Find Out How To Make Your Money Work for You!

I'm Ken Coleman, a Ramsey personality, and I'm joined by another Ramsey personality, the fabulous Jade Warshaw, joins me this hour, and together we're going to help you. Jade is our money expert. I'll chime in if she decides to let me, maybe. Rachel yesterday. let me say a few things.

It's always exciting. I'm the work guy. In other words, when David said for decades that your income is your greatest wealth building tool, I want to help you win at work. When you're winning at work, you're making more money. When you're making more money, we get through the baby steps faster and live the life we want to live.

How can I help in those areas? We team up. Jade weighs in on that as well. Let's get to it. Melanie's going to start us off in the Big Apple, New York City.

You're doing great. I've listened to the show every day for the past six months, and I've paid off $10,000 in debt, cut off all the cards, sold stuff, do my side hustle, work overtime. I check the EveryDollar app every day. I'm on track to being debt-free by my 30th birthday this August, which is a huge goal and accomplishment for me. That's awesome.

I do have a paid-off Jeep that I've driven to the ground for the past 11 years. I've already put $2,000 into repairs since I started being Ramsey this October. The entire bottom carriage is rotting. Oil is leaking into the engine, which would cost thousands of dollars to fix, and it still wouldn't be guaranteed that more issues wouldn't come up. I'm still gung-ho with the baby steps, preach them to my friends and family, but now I'm faced with the decision to continue dumping money into the theater or taking out a car loan on a new-to-me car that will last me another 10 years.

The options are to keep the Jeep or to temporarily pause the baby steps, stack up some cash, and buy yourself a junker in cash. That's your options, right?

I'm simply trying to honor all of the work that you just laid out, that you've done. You laid out beautifully all the sacrifice you've made, how diligent you've been, how much you've done in order to get yourself to the place you are now. I want to honor that by not saying yes to you going back into debt. That's where I'm coming from. Now, here's the thing.

All vehicles are not created equal, and you may have had a lemon before. That doesn't mean your next car is going to be a lemon. I've only drived used cars with 100,000 plus miles on them.

Recently, I haven't had any lemons. I don't want you to think that just because your car has now gotten too old to keep, that. if you were to buy another used car in cash, that it would automatically be in that same frame of vehicle. Does that make sense? I get it.

It can be easy to think that, but it's simply not the case. Your Jeep right now, is it a Jeep Liberty, Jeep Wrangler? What kind of car is it? Because I used to have a Jeep Liberty, and that's not the car that you want to go. the difference.

It's a Liberty. I'm just going to be honest. That car has a lot of special features. That's not the car that you want to go. the distance.

I'm looking for, give me a Honda Civi. You know what I'm saying?

Used cars for sale under 5,000 in?

We need a Honda. We need one of those brands. Those are the brands that are going to go the distance with mileage. The Jeep, unless it's a Wrangler, it's probably.

That's not the one.

A thousand or more every month.

What would that look like? And then you don't owe anybody anything. You're just buying a. ... You're driving a $4,500 car temporarily until you pay off your debt.

That pushes your debt-free date from August, September, October to November or December. And that's just part of it. I don't want you to view that as some sort of a failure or some sort of a loss. These are the things that are part of walking the baby steps that most people encounter at some point. And it's not a negative step backwards.

This is part of it. I mean, I did that. Yet we had to stop and buy another vehicle. And it's funny because we had a Jeep Liberty and that thing just, it didn't keep going for us.

Did we lose her?

I'm going to put her on hold until we figure it out. We've got a 2012 Nissan Versa for $49.99.. If you walk in with cash, I'll guarantee you can walk out of there with maybe get $3,800 on that. If I walked in with cash.

We've got a Pontiac G6 for $4,400.

. All of these less than 120,000 miles.

This is the Ramsey Show.

And right now, you can download NetSuite's KPI checklist absolutely free at netsuite.

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They want me to talk about the new book, and it is available for presale. It's called Find the Work You're Wired to Do, and it has an assessment. with it, the Get Clear Assessment. So both of these tools work together. What does the assessment do?

The assessment, oh, it's right there on the screen. There you go. I don't have to do that. I don't have to show anybody. The assessment helps me answer the question, who am I?

And what could I do? And then the book, with it, helps me figure out where I can do it and how. So these are important questions. Who am I? What do I want to do?

Where can I do it? And how do I get there? And so the book takes about 45 minutes to read. It's a companion to the assessment results, to have a professional purpose statement. So this is about self-awareness, which gives you confidence to do the thing you're wired to do, and that's where you have the chance to make the most money.

So you can pre-order it right now, rangersolutions.

com slash store. And I'm excited because when you pre-order it, we're not giving you a bunch of other stuff. You're going to get the e-book with an assessment code. You're going to get the audio book with an assessment code and the hard copy with an assessment code. So three books, three codes, all one price.

I think it's too good a deal, but I'm not in charge. I just do what they say. It's called Find the Work You're Wired to Do, and this is if you want to max out your income. So you can get it now. It comes out May 7th.

You can pre-order it now, wherever books are sold, or rangersolutions.

com slash store. All right, to Salt Lake City, Utah, is where we're going next. Carson joins us. Carson,

I think the crux of that is always.

Yes. Are you.

I am not currently, but I am about to get it. Okay, I would. Matter.

They're not thinking about the fact that every month holds something different. Your goals are constantly changing. You're accomplishing goals. It's time to move on to the next. EveryDollar will help you with that.

That's thing. one is the budget. Thing two is the way you make the most of your money. is you know where you're going with your money. You have a clear direction.

The next point would let's look at what our goals are. Where are we currently in this moment, and where do we need to get to? Let's talk a little bit about that. Tell us a little bit about your finances. Do you have debt?

Are you trying to buy a house? Tell us what you're trying to accomplish. I'm debt-free,

How much? I have a few thousand.

We only touch it if there's an.

. How old are you? I just turned 19 the other day. Okay, you're living at home?

Okay, very good. I'm sorry,

. No, keep digging. This is gold, Kim. Yeah, well, I mean, you're going to explain.

I'm about to make close on my first deal. Nice. Very good. So very first home. What do you?

Okay, so 19 years old. So now play with that number, Jade. All right, here, listen. 20 to 50.. I'm going to.

Let's use cousin, because he's trying to start out. Tell us more about this deal and tell us if you feel like you've got a lot of irons.

And then, on the other side, you can start looking at, okay, how much of this do I get to pay myself? How much am I keeping? And because it is irregular, I love having almost, aside from your three to six months, I love, in an irregular income, just having almost an extra month's worth. It's almost like you're a.

Let's split the difference. You said between 20 and 50.. So let's call it 35,000, Jade. Okay. So walking through, based on what you just said, what he would do, a sample, if he clears 35,000..

Okay. So let's say you clear 35,000..

And whatever, let's say you pay yourself 15,000, right? And now you're going, okay, I need to invest 15% of my income. That's your income. Investing 15%, you can work with one of our SmartVestor pros, but essentially that's what you're doing. If you don't have Carson set up where you can invest, whether it's, you could start with a Roth IRA, but eventually you're going to want to do something through your business, whether it's a SEP or a simple 401k, something like that, where you're able to really take advantage of all that you could be contributing on a yearly basis, just as if you worked for, you know, a company that was offering you a retirement plan.

So that's what we're looking to do. That's what Ken is getting at. So every time you sell a house, every time you get paid, you are taking out your quarterly estimates. because you're an independent contractor, you're paying yourself, and then you're paying 15%, you're contributing 15% to investing. And that's the step you're in.

If you ever get to the point where you say, you know what, I am ready to move out on my own. I'm ready to purchase a property of my own, and it's time for me to save for a down payment. Then, if you wanted to, you could pause that 15% that you're investing and put all of your, you know, financial efforts to saving your down payment, especially if you think that it's going to take you more than, you know, if you can do it quickly, if it's going to take you more than two years, I probably wouldn't pause it. But that's what we're looking at. He's got a lot to focus on.

And I think that, yeah, 19 closing on his first ranch.

We're excited about your future. All right, we're going to take a quick break, but we'll be right back. She's Jade Warshaw. I'm Ken Coleman. This is The Ramsey Show.

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Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. Jade Warshaw is with me and we are here for you, 888-825-5225, taking your money, questions and your work-related questions. You're a professional. And if you're not winning or you're looking to maybe switch gears, start something, take those questions as well today.

All right. Jennifer is going to join us now in Trenton,

He feels that if we just throw the same amount at it, then 30 years is fine, but it's over. not obligated by that higher payment because it is a higher payment for less amount of time. Right. I'm all, Ramsey, and let's go 15..

I'm just curious. Is it that your husband wants more house?

Okay. $350,000.. And I don't think it would be that much higher. I think he's thinking, like he wants to be able to take vacations and do this, that, and the other. Got it.

Which we'll still be able to do, that. We'll just have less play money.

And then it's like, oh my goodness. So that's the first thing to agree on. The second part of this that I would say is you guys have to be aligned on what your goals are for your life, because here's what I know. The people, if you say to yourself, we want to pay off this house. And if we have a 15-year mortgage, we're going to do that faster.

It's just baked in, right? It's 15 years less. Then why would you say, well, we'll get a 30-year and treat it like a 15-year. Then you're already saying, I plan to not do this. I plan to give myself the freedom to say no some months and not pay that extra payment.

And the moment you do. that is the moment when you start slip sliding. And before you know it, you've been paying for a.

Like you guys need to get down and get spreadsheet it out. Or, if you write it down, that's the way you guys do it. But you have got to cast a vision for him, because he's just not comfortable. You've already, I think, really nailed what's going on. He wants some more margin.

You're going, I don't need as much margin as he does. So this is a relationship issue, not a money issue. And we got to solve the relationship part. Then the money will take care of itself. So you guys got to sit down and run these numbers out as best you can, with the 15-year and the 30, and begin to walk through the stuff that he wants margin for.

The stuff that you don't care about, he cares about. And so that's where this comes down to. And so you two getting on the same page as to this, is how it's going to affect our life. This will be our reality. If we do a 15-year and him getting comfortable with that, that's where you've got to get him.

And you're not going to convince him. You're going to have to walk with him. Does that make sense?

And so if he's concerned with margin, my guess is that the 15-year would take you over that amount. That's my guess. I don't know for sure, but just based off of some of what you've said. So that's thing one. But then thing two is, okay, now let's meet in the middle and go, that means we need to find a less expensive house, because I don't know the rest of the picture.

I mean, I could dig a little deeper. It might be a can of worms, but do you guys have other debt?

What are we missing, Stephanie?

. I think you're fine. Let's say you put $180,000 down on this next house.

That's almost half.

I'm not that good at math that quick, but we put that number in the difference and we see what the current 15-year mortgage rate is, and it will spit out a number for you. And then you sit down with your husband and go, hey babe, a 15-year mortgage on this balance is this much per month. You've got to be dealing in reality, not concepts. And right now, I love that you're all in on Ramsey. But until you start putting real numbers next to our theories and our philosophies, he's not going to get on board.

15, you're fixed. Let's say the rate is, this is saying 6.5.. I feel like it's going to be closer to 7.. So I'm going to change that. So this is saying that if you were to do this, and it's estimating some taxes and insurance in here, it's saying that your total would be $2,074 a month.

So only you know what percentage of your take-home pay that is. It's estimating $321 for property taxes, $125 for home insurance. And, by the way, I'm on ramseysolutions.com using the home payment mortgage calculator. So that's all I'm doing. You need to get clear, as Ken Coleman would say, and get these numbers.

This is what you're presenting, because you do not want to retire with a home payment. And I know you know that, but the key is making your husband understand that.

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Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. Glad you're.

A new attendee, Bo, is there. Bo, how can we help?

Hey, guys. So my family owns a.

I don't know. I kind of just sat down with my mom and dad, and they kind of just didn't think I would really need the degree. I was doing civil engineering, so it was pretty difficult for me.

The Shakespeare thing, is this the question, right? That's the question. So it's, is a degree the only way to do what I want to do, or is a degree the best way to do what I want to do? And it feels like a really hard no for both of those questions for you. So it's consistent with what I've said.

Yeah, I was kind of torn because I kind of eventually want to get into developing land, and so what I was studying was a civil engineer degree, and that would give me the ability to basically make plans where I could eventually develop the land into a subdivision, or, you know, commercial homes, stuff like that. Well, wasn't that what you were pursuing, and it was too hard? Yeah, I don't know. I think he really just wanted me to, because he's been doing it for 40, 50 years, and I think he kind of just wants to take a lesser.

We agreed, I didn't need it. Now you're going, well, I was leaning towards it. So I think you can learn how to develop land without ever going to a classroom and getting a civil engineering degree. I think that. I think you know that.

Yeah. So has your dad done it?

Yeah, you're correct. So I just don't think school is the play for you, but here's the great news. If that changes and the answers to those questions become yes, then go back. But right now you need to learn how to run this business. And the best way for you to learn how to run this business is to be working with dad day in and day out.

And I don't want to ever throw some potential negative thing out there, but the bottom line is none of us are promised tomorrow. And so if I was in your shoes and I was the eventual owner, I would not waste any time. I'd be learning everything I could. I'd become a human sponge around your dad. You're going to develop your own management style.

You're going to develop your own systems. And now's the best time to learn. So no, I wouldn't go back to school now. Make sense? Okay.

All right, man. Thank you so much. Yeah, I appreciate the call. So good. Stephanie is now joining us in Atlanta, Georgia.

Okay. And do you guys combine your, is your money combined? Yes.

Yeah. I mean, we split expenses. We keep separate accounts, but yeah, his money is my money. My money is his. Okay.

I'm going with you on that.

We have a rainy day fund. that's about six months of living expenses.

130.

. 130.. Okay. So, essentially my thought here is this is going to double in seven years. So if he never touched it, it would be a million.

in seven years. He'd be 67 and you'd be 52, 53.. And so, you know, and if he pays 180 towards his mortgage, same thing's going to take place. You said 180.. Sorry.

130.

. 130 mortgage. Okay. So I think what he's trying to do, and you can correct me. I think what he's trying to do is clear all debt so that he can kind of be at peace.

Okay. Then my next question is before. I'm not saying yes or no yet. I'm just trying to get the information. So then my next question is, are you going to continue to work?

And if so,

If you say that, Hey, he's getting this 900, I'm working. I get a hundred K plus bonuses. Plus he's going to be doing something. I got to believe that. between all of that, you guys can find, I don't know, almost, almost $200,000..

How much are your bonuses?

It can be a lifestyle change, but I mean, how much, how much of a lifestyle option.

$1,200.

. $1,200.. And so how much would you guys put extra into that, Jade? What's the number you're suggesting they put over and above that? Well, I'm not, I think it's up to them, because this is about intentionality.

Now, if he's working at Home Depot, I mean, what do you think he's?

Oh, I don't know, but he's been putting an extra two to 400.

. And I believe for the past several months. Two to 400 in what? Into the mortgage to try and pay it off early. So

I believe he's around 70.

. So let's look at it like this. Can you guys live off of your income? Yes. Okay.

So if he says, I'm not doing the job I was doing. So I'm essentially retiring from that job, but I'm going to make it a point to make $43,000 a year. If he does that, and we take all of his money and throw it at the mortgage, you'll be done in three years. Yeah. And you're.

And to Jade's point, you're piling everything on the house. Here's the deal. That 401k, as Jade said, is going to double, and he's only 60.. Then you got social security. If you wait until 70, I would just sit on that.

I would not use it to pay off the house. We're both in agreement on that. And you're going to win big. So good stuff. Good hour, Jade.

Warshaw, thank you very much. James Childs, our fearless leader, and the merry band of people behind the glass that keep us on the air. Thank you. This is the Ramsey Show.

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is the Ramsey Show, where we help you win in your life. We want you to win in your money, win at work, and win with your relationships. 888-825-5225 is the phone number. That's 888-825-5225.. Jade Warshaw is with me.

I'm Ken Coleman, and we are together for you this hour. Jade will lead off on your money, questions, and I'm here to help you at work, and you're winning with your income. How do I make more income? I want to get promoted. I want to start something.

I'm here to help with those questions, because we want you to increase that income. Let's go to Hayden, who starts us off this hour in Denver, Colorado. Hayden, how can we help?

I've always wanted to be a veterinarian, which would be another $250,000 student debt. So I have about $500,000 in student loans. at the end of this. I've started changing my thinking towards opening up my own dog grooming business. Startup costs would be about $40,000..

I could maybe make up to $50,000 a year. I'm wondering what you guys would think about me dropping out.

It's really sad, but we won't, that's a whole separate phone call.

So you started thinking, all right, what?

has presented itself? Why is it $40,000 in the startup cost? What are you paying 40 grand for?

and you can, by asking just questions, how much do you pay yourself? What are your revenues? Somebody will share that with you. And I would do some homework on that. I'd want to talk to a minimum of two and learn everything about the actual business.

That's the homework assignment one. Homework assignment two is to actually dig into with them and just kind of looking at the one ads, what kind of basic qualifications do you need to get hired as an actual dog groomer? You may not believe this, or not, Jade, but we take our beloved dog, our golden doodle, Ellis, you know how fabulously handsome he is. We take him to PetSmart, some fancy place, and they do a great job. Give him a little shampoo, give him a little trim, and he's a handsome fella.

And so I would start going, what's the barrier for entry, just for to become a dog groomer and learn the skill of actually dog grooming, test it out. Do I like this? Would I want to do this in the long term? Because I would want you to get paid by somebody else to do it before you ever launched your own business. And, for heaven's sakes, buying a van that you may end up living in down by the river if the grooming doesn't work out.

And it's in your mind that a percentage of what I make, it goes into my veterinarian fund and my education fund. Just because your dream is deferred doesn't mean that it has to be completely denied. And so I do want to put that out there. And you're just being smart right now and realizing I can't afford this right now. It doesn't mean that it can never happen.

I'd be looking at. just, what are some other things I never thought of where I could make decent money? Maybe you could make, and I'm making this up, Hayden, but maybe you can make north of $20 an hour taking care of horses on a ranch. Just get in the animal game. There are a lot of different ways to make money at your age, by the way, because entry level is wide open.

They need people. And I'd get in the game of just helping animals, caring for animals, and just learn a lot, stack cash to Jade's point, because maybe you look up 10 years from now and you found another way. that's not $250,000.. By the way, on that point too, while I'm adding things- Add more, Ken. Like, dig in.

Are you telling me, Hayden, and I don't know, is every veterinary school in this great country $250,000?

? I'm going to do some Google right now. I love, when you get on the Google. I do. What do you know, Hayden?

Is every

What a racket. That's a shame, man. $250,000.. Well, here's the deal. Do the math on how long it would take you to save up $250,000.

realistically. Run some different numbers. And I do like the idea where there's a will, there's a way. And 10 years from now, maybe you got all that cash stacked up. But in the meantime, we've already given you advice on what we would do.

Jade, I got to tell you, I'm going to go on a mini rant here and I'd love for you to weigh in. Do it.

Do you think, because I know you have no problem shooting me straight. Do you think?

that I might be right that it is a racket that they're charging that much? Does it really cost these veterinary schools or colleges? Does it really cost them that much that they have to charge a quarter million dollars to train someone? I don't buy that for a second.

Number nine, Texas A&M. Resident. four-year tuition, $99,000.. Let's see, $929.. So it might require him moving, getting a residence.

So they are less than 250.

. Yeah, they're out there. You just got to live in the right place, live there to get your residency.

Welcome back, America. You are listening to the Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. Jade Warshaw is with me, and the phone number is 888-825-5225, 888-825-5225.. Today's question of the day comes from Jeff, in Pennsylvania.

I'm 32, and my girlfriend and I are expecting our first child, looking forward to a wedding next year. Financially, we're in a good position, but I've fallen out of love with my career. I have about $60,000 in savings and $190,000 in stocks and IRA. My only debt is $138K on the house, and my girlfriend has $25K in student loans. My current salary is $200,000 a year, but I'm miserable and burned out with the baby on the way.

Leaving work and taking a pay cut is terrifying for me. I feel like I need to take a few weeks or months to let my mind heal and get back to feeling like myself, but can I afford to do so? A lot going on here, Jade.

I would take a couple of weeks or maybe a full week.

to kind of get clear. I don't think your mind will necessarily heal in that amount of time, depending on what's going on with this burnout, but I do think it's hard to make a decision like this to make a large pivot when you're burned out. If it's two days, three days, or a full week, Jade, I'd like to see him get to a place where he can fully identify what's causing the burnout. A couple of questions.

Is it stress? If it's stress, what's causing the stress? or who's causing the stress? How much of it is he has some control over versus he doesn't have any control? We've got to dig into what's going on with the burnout.

I think the answer is he's fallen out of love, because I actually agree with that. That's really at the heart of what I teach. I think that one of the causes of burnout is no juice, no passion for the work. If that's the case, we've got to figure out first, Jade, well, what do I love and what's it going to take to get there? We've got a baby on the way and we've got an income.

I want him to sit still and say, all right, I'm grateful for the money I make. now. We've got to switch our mindset. I'm grateful for what I have. I now know, okay, I just don't love the work.

Before I even make any moves, we want to make a strategic move to something that I do love. We've got to figure out A, what that is. B, what does it take to get qualified? If I'm not qualified, how much that's going to cost and how long that will take. That takes some maturity, but that's how we bridge that change.

Right now, we've got a baby on the way and there's some financial stuff there. We don't want interruption in income. I would say, no,

I would love, and I'm just going to throw this out here for us to come back later, but what do you think makes somebody lose their juiciness? When you enter something, you're excited to be there. What makes that go away?

They still love teaching and instructing. They just don't like where they're doing it, because the environment is toxic. You can absolutely love the work you do, but hate the place that you do it. That creates confusion, because what happens is, and I'm glad you asked me this, you keep going into a place that is unhealthy and you love the work. Eventually, the unhealthiness makes you question the love, but you never lost the love of the work.

You just can't even focus on the love, because it sucks so bad to be there. And I think if I had that love initially. Now, a lot of times, people think they had love for it, and it was just like, and you got to, you know what I mean? Because it's kind of like, if we take it back to relationships. It's the idea of it that they like.

100%. Or they really like this person, but when things happen and when relationships, when the rubber meets the road, you're kind of like, I don't like them so much right now. If you don't love them, you won't stay. But there are a lot of days where I know, I'm only speaking for Stacey, but where Stacey does not like me.

A lot of days. No comment. Well, no, you know, it's true. I do know. it's true.

It's almost 26 years. You don't get here without love.

I am choosing every day to love this person, right? That's right. And that's, man, that's a good analogy, Ken.

How can we help?

It's mostly just, I mean, I'm trying to pay off debt. And then, long story short, I mean, I take care of my niece and nephew and it's just really overwhelming. And I know she's, I'm always on the road for a month or two months at a time. So I know she's single parent and it's overwhelming for her. And so when I talk about this, when I'm on the road, she just, she doesn't want to talk about money, period.

Okay. Listen, I can, I can sympathize with that. I think right here, we're talking about right now, all this is to her. is you having heard something on the radio or you having heard something on a podcast, and you're running back and telling her, I found this thing and I think we ought to do it. And she's like, oh my gosh, we already have this and that and that.

I think you nailed it. You know what it is?

And she's just like, well, that's a problem. That's a problem.

Maybe lead out with, hey, I learned that the insurance that we have is super expensive, and there's a cheaper one out there. Here's what it is. You show it to her. we do this term life policy, it's going to be a lot better. And then I'm going to put this in place.

And once that's in place, we can let the other one go. So a lot of this is how you talk about it. And we're going to make sure that you get set up with Financial Peace University. You and your wife do this together. And that way, Daryl, you're not the one having to deliver all the news.

Dave, and the personalities will do it for you. What do you think? Can we get them a?

But you're a good man. Hang in there. Take it slow. She's got a lot going on. This is The Ramsey Show.

Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. Ken Coleman and Jade Warshaw, helping you through this hour. 888-825-5225..

Michelle is joining us now in Jacksonville, Florida. Michelle, how can we help?

But I've been helping him his whole life, and he's like 35.

. And I just don't know. I'm a widow, and I don't know when to say. I guess he has a history of mental illness and of substance abuse, so I'm kind of guilty like I should. Yes, I'm scared.

No, let's listen. He finally got a good job, really good job, but he can't manage his money. Yeah. Well, don't buy this house for him.

And these two young people are on the.

. Well, they're not even that young, for heaven's sakes. They're on the home, and both of their names are.

. And he says he can't afford child support. They have a child together. He can't afford a mortgage payment. He can't afford a new car.

His car's about to die at the side of the road. He wants me to co-sign for a car too. No. Credit card is max, no money in savings, but I don't want him to be homeless and on the side of the road with no car. I just have fears.

I get it. As my husband dies, he's not here to delay my fears. Well, there's so many other.

But I got to tell you, I think this is a blessing in disguise. He's got a new job, a good paying job. Sounds like there might be some growth opportunity. They break up. He needs to get out of this house because it's the only shot he's got to be able to the child support, because he didn't have any shot on that.

The judge is going to decide that.

And you're not getting that money back? Affordable payment. No. And that's why he held that over my head and said, I hate to see you lose your $40,000.. Let's refinance this together.

Yeah, it always has worked. I operate on guilt a lot. Today's the day. 35-year-old boy needs to understand it's time to be a 35-year-old man, and the best way he's going to do that is you have to look at him and go, and, by the way, I'd be okay, being really raw and sharing your emotion. Share with him why you've done this in the past because of guilt.

And now you've got to earn this and go, I can't do it anymore. I can't. It's not good for me, and it's not good for you. And I know deep down, you don't want me to hurt me. I don't know, Jade.

I don't have anything but tough love here. I have nothing.

You got to just let this guy do what he's going to do, and all you can do is pray, and you know. You know what he needs,

and listen to me, Michelle. I say this with a father's heart, and I say this from my own experience.

He needs belief. No more help. Yeah. You need to sit down with him and tell him what he should do and show him that he can do it, and then you need to walk away. Okay, thanks for taking my call.

I think you need to be his number one cheerleader. I love that, Ken. Oh, that's so good. It's so good. It's tough.

It's so hard because we want to help our kids. My goodness. I mean, it's just so hard. I get it. I truly get it, but at this point, I mean, and that's the rub, right?

. He's not a boy. I honestly think when it comes to this house, I think they just need to sell it and get whatever the profit is. Give it back to mama. She's the one that put the money.

He's broke. Yeah, but mama does. If she wants her money back, if she cares anything, she might not care. She might be like, I washed my hands of this situation. I'm out.

But if she's like, man, I'd love to get my 40,000 back, I'd love to talk to somebody to.

But I don't buy this rent, it's so expensive. He's manipulating there. He's manipulating. He's got child support, staring.

There's no clear division of assets. And so this is just what is known as a hot steaming pile, Ken. That's what this is. And so it's, it's not... Don't play house.

Don't play. I haven't heard that in a long time. That's what this is. I know, but that's how I know your dad's a preacher.

You can take the church out of the preacher's kid, right? But you know, that's what happened here. We love each other. Let's go in and do this house. And now look at it.

Let Jay fix this. Act like you got some home training. This is the reality show.

Dave Ramsey's investing essentials. at this event. Dave's going to do a deep dive into his investing strategy. And, for the first time ever, share his personal playbook, uh, including how he buys real estate. So I know this is always a hot topic, Jade, on Tik, TOK and Instagram, all these people given how to buy real estate and get rich.

Dave does it very differently. And he's going to be sharing that. this is a two night virtual event, uh, happening May 21 and 22.. And, uh, you can watch it anywhere. You've got a device or a computer.

Uh, you'll learn how to maximize your 401k and mutual funds. Dave's personal strategy, as I mentioned, for real estate. and then, uh, investing trends to follow and which ones to avoid. It's a $249 ticket. You can sign up at ramsaysolutions.com slash events.

That's ramsaysolutions.

com slash events. It's Dave Ramsey's investing essentials. And I think our, uh, buddy, George camel, is going to have a cameo as well, a camel cameo, I like to call it. So. that's always an extra bonus.

All right. Uh, let's go to Birmingham, Alabama, where Catherine is waiting for us. Catherine, how can we help today?

Um, so, like my husband is investing like 10% in retirement. Um, and I'm working on getting my 401k set up right now with my newer workplace. Um, so, you know, we're debt free. We have our larger emergency fund saved up. Um, but our question is, do we, would y'all recommend throwing a hundred percent of this cash toward our mortgage?

Um, which is about, I mean, I guess we owe maybe like 260 at this point, 275.

. I know that's bad. I don't know the exact number, but, um, would you guys throw at a hundred percent of the mortgage or would y'all recommend investing in the home itself, um, to do some addition, um, in the attic space. So adding a bedroom, adding a bathroom, we currently live in a three bed, two bath. Um, so, you know, our home's worth about 340,000..

Um, but we're looking at, you know, a large return on our investment if we were to add that bedroom and add that.

if the home sold, you know, and we just want to have a plan. if it does, we don't, you know,

Um, and then, you know, four or five and six, it's simultaneous. And so, uh, I do want you being intentional about putting extra towards the mortgage, kids, college, but it's not to say that every windfall you get, all of it must go on the mortgage. You know, you, you can look at this and go, okay, what's it, what's a fair split here. Do we want to put half of it on the, on the mortgage? And do we want to use half to do some additions?

Um, is it enough to, you know, if we do half, is it enough to complete the addition? Do we only want to put 10% of this on the mortgage? And so you guys have some freedom here. How much, how much is it going to cost to do what you say you want to do to the house?

It's the perfect amount of money. I would not be mad at that. Um, I would love to see that you're putting some additional, um, regularly towards your mortgage, or you have a rhythm, whether it's once a quarter, whatever your rhythm is, that you're paying extra towards your mortgage. I'd love to see that you're doing that, um, as a caveat to just dumping this whole thing on it. Um, dumping the whole thing into, um, additions.

Okay. Yeah. So that's, that's me, but don't lose sleep over it. I'm not going to come haunt you if you, if you don't on this, I'm not going to come haunt you. There's some things I will show up in your dreams, but not on this one.

I like.

Um, but I'm just concerned too, because as I look at my finances, you know, over, like long-term, but like, I don't see it growing as much as I want it to. And I'm, I'm just nervous to like, put this money out there to work for me. And I'm really opposed to the idea of, like, you know, barring against, like home equity and things like that. Um, but I have a lot of resources. I'm 42..

Okay. We've got about two minutes. So we're.

Just, just a mortgage. Just the mortgage. How much cash have you stacked?

Interesting. Okay. Yeah. So, um, I'm right around like the threshold to like every year, like I have to wonder, like, am I going to get HCE capped again? You know?

I think it's wrong for me to sit on that money.

Probably at least 30 K. I would say. Okay. So we're going to get to the other 54.. And if you're getting capped, I mean, you've got your 401k over there with your business.

You can do 7%. That's great. You should also be doing a Roth IRA. So I want to make sure that we're getting you at least a 15%, whether it's a mix of your 401k, Roth IRA. And even if you go over to a brokerage or an HSA, those are all really good, um, places for you to go, one after another.

Um, and then, as far as this 54, uh, thousand is concerned, I would get with a SmartVestor Pro, because when you're out in the market, then you've got a lot of different funds that you can choose from, and they're going to help, you know, uh, which funds are best, but yeah, get it into, uh, get it into a brokerage, get it somewhere where it's, it is, uh, gaining a return for you, because sitting in your checking account, that ain't it.

You're doing really well. All right. That's going to do it for this hour. Thank you, Jade Warshall. Thanks to James Childs and our team for keeping us on the air.

This is your show, America. This is the Ramsey show.

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions. This is the Ramsey show where we help you win in your life, specifically with your money, in your work and with your relationships. 888-825-5225 is the phone number. It's toll free. We'd love for you to jump in and talk with Jade Warshall and I, and me, I should say proper grammar and me, Ken Coleman, 888-825-5225..

Let's go to Jackson, Mississippi to kick this hour off. Angie is there. Angie, how can we help?

Hey, how are y'all doing? We are having a blast.

My husband and I are trying to figure out if we should pay off our mortgage.

I'm 36 and he's 37, and we just started trying to have a baby last month. We're not really sure. It could happen soon. It could take a while, since I'm a little older. It's in God's hands.

We don't know if we should go ahead and pay the mortgage off now or if we should keep the money that we have in our non-retirement account and save it for the baby, and if we run into any potential issues having a conceiving.

What do you have in your non-retirement?

In our non-retirement investments, we have.

. The amount we owe on our house is $32,800.. Wow.

If we took the investments out and put that towards the house, we could probably have the house paid off, I would say, in about two months. If we did not take the investments out, it would probably take us eight to ten months to pay it off. Right now, we're throwing... Go ahead.

No.

You're just out here, like anybody else, trying to start a family. If there's no other debt, if you've got three to six months of expenses saved, if you guys are currently investing 15%, and this is non-retirement savings above and beyond your emergency fund, I'm totally fine with you guys taking this money and being mortgage debt-free in the next two months. I think that's awesome. Awesome. Yeah.

That's exciting.

I'm happy for you.

I don't know, as we start building a family, if this is something that I want to continue doing. I make good money, and we're able to get to a point right now where we're about to pay off the house.

I'm just trying to figure out, do I stick with it right now and just till baby comes and just keep saving and keep saving and then potentially look into making a shift?