bringing stuff on top of that.

3Speaker 3
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It's our cruise. I mean they're gonna have their little dancing people and all that, but I mean they'll have their normal thing, right? But we're gonna do our dog and pony show, baby. This is it. Ken Coleman and I are gonna do a little.

1Speaker 1
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routine out there. Yeah, we're working on a little banjo. It's kind of an Irish jig. Oh, please don't. We'll save that.

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I'm gonna veto that. But we do have a world-class magician and comedian, Nate Bargetti's dad, Stephen Bargetti, is gonna be joining us. He's a hoot. He's amazing. That's how Nate got funny.

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You've seen him open for him. And then Carolyn Xavier, a hilarious comedian, who even Dave loves. Oh, man, well, I.

3Speaker 3
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was the one who recommended her for this. Recovering Californian. Yeah, Recovering Californian. She makes fun of the South and tells Californians, like, this is a stick of butter. They use the whole thing when they cook.

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It's stuff like that, right? So she's funny as card. I love her. This is gonna be great, y'all. It's gonna be March 22nd through the 29th, so about a year away.

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A little less than a year away. 11 months away. And if you're in Baby Steps 4 and beyond and you want to go with us, it's the Live Like No One. Else Cruise. It opened to the public today.

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We already broke the internet once. Let's see if we can do it again. Go to ramsaysolutions.com slash cruise and get your cabins and tickets and all that stuff while you can. Last time we did this, the whole thing was gone in just a couple of weeks, a few weeks. So we're gonna remind you about this thing.

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But, as you can tell, we're a bit jazzed about it. And even though it brings back very dark and deep and horrible memories, but aside from that, we're very jazzed about it. So it's very cool. This is gonna be fun. I can't wait.

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Go, get your.

1Speaker 1
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tickets. ramsaysolutions.com slash cruise. We'll see you there.

2Speaker 2
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3Speaker 3
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George Camel, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Thank you for joining us, America. We're so glad you're here. Alex is in Raleigh, North Carolina. Hi, Alex.

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How are you? Hello. How's it going, Dave? Better than I deserve, sir. What's up?

2Speaker 2
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Nothing much, man. You know, I've been following you for a couple years, man. You know, been making great strides, and I'm at a point where I'm questioning whether or not I should finally treat myself and just get a new car that I've wanted for.

3Speaker 3
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a little bit. Okay. All right. Yep. So you've been following us.

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What's the?

2Speaker 2
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guidelines that we use?

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Obviously not taking on new debt. Okay, that's one. That's good. What else? You know, that's, you know, paying off your mortgage, you know, all that good stuff.

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You know, I've been working on all that. I've been really chugging along the last couple years, made, you know, what I feel is amazing strides, and I'm just like, you know what? I feel like. I need to reward myself, man, you know? Are you out of debt completely?

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Not completely, but like in a position where, like, given my income, the debt that I have is very minimal. What debt do you have left? So I have a house worth about $210,000, $220,000.. I owe $85,000 on it. I got a rental worth about $120,000 that I owe $60,000 on, and that's it.

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I have a credit card that I owe $2,000.

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. That's my business credit card for my rental.

3Speaker 3
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company, but that's it. That's good for you. And what do you make a year?

2Speaker 2
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Household income? So household is around $250,000.. I'm the bulk of that. I make $220,000..

3Speaker 3
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My wife, she makes $1,030,000.

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. Okay, all right. And what is your net worth?

2Speaker 2
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Well, I got, probably, if you include my houses and my 401 and everything, well over $200,000.

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. Probably between $225,000 and $250,000, best guess. When you say a new car, are you?

3Speaker 3
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talking about a new-to-you car or a brand-new car? Brand-new 2024 Ford.

2Speaker 2
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Maverick. As much as I'd love to get a $70,000 Sierra, that's just dumb. So I want to be modest, get a truck that checks all my boxes, that isn't too crazy, and is very affordable. So yeah, the truck's only $27,000, so it's a new truck for the price of used trucks nowadays.

3Speaker 3
00:12:13.12 – 00:12:41.14

All right. Alex, you are a grown person, and you're certainly allowed to do whatever you want to do. What you're asking is not illegal. So you get to do whatever you want to do. To be very clear, though, if you'd spent more time than I thought you had listening, we teach folks that new cars go down in value so rapidly that you shouldn't buy a brand-new car until you have over a million dollar net worth.

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And we've taught people that for 30 years. So I would buy a one-year old truck or a two-year old truck, if you can pay cash for it, and the guidelines that you're.

2Speaker 2
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talking about would be just fine.

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Yeah, so basically, should I save up my resources over the next few months instead of dumping them into my mortgage and pay cash for it, or just keep dumping it to my mortgage and just stride on for another year? No, if you want to keep paying down.

3Speaker 3
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the mortgage, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with doing that, too, and not buying the truck. But if you're going to buy the truck, you've got to pay cash for it, so you're going to have to.

2Speaker 2
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save up, right? Yeah, so pretty much put pauses on the mortgage. The extra payments on the mortgage,

3Speaker 3
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you're going to slow down, because that's what we teach you to do at Baby Step 3.

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. Because this kind of is a want for you, it's not really a need, but let's pretend that it was an actual need, that you were driving a $2,000 car, making $250,000, and it was really time for you to move up, and you're on Baby Steps 4, 5, 6, right? Then we would tell you to just slow down, how much you're putting on the house, so that you could upgrade the car to something reasonable, because a $2,000 car in your situation will be unreasonable, right, George? Yeah, and the other piece here is, are you?

1Speaker 1
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currently investing 15% into retirement? Yes. Okay, good. So beyond that, how much cash do you have?

2Speaker 2
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Well, I got about six, seven grand in my emergency fund savings. I think it's like $6,500 to be exact. And then in my checking, I only have, honestly, I think, like $1,500, because I budget very strictly, and anything extra, pretty much at the end of the month, just goes straight into the mortgage.

3Speaker 3
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That's how you got those low balances. You're killing it. You're doing great.

2Speaker 2
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Like, yeah, like. I bought this house two years ago, the loan was $180,000, and I've already.

3Speaker 3
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got it down to, you know, $84,000.

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. I love that. I love that. What are you driving now?

2Speaker 2
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You're going to laugh at me when I say this. I work from home, so I got a 1994 Chevy F10, because I just, I don't work from home. And then when I got the rental property, you know, just for like getting stuff for that, because, you know, me and my friend are, you know, fixing it up and so forth. You know, we got a really good deal on it. That's why I got it early, because it was like, you know, too good of a deal to pass up.

00:15:00.86 – 00:15:02.16

Yeah. So, Alex, so what our?

3Speaker 3
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recommendation always is, and I'm not laughing at you, but I think you've done a great job. You've paid down very aggressively on these mortgages. That's excellent. So if you want to slow down the payment on the mortgage a little bit, or just make regular payments on the mortgages for a few months and pay cash for a one or a two-year-old truck, I think that's just fine. I would not recommend you buy a brand new truck, because when you drive a brand new car off the lot and you hear that sound as you leave the lot and pull on the street, when you go across the curb, it goes, boom, boom.

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That sound is $10,000.

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That's how much you lost right then. And by the time you get home, it's almost another 10.. So the new cars just lose so much of their value so fast that we don't recommend you take that hit, unless you've got a net worth of over a million dollars. You can stomach it at that point. And.

1Speaker 1
00:15:53.50 – 00:16:00.58

there are some prerequisites here, Alex. You need to pay off that credit card debt before you do anything. You have the money sitting there. You got 7K in the bank. Pay that off.

00:16:00.68 – 00:16:10.02

Now that leaves you with 5K. I think you need to beef up that emergency fund. He said it's for the business and all this, but if you're playing, I wouldn't be playing that game. I'd get rid of that. Get you.

3Speaker 3
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a debit card, cut up that credit card. Time for plastic surgery too, Alex. And I think the emergency.

1Speaker 1
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fund needs to be beefed up because he's only got 5K. at that point. We need to get him closer to probably $15,000, $20,000, $25,000.. Then we can start saving up cash for the car. So we need to.

3Speaker 3
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get the credit card done, get a debit card, build the emergency fund up to that, then save up for a car and pay cash. That's the order of events. And all of that, well, you can slow down your mortgage a little bit. You've done a great job overall. All we're doing is fine tuning, just a little bit, a little bit of polish right here.

00:16:40.34 – 00:16:49.28

But the ingredients are there. All we're doing. You've got all the right things. And the good news is you're paying attention and you're really thinking about it. Annalie is with us in Sacramento.

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Hi, Annalie. How are you? Hi, I'm good. Good. How can we help?

2Speaker 2
00:16:54.42 – 00:17:16.50

So I have a question about my mortgage. And I didn't know at the time of buying our home that you guys don't recommend manufactured homes. But we currently have a mortgage on it. And I am debating on whether we should throw our savings at that mortgage or keep it in cash for when we decide to sell, trying to pay down the mortgage quicker on the principle.

3Speaker 3
00:17:18.42 – 00:17:32.86

Okay. Well, overall, the concept is that every day you keep it, you're losing money because it's going down in value. So when we decide to sell, would be like three weeks from now.

2Speaker 2
00:17:33.24 – 00:17:39.28

And it's not looking great for equity. I'm sorry, say again. Just based on the pricing. Start again. I was talking over you.

00:17:39.34 – 00:17:58.50

Based on the pricing. right now, we're not looking great for selling right now. It's kind of a lull in the area we're at. But that's why I'm debating on if we should be paying down the loan with the money. I'm saying that regardless of a lull in.

3Speaker 3
00:17:58.50 – 00:18:12.02

the area in real estate, every day you own a manufactured house, it's going down in value. Trailers go down in value. Yeah. And so the longer you hold it, the more you're going to lose. Okay.

00:18:12.18 – 00:18:16.42

So I'm going to be thinking about putting this on the market very quickly.

2Speaker 2
00:18:16.86 – 00:18:21.26

Right now, there's nothing rental wise that we could even really afford for the same amount.

1Speaker 1
00:18:22.18 – 00:18:23.56

Well, you're going to have to find some more expense.

3Speaker 3
00:18:23.56 – 00:18:27.76

You're losing money every day that you sleep in a trailer.

00:18:29.60 – 00:18:42.24

Don't talk to me about. there's no rental property in Sacramento, California. Okay. You're losing money every day that you own a trailer. A trailer is a car you sleep in.

00:18:42.54 – 00:18:54.44

These are two back-to-back calls on depreciating assets. So you keep it as long as you want, and you rationalize it as long as you want. But every day you keep this, your finances are going the wrong way.

00:18:56.04 – 00:19:03.74

So don't rationalize that stupidity. Don't do it. You need to be thinking about how quickly we can get out of this thing.

1Speaker 1
00:19:03.94 – 00:19:07.78

Even if you don't have equity, it's going to be a stupid tax you pay to get out of the situation.

3Speaker 3
00:19:07.78 – 00:19:15.46

The equity is going down. It's getting negative and negative and more negative every day. It's what it does. It's just, yeah. Sorry.

00:19:15.58 – 00:19:24.96

I've got friends that are in the manufactured housing business. They're like, Dave, quit trashing us. I'm like, I'm not trashing you. You sell something that goes down in value. I'm just stating a fact.

00:19:25.60 – 00:19:28.58

That's it. This is The Ramsey Show.

00:19:31.28 – 00:19:57.78

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00:20:18.60 – 00:20:37.40

George Camel Ramsey personality is my co-host today. This is a fun day on The Ramsey Show. Some days we just sit here and do what we're supposed to do. And other days we get to have a lot of fun. I get to remind you guys, it's National Financial Literacy Month and that's a big deal, because financial literacy is a big deal.

00:20:37.40 – 00:20:50.54

Ever since I started talking about this stuff, everybody says, why don't they teach this in high school? Why don't they teach this in high school? Well, we do. We sell high school curriculum called Foundations in Personal Finance. 48% of the high schools in America have now taught it at one time or another.

00:20:51.00 – 00:21:03.34

We've had almost 8 million students go through it. It's pretty cool. So we're actively working all the time. Texas is in adoption right now, and so is South Carolina. And we're one of the approved curriculum.

00:21:04.02 – 00:21:10.08

And so the teachers and the administrators and the people who are purchasing the curriculum for the different schools is now required.

00:21:12.06 – 00:21:18.28

subject to get out of high school in those two states. And it is in several states. Thank goodness. It's good. You ought to learn how to balance a checkbook.

00:21:19.26 – 00:21:23.08

We'd have better congressmen if they learned how to do that. So it's good.

1Speaker 1
00:21:23.08 – 00:21:25.54

And we're biased, but we have the best curriculum.

3Speaker 3
00:21:25.82 – 00:21:32.60

Oh, definitely. Because the other stuff is dry, boring, and not even right. Ours is fun, funny, and is correct.

1Speaker 1
00:21:32.76 – 00:21:36.36

And actually teaches you how to win with money and avoid debt instead of accumulate it.

3Speaker 3
00:21:36.46 – 00:21:40.68

Here's how you build your credit score. Don't! Okay, that's good. That'll work. That was easy.

00:21:40.96 – 00:21:58.22

So there's that. All right. So, hey, one of the cool things that happens is we have companies and institutions and groups come alongside us and sponsor the curriculum to go into schools that can't otherwise afford to pay for it. And so we've got local businesses that do that. We've had other groups.

00:21:58.76 – 00:22:14.86

One of the groups that came alongside us is the Air Force. Now, that's pretty stinking cool. And the Air Force is one of our big sponsors on it. And so we've got Lieutenant Colonel Brian Ewing from the U.S. Air Force on the line.

00:22:15.12 – 00:22:20.76

And I want to talk about this a little bit. Brian and I have gotten to spend time together a couple of times. How are you? How are you, Colonel Ewing?

2Speaker 2
00:22:21.56 – 00:22:24.26

Hey, I woke up today and I'm getting paid. So life is good.

3Speaker 3
00:22:24.48 – 00:22:39.22

There we go, man. Well, we're honored to have men and women like you on the payroll. Thank you for your service. So you guys, with the Air Force, have been sponsoring this for quite a while. How did you hear about the idea that you could sponsor the Ramsey curriculum, and the Air Force decided to do that?

2Speaker 2
00:22:40.20 – 00:23:11.90

So I've been following you for quite a long time. Back in 2008 and 2009,, my wife and I, we got debt-free thanks to your curriculum. And we just kept looking at that and then seeing where we could help. We taught, or I should say facilitated, FPU all over the world, Afghanistan, Iraq, states, all over the country. But then, when I got into Air Force recruiting, I said, man, how can we do something better and do it for the youth and get upstream before people get into those troubles?

00:23:12.52 – 00:23:35.68

And so, yeah, I was talking with your folks there, the education team, Ryan Davis, Jeff Martinez and team. And they told me about this Foundation of Personal Finance and said, hey, we have this. And if you guys want to come alongside as you can. And so a couple of years ago, we said, well, let's dip our toes in the water. And we sponsored three schools there in the Tennessee area.

00:23:35.86 – 00:23:47.04

It went amazing. And we had such great results. We said, well, let's expand it over to Oklahoma and a couple other states. We went to 10 schools. And in this past year, we just we just went crazy with it.

00:23:47.22 – 00:23:52.58

And, you know, said, hey, we want to go after about 100 schools. And we were able to sponsor 92 schools.

3Speaker 3
00:23:52.88 – 00:23:58.72

Thanks to your partnership. Wow. Well, thanks to your partnership. We appreciate you, Colonel Ewing. Appreciate the Air Force.

00:23:58.72 – 00:24:15.32

come alongside. And that's 92 schools. And if you had a thousand students probably or more, that are going to go through this curriculum because of you all. And in the process, they're going to hear about the Air Force and find out that if you want to go to college debt free, the Air Force can cause that to happen. Right.

00:24:15.42 – 00:24:19.14

And so they learn. There's a good. it's a good. it's a good partnership in a lot of ways. Right.

2Speaker 2
00:24:20.12 – 00:24:31.80

Yes, sir. I think it's a phenomenal partnership. You know, I've, I've been in schools and homes that you name it all over, you know, everything all over the country. And what I hear from these young people is they're hungry. Right.

00:24:31.82 – 00:24:42.64

They're hungry for information. They're hungry for opportunities. And I call it the. you know, it's kind of like a dog with a cone on his head after surgery or something. We have this cone of of knowledge that we just don't know about.

00:24:42.76 – 00:25:02.78

We know what mom does and dad does. If you're lucky enough to have both of those and maybe a teacher. But what we want to do is open them up to take that cone off and tell them about different opportunities, both on the educational, the job opportunity side, and whether they come in the Air Force or not. Let's set them up for success. And the teachers and the counselors are saying, hey, Air Force, come, come talk to my students.

00:25:02.84 – 00:25:09.80

And so everybody wins in this, from the student to the parent, to you guys, to us. I mean, our communities are better because of this partnership.

1Speaker 1
00:25:10.28 – 00:25:19.26

I love that. And the ripple effect, Colonel, is amazing. I just met someone yesterday. I was at, you know, the line of the coffee shop and she said, hey, are you the guy from that Ramsey curriculum? I went, yeah.

00:25:19.30 – 00:25:28.92

She said, I love your stuff. I was able to pay cash for a car because of you guys. I learned so much. I'm budgeting. And so the ripple effect, we'll never know as these people start families and, you know, affect their communities.

00:25:28.92 – 00:25:31.74

So thank you for what you guys do and the big part you play in that.

3Speaker 3
00:25:31.74 – 00:25:43.76

Yeah, thank you. And yes, sir. All of the businesses out there across America that sponsor. Air Force is one of our larger sponsors, with 92 schools. But all of your businesses and sponsor out there and cause, maybe the high school you graduated from, you.

00:25:43.76 – 00:26:03.82

make sure those kids get the curriculum, you know, that kind of thing. A lot of you jump in, you can get in touch with us and jump in if you're out there listening and want to join this crusade of teaching the youngsters. I kind of have this idea, if we could teach them all to be financial literate, it could possibly change the nation. It'd be one of the things that did anyway. So, very cool.

00:26:04.10 – 00:26:16.16

And so, Colonel Ewing, thank you so much. Thanks for the sponsorship. Thanks for your personal friendship. Thanks for your heart and for your service for this nation. And we really, really appreciate you guys come alongside us and thanks for taking a little time with us.

2Speaker 2
00:26:17.04 – 00:26:40.78

Thank y'all so much. You know, like I said, I hope this, as I've said to your team before, I hope we keep this relationship going and if we can grow it in any way. And if, like you said, there's schools out there that want it. Hey, we've got a little bit of money left in the coffer, believe it or not, and we'd love to sponsor more schools. So, airforce.com or however they want to reach out to us, to your team or to us, we'll be happy to grab some more schools, so.

3Speaker 3
00:26:40.78 – 00:26:48.38

that we can keep this going. Well, if we haven't spent all your money, we'll find a way to do it, brother. We're about to break the Air Force website. So, here we go. That's awesome.

00:26:48.48 – 00:26:49.52

Yeah, go to ramsaysolutions.

00:26:49.52 – 00:27:01.42

com slash sponsor. That's where you would go if you're a teacher and you need the curriculum. The Air Force just offered to sponsor it for you, maybe. You got a handful more, because apparently we need to get over 100.. We only got 92..

00:27:01.64 – 00:27:07.00

So, there we go. Dave likes round numbers. Yeah, well, apparently Colonel Ewing does. I'm just saying. And we don't argue with them.

00:27:07.14 – 00:27:19.12

We salute when the lieutenant colonel comes in the room. You salute, buddy. That's how you do it. So, and we appreciate you in all seriousness. And if you want to sponsor or help these kids out, ramsaysolutions.com slash sponsor will do that.

00:27:19.18 – 00:27:35.30

By the way, in honor of this month, we're giving for our teacher appreciation giveaway. Ramsey Education is. One teacher is going to win a $5,000 vacation. You don't have to be teaching the curriculum. You just have to be a teacher in the classroom, not a homeschool teacher, a teacher in the classroom.

00:27:35.74 – 00:27:47.28

You homeschoolers are real teachers too, but I'm talking about classroom teachers, okay? So, $5,000 vacation for one. Two more teachers are going to win a $3,000 vacation. No purchase is necessary. To register for that,

1Speaker 1
00:27:47.28 – 00:27:48.46

go to ramsaysolutions.

00:27:48.46 – 00:28:00.00

com slash teacher. And we all know a teacher. So send them a link to ramsaysolutions.com slash teacher and say, I hope you win. That's cool. So someone in line, a youngster.

00:28:00.38 – 00:28:07.02

She was working the register. She had just, she was a high schooler. Oh, she is currently in high school. Yeah. She said, Hey, last year I took the curriculum.

00:28:07.46 – 00:28:21.96

And so I run into these people all the time. One guy, I was in a target once and he just yelled at me, Dave Ramsey. And I went, sure, but I knew exactly what he was saying. And he, again, I went, how do you know? He said, I went through the curriculum and they're actually enjoying it.

00:28:22.00 – 00:28:35.46

They're engaging with it. I did a zoom call with a class this week, you know, 60 students out there asking questions. And the teacher has been doing this for 15 years now. He's been teaching this stuff. And it's just amazing the impact we can have on this next generation to be the preventative medicine.

00:28:35.76 – 00:28:39.06

Instead of the emergency surgery you've done on the show for 30 years, telling people to.

3Speaker 3
00:28:39.06 – 00:28:48.30

amputate the Tahoe. So I walked in and Sharon and I were dropped by Best Buy. She was looking at a washer and dryer. And so we go in there Sunday afternoon. There's nobody in there right before closing time.

00:28:48.78 – 00:28:57.90

And we walk in, there's a young guy, like 16, 17 at the front. That's the, I've got greeters or whatever. How can we help you? or whatever? And I'm like, washer and dryer, he points that way.

00:28:58.58 – 00:29:08.62

You're Dave Ramsey. I'm like, good gosh, you're 16.. How do you know that? He goes, curriculum, same thing. I went through your high school curriculum and he goes, and your YouTube stuff, man, it's great.

00:29:09.12 – 00:29:19.18

And so we get ready to leave. We walk out, there's a girl standing beside him, also 16, 17.. She goes, I'm so into your YouTube. And I'm like, my wife said, you're just a YouTuber. now.

00:29:19.30 – 00:29:20.86

That's all you are. That's it.

1Speaker 1
00:29:20.92 – 00:29:22.28

The Bono of personal finance.

3Speaker 3
00:29:22.58 – 00:29:27.52

Used to be cats chasing lasers. Now it's bald guys. There we go. YouTube has moved along.

1Speaker 1
00:29:27.72 – 00:29:28.58

Whatever keeps you relevant.

3Speaker 3
00:29:28.82 – 00:29:31.68

There you go. This is the Ramsey Show.

00:29:34.62 – 00:29:53.44

I've been doing this show for over 30 years. And some of the saddest calls I have 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.

00:29:53.68 – 00:30:13.58

When you have to think through, how am I going to pay my bills in the middle of all that grief? It's just, it is, it's terrible. It's a 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. Zander is the place that Winston and I actually get all of our life insurance. And it doesn't cost much, because Zander shops among a gazillion different companies.

00:30:13.80 – 00:30:24.90

It doesn't cost much. You just have to admit that someday you're not going to be here. You got to say it out loud. And you got to say, I'm going to say, I love you to my family by taking care of them and taking the time to put this stuff in place. The cost of stinking pizza.

00:30:24.90 – 00:30:29.48

to get a free quote, call 800-356-4282.

00:30:29.56 – 00:30:34.34

. That's 800-356-4282, or go to zander.com.

00:30:36.44 – 00:30:46.54

Thanks for being with us, America. George Camel, Ramsey Personality is our co-host. George, there is a way that the listener, the viewer, can help us, and we need their help.

1Speaker 1
00:30:46.88 – 00:30:48.40

We do. What is that way?

3Speaker 3
00:30:48.94 – 00:30:51.70

Well, it would be subscribing to the show. What else?

1Speaker 1
00:30:52.32 – 00:30:52.80

Following.

3Speaker 3
00:30:53.20 – 00:30:53.82

Following the show.

1Speaker 1
00:30:53.82 – 00:30:56.18

Liking, commenting, engaging, sharing.

3Speaker 3
00:30:56.72 – 00:30:57.62

Clicking the buttons.

1Speaker 1
00:30:57.90 – 00:30:58.36

That's it.

3Speaker 3
00:30:58.68 – 00:30:59.28

The buttons.

1Speaker 1
00:30:59.44 – 00:30:59.88

All of them.

3Speaker 3
00:31:00.12 – 00:31:06.16

The podcast, the YouTube buttons. What is it? What is it? Deloney calls it the internets.

1Speaker 1
00:31:06.66 – 00:31:09.22

Oh, gosh. The interwebs. I think he likes to call them interwebs.

3Speaker 3
00:31:09.32 – 00:31:10.14

The YouTubes.

1Speaker 1
00:31:10.18 – 00:31:11.20

He thinks it makes him seem younger.

3Speaker 3
00:31:11.22 – 00:31:13.54

It's like there's more than one tube. The YouTubes.

1Speaker 1
00:31:13.86 – 00:31:14.36

There's many.

3Speaker 3
00:31:14.54 – 00:31:18.70

Yeah. And so, um. Leaving reviews, that's important too. I think he does that on purpose. Do you think he does it on purpose?

1Speaker 1
00:31:18.76 – 00:31:23.34

I think, I think he does it to anger the youth of America, just to rile them up, make them feel something.

3Speaker 3
00:31:23.34 – 00:31:27.26

He wants to sound like an uncool boomer. Yes. And he's not.

1Speaker 1
00:31:27.38 – 00:31:28.74

He's actually cool, is the problem.

3Speaker 3
00:31:28.80 – 00:31:36.38

That's the problem, yeah. Gosh. So, subscribe, follow, leave a five-star review. Those one-star reviews are not helpful. You're just a little troll.

00:31:36.62 – 00:31:37.52

We know who you are.

1Speaker 1
00:31:37.64 – 00:31:38.50

I don't like this.

3Speaker 3
00:31:38.50 – 00:31:44.66

My little troll. And so, um. Don't be a little troll. And so, yeah. Be a five-star.

1Speaker 1
00:31:44.92 – 00:31:46.46

Be a hero. Be a hero.

3Speaker 3
00:31:46.64 – 00:31:52.96

Be a hero. Five gold stars. Remember when you were in first grade? Five gold stars. They probably didn't do that, but they did it when I.

00:31:52.96 – 00:32:01.34

We got, that's where this whole thing came from, by the way. We were little kids. They used to give us stars, but yeah. So anyway, now I'm still a little kid asking for stars. There you go.

00:32:01.90 – 00:32:07.74

And so, and follow. And hey, by the way, share. That's a big one. Let people know about the show. Thank you for that.

00:32:08.12 – 00:32:11.16

Wendy is in Phoenix. Hi, Wendy. Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

2Speaker 2
00:32:13.10 – 00:32:18.82

Thank you so much for taking my call. I'm slightly terrified to talk to you, but I'm happy.

1Speaker 1
00:32:19.04 – 00:32:20.38

It's just me, Wendy. Don't worry.

3Speaker 3
00:32:21.40 – 00:32:23.68

We'll, let George, be nice to you.

2Speaker 2
00:32:25.06 – 00:32:31.22

I know. I hear you telling people what a mess they've made of their lives. now. They're stupid. And I know you're going to say that to me.

3Speaker 3
00:32:32.60 – 00:32:36.64

No, we're going to be nice to you, Wendy. What's up? What'd you do?

2Speaker 2
00:32:38.48 – 00:32:49.78

Okay, so my husband and I have $320,000 worth of student loans. What? And we've been paying on them for almost a decade. And it's just growing more and more.

3Speaker 3
00:32:49.78 – 00:32:50.66

Who's the doctor?

2Speaker 2
00:32:52.44 – 00:32:54.16

He's a foot and ankle surgeon.

3Speaker 3
00:32:54.34 – 00:32:55.30

Oh, that's good news.

2Speaker 2
00:32:58.88 – 00:33:01.30

I know he said he has a good shovel.

00:33:02.86 – 00:33:07.38

But it doesn't feel like that, because everything goes towards this debt that keeps growing.

3Speaker 3
00:33:08.72 – 00:33:09.70

What's he make?

2Speaker 2
00:33:11.10 – 00:33:13.24

He makes $180,000.

3Speaker 3
00:33:13.90 – 00:33:14.74

He just get out?

2Speaker 2
00:33:16.42 – 00:33:18.18

No. No.

1Speaker 1
00:33:18.66 – 00:33:20.06

It feels low for a surgeon.

3Speaker 3
00:33:20.80 – 00:33:21.40

Yeah, really?

2Speaker 2
00:33:22.38 – 00:33:24.92

And he's in podiatry. He's a foot and ankle surgeon.

3Speaker 3
00:33:25.12 – 00:33:27.46

I know. But they don't charge less.

2Speaker 2
00:33:27.98 – 00:33:29.24

It's rated in our state.

3Speaker 3
00:33:35.30 – 00:33:36.48

That's about where.

00:33:36.48 – 00:33:42.20

. Okay, so let's pretend that he's making $200,000, because that sounds low. Okay, good. $180,000.. Do you work outside the home?

2Speaker 2
00:33:43.54 – 00:33:47.94

I work part-time with special needs.

3Speaker 3
00:33:48.30 – 00:33:57.48

Okay. And thank you. That's wonderful. And you've got $320,000 in student loan debt from getting his MD. And what else do you have in debt?

2Speaker 2
00:33:59.54 – 00:34:04.18

Well, we do have two cars that we are planning on paying off.

3Speaker 3
00:34:04.94 – 00:34:06.60

Yeah, how much do you owe on the two cars?

2Speaker 2
00:34:08.22 – 00:34:09.40

It's $20,000 total.

3Speaker 3
00:34:09.82 – 00:34:11.90

$20,000 between the two of them. Okay, what else do you have?

2Speaker 2
00:34:13.46 – 00:34:15.00

That's it. Well, and our mortgage.

3Speaker 3
00:34:15.22 – 00:34:16.30

And how much do you owe on your mortgage?

2Speaker 2
00:34:18.56 – 00:34:19.36

$480,000.

3Speaker 3
00:34:19.48 – 00:34:23.68

Okay. All right. Okay. So... Well, you haven't done too bad.

00:34:24.04 – 00:34:41.98

A lot of people, when they graduate from med school, get what I call dock-itis, because they've been holding their breath for 16 or 17 years, doing nothing but going to school. And they graduate and go, ta-da, I'm a doctor. I'm going to go buy a bunch of crap I can't afford. And that's what they usually do. That's dock-itis.

00:34:42.20 – 00:34:59.60

And so they buy a house, they can't afford, two BMWs, and a Mercedes as a spare, and start going on vacations, and still have $300,000 in student loan debt. You didn't do that. You only got $20,000 in car debt. That's good. So y'all have been fairly conservative.

00:35:00.28 – 00:35:04.62

But you're making $200,000 a year. So how much can you throw at the debt if you get on beans and rice?

2Speaker 2
00:35:07.80 – 00:35:21.10

Well, that's the thing. I feel like we are on beans and rice. And I'm emotional. I'm sorry. We have a lot of things that we're paying for, for, like our kids, that aren't covered with insurance.

3Speaker 3
00:35:22.04 – 00:35:24.62

You have special needs children yourself?

2Speaker 2
00:35:25.78 – 00:35:42.82

Well, I do, yes. But then three of my kids all struggle with depression, anxiety, suicidal ideations. And so a lot of our disposable money goes straight to therapists, because that's not always covered by... Anyway, I'm getting off topic.

3Speaker 3
00:35:43.08 – 00:35:48.34

No, that's part of the topic. I mean, you've got your hands full. So how old are you guys?

2Speaker 2
00:35:52.12 – 00:35:54.28

I'm 43, both of us, sir.

3Speaker 3
00:35:54.44 – 00:35:56.78

And you have three children, and he has.

00:35:56.78 – 00:35:58.82

. I mean, are they yours from a previous marriage?

2Speaker 2
00:36:00.24 – 00:36:16.70

We have four children. One has special needs, and then the other three struggle with mental illness. They're all from my husband, and I. Like, first marriage. Anyway, so finally, I got my husband on board.

00:36:17.22 – 00:36:26.86

I can read your book, because he was content to just make the minimum payment and income-based for repayment and live like that.

3Speaker 3
00:36:26.92 – 00:36:30.54

I got the picture now. How can we best serve you today, ma'am?

2Speaker 2
00:36:31.32 – 00:36:33.90

Okay. Okay. So I would like to sell our home.

00:36:35.56 – 00:36:40.54

It's increasing so much value. We could list it for 1.1..

00:36:42.14 – 00:37:15.06

We have a few comps, a few realtors telling us that we won't be able to sell it unless we put in a backyard. And my debt is telling me not to listen to them and just sell it, as is, because we will make enough to wipe out our student loan, have the three to six months of financial reserves. We could rent for a while and just start building wealth and save for when we can do a home with a 15-year mortgage.

3Speaker 3
00:37:15.06 – 00:37:17.06

I would do that as a last resort.

2Speaker 2
00:37:18.68 – 00:37:19.16

Really?

3Speaker 3
00:37:19.40 – 00:37:25.62

Not as a first resort, because moving is very expensive, and you have to replace it with another place to live.

1Speaker 1
00:37:25.78 – 00:37:28.60

And you've got a lot of kids. You need room for six.

3Speaker 3
00:37:28.60 – 00:37:50.10

So I would not do that until the two of you had sat down and done your every dollar budget together and gotten some peace about where the money is going. Because in talking to you, it feels very chaotic. There's not peace on the subject. And it's going everywhere. It feels out of control.

00:37:50.62 – 00:38:04.14

And so the selling of the home feels like a desperate slash, a leap, a lunge, rather than a carefully thought out, wise decision, because we've done everything else we can do, and we're stuck. Am I missing something?

2Speaker 2
00:38:05.80 – 00:38:06.08

No.

3Speaker 3
00:38:06.54 – 00:38:26.14

Okay. All right. That's where all the emotion's coming from, is the chaos and the sense of hopelessness. There's no, no, I can't see a light at the end of the tunnel unless it's a train coming at me. So I want the two of you to sit down together before you give up your home and lay out and say, okay, we're going to budget for the therapist.

00:38:26.14 – 00:38:48.72

We're going to budget for the special need. We're going to budget for food, shelter, water, clothing, transportation. We're going to lay all that at the two of you together. And then we're going to see how much of this debt we can knock off. And oh, by the way, you're probably going to pick up some hospital shifts and things, honey, on the weekends and get your income from 180 to 280..

00:38:49.44 – 00:39:12.92

And so we can knock this out quick and keep our home. Because I think that that's probably really what needs to happen. But until you've worked a plan, that the two of you are working together and you're making all the progress you can make, and you've squeezed every sacrifice out of that budget that you can, and you've worked that plan for four or five months and you still aren't making progress, until you've done that, I wouldn't sell.

1Speaker 1
00:39:13.32 – 00:39:31.90

Yeah. And part of that, we're going to gift you every dollar premium, and it's going to be real simple. It's going to take you about a half hour. for the first one, get the bank statement, you and your husband together, list out all the expenses that could happen in the next month, list out all the income that's coming in. It's probably going to be more income than you realized and more expenses than you realized.

00:39:32.04 – 00:39:34.92

But that'll at least give you a picture of reality and help you take the next step.

3Speaker 3
00:39:35.16 – 00:39:43.08

Stop investing for retirement. Stop going out to eat. Stop going on vacation. Write it all down. Honey, you're just stuck.

00:39:43.46 – 00:39:49.82

And no, we're not going to yell at you. We're going to help you. Okay. And y'all can do this, Wendy. I think you've got numbers that'll do it.

00:39:50.48 – 00:40:13.14

I don't know what you're spending on all these various issues with the children, but other than that, your budget sounds very doable. So I want you to dig in and really put numbers to all of these issues and then see where that leaves your family. If, after doing that for five or six months and you're from a point of peace, you make the decision to sell the house, I would. This is the Ramsey Show.

00:40:16.60 – 00:40:46.74

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions. It's the Ramsey Show where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual, amazing relationships. Number one bestselling author of the book Breaking Free from Broke and the hottest YouTube show out there, George Camel, with a K, Ramsey personality. He's my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225..

00:40:46.74 – 00:40:54.14

Kristen starts this hour off in, well, I'm going to have to push the right button. There. it is. Kristen's in Syracuse, New York. Hi, Kristen.

00:40:54.24 – 00:40:54.62

How are you?

2Speaker 2
00:40:55.64 – 00:40:57.12

Hi, good. Thank you so much.

3Speaker 3
00:40:57.82 – 00:40:58.76

Good. How can we help you?

2Speaker 2
00:41:00.30 – 00:41:22.32

So I'm wondering if I should go back to nursing school to get my nurse practitioner degree this fall. I keep going back and forth because I had my second baby a few months ago and I went back to work part-time. I've been back for about a month. I was full-time before and I feel like I'm in a sweet spot. I feel happier at work.

00:41:23.16 – 00:41:39.08

I feel more patient and kinder with my patients. I feel like life is more manageable than when I was full-time after I had my first baby. So I'm nervous to take on another endeavor.

3Speaker 3
00:41:40.22 – 00:41:41.14

Why would you?

2Speaker 2
00:41:41.30 – 00:41:50.48

At this time, why would I? Oh, well, I mean, I don't want to do bedside nursing forever. I would like to become a nurse practitioner.

00:41:52.24 – 00:41:55.62

I mean, it would be less.

3Speaker 3
00:41:55.62 – 00:41:57.98

But to justify the expense, you'd be full-time.

2Speaker 2
00:41:58.26 – 00:41:58.48

Oh,

00:42:00.08 – 00:42:05.16

well, my dad offered to pay for it. So I feel like I'm so grateful.

3Speaker 3
00:42:05.16 – 00:42:12.78

Still, you're going to have to go do the work. He's going to pay for it. And to justify the expense of doing this, you would want to be full-time.

2Speaker 2
00:42:14.48 – 00:42:19.78

So, oh, yeah, after I get the degree, yeah, working part-time.

1Speaker 1
00:42:19.78 – 00:42:26.24

And you're telling us that you're happier part-time. So there's some conflicting views here. So what do you actually want to do?

2Speaker 2
00:42:28.18 – 00:42:38.48

I mean, that's what I'm trying to figure out, yeah. I mean, I'm going to... I don't know how it will be. Like, I want to set my family up for success in the future so that, like...

1Speaker 1
00:42:38.48 – 00:42:41.28

Well, is this a financial thing? Do you guys need more money?

2Speaker 2
00:42:43.70 – 00:42:47.88

Uh, like, I mean, I don't.

00:42:48.64 – 00:42:52.56

. I would like to have more money, like, for to be able to...

3Speaker 3
00:42:52.56 – 00:42:53.92

What does your husband make, Kristen?

2Speaker 2
00:42:55.40 – 00:43:00.54

Um, well, he probably makes, the past few years, like, $25 to $30.

00:43:00.84 – 00:43:11.20

. And then I've brought in, like, $60.. And I'm very fortunate because I have a lot of support from my parents. So I'm debt-free. But, like, my mom...

3Speaker 3
00:43:11.20 – 00:43:11.86

How old are you?

2Speaker 2
00:43:12.58 – 00:43:13.58

I'm 33.

3Speaker 3
00:43:13.96 – 00:43:14.18

Okay.

1Speaker 1
00:43:14.42 – 00:43:15.80

Why is he only making $25?

2Speaker 2
00:43:17.44 – 00:43:20.62

Um, he could make a lot more. I kind of...

1Speaker 1
00:43:20.62 – 00:43:21.42

What does he do?

2Speaker 2
00:43:22.40 – 00:43:24.00

He's a builder.

1Speaker 1
00:43:24.74 – 00:43:25.38

Full-time?

3Speaker 3
00:43:25.68 – 00:43:26.00

No.

2Speaker 2
00:43:26.78 – 00:43:45.54

No. We've been trading off on child care, but he definitely could work a lot more. I've been encouraging him to work a lot more. I feel like he was kind of raised, like, by the mindset of, like, just making enough to get by, just making enough to get by.

3Speaker 3
00:43:45.64 – 00:43:48.82

Yeah, once you're 33, it's not your parents' fault. It's your fault.

2Speaker 2
00:43:49.86 – 00:43:50.22

Right.

3Speaker 3
00:43:50.50 – 00:43:52.70

I don't care how he was raised. He ain't working much.

00:43:55.36 – 00:44:04.02

And maybe the way he got to not working much is. his parents weren't motivated people. The family were people that sat around, did as little as they could do. But it's time to grow up now. You got kiddos.

00:44:04.42 – 00:44:06.10

And he needs to get his butt in gear.

00:44:08.34 – 00:44:10.58

Yeah, a lot more than you need to go back to school.

1Speaker 1
00:44:11.00 – 00:44:12.48

Are there other jobs you can do?

3Speaker 3
00:44:12.66 – 00:44:20.26

Here's the net result. Okay, your husband sits on his thumbs, you're working part-time, and you're freaking grown-ups who live off your parents.

2Speaker 2
00:44:21.24 – 00:44:21.60

Yeah.

3Speaker 3
00:44:22.02 – 00:44:25.74

That's the net result. Your mom and dad ought to cut y'all off so you could grow up.

00:44:27.36 – 00:44:44.86

Y'all need to step up. No, you don't need to go back to school in this setting, because you're bailing this whole situation out. Because nobody's doing anything but you. And no, I think we need to address his work, career aspirations, and he needs to go be somebody. And then you can pick up more hours as a nurse.

00:44:45.06 – 00:45:08.16

And if everything's rocking and rolling, and you're quit taking money from your parents, and you're running your own lives, and you're doing pretty good, and you decide, hey, I really, I want to throw my shoulders back. I want to be a nurse practitioner. I really want to go do this for me. Not just because my husband doesn't work much, and not because my dad's willing to pay for it. Good Lord.

00:45:09.16 – 00:45:13.82

No, how about you want to go be somebody? That's when you should go do it.

1Speaker 1
00:45:14.20 – 00:45:19.06

Yeah, I think we need a bigger reason here than just like, well, I want to set up my family for success.

3Speaker 3
00:45:19.22 – 00:45:27.40

They're not. But no, that's code, for my husband doesn't make any money, and my mom and dad give us money. That's what that's code for.

1Speaker 1
00:45:28.28 – 00:45:29.98

So y'all need some independent success.

3Speaker 3
00:45:29.98 – 00:45:54.56

Yeah, yeah, and you guys got to get lined up, get yourself going. You have the ability, with a nursing degree, to work as much as you want to work, or as little as you want to work. And until you're running that through, and he's got his career off and going, and his work ethic issues addressed, and you guys get off the dole from your mom and dad. And that's not a blessing. It's enabling at this point.

00:45:55.12 – 00:46:09.42

So yeah, y'all need to, it'd be good for y'all. Be good for your mom and dad. Be good for your husband. For to have the dignity of running the lane by yourself, putting the ball in the hoop and go, we just scored. That's important for people.

00:46:09.86 – 00:46:14.90

The sense of I'm in control of my destiny. I know it, and I care about it.

1Speaker 1
00:46:16.06 – 00:46:18.58

That kind of mojo is what will carry you to actual success.

3Speaker 3
00:46:18.66 – 00:46:27.44

Yeah, and then, when you got that stuff going, and you call in and you go, hey, I want to step up one more level. I want to level up and be a nurse practitioner. Yeah, we can talk about that.

00:46:29.22 – 00:46:43.90

And then, at that point, if you want to accept a gift, and your dad wanted to pay for that, that's fine. But this is all just masking over the fact that y'all aren't dealing with it. And that's what I want y'all to do for your sake. It doesn't affect us, but that's what-.

1Speaker 1
00:46:43.94 – 00:46:57.36

And I found, as we take calls, a lot of people want to go back to school because they're sort of in this conundrum life crisis, and they just think going to school will hopefully solve everything. Yeah. And it's rarely the right next step. It just seems to be the thing I can-.

3Speaker 3
00:46:57.66 – 00:47:28.56

It's where I can run to to escape, because we've told people that you automatically make more money if you increase your education, and that's not true. Now, it would be true in her case, because nurse practitioners do make more. Okay, but this general, vague thing of, okay, so the answer to everything is go back to school. No, really not, not, unless you're already successful. And then you want to just add some tools to your already successful belt, or you're going to take a complete left turn and go into something that requires some certifications that you don't have.

00:47:28.84 – 00:47:33.98

Then you can do that. But, you know, all college is not good.

00:47:35.82 – 00:47:55.92

The right college, the right study in the university is excellent. But when you get a degree in left-handed puppetry or German polka history, and that's not her, she's not trying to do that. And, you know, you're going to end up a deeply in-debt barista. That's what you end up. And so all college is not good.

00:47:56.54 – 00:48:07.86

That's not, you know, that's a misnomer. And we've told people a lie about that. And then we financed it, and we give a 17-year-old $100,000 debt who's never done anything.

1Speaker 1
00:48:08.10 – 00:48:12.76

Then Sally May and the colleges go, we can make a lot of money off these people. Yeah. Let's go raise tuition.

3Speaker 3
00:48:13.16 – 00:48:26.06

It's your government screwing their constituency. And now we've got a trillion and a half in student loan debt, a trillion. Can you even spell that? This is The Ramsey Show.

00:48:30.98 – 00:48:47.64

Thanks for hanging out with us, America. We're so glad you're here. Open phones at 888-825-5225.. George, I'm so pumped about this total money makeover weekend that we are doing. It's coming up in just a few weeks, May the 10th.

00:48:48.38 – 00:49:06.68

And man, it's absolutely, it's going to be all the Ramsey personalities, May 10th and 11th, all day Friday, or Friday afternoon, all day Saturday. And we're going to walk you through everything from the very beginning, all the way through wealth and generosity. And by the time you leave, you're going to be so jacked that you're going to know you can do this. Yeah.

1Speaker 1
00:49:06.70 – 00:49:32.54

Whether you're crushing it with money or it's crushing you, this event is going to give you some inspiration, motivation, some knowledge. And again, we're covering, of course, the core Ramsey principles, but we also have, you know, Ken Coleman talking about how to make more money and Deloney talking about how to ease anxiety. Rachel talking about comparisons, and I'll be talking about home ownership, how to pay off the house early, how to get a house. Dave's going to be hitting baby steps, generosity, investing, the debt snowball,

3Speaker 3
00:49:32.76 – 00:49:41.00

all that good stuff. Jake Walsh, I'll be speaking as well. Everybody's going to be there. We're going to do a lot of Q&A with you guys. It's here on campus at Ramsey, at the Ramsey Live Event Center.

00:49:41.38 – 00:49:56.94

And we want you to be with us. The tickets are not sold out yet, but they're very close. It's May 10th and 11th. The Platinum Plus is gone. The Platinum, there's just a couple of, and the VIP, there's a few of, and then General Admission is available as well.

00:49:57.02 – 00:50:03.78

So we would love to have you with us. Be there. Don't miss this. We're going to walk you through every dollar. We're going to walk you through everything you need.

00:50:03.88 – 00:50:17.42

And bring your reluctant spouse and spend the weekend. You're going to leave all knit together, ready to go. And you can even bring your friend who thinks you're crazy because you're doing this Ramsey stuff. And by the time they leave, they're going to be crazy as you.

1Speaker 1
00:50:17.56 – 00:50:21.20

Maybe you pay for their ticket. That'd be fun. Yeah, they should. A little generosity.

3Speaker 3
00:50:21.34 – 00:50:22.28

Yeah, yeah, there you go.

1Speaker 1
00:50:22.42 – 00:50:29.20

So it's going to be a good time. We got Smart Money, Happy Hour. live with the audience on Friday night. And if you want to come even earlier, come watch the Ramsey Show.

3Speaker 3
00:50:29.34 – 00:50:30.26

Right here on the glass.

1Speaker 1
00:50:30.38 – 00:50:33.64

I'll be hosting that day. So that may be a selling point. It may not be.

3Speaker 3
00:50:33.72 – 00:50:41.36

I think it's a big one. Check it out, folks. RamseySolutions.com slash events. Parker's in Bozeman, Montana. Hi, Parker.

00:50:41.52 – 00:50:42.60

Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

2Speaker 2
00:50:43.80 – 00:50:45.12

Hi, Dave. How you doing?

3Speaker 3
00:50:45.44 – 00:50:47.18

Better than I deserve. What's up?

2Speaker 2
00:50:48.78 – 00:51:02.60

Hey, so I was wondering, I'm self-employed. I'm 23 years old. I've got $2,200 a month mortgage payment. That's just me. I don't rent out any bedrooms or nothing.

00:51:03.16 – 00:51:18.88

And then I have about $160,000 in consumer debt. It's a couple trucks, a bunch of trailers, a bunch of equipment. It's all for my business. It all makes me money. I've cut the excess off.

00:51:19.82 – 00:51:37.74

I'm really, I've got a few loans that I'm starting to get to the point where I could pay them off here. You know, sometime in the next six months, I'm starting to buckle down and I'm not buying anything new. I'm trying to pay stuff off. I'm working 80 hours on a light week.

3Speaker 3
00:51:38.16 – 00:51:45.20

What are you making? And what's your profit going to be in this calendar year?

2Speaker 2
00:51:46.84 – 00:51:51.76

This year, it's looking like I'm going to take home around $250,000.

3Speaker 3
00:51:52.24 – 00:51:55.44

Okay. All right. And your questions?

2Speaker 2
00:51:57.22 – 00:52:08.40

So I'm to the point where I could use an employee. I have more work than I can get done on myself. I'm falling behind. With that said, if I were to hire a guy, I need to buy another pickup.

3Speaker 3
00:52:08.80 – 00:52:10.82

No, you don't. You've got enough junk.

2Speaker 2
00:52:13.30 – 00:52:39.68

Well, we, you know, primarily, I drive in and out of job sites. And right now I can't, I actually, I have enough for myself, but I've been having one of my brothers help me, but I'm, you know, sitting at home trying to take care of stuff. If I were to full-time him, I would need something. I would be buying it with cash. Uh, you got $160,000 in debt.

3Speaker 3
00:52:39.68 – 00:52:40.94

on a bunch of other equipment.

2Speaker 2
00:52:42.52 – 00:52:42.92

Correct.

3Speaker 3
00:52:43.18 – 00:52:53.00

Yeah. And you keep figuring out ways that you can figure out ways to not pay that off. No, I want, what's wrong with just hiring a guy that has a truck and tell him, go, get the work done.

2Speaker 2
00:52:54.22 – 00:52:56.78

I guess it's just the liability aspect of it.

3Speaker 3
00:52:56.80 – 00:52:57.82

That's not a liability.

2Speaker 2
00:52:59.68 – 00:53:10.58

Um, just if something were to happen to it, I don't want to, I guess, have him. It's also really hard to find a good employee. I had, I had one, actually, a guy in the same position as you were.

3Speaker 3
00:53:10.68 – 00:53:12.92

That's a different subject than he has a truck or not.

2Speaker 2
00:53:14.00 – 00:53:14.58

Yeah, fair.

3Speaker 3
00:53:15.10 – 00:53:15.38

Yeah.

1Speaker 1
00:53:15.62 – 00:53:16.94

How much money do you have?

2Speaker 2
00:53:18.76 – 00:53:21.44

Right now I only have about $15,000.

1Speaker 1
00:53:22.10 – 00:53:22.58

15?

2Speaker 2
00:53:22.68 – 00:53:29.68

Like liquid. Yeah, 15, one five. Cause it, I'm getting eaten up on these payments. So that's why I've been trying to help.

3Speaker 3
00:53:29.96 – 00:53:30.60

Are you 28?

2Speaker 2
00:53:32.20 – 00:53:32.68

23.

3Speaker 3
00:53:33.00 – 00:53:38.74

Okay. All right. Cause you, you sound like you're trying to out earn your stupidity.

00:53:40.90 – 00:53:51.98

Yeah, I did that a lot. I did that all through my twenties. It didn't work for me. You got, you got to quit out. I mean, cause you, you're not afraid of hard work and you know how to make money.

00:53:52.04 – 00:53:54.76

You just hadn't had a figured out how to keep any of it yet.

2Speaker 2
00:53:55.82 – 00:53:57.28

Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent.

3Speaker 3
00:53:57.38 – 00:54:19.74

You're a hardworking dude. And you're, you're a great entrepreneur, cause you got about six ideas every minute and a half. I think you're going to be amazing. I think you're going to really make a lot of money in your life, but you've got to tame that monster of thinking you can out earn your stupidity. So here's what I would advise you to do as the owner of a brand called Entree Leadership, or we coach small business people all the time.

00:54:20.38 – 00:54:28.24

I would hire someone if that the work that they are doing is going to make me more than they cost me.

00:54:30.12 – 00:54:45.22

Okay. So you said, I can't get all the work done. So you're going to be able to get the work done now and make that money that you couldn't make. If it was just you by yourself, that justifies a hire from a business perspective.

00:54:46.76 – 00:54:53.08

And what will it cost to hire that person? What kind of a, what kind of an income would you need to pay them?

2Speaker 2
00:54:55.62 – 00:55:06.52

Oh gosh, I'd be shooting, for, you know 40 hours a week and, you know, 25 to $30 an hour, depending on, you know, just depending on experience.

1Speaker 1
00:55:06.96 – 00:55:08.76

You're talking about 50, 55 grand, somewhere in there?

3Speaker 3
00:55:09.90 – 00:55:27.04

Yeah. So if you buy, if you hire somebody for $50,000 a year and you say, I'm going to pay you, I'm going to pay all of your gas and I'm going to pay, in addition to that, $200 a month for you to use your truck.

2Speaker 2
00:55:28.64 – 00:55:29.36

Got it.

3Speaker 3
00:55:30.24 – 00:55:31.52

Then you don't have to buy a truck.

2Speaker 2
00:55:33.04 – 00:55:35.56

Yeah, that's a better idea. Yeah. Yeah.

3Speaker 3
00:55:36.50 – 00:55:41.36

And then, and later on, you may want to buy a truck. Now, what is all this other equipment?

2Speaker 2
00:55:43.60 – 00:56:02.88

So, like a lot of them, a lot of them are like dump trailers. I've got 14 of them and I rent them all out on a monthly basis to contractors throughout the Valley. So I still owe some on those just because I didn't, when I started this up, when I was 20, I didn't really have any savings.

1Speaker 1
00:56:03.92 – 00:56:05.28

You still barely have any savings.

00:56:07.12 – 00:56:08.20

How much has changed?

2Speaker 2
00:56:08.38 – 00:56:09.82

I do now and I don't have much.

00:56:13.10 – 00:56:19.38

But, so I got debt, or, you know, I got loans to get myself started and get my foot in the door.

3Speaker 3
00:56:19.42 – 00:56:20.68

Yeah. And then you went big.

2Speaker 2
00:56:22.30 – 00:56:25.08

Yeah. And then I keep trying to, like you said,

1Speaker 1
00:56:25.08 – 00:56:30.04

you're really good at justifying every purchase, as long as you can tell yourself it's going to make you money.

3Speaker 3
00:56:30.18 – 00:56:39.14

Because here's the thing about, here's the wonderful thing about an entrepreneur. We never think it's going to fail. Yeah. And that's, that's me. I never do anything that's going to fail.

00:56:39.22 – 00:56:58.08

Yet 90% of my ideas actually, in hindsight, sucked. I made all of my money and my brand impact on the Dave Ramsey brand over the last 30 years. on about 10% of my ideas. I survived the other 90% of my brilliance, which was awful. And so that, you know, it's painful.

00:56:58.32 – 00:57:22.54

And when you go in debt, you magnify the size of your mistake. So what I would also prescribe for you, then, sir, I'm going to send you a copy of the book, Entree Leadership, which was a number one bestseller, on how I grew this business from a card table in my living room to what it is today, which is a $300 million business with 1,100 team members. Okay. I'm going to send you that copy of that book free. And you read it.

00:57:22.60 – 00:57:44.88

Thank you. Now, the two things I want you to do is don't buy a truck, hire a guy with a truck, Parker. And then the second thing I want you to do is you are also good at living on nothing because you work all the time. So I want you to take every dollar you can find and start throwing it at, list these debts on these, on these, all your debt, equipment and everything, smallest to largest, and attack at the smallest one. When it's gone, attack the next one.

00:57:44.90 – 00:57:48.38

When it's gone, attack the next one. And I want you to clear all of this debt in one year.

00:57:50.06 – 00:57:51.96

Cause you're, you know, you're 23.

00:57:52.52 – 00:57:58.74

. Just go, do it. You're amazing. You're amazing. Now don't screw this up.

00:57:59.34 – 00:58:01.86

Go, do it. This is the Ramsey show.

00:58:06.62 – 00:58:18.04

Thank you for joining us, America. We're glad you're here. Open phones at 888-825-5225.. Thanks for hanging out with us. George Camel, Ramsey personality, is my co-host.

00:58:18.38 – 00:58:21.84

Sarah is in Pensacola, Florida. Hi, Sarah. How are you?

2Speaker 2
00:58:23.02 – 00:58:24.54

Hi, good. How are you?

3Speaker 3
00:58:24.74 – 00:58:26.42

Better than I deserve. What's up?

2Speaker 2
00:58:28.58 – 00:58:57.22

Um, well, I'm calling because I, um, recently. I'm, I'm pretty much a single married mother of two. And I am, um, I just recently had to get a restraining order against my husband in January. Um, either way, I am left with the responsibility of finances of two incomes. now on just one.

00:58:57.80 – 00:59:23.36

Um, I've done a, I've done a budget on the app, on the every dollar app, and I am just consistently on the red. I've done everything to try to bring all my expenses down the best way I could, on just me and my two kids. I've done pretty good, but, um, what really is? it's my rent. Um, and I can't move until my lease is up because I don't want to break a lease.

3Speaker 3
00:59:24.30 – 00:59:32.78

So, um, how much, let me stop a second, honey. Okay. So a restraining order. So he was physically abusive.

2Speaker 2
00:59:34.96 – 00:59:38.74

Uh, yeah. Yeah. Around Christmas. It was the last straw. Yeah.

00:59:38.84 – 00:59:41.04

So how long have you been out?

3Speaker 3
00:59:41.26 – 00:59:42.04

How long have you been married?

2Speaker 2
00:59:42.76 – 00:59:44.10

Uh, five years.

3Speaker 3
00:59:44.54 – 00:59:44.88

Okay.

00:59:46.70 – 00:59:52.24

I'm so sorry. Um, okay. Okay. What do you make on?

2Speaker 2
00:59:53.88 – 00:59:58.96

Uh, well, my salary is a 55, 55, five, 76.

00:59:59.30 – 01:00:04.02

. What do you do? Back for 55,000.. I am, I work for United States Postal Service.

3Speaker 3
01:00:04.34 – 01:00:07.38

Okay. And how old are your babies again?

2Speaker 2
01:00:08.78 – 01:00:10.04

Uh, six and four.

3Speaker 3
01:00:10.40 – 01:00:12.50

Okay. Is everybody safe now?

2Speaker 2
01:00:14.36 – 01:00:18.00

Yes. Um, the restraining order has a space at, at the home. Yes.

3Speaker 3
01:00:18.42 – 01:00:24.02

Okay. And well, they're not magic. So, um, but, but, but so far it has worked, right?

2Speaker 2
01:00:26.04 – 01:00:26.48

Yes.

3Speaker 3
01:00:26.74 – 01:00:28.26

Um, why'd you hesitate?

2Speaker 2
01:00:30.58 – 01:00:44.18

Because he's popped up, but you know, um, as soon as I, I try to get out of here, I'm going to call the cops. He, he pretty much runs, but he doesn't make it easy for me, but I, and what I mean by that, how many times has he?

3Speaker 3
01:00:44.18 – 01:01:08.16

popped up twice so far since January, January, okay. Um, okay. So let me help you with a couple of things. Now, sadly, because we help with people with financial crises, I've been in these situations many times in the last 30 years. And so I've been forced to learn a little bit about it more than I wanted to.

01:01:08.32 – 01:01:19.98

Okay. Cause it's a, a filthy, horrible thing that you have endured and I'm very sorry for you. The next time he shows up, don't threaten to call the cops, call them, put him in jail.

2Speaker 2
01:01:21.68 – 01:01:22.20

Okay.

3Speaker 3
01:01:24.46 – 01:01:35.28

Quit playing games with this guy. He needs to go away. He's bad period. That's your uncle, Dave, who loves you, telling you that. Okay.

01:01:37.06 – 01:01:47.56

No screwing around with this. He goes to jail. He violated a restraining order. He is threatening you and the children. If he pops up again, he's going to pop in behind bars.

01:01:49.40 – 01:01:57.92

I got your pop up, buddy. I'll put you, put you where you can't breathe. Okay. So I'm done with him. He's scum.

01:01:58.38 – 01:02:13.98

Okay. Period. And I've got to tell you that real, directly and real loud, because he has told you for five years, two things really often. And if you're not careful, you start to believe them. One is that you'll never make it without him.

01:02:15.60 – 01:02:30.16

And two is that he's really sorry. Well, he is really sorry, but I'm not talking about an apology here. I'm just talking about a sorry human being. Okay. So he ain't sorry.

01:02:30.60 – 01:02:43.82

He's abusive. And you are a thousand times better than he's been telling you for five years. You're going to make it. You're going to be fine. And we're going to put a team of people around you to make sure you do.

01:02:43.96 – 01:02:44.14

Okay.

01:02:46.02 – 01:02:49.36

And you are going to break your lease because you can't afford it. How much is the payment?

2Speaker 2
01:02:52.60 – 01:02:52.96

1750.

3Speaker 3
01:02:53.24 – 01:03:15.06

Okay. So we're going to have one of our financial coaches serve you at no cost to you. When we get off the phone, we're going to hook them up with you and they're going to meet with you. And, on your behalf, they're going to call the landlord and tell the landlord that the husband in the building has been beating his wife and she can't afford the lease. Now that she threw him out like she should have five years ago.

01:03:16.28 – 01:03:30.46

Okay. And the landlord is going to have some mercy and get the house rented to somebody else. And you're going to get something you and the kids can afford. You are not trapped and you can make it without him. You make $55,000 a year.

01:03:30.46 – 01:03:33.38

The lady that I'm talking to is articulate and intelligent.

2Speaker 2
01:03:35.86 – 01:03:36.88

Yes. Thank you.

3Speaker 3
01:03:37.00 – 01:03:38.22

Aren't you? Aren't you?

2Speaker 2
01:03:39.40 – 01:03:40.96

Yeah, the best that I can.

3Speaker 3
01:03:41.18 – 01:03:45.32

Yeah, you are. I mean, everything I've heard was intelligent. Didn't you, George?

1Speaker 1
01:03:45.76 – 01:03:51.48

Yes. You are a warrior. If you survive the crap from him, you're going to survive anything.

3Speaker 3
01:03:51.68 – 01:03:56.32

Yeah. Okay. So how much debt do you have other than this lease? That's a problem.

2Speaker 2
01:03:57.60 – 01:04:10.22

Well, that's the thing. Um, I don't have a car payment and I have two secured credit cards, each for $400, but I've paid them up.

3Speaker 3
01:04:10.70 – 01:04:18.94

Good. So you don't have any debt there. No, we'll convert you to a debit card on that. You're not going to spend money, you don't have. You got $55,000 coming in.

01:04:19.82 – 01:04:22.90

So your payments are food, lights, water, shelter. What else?

2Speaker 2
01:04:25.62 – 01:04:40.24

Um, mainly. what it is, is that I'm not really taking home that much. See, when he, um, in the beginning of the year, when I got this restraining order, he also took, um, all of our, our savings and money.

3Speaker 3
01:04:40.24 – 01:04:40.70

Yeah.

2Speaker 2
01:04:41.10 – 01:04:42.36

So he cleaned us out.

3Speaker 3
01:04:42.66 – 01:04:46.62

We're also going to hook you up. We're also going to help you contact an attorney and get that back.

01:04:48.24 – 01:04:56.32

Cause it's not his, it's yours. And he left two little kids behind, and he's not paying any child support, and he's going to get the benefit of doing that too.

2Speaker 2
01:04:58.28 – 01:05:11.40

Yeah. I started him on, um, I started the child support, but it takes a minute, you know? Yeah. But yeah. Um, I had to, but back to that in the beginning, when he did that, in order for me to pay the rent, I had to take a loan out against my 401k.

01:05:11.60 – 01:05:11.88

Okay.

3Speaker 3
01:05:11.94 – 01:05:12.54

Well, we're going to get that.

2Speaker 2
01:05:13.08 – 01:05:16.06

So I'm not, I'm not taking home all that.

3Speaker 3
01:05:16.44 – 01:05:19.78

So, and the other thing is, you're probably have too much taxes coming out of your check.

2Speaker 2
01:05:21.82 – 01:05:23.18

Yeah. That's another thing.

3Speaker 3
01:05:23.20 – 01:05:24.74

Was he handling all the money before?

2Speaker 2
01:05:26.90 – 01:05:30.26

No, um, we were both doing it. Okay.

3Speaker 3
01:05:30.30 – 01:05:33.04

But how big a tax refund you get last year?

2Speaker 2
01:05:34.66 – 01:05:41.72

That's the thing. we, we, I owe, we owe, we owe $3,000.. So I'm paying that too.

3Speaker 3
01:05:43.28 – 01:05:46.42

Uh, you're not, he is.

2Speaker 2
01:05:46.42 – 01:05:50.40

Well, uh, no, he's not.

3Speaker 3
01:05:51.30 – 01:05:55.02

He doesn't have legal options here. He gets to pay this stuff.

2Speaker 2
01:05:57.46 – 01:06:00.70

Oh, well, he's, he's relinquished our responsibility.

3Speaker 3
01:06:01.20 – 01:06:05.46

He doesn't get to, he doesn't get to decide that. The judge will help him with that.

1Speaker 1
01:06:05.78 – 01:06:10.04

He may have as a husband and a dad, but financially speaking, he can't get out.

3Speaker 3
01:06:10.04 – 01:06:22.86

The judge is going to go, uh, innocent spouse syndrome. Boom. All right. You can follow a code with the IRS that, uh, this, this debt with them as a result of your husband. And, um, it's called innocent spouse.

01:06:23.06 – 01:06:29.50

There's a whole form that does it. We can help you do that too. And then he gets to pay the 3000.. Ding, ding. That's how that works.

01:06:30.48 – 01:06:38.38

So what you, what you need, is you need some people in your corner that know how to fight some of this and get you back on balance. And we're, we're just the ones we're going to help you. Okay.

2Speaker 2
01:06:40.08 – 01:06:41.36

Oh, yes, sir. Thank you.

3Speaker 3
01:06:41.54 – 01:07:01.22

You're going to be okay. You're going to have to make some moves that aren't comfortable to get stabilized and get a sustainable situation after all this mess, because you have less income now to deal with, but you now have control of your life again, and you're safe again. Okay. Yeah. If he pops up again, say Dave, I'm calling the cops.

01:07:01.34 – 01:07:02.04

Say it.

2Speaker 2
01:07:03.26 – 01:07:04.82

Dave, I'm calling the cops.

1Speaker 1
01:07:04.98 – 01:07:05.46

All right, go.

3Speaker 3
01:07:05.60 – 01:07:12.48

There you go. We love you, darling. You, hold on. We're going to pick up and we're going to take care of you. This is the Ramsey show.

01:07:17.30 – 01:07:44.30

Thanks for helping us, America. We're so glad you're here. Ken Coleman's Get Clear Assessment has helped thousands of people. Literally, almost 100,000 people have taken the Get Clear Career Assessment, and we're excited to announce his new book, Find the Work You're Wired to Do, which will show you how to enjoy your results and get specific in your job search and find work you enjoy. So who are you, who you are, why you're wired that way, what you want to do professionally, how to get there.

01:07:44.80 – 01:07:58.26

And the Get Clear Assessment comes with the book. A code is built into each book, a unique code. And so, if you want to find the work you're wired to do, check this out. Take the Get Clear Assessment. You can get it at ramseysolutions.com slash store.

01:07:58.62 – 01:08:05.44

It is happening now, baby, now. So you don't want to miss that. Today's question comes from Ethan in New Jersey.

1Speaker 1
01:08:05.86 – 01:08:20.50

He says, what is your take on car leases? I view it as a, quote, rental expense, such as renting before you can afford a house. I hope I'm not fooling myself, but I've been driving cars that are within three years old, keep the payments on auto pay. I drop it at the dealership. when anything goes wrong.

01:08:20.86 – 01:08:36.28

The dealership takes the depreciation hit, and it only costs me $300 a month. I feel like I can't go wrong with this method. Am I right, or do you see this as a big scam? Oh, boy. Well, the reason dealerships push leases so hard is because it's what they make the most money on.

01:08:36.28 – 01:08:38.70

You're taking the depreciation hit, not the dealership.

3Speaker 3
01:08:39.08 – 01:08:56.26

It's built into the $300, Bubba. You think you're going to lease a car that's worth $20,000 bucks or $30,000 bucks, and you're going to turn it back in. it's worth $25,000, and you didn't cover the $5,000?. Of course you did. It's built into your little payments, buddy.

01:08:58.10 – 01:09:04.78

So, yeah. No, it's not like renting a house. Not at all. Nothing like renting a house. It's just an alternate way of financing.

01:09:04.78 – 01:09:08.30

It is the most expensive way to operate a car, right?

1Speaker 1
01:09:08.64 – 01:09:25.36

Yeah. I mean, I talk about this in the book, breaking down all the ways they screw you with a lease and all of the ins and outs and the bells and whistles, the stuff they don't actually tell you at the dealership, when they just show you the shiniest car on the lot and say, you could drive away at this thing with $300 bucks. It's better than a car loan. Just lease it, man. That's what smart people do.

01:09:25.84 – 01:09:40.40

And they're fooling you, Ethan. I guarantee you're a young guy. You like driving a nice car, but that thing's driving you. And so, no, this is different than renting for a lot of reasons. And at the end of it, you hand back in this car and you just get another payment and get another payment.

01:09:40.62 – 01:09:44.70

And you can do that your whole life and not build any wealth. That's the problem. Yeah.

3Speaker 3
01:09:45.06 – 01:10:01.60

And you are covering all of the expenses. You don't think a car company is gonna let you drive their car around and they lose money on it. No, you're covering it. And you're one of their most profitable customers. They're making more on you than they are on just about anybody else.

01:10:02.00 – 01:10:18.00

So the best deal in the car world is a two-year-old to three-year-old car that you pay cash for. That's the best deal in the car world. And all of them go down in value like a rock. That's where Chevy got that. Like a rock.

01:10:18.98 – 01:10:35.64

And so, you know, it's, they lose their, you just lose your butt on cars. That's just, it just goes with the territory. And so there is no scam. There is no shit, no P that can be hidden under a different shell. that keeps that from happening.

01:10:35.90 – 01:10:39.98

When you're driving a $50,000 car in 20 minutes, it's going to be worth 40.

01:10:40.90 – 01:11:10.24

. When you're driving an $80,000 car in 20 minutes, it's going to be worth 60.. Just, that just goes with the territory. Okay. And so the trick is, is to drive the thing that costs you the least money and losses of value and in payments and interest, no payments and interest, while you build some wealth to where you have enough money that, that losing $10,000 doesn't matter anymore.

01:11:10.58 – 01:11:36.06

Because then you can afford to drive something that you're losing your butt on. And that's cars, boats, sea dues, side-by-sides, snowmobiles, zero-turn mowers, anything with a wheel or a motor. And don't talk to me about your $7,000 lawn tractor while your kid's college fund isn't funded. I'll yell at you for being stupid. Don't do that.

01:11:36.84 – 01:11:52.34

Okay. And that, this is the crap that we do in America, because we're all concerned about what we drive. And it's the largest thing we buy. that goes down in value. The old boy that called here years ago, and he's like, Dave, my truck payment's $700..

01:11:53.50 – 01:12:05.00

I said, how much is your house payment? I live in a double wide. It's 500.. I said, Roy, if your truck payment's larger than your house payment, you might be a redneck. Seriously.

01:12:05.56 – 01:12:06.46

Oh my gosh.

1Speaker 1
01:12:06.66 – 01:12:07.24

That's wild.

3Speaker 3
01:12:07.32 – 01:12:11.94

But that's America, right? That's who we are. I did the same stuff too, when I was back. So.

1Speaker 1
01:12:12.10 – 01:12:14.80

But you can justify it when you see the shiny car on the lot.

3Speaker 3
01:12:15.26 – 01:12:15.72

Rationalize it.

1Speaker 1
01:12:15.72 – 01:12:24.78

They're happy to tell you. And the craziest part is FTC doesn't have to, they don't define a lease as debt, so they don't have to federally disclose interest on these leases.

3Speaker 3
01:12:24.90 – 01:12:52.22

What you're saying is the Federal Trade Commission, when you borrow money on a car lot, requires they give you one of those disclosure forms that shows you the interest rate and the total interest is going to be paid. You don't get one of those on a lease because it's not technically debt. But when I take my financial calculator and back into it, the average lease is charging you about 14.2% interest. It's the most expensive way to operate a vehicle.

01:12:53.78 – 01:12:55.92

Tom's in Denver. Hi, Tom. How are you?

2Speaker 2
01:12:56.94 – 01:13:09.06

Hey, thank you, guys. I'm doing well, and thanks for taking my call and for the total money. makeover. I know I speak for millions when I say that it's helped change and heal my life and the world desperately in need of healing.

3Speaker 3
01:13:09.30 – 01:13:10.06

So thank you, sir.

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