Fortune Favors Those Who Get Up and Go to Work

Coming to you live. This is the Ramsey show. thrilled that you are with us. We're here to help you. Win in your life, win with your money, win in your work and win in your relationships.

I think it's gonna be a hot show. ken, You think I don't want to speak it into existence, but all right might be. so let's talk about what we're here to do.

We kind of give them the intro, but you're the money guru and i'll call myself the work guru. Right, and they often go hand in hand. they do, and those are specific areas of expertise. But obviously there's a lot of relationship issues at george around money, but, uh, I am in the chair today. So if you got some, hey, I want to make more income.

Are you with us? Hello, anthony?

Hello, there we go. All right, you're live, my friend. How can we help? Oh, wow. Thank you so much.

Um, so i'll make it very brief. So my wife and I, we are 27. We have a household income of 38 000. why? because she makes 38 000 and i'm unemployed.

Okay, so let's talk about the short term and then then we'll answer that direct question. But while you are working to get the job in a specific field Um, I would, I would be working something, anything, two jobs. What would you say? are your skills? Well, no, hold on.

I'm, just confused by the human computer thing. We'll get through me off. That's uxui design. Okay, I got spooked. Yeah, uh, so.

What what I want you to be doing in this meantime, and i'm about ready to give you some advice on how we go Get this job, but you need to be working while you're trying to get a job. Does that make sense?

Yes, and i'm trying to do that too. Like for no.

No, you're not, You're not trying. You're telling me you can't go work. Uh, you can't work delivery, driving. You can't work at a big box store. You can't just go get what we would call an hourly wage job.

Well, yes, but i've been trying to apply for those jobs as well and they're rejecting me from them as well. Maybe they think i'm overqualified.

Well, how could you be overqualified? You don't even have a job, You're straight out of school.

I have a master's and I was a teacher for three years, and I was also a store manager at walgreens for three years.

Okay, so give me an example of an hourly job that you've tried to get and they and they're not giving it to you.

Give me a couple examples. I applied for you know, dominoes as a delivery driver rejected the same day. I applied for a manager at mcdonald's rejected the same day. I applied for, you know, help at walmart rejected within like a couple of days. I have other jobs that i've applied to.

I hate to ask this question, but it feels like I have to.

Are, are you?

Doing something weird or awkward, or acting in some way, or just a basic hourly job, which requires a pulse That you're not getting these jobs. What's going on in your mind? Or is this a mystery to you?

I mean, I do have autism. Maybe that's part of it. Okay, how does the autism affect you in interact? I don't. I don't feel like it affects me, but maybe others think i'm weird.

Have these all been in-person interviews? because you're saying I submit a resume and they reject me.

I mean I have had impression interviews before, but they just never go like i've had interviews Like within the last month or two and I just never got the job. So okay it throughout your connections.

Yeah, well, let me, I want to do. I want to dive in on the autism thing Throughout your your work history, because you have been employed before. I mean, how, how do? how does it affect you? What do people say about it?

I couldn't tell you.

You're telling me. no one's ever. no one's ever told you Hey, you're. you come across this way. if they know you're autistic.

Uh, my wife does, because she's also, you know, she's a therapist. Okay, then how does it present? How does it present? I guess I I honestly, don't even know, honestly, like, okay, anthony, anthony. Listen, yes, anthony,

Listen, you just got done telling me that your wife tells you how it comes across, And so when I ask you to tell me what she says, you tell me you don't know.

She'll just say that well, her sister's actually autistic as well. So she says that on a scale what she didn't give me specific answers, But she'll say on a scale of one to ten. Apparently i'm a nine. That's what she says specifically.

I don't know what that means. But there's our problem. Okay, in all honesty, okay, I'm going to move forward here, But in all honesty, you need to sit down with your wife and say what does a nine mean? And, and specifically, what are my social challenges? You have to know how you're presenting, because you can overcome that.

Well, I mean I would like to be a ux researcher for now, But i'm also three years away from finishing my phd in artificial intelligence, So, I don't know if I would transition into that later on. but okay, so that's what we. we want to go, tech, correct?

Right. All right. And so we've got the bachelors and we've got the masters. Here's the thing. you have got to stop playing the Resume lottery, where you're just filling out resumes.

Hey guys, george camel, here as a new dad, I see a lot of things in a new light the cost of diapers, the value of sleep And how crucial it is to have a will. because if something happens to me, I don't want my family stressing about the details, and that's why I recommend making a will with mama bear legal forms. A will gives you peace of mind, knowing things will be taken care of the way you want, instead of a random probate judge Deciding who gets your fine china or precious moments collection. looking at you and shirley, If you think you're too busy, you don't have enough time. No excuses here.

Welcome back to the ramsay show. we're thrilled to have you with us. We're here to help you win in your life. George campbell is my co-host. I'm ken coleman.

Well, with any goal. you kind of have this lofty thing out there. I want to get out of debt, I want to build wealth. I want to save for the vacation, But the daily habit you need to do to get there Is the budget. just like with working out, you're gonna have to actually work out regularly.

Let's, uh, get back to the phones. We're going to go to canada. Calgary is where we are. Gerald is there. Gerald.

Hi, thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up? Yeah, i've been listening to the show for about a year and I just had a question regarding a A large financial purchase that I made about a year ago. Okay, A little bit of background.

Um, just wondering kind of. i'm assuming, gerald, that you financed it.

Uh, no, I paid cash for it. Oh, you pay cash. Wow. What's your household income?

Um, household income, um, i'm a power engineer. I make about 200 000 and then we have, uh, About 40 to 45 000 a year and uh, lease land revenue. You're a big saver, I guess, huh? Yeah, um, yeah, yeah, we always we put most of our retirement money into farmland. Like we farm, we've kind of sold the cows and then rented out all the land now, but

um, right, my point is you save for a long time to be able to to, uh, Uh, buy a boat in the tune of three hundred thousand dollars cash. So you're just a disciplined person by nature. Yes,

Yes, so the savings was intentional. the the purchase was impulsive. Yeah, you weren't planning to just blow 300 grand on a boat. what's the boat worth right now if you were to sell it?

Well, probably about 330.

So to also you put some. you put some improvements in it that allowed it to appreciate Yeah. Wow. Do you guys have any debt?

Uh, we don't. no mortgage, nothing.

No, so which way were you leaning? you called us for our advice. which way were you leaning? what are you wrestling with on this?

well, I, I go back and forth, you know, I, I guess the The biggest thing for me is I feel guilty having a toy worth three hundred thousand, but like our, From a financial perspective. I don't Like. we've got about 150 000 in cash right now on our, Our land is worth about 2.5 million. Wow.

What's your retirement? What's your total retirement cash that you've got?

Well, that would be 150.

So you're worth how much? total.

about 2.

Yes. Oh, my gosh. Well, first of all, let's just. I don't know, george, that he should be feeling guilt over this. I mean you've done very well.

You're right that this toy is a gigantic part of your world. and as far as our parameters go, you know, We say that everything with wheels, motors, should add up to no more than half of your annual income. So you are way above and outside of that parameter, and for that reason it might be a good idea to sell. But you've, you've done well, you've paid cash. You don't have debt.

Um for the like. for the purpose, I mean it is. it is a big boat, like it's for ocean fishing. so we um, like we with My dog, my two daughters and my wife, and I can stay on there, for you know, three, four days at a time, quite easily so.

Um, but could you do that once a year and rent it and then downgrade to your normal kind of day-to-day boat?

oh, and that's kind of a The thing i'm thinking of, like we can sure go on a. you know, a charter is about 2000. You know, you can go on a lot of charters. Yeah, that's what I would do.

I I guess you could do five charters a year for the next 30 years.

So what do you wrestle with? because it feels like we gave you the answer you're looking for and now you're arguing with yourself. Yeah,

Um, am I right with? Yeah, you're right. Um, the thing i'm wrestling with is i've always been very, very driven like i'm very um.

How does this tie into the boat? How does this tie into the boat?

Well, with this boat i'm going to take two weeks off work and we've got to head to the coast for two weeks and shut her down and just relax and.

So you're thinking if you keep the boat, it forces you to not be so, uh, driven.

Yeah, it's not. it's the law. You're not a wise financial decision, because you could sell for 300 000 And you could charter five times a year for 30 years doing that. That's what I would do.

So that's what i'm telling you right now. I'd invest a big chunk of that, george.

What if he does? if you sold for 300, you bought a 50 000 boat instead. that gives you 250 000 profit, right? Yeah, yeah, but if you invested that, it would double every seven years if you got a 10 percent rate of return. So what i'm saying is hey, 14 years from now, we could have a million dollars on our hands or we could own a boat That's now worth $75,000.

And that's exactly the thing that's killing me. I figured that out, too, And it's that's this boat isn't a 300 000 boat.

It's a a million plus dollar bulletin. right, exactly an opportunity. Gerald. Listen, just just charter it. You're so good at saving, Like, sell this thing.

I love that you have this land. That's amazing. But I think it's wise to be diversified And you have done nothing as far as retirement planning. you're great savers, But if you channel that into investing, your money's going to have compound growth working for you instead of an asset that's going down in value.

We have since we sold the farm. Look we are. we do put uh, 3 500 a month, like the boss, I guess last year and a half we do. we do budget with every dollar like we're putting 3 500 a month into retirement.

Amazing. good, but here's the deal. We're telling you to pour some gas on the fire by selling this big old boat. You've got a false narrative that if I sell the boat, I can't continue to have all these great experiences and memories with the family, and george proved that wrong. uh, captain, george.

The old saying ken the best two days of a boater's life the day they buy the boat and the day they sell the boat. Oh, so you're saying the best day. Gerald's life is hopefully right around. It's right around the corner. $300,000 payday.

I'll take it. Oh, that's great. I'll teach george some maritime terms on the break and we'll be right back. This is the ramsay show.

People don't know. I tell I run into people in this thing. Oh my gosh, I go right down the street. come see us. Yeah, franklin, tennessee, just south of nashville.

Central time. Yeah, come see the show and uh, let us know you're coming, go to ramsaysolutions.com And uh, somewhere on there you can tell us you're coming, but, by the way, we give you free coffee.

Uh, free baked goods beverages of all sorts or ramsay show mug to commemorate for free.

You get a free mug, one per family. You're kidding me. I hate to be the one to break it to you. I gotta get myself my own free mug.

I use mine all right qualified for that. I would say so. All right, I'll make sure you get one after the show. All right, I need to get a free mug. It's a good pit stop as well for those on long road trips.

Yeah, and we come out and say hi, take pictures, sign books the whole nine yards And uh, george does stupid human tricks every once in a while. I occasionally do balloon animals.

Okay, good, currently working on a water buffalo. The kids love that, not as easy as it looks.

I'll bet those horns have got to be tricky. Uh, all right. Let's get back to the phones. Garrett's joining us in salt lake city, utah. Garrett.

Hey, thanks for taking my call today. Sure. I have a question regarding speaking to my current employer regarding being paid or not for Participating in a business development program for the business.

You broke up. you're participating in a business what?

a business development program for a family business. Uh-huh, an opportunity at hand and i'll expand on that a little bit. I recently graduated from my university, Uh, in entrepreneurship and business management, fully funded by my parents, So I have no debt there. I got married a month after I graduated. She has one year left of school fully paid for as well.

Okay, so you've called us. Okay. You've called us. for what reason, then, now that we've got the background?

Yeah, to figure out how I should approach, Uh, the owner of the company in discussing possible pay for it. Who's your uncle?

Are you hourly or salary? Hourly right now. Okay. Well, that's part of the context right there and that's part of the natural rub is is, first of all, he's old school, as you said, he's not really think of this from a a traditional Kind of ceo mindset. He's just, he's the owner operator, right?

Yeah, and I absolutely see it that way. Uh, what's interesting about the hold on a second.

Hold on a second. Hold on. Hold on, because I don't want to get too much into a rabbit trail here. The bottom line is. you called us saying and, george, I want you to weigh in here, But you're asking us how can I convince my distant family member?

Yeah, so I brought up the discussion about the program, um, given it's a business accelerator. no, no, no, no, no.

Not the program. Have you brought up to him? Did you the way you're saying this? is that you brought up that you want him to pay you your hourly rate? While you're taking the classes?

We had a discussion recently where he shared his opinion on it, And that's where he discussed it with me is what he saw regarding it.

and he said

And he said that he would rather that I sacrifice, uh, being paid, Or he would rather that I sacrifice not being paid during that time that I am Developing those aspects of the business, Rather than because it's not directly increasing profits to company. Yeah.

For those direct actions. Okay, that's all I wanted to know. I just wanted to know his true state of mind, how open he was to this, george.

So this is not going to be possibility. What is your other option here? Is you paying for the class on your own while getting paid your hourly wage?

Uh, the other possibility would be to likely not Take the program. How much is the program? you? as it is? It's 15 000.

Okay for.

both.

For a full year of it. and, and um, I like where your head's at, george, because let me tell you where i'm at All right, george, I think That we're going to talk about you, garrett, for just a second, instead of talk to you in front of your back, Not behind right. I here's what I think he should do. He's supposed to be taking over within a year or so, or around a year. I think he holds off on this course.

Have you thought about that?

Yeah, and that's where the point of conflict was, where it's. he's open to paying for the program, But obviously, if I were to do it, despite it being direct actions to, Since the program is directly to build. No, no company. Garrett. Garrett.

Garrett. garrett, listen, we're on the same soundtrack. george is asking you point blank. We've got 45 seconds. Yes, or no answer.

Have you thought about it? Yeah, I know.

I likely wouldn't be able to if I take the course there you go. So that gives my answer.

So this is not a feasible option, you know, wait, wait, let's wait.

By the way, you're still going to get the knowledge and the company's going to pay for it. Oh, by the way, if you're the ceo becomes a line item expense in the old every dollar company budget, right? Yeah, I like this plan. All right, garrett. Thanks for the call.

That's the question. We don't know. only garrett can answer. There you go. Don't move.

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I'm planning to apply to dental school this year and i'm nervous about the total tuition of five hundred thousand dollars. I would be too. my parents said they will pay my way through school But will likely have to sell some commercial investments to do so. Is it worth it to spend a lot of money on schooling if my parents are pushing me? Oh, that's a left field.

I? if it's not I, I want to know what would he do? Does he actually want to be a dentist? That's where i'm going. if they were willing to put five hundred thousand dollars into something else.

I just don't want a guy drilling into my teeth because mommy wanted him to. well, you know what I mean? That's for sure. So that's a big part of this, the the pushing part. But is it worth it to spend a lot of money on schooling?

I gotta imagine if you don't have passion for fixing people's teeth, It's got to be the worst thing on the planet to do. I mean That's pretty rough. Yeah, Like, i'm going if you don't want to pick up trash, But that's your job. You can hold your nose on that one literally, But sticking your hand in people's mouths, Talking to them a lot of intensity there. That's a tough business to wake up every day and go.

You know, there's some gnarly looking teeth out there. Here's what will likely happen if he's not actually passionate about this. He gets halfway through burns out, drops out. parents are still on the hook for the half million, And now there's resentment. I don't like the relationship.

So that's the part, you know what he should do. He should take the get clear career assessment. It would pretty quickly, in about 20 minutes, give him a great report that says yay or nay on that job. So there you go, But I can't give it to him because he emailed it. call us up, brady, if you get the chance, All right back to the phones.

Hey ken, hey george, how's it going today? Oh, we're having a blast. What's going on?

Can I just ask is this a given name? I'm very curious.

Uh, My name is joseph actually, but everybody calls me joey.

Okay, that helps me out. I kind of well. now I gotta ask How did you come about getting the name jelly? Is it joseph? Is it radio appropriate, family friendly?

I mean, that's just what my mom and dad decided they want to call me.

So that that's what it also is a youngster around the house. instead of yelling joseph for joe. They just called you jelly.

Yep, that's it. Wow. Love it.

I'm gonna avoid the obvious for for tort here and just get right to the question. Okay, how can we help? How can we help?

So I have a question regarding baby step four. I have a raw 401k at work That has about two hundred and fifteen thousand dollars in it. Um, my company matches a half a percent up to six percent, so I'm contributing fifteen percent. now I was wondering do I need to back that down to the six percent just to max out my match And open up a raw ira outside of work? Or do I just need to keep doing what i'm doing?

Well, the starting from zero part doesn't matter mathematically. You're going to have the same. if you have the same rates of return, the money is going to increase at the same levels, No matter what the account is if it started from zero. If you add a thousand to something that had zero or a thousand to something that had 215, That thousand is going to appreciate at the same rate. Does that make sense?

That's your jam to help the jellies of the world. Gosh, you're good. You see, I couldn't resist that. I've been thinking the entire call. What was I gonna say?

Well played jelly roll, very famous nashville country artist, by the way.

One of the greatest little debbie snacks of all time. I believe there were jelly rolls. fantastic, This is what we poor people packed in our lunch. Wow, that's a throwback. Oh, yeah, a little debbie.

Hi, thank you for taking my call. you bet what's up? i'm. I'm new to the randy system and kind of dove in headfirst, and I appreciate it. It's simple enough that you know, it's still idiot proof after 30 years of the world building better idiots, um, we're glad to have you, Yeah.

Um, because I grew up in town, but it's an interesting question bank. That's a good question, george.

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that, I would. here's the thing when you look into these other, the big three, you know vanguard, fidelity, schwab What you'll find is they are. they're going to have lower fees Than probably a bank brokerage does. and the other thing about bank brokerages. They're going to try to sell you all kinds of debt products.

Crappy products to you, then go for it. quick follow-up on that, george, on his behalf and for others. It's the first time i've ever heard that particular question, where you know, there aren't a bunch of smart investor pros in a rural vicinity. Couldn't he still though the remote? that's what i'm saying.

You can work with somebody. I do zoom calls with my smart investor pro and he's local.

I'm, just too lazy to leave the house. All right, very good. Good answer, george. as always, All right, it's gonna do it for the first hour. We'll be back before you know it.

I know you told me, and by the way, can I just say on air? Happy 10th rams adversary, and we got to celebrate you in a recent staff meeting with the whole ramsay team. But that's right. That was fun to see you get honored up there.

Thank you. 10 years goes fast when you're having fun a decade here at rams. There you go. There you go. Triple eight, eight, two, five, five, two, two, five is the phone number?

Yes, sir. Hey, it's a pleasure talking to you, ken and george. I've listened to you guys for several years and appreciate Getting a chance to hear some wisdom and opinions from you. All right, george will give you the wisdom.

I'll give you the opinion. Yeah, you both got both. All right.

and i've got a some property i'm wanting to Set up in a trust for my children and grandchildren, And i'm kind of new at everything. I have seen a lawyer and got another appointment to see one and uh, basically, uh, I want to set it up in a trust and um.

So I got a question here for george, ways in why? why are you Considering the trust as opposed to just in your will or whatever the situation there. Why? why the trust idea?

Um, well, I really don't know, ken, uh, all the different nuances about everything. I just know that I have nothing set up right now And I gotta say my marriage is, you know, I don't want to say not that great, And i'm not sure where that's all going to go. So i'm kind of just trying to get some stuff lined out, to keep things. Uh, in check.

Did you have all this acreage before the marriage?

Yes, sir. I did. I actually about five years prior to that. Okay, and she knows about it.

Knows about what the acreage? Yes.

Yes, we, we lived, we lived. we lived here on it for about, uh, the last 40 something years.

Okay, that makes the difference, because you guys own property and live On the property, and so this might be considered a marital asset.

Well, hold on, george. Just the only thing is we really uh, we've lived separate for about the last since 08. and, uh, other than some, some back and forth, uh, You know, between the two residences. Uh, it's just been a big mess. never anticipated my family or myself would be in such a messed up.

Dysfunctional deal, but I am so. so you guys are not. you guys are only married by actual law. You guys have not been married for some time.

Well, I will say she did a file for divorce about three years ago and that got. uh, I did not agree to. it wanted to reconcile. we reconciled partly and uh, You know, i've been hearing and feeling some of the bad stuff coming back from then you reconciled to the point.

You still live separately since 2008.

well, uh, The divorce was just three years ago. Well, great. What are you hanging on to at this? Yeah, you guys haven't lived together in 16 years. I don't know, I guess, because, uh, we've been married.

Yeah, we haven't been. dick van dyke and mary tyler moore slept in separate beds. You guys are in different houses. I mean, this is this is not normal.

No, sir, it's not. i'd say she classified as a uh, modern, I don't know, uh, modern marriage, but it's not anything. i've really been been for none of it, so This is where i'm at and short of a divorce and a complete. whatever happens, I don't know, but I did want to try to structure something to protect.

So it sounds like so. it sounds like i'm going to read between the lines here a little bit. Uh, sounds like You're not sure if you're going to do the divorce or not. in my opinion, you guys are divorced Emotionally, this is an absence. I don't know what you know.

And the judges will decide is marital assets when you haven't lived together for 16 years.

But it feels like you're trying to keep her, keep this land from going to her.

That's what it feels. That is, that is true, because that's been seeming like one of her main driving factors. uh, You know she's not on the title and I don't know exactly till I find some more out about it, but You know, she's stated in the past. She wasn't really worried about the kids. She's wanting to um, Do some different things with the money and, like you said, I don't believe she's really too interested in being married.

I'll tell you this great news flash, your instincts are right.

Yes, and a divorce is going to turn a marriage into a business transaction, And so your best bet now is trying to do this all as amicably as possible And try to protect your assets. I think you're doing the right thing to protect your legacy in your financial world, And again, i'm not the qualified person to talk to for this. I'd be working with an estate planning attorney a, you know, a lawyer who's is specifically in trusts To figure all of this out and decide what is the right thing, based on your state laws and your situation, to that end.

uh, Greg, I I think you need to get two or three opinions. i'd meet with a minimum of two lawyers. I think three feels better. uh, Because this is a you, you're going to get some differing opinions. You want to come away from the three meetings with where all three lawyers on the same page?

You need one, you need a financial advisor and you can get connected with a smart investor, pro ramsey solutions.

Yes, sir, with a pseudo relationship. acknowledge that, even though, I don't know. We've got five kids. It's just a big messed up deal, for sure. I don't know what to conclude out of it.

I guess I need to. well, you got to move on to the next chapter. You got a lot, a lot of life to live, greg, and this ain't it?

Been slogging through the mud for a long time because we don't want to deal with the inevitable. So now it's the time you're not getting any younger. Make a clear decision about what we're going to do going forward and live with it. Thanks for the call. feel so bad for you, but there's some clarity on the other side of all this?

I'm always being told, gen z decided skinny jeans are out and no show socks are out, and frankly, i'm sick of it. Oh, okay. Why are we taking advice from them about fashion?

Have. this is a thing. It's a thing. That's that the no show socks. No show socks are out.

You see, your kids probably wear the tall white socks. Oh, i've seen all white nike socks. Apparently have to flip them inside out. Oh, i'm tired of it, ken. I don't like that at all.

I don't like curmudgeon. I'll tell you what i'd go for, since i'm a child of the 80s. I'd go for the uh tube socks with the stripes. If those come back, i'm in. i'll rock those mid mid shin.

My hope is eventually, whatever i'm wearing comes back in style at some point. I'm too lazy to switch out a wardrobe every year because some 18 year old decided it wasn't cool.

Well, good for you, george bomber, jackets will be in forever. I'm rising above the trends. Okay, Tony is on the line in washington, dc. Tony. How can we help today?

Hi, um, so my question is I finally decided to follow the baby steps the right way and decided to sell my rental property. So I put it on the market and I got no offers except an investor, like a really low offer, And then no one even viewed the home. So my question is do I take? uh, it's not really a loss, because I I owe 91,000 on the home and it's worth like 3, 14 now. So how much do I lower the price?

When you say you lowered it, are you working with a pro real estate agent on this? Yes. Okay. And what is their take on why this hasn't sold and the strategy around lowering the price?

So she said that because of the market, um the interest rate, that she said that Right when I um listed it, The federal reserve or something went up again on the rate. so buyers are um Nervous. and then my home Is um, and it's not rural but it's it's growing, so it's a demand area off and on.

Okay, but what about the pricing in the mix? Did she think your pricing was correct?

Yes, she said it was correct and it was, and how long has it been on the market?

About 30 days. Oh, for heaven's sakes, you got to be patient.

Yeah, we're seeing things that, depending on your area. It could be 60 to 90 days. Yeah, And so sit tight. I don't know that. I fully trust this real estate agent.

Okay, yeah, so at any point. so if I, Without any views, without any offers, at what point do you like? how much of a? it's not a loss because of how much equity I have, But should I lower it to get rid of it, to pay my debt or no, like we just told you?

You're, you're you? listen, sit tight on this. I wouldn't even start wringing my hands About price. if you do what george says, I think you need to go to to ramsaysolutions.com slash agent And I think you need to interview two or three and see what they would do if it were their listing. Okay, they're trying.

I don't have the cash flow to continue to have it sit for a long period of time.

Ah, so you're. so you've got some desperation because you're burning through. you're paying the mortgage, the property taxes, the homeowner's insurance. Did you have this rented at some point?

Yes, it's been rented for about seven years.

And what happened? It's how long has it been vacant?

uh, about Two months now.

How long can you float?

This thing I can do about One more month because I paid the mortgage for about three. now. All right, and did you say you dropped the price already on it? Yes, you dropped it 15 000.. I dropped it by 15 000..

Yeah, I, here's the. here's the challenge, tony george, I don't know what you think and we're not the actual real estate pros, but we got them. but tony you Your first response to us going to talk to our pros. I can't sit on this for long. go talk to some pros that we're telling you to talk to and see, If you tell them I am extremely motivated and you tell them why they understand And they're going to give you the best strategy.

People are just taking longer. Yeah, you need more info about why this property is Undesirable and why it's been sitting, and if this is normal in your area, and what can be done To remedy this. is a curb appeal. Do we need to make a renovation? Do we need to take it off the market for a while?

I want to get. so I want to get george's opinion. tony, on something else. george, I'm going to go back into the call. All right.

um, I don't remember, but I know it was like 85 000 less than what?

Um, I originally. how long ago was that?

Uh, about three weeks ago, did you counter?

No, okay, george I, if she gets desperate, I'm, just. I want to know what you think here, And I know you don't know what the real estate pros are going to say. But i'm bringing this to you. if she's in, she's in tough situation and she does have equity, I wonder if she doesn't go back. i'm asking you on her behalf.

My guess is they are probably around 230. then And maybe you say hey, I would do it. My my lowest i'll go is 270, Something like that, and work with your agent on this. Don't do this all solo and come up with a strategy to where you still win. You're not leaving at a huge loss and you do need to have some patience.

So you like that? I would at least counter off. I would at least negotiate with the investor.

Yeah, my guess is they go. No. Thanks. I'm trying to get a crazy bargain. You know basement bargain deal here and that's okay, but you never know, unless you try, but she's got to know her limit.

You got to know the limit. What do you think is her limit knowing her debt? What do you think if you were her? that's what i'm trying to do is give her, because I don't want her to be desperate. What'd you pay for it?

I pay 125 in 2014.

Okay, And, but she's struggling. she's gonna have to go make some more money.

She's gonna have to, or you get a new renter in there for another six month lease. There you go and see what the market does, you know you with us, tony, on this. I mean, these are your options.

Here's the deal, though. I know you're feeling the pressure. The reason I brought george into these. what ifs is. I think it helps to have all these options on the table So that you realize you're not without option.

And that's where the agent. if you get with one of these ramsey trusted pros, They're going to be pulling comps in the area. They're going to be pulling all the data. because I like to make a data-driven decision, not just emotion, Not because i'm sick of it, because it's been sitting. I want to know all the facts, And that's what i'm asking you to go.

Uh, yeah, george, that's again. So here's the crux of this situation. is she's in so much debt And the cash flow in the situation and this is what we see happen all the time You give advice. unless all the time people think oh, i'm gonna get into real. they get starry-eyed over some, you know.

Roided up limp biscuit looking dude on instagram who told them everyone should buy real estate. And then we're in a bind and we're losing money on these deals. We're stressed out. It's not the rosy picture that was painted for us on social, and that's why we teach the baby steps go slow, Pay cash for investment property. I don't care if it takes you five or ten years instead of one.

It's the right way. right, because this is a great point, george. She actually has an equity and still, stressed out of her mind, Can't get rid of it fast enough, not worth the stress. Oh my goodness. All right, folks, We're gonna get the lint roller out on george's bomber jacket and get ready for the next segment.

Slash ramsey. why refi is not licensed by the california department of financial protection and innovation? Why refi is not authorized by the new york state department of financial services to service any new york loans? funding may not be available in all states.

Welcome back to the ramsey show, where we help people win in their life, win with their money, Win in their work and win with their relationships. I'm ken coleman. george camel joins me. My phone number to jump in is triple, eight, eight, two, five, Five, two, two, five, triple, eight, eight, two, five, five, two, two, five. george.

I just came back, you know, for the fourth went to florida to see, uh, my wife's family.

Oh, okay. Why was it just a trip?

Well, when you bring a baby and you get out of the pack and play and through airports and chaos, It just wasn't as relaxing as I would have liked. All right.

Do you know I could use some relaxation? you like cruises, george?

To be honest, have not been one never been on a cruise, not in my adult life.

Well, I think you should join us on the live like no one else cruise, because i'm told you're there. Is this an invite?

Well.

I'm told you're already on it. Just like I am. dave ramsay, racer cruise. Dr John, maloney, jade warshaw, all the personalities plus some special guests. It's back.

You know, I don't want to leave my wife on babysitting duty while i'm enjoying the car.

You're playing shuffleboard with me exactly.

So we got to figure the logistics out, But I am actually super pumped about this. tell people about the locations, because i'm going to tell you something when you get down.

to the to the caribbean. Uh, by the way, I was just in barbados and I asked her. I asked the locals james. Do you say caribbean? or caribbean?

We're going to turks and cacos. St. Thomas, puerto rico, the bahamas Incredible stops. there's going to be fun excursions, Of course, plenty of entertainment on the cruise ship. on top of all the personalities bringing content.

Which will be a good time. Oh, that's right. So quick review. What are the dates? march 22 through 29, 2025?.

All right, I'll let ken get the wardrobe, but if you guys have to join us to see it for yourself.

It's going to be great fun. All right to the phones We go 888-825-5225.. Spencer joins us now in raleigh, north carolina. Spencer. How can we help?

Hey guys, thanks so much for taking my call. I appreciate it. Sure. What's going on? Hey, i'm at a kind of crazy time of life.

Well, let's let's do a couple things. George is the master At, you know, cutting expenses and getting creative. that way. I want to bring him in. but I Let's get a couple of things first here.

I'm a software developer. Hmm. Okay. How long you been doing it?

Um, are you doing anything right? well, let me ask this did you have any kind of a severance at all?

Um, yeah, it was uh a month.

Okay, of income. I think all right, and are you doing anything for work right now? I mean, I don't care if it's two part-time jobs, one part-time. Are you doing anything to bring income in?

Um, i'm trying to Build up my resume as much as possible through training and certifications. Yeah, that doesn't get you paid a lot.

Yeah, okay, right.

So my wife has two home businesses that have been helping a ton, but they're not going to be a long-term solution.

Okay, so what's the deficit right now? Do you have to make 80 to to actually get by? Or what? what would allow you guys to actually get by? what's that number?

Yeah, we got 80. was 80 is above, staying afloat, fortunately, um, so what are your monthly expenses?

Like if you add up your food utility, shelter, transportation insurance, no luxuries. What is it going to take to get by for one month?

Um average month probably 3,000.

Okay, so that becomes our baseline goal. if nothing else, we've got to come up with.

$3,000 to stay afloat. and let me jump in real quick, george, because i'm going to let you take over here on the cutting. But listen to me, spencer, You have got to go work, I. it doesn't have to be in your field right now, Okay, but if you can be a laborer on a construction crew and make 18 to 20 an hour, uh, that gets you Pretty close to that. $36,000 is what we're saying.

Let's get really extreme here. Yeah, it's 3 000.. Is that, is that everything you absolutely need, or is there some things like eating out? That we could cut?

um, we. currently We don't eat out, unless, uh, a day has just been really insane.

We don't really have much every day is insane when you're unemployed. So we got to figure out a way to meal plan. have food ready in the fridge? Okay, so that one we can cut. what about subscriptions?

Um At 120 a year for amazon prime. I think is the only quote subscription.

That one can go right now because we don't have money to be spending and buying stuff on amazon, So that can free up a little bit right there. And so you start to add these up. It may not sound like a lot at first, And like here's another example re-shopping insurance. Have you re-shopped your insurance in a while for home and auto?

Uh.

I would jump on to ramsaysolutions.

George, and it's just you gotta go make some money. You don't just Hustle in putting your resume out. You gotta hustle to bring some money in.

I get the lawnmower out and just go down the neighborhood, knock on a door and say 20 bucks.

I got your lawn. All right. coming up next, george, The very popular. I gotta tell you a second where i'm usually fume, fume, not fume, but fume, And I get a little frustrated at some money stuff. well, today i'm fired up in a positive way.

Largely, always irritated by something.

Yeah, to be fair, and and so, uh, you know, uh, we decided to go with it because this is something where george and I, we Actually sit next to each other at ramsay. solutions. a little context for how this was born.

Our little cubicle desks, a little cube desk.

And so we sit there, and sometimes I look at george and I go, I gotta tell you.

And in my head I know what's about to come out of. ken's mouth is going to be entertaining.

Yeah, so we've done a couple, I gotta tell you, segments You can search it up on the youtube page, where I get a little irritated at things about money and and things are going On, and you know, I've got. I got irritated about the no haggle. Uh, that was very popular. We you said we had to bring back the hang, need to bring back the haggle, you know, Um, and then we talked about tips and and all kinds of things. but today, george, I gotta tell you.

What's got your knickers in a twist, ken? Well, i'm not mad today.

Oh, this is a good. This is a good, I gotta tell you. All right, uh, because, uh, I, uh, You know, look, i'm paying attention to inflation, too. And I got three teenagers, you know, my kids. Well, two of them are boys.

We have no affiliation. Can I say I love all wholesale clubs?

So do I? so recently, george? I was with stacy, uh, on a saturday afternoon and we were stocking back up. and when I say stocking up, I mean stock heart, full hearts. Oh, yeah, can lose.

That's incredible. That's the inflation buster.

Yeah, and so costco has decided This is a lifetime commitment to keep the hot dog at a buck 50, and you know how many hot dogs they've sold, george.

What would you take a guess? millions somewhere in 200 million hot dogs? That's a lot of millions.

And we're looking at 201, 200 million and one right here.

Well, what's extra fun is that this food is a loss leader, meaning costco, you know The rotisserie chicken in the back of the store for five bucks. They're losing money on this stuff, But they are gaining it because ken had to walk into costco and spend three hundred dollars To exit with a dollar 50 hot dog. I'm gonna tell you something.

I've never had a costco hot dog, for real. Yeah, but I have had the pizza. It's a rite of passage. get a whole pizza slice of pizza. It's unbelievable.

It's an inflation slice of pizza. We have here today is at 199.

So it's only a 49 cent markup off of the hot dog. So here's my, I gotta tell you. My, I gotta tell you, is costco. They're doing the right thing. They're not marking up this cheap food.

What trend? oh, not marking your prices?

Well, we're beginning to see some companies kind of go, You know what? We're gonna hold the line and we're not gonna just raise prices like everybody else.

Uh, I saw the viral video. Are you talking about arizona iced tea? I'm talking about air. Tell everybody you've seen this. so I drank these as a kid, as a young skateboarder.

Why not increase the price and therefore increase the profit?

I love that I could use an arizona iced tea right now, you know, you're arched, That thing will. oh, wait, a second. Look at kelly, the associate producer's back.

Did you really? oh my goodness? I had no idea. She's got the arizona iced tea cans. Which one is that?

Which one do you want?

How is that a type of guy?

Look at you, i'm a ginseng guy. That's not a thing. I I think. with the bomber jacket i'll drink the green tea.

There we go, this is again not an endorsement of arizona, but just to show you guys, you got options. And again, this is not a. this is not a video about health. No, okay, Just let ken enjoy some trash food for a second now. Listen.

big statement in that video. Did you catch it? He said we're debt free. We can do everything. That's a really big deal.

Unbelievable, not if you're george camel. I went to a movie with george and the. the dude opens up his jacket when we're sitting down and there's a bag of popcorn, A kit to make an old-fashioned, with ice in a a strip of like orange peel. He, he knows how to do it. the power of the bomber jacket, ken.

Have you guys seen the news? you are we're starting to see a price war With fast food companies as well. Oh, that's right.

The whole five dollar meal thing with burger king and mcdonald's. and so what do you think?

You think that companies are starting to go. there's a chance to win market share by saving people money.

I think people have made their choices when it comes to fast food, and you have your favorites.

I'm about ready to make a bad choice. Now. I asked kelly to bring these as props.

And I had to try the pizza. never eat the props. I always tell people I haven't had a hot Costco hot dog. I have never had a costco hot. Can I tell you, that's a, that's a dog.

All right, so you're probably gonna have to take us to break, but I will.

Wow, this is pretty special. getting to be part of this, ken, Is it worth a dollar fifty? too big a bite? A dollar fifty, there you go. So here's the.

I just had a really unflattering view of myself in the video as I.

I'm glad that america can't smell this, can this room right now and hoof. Here's two.

Arizona tea costco and other companies that are saying you know what? We're gonna drop prices or keep prices low for the american people. That's right. We love you. Not a bad hot dog, but i'd stick with the pizza.

Hey guys, uh, thanks for taking my call today. Um, i've been listening to your show now for a couple months and i'm super grateful to have found it. I love it, Um, so thank you for that. Um, i'm a financial advisor and i've been doing that for about eight years now. So I help my clients with investments, but I also lend.

Let's address the moral component to this, because I think there's a pivot that's coming up and I think that's fine. But from a moral standpoint, You aren't in any way selling a product that is immoral or that is illegal, right? Right, yeah, so This is a mental thing where you're gonna have and, by the way, we've had this call before. we've heard this many times We totally get it, Um, but you're gonna have to cut yourself a break on this and go. Okay, Um, I am now misaligned With my values and my work, you know, my values and my work aren't matching up, but you're not doing anything wrong Morally, okay.

Yeah, well, I, you have my investment license. so, um, and I love investments way more than I do lending. so There's definitely something there. Um, I kind of put a stop to Extra learning, um, because you need certain credentials to move forward, just because I did recently have a baby. So, um, I kind of put that on the back burner, but um, yeah, I mean, that's a good thought for sure.

Where are you working right now? Is it a bank or is an actual investment firm?

It's a credit union.

Okay, that was my next question, because you could just work, for you know An investment brokerage that just focuses on investments that don't also sell debt products right, and that's something I would encourage you to look into, because I understand, at a bank, one of the big ways they make Money is selling debt products, but that's not the entirety of the you know investment industry.

Of course. Yeah.