The Ramsey Show XX
[0] headquarters of Ramsey Solutions.
[1] It's the Ramsey show.
[2] We help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships.
[3] George Camel, Ramsey personality, host of the George Camel popular YouTube show and co -host of the super popular Smart Money Happy Hour is my co -host today.
[4] We're back alive and at it as you folks are.
[5] Hey, have you got the cobwebs blown out from the eggnog yet?
[6] Are you back at it?
[7] Are you ready to rock and roll?
[8] Is it game on?
[9] Is there a reset?
[10] Is there a cycle that needs to be broken?
[11] My buddy Jocco's got everybody resetting and we're breaking the cycle.
[12] So whatever it is you've got to do, there's got to be a thing and you've got to do something different.
[13] You've got to set these New Year's resolutions in process, make a habit happen.
[14] And one of the things that we want you to make a habit of is making sure you go ahead and order George's book.
[15] It comes out next week.
[16] Next week, George.
[17] That's crazy.
[18] Yeah, so you can just for a couple more days get all of the pre -sale elements with it, and it's called Breaking Free from Broke, the ultimate guide for more money and less stress, and it's a very millennial cover.
[19] But it's only, it's not just for millennials.
[20] That's right.
[21] 25 to 55, anywhere in there or a little younger or a little older.
[22] 15 to 55.
[23] There we go.
[24] Well, a lot of people are saying, hey, what is the book I can give to my teen that they'll actually listen to?
[25] There it is.
[26] This is it.
[27] But I hope this is the year people break free from Broke.
[28] Dave.
[29] There's too many people out there, and it's not about income.
[30] We're having people call in and make 200 grand.
[31] Oh, no. Incomes everywhere.
[32] And they're drowning in payments.
[33] A lot of people would make a lot of money and spend it all.
[34] Like they think they're in Congress or something.
[35] I think America's going to unplug from the Matrix this year because they're sick of this toxic money culture of debt and payments and they're stressed out about what's going to happen in the economy.
[36] And I just want to hold a financial mirror up and go, you're going to solve this.
[37] It's not up to anyone else.
[38] That's it.
[39] That's how it's done.
[40] So the book comes out next week.
[41] If you order the $20 book today, you get about $100 worth of goodies with it, including a couple months of every dollar.
[42] Oh, that comes with it anyway.
[43] That's right.
[44] Whether you buy before or after, three months of every dollar premium, the audio book, which is going to be enhanced with some cool production, the e -book.
[45] The e -book.
[46] It's going to be the best audio book we've ever done.
[47] I'm excited about it.
[48] I'm excited about it.
[49] We got a live event happening, the launch week that you'll get access to as well as a video talk I did called Show Me the Money, all if you pre -order.
[50] Yeah.
[51] So about $100 worth of stuff if you pre -order right now, breaking free from broke.
[52] So we'll start the year with a commercial, but we'll keep.
[53] going.
[54] So the deal is that, and I want to, I'm actually going to carry this over in the next segment because I just looked up and saw how much time I spent yacking about nothing.
[55] But the, sorry about that, guys.
[56] I was one of my New Year's resolutions to not do that.
[57] Stop yacking?
[58] It's not, no, I can't stop yacking.
[59] It's like quiet out here if you do that.
[60] But the setting and keeping goals, because the thing we have figured out that is unique at Ramsey, that the rest of the financial world still struggles with, basically, is that personal finance is 80 % behavior.
[61] It's 20 % head knowledge.
[62] You really fix the person in your mirror or you're just screwed.
[63] I mean, you're just not going to, if you keep doing what you've been doing, you're going to keep getting what you've been getting, and continuing to do the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.
[64] And so it is time to break free from the cycle.
[65] And that's why we're doing this live stream called, that as well.
[66] But I want to talk about that in this next segment a minute, but let's set that up a second, because I don't think any of you want to miss this next segment.
[67] It's really dialing into, from a business perspective, treating your life like it's a business, how am I going to set my revenue goals, my expense goals, and my profit goals?
[68] You know, that's what you do for business.
[69] You set a budget.
[70] And how am I going to do that in my personal situation because everybody's a little bit introspective this time of year you know i got an email from a friend of mine is doing dry january so everybody's going to try to do something to be a little better version of themselves right and um i think you should anyway yeah i mean we have a lot of areas finance is what we focus on but now with dr john deloney here we're covering mental health goals and relationship goals and ken coleman's got work goals if you want to up your career and so it's expanded and you've talked about how you you don't want a flat tire and any area of life as well where you you're great with your finances but your marriage is on the brink you've got to excel in all the areas yeah or you're a great parent but you're broke all the time you know that's that ends up by definition eventually not being a great parent you know by definition and so if you work all the time and you never see your kids you got a pile of money then you you you know you again you're out of balance and people talk about life balance but um i don't want to talk about it in that sense because sometimes that's code for i want to do I just want to go over here and not do anything.
[71] It can be a justification.
[72] I want to kick back and call that life balance.
[73] No, I want you to kick in.
[74] I want you to get it.
[75] I want you to get after it.
[76] And whatever the area is that you need to attack, I want you to do it wholesale and wide open.
[77] So, you know, basically I'm not talking about dreaming.
[78] You know, dreaming is good.
[79] Having a dream is a good thing.
[80] Being a dreamer has a negative connotation.
[81] No one wants their kid to marry a dreamer.
[82] Yeah.
[83] Hey, Dad, I'm getting engaged, and he's a dreamer.
[84] Oh, crap, they're going to live in the basement.
[85] That's code for unemployed.
[86] That's code for, I don't do much.
[87] So you don't want to be a dreamer.
[88] But having vision is a good thing.
[89] Having a dream is a good thing.
[90] But just only the negative connotation as a dreamer means without action.
[91] And so you want to step into action.
[92] And 41 % of Americans make New Year's goals or resolutions.
[93] Only 8 % end up keeping them.
[94] I can't believe it's that high.
[95] Only 8 %?
[96] I would have got slower than that.
[97] But we're going to talk about in this next segment exactly how to lay out for any area of your life, how to lay out a goal and how to make it work and how to stick to it for the rest of this year.
[98] So if you've kind of had a, oh, I lay it out, or maybe you're really game on.
[99] Well, I'm going to give you a little bit, a little fine tuning for that next time, next segment here.
[100] And we're going to lay it out in a way that you're not going to be confused at all about what it takes to, win in any given area.
[101] And bottom line is it takes that you're a mirror that person that they have to step up.
[102] Well, you teach this in Entree leadership a lot, but I love the business analogy going, hey, what if we treated our personal life like it was a business?
[103] Like there was really something on the line.
[104] Because a lot of times when it's just us, Dave, we can let ourselves down all day long.
[105] But you can't do that in business.
[106] And I think we need to have that level of gravity when it comes to our goals this year.
[107] Yeah, I'm going to get around to investing someday.
[108] but not treat it like it matters.
[109] Well, you ought to treat it like it really matters because it does.
[110] I mean, retiring and eating alpo is not a plan.
[111] You know, retiring and having the, you know, the dad -blame government.
[112] You're living on social insecurity after working your whole life.
[113] You're going to let the government, which is well known for its ability to handle money, take care of you.
[114] That's a dumb plan.
[115] That's a definition of mediocrity minus about six degrees.
[116] So you don't want to do that.
[117] But that's what's going to happen if you're on coast mode.
[118] You can coast through this society and have a relatively decent lifestyle, high stress, but relatively decent lifestyle.
[119] Instead, I would rather just turn up the heat and let's go get it.
[120] Let's go do something different here.
[121] And all that leads to more peace, more confidence, less stress.
[122] That's what this is all about.
[123] So stay tuned.
[124] It's going to be good.
[125] Stay tuned for the magic formula.
[126] Nothing magic about it.
[127] Dave's laying out the secrets for it.
[128] you believe the show is free?
[129] There are no secrets and there is no magic.
[130] I just hate to tell you all that.
[131] It's just grandma's old common sense.
[132] That'll work.
[133] Those of you that want to lose weight, here I'll help you with it.
[134] Eat less.
[135] Whoa.
[136] You and Jenny Craig, Dave.
[137] You and Jenny Craig got, got something going on.
[138] Just saved the money on a diet book.
[139] You can use it for one of ours.
[140] This is the Ramsey Show.
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[155] George Camel Ramsey Personality is my co -host today.
[156] Welcome to the Ramsey Show, folks.
[157] We're glad you're here.
[158] This is a show that actually helps you want to win at your life.
[159] We started years ago talking about your money.
[160] We still talk about money a lot.
[161] We talk about every area of your life.
[162] We were talking before the break there about dreams.
[163] Dreams with work clothes on are called goals.
[164] And you better put some work clothes on if you want to get something done.
[165] um that you know it's funny to me that every time i'm lucky it's usually around the time i'm wearing work clothes um my luck tends to happen the more i work it's just this honest funny correlation you know i get more luck the more i work and that's pretty simple the way this is so dreams that put their work clothes on are called goals now a lot of people talk about setting goals but let me tell you if you don't set the goal correctly you have zero chance to almost of hitting it and it has to have really there are five components of a properly set goal and if you dodge any of them you lower your probability of hitting it almost to zero the first three for sure if you don't do the first three you're just done there's not there's almost no chance you're going to hit it so i want to lose weight i want to make more money i want to uh have a better I want to graduate from college.
[166] I want to whatever.
[167] So the first two things a goal has to be is if you say, I want to lose weight, you're not going to.
[168] That's not enough.
[169] That's a dream.
[170] It's fuzzy.
[171] The first two things, a goal has to be specific and it has to be measurable.
[172] So losing weight is a measurable event.
[173] earning more money is a measurable event.
[174] I want to get out of debt.
[175] That's a measurable event.
[176] Now we've got to get very, very specific, how much?
[177] And by when?
[178] That's another piece of the puzzle here.
[179] The third one is time limit.
[180] Yeah.
[181] When you have those three together, it's magic because now it's reality.
[182] Yeah.
[183] Well, when you put those three together, math automatically happens.
[184] So, you know, let's just use the weight example.
[185] A lot of people talking about that this time of year.
[186] I want to lose weight.
[187] You won't.
[188] Okay.
[189] It's measurable, but it's not specific.
[190] Okay.
[191] How much do you want to lose?
[192] Oh, 30 pounds.
[193] Okay.
[194] Now, we're measurable and specific.
[195] Now, then the question is, do you want to lose 30 pounds over 10 years?
[196] and how many times do you want to lose 30 pounds?
[197] That's an important piece of the puzzle.
[198] So, you know, I want to earn more money.
[199] Great.
[200] How much?
[201] I want to earn $100 ,000 this year.
[202] Okay.
[203] How soon do you want to do it?
[204] Now, when you put a time limit on it and you know what the amount is, automatically your brain starts doing sixth grade math.
[205] How much per month?
[206] Long division, right?
[207] So if I want to lose 30 pounds, when I want to do it over three months.
[208] I say instantly everyone said that's 10 pounds a month.
[209] Instantly you're going, some of you are even going further and saying that's two and a half pounds a week.
[210] And then you start automatically saying what has to be true.
[211] That's not true now.
[212] And so I'm going to raise my water intake, lower the bread and sugar intake, and increase my aerobic activity to 30 minutes a day.
[213] These are magical things that you do if you're losing weight, right?
[214] If I want to earn more money, okay, well, you're on commission.
[215] Do you need to make more sales, right?
[216] And so how many more calls do you need to make to make the sales?
[217] I had a guy tell me one time he said, I'm going to earn 100, he's working for us.
[218] He said, I'm going to earn $100 ,000 this year.
[219] And I said, no, you're not.
[220] He said, what do you mean?
[221] You're not going to pay me?
[222] And I said, no, you, I read the sales reports.
[223] You don't make enough calls to make enough sales on average with our average order value on that call to make $100 ,000.
[224] And so how many, you know, $100 ,000 is $8 ,333 a month.
[225] That's $2 ,100 a month.
[226] That's $2 ,100 a week.
[227] week.
[228] What are you going to do to earn $2 ,100 a week?
[229] And then you figure that out.
[230] Then, and what's it take to do that?
[231] And you're willing to do those steps, boom, you've done the long division.
[232] You've done the math, right?
[233] I'm going to pay off their, you know, a lot of times people call in and they go, well, you know, I've got $75 ,000 in debt.
[234] Okay.
[235] Well, what do you make?
[236] Well, I make $60 ,000.
[237] Okay.
[238] If you pay off $25 ,000 a year, that's three years.
[239] So instantly, we're doing, we're setting goals with you when you call in here for you, but also inspiring you by showing you that, you know, if you did roll up your sleeves, earn a little bit more money and lived on less than you make, you could pay off $25 ,000 a year.
[240] That's $2 ,000 a month.
[241] You do that for three years.
[242] You paid off $75 ,000.
[243] You start to do the math.
[244] And then the math gives you hope because you can really do 30 pounds in three months.
[245] That's not an unreasonable loss for most people.
[246] Now, you shouldn't do that.
[247] You would disappear.
[248] No, I would float away into the ether.
[249] If I did that, just one of my legs would be smaller.
[250] but you know that's all but the uh but you know other people are right so everybody's got a different thing but 30 pounds is doable 30 pounds is doable so you got you have to make the goal reasonable but you want it to be a little bit scary I think it's too easy let me tell you what if you don't write it down that's the fourth one it makes it hard to do too once you write it out there's something that happens the Bible says write the vision and make it plain it says it in Habakkuk one of the old testament books write the vision and make it plane.
[251] So when you write down, I am going to lose 30 pounds, 10 pounds a month, 30 pounds and 90 days, 10 pounds a month, 2 and a half pounds a week.
[252] Then you step up on the scales and you're up a pound.
[253] You got a baseline.
[254] You go, now I got three and a half pounds.
[255] I'm screwed.
[256] You know, I really got to get out of the cookies here.
[257] I mean, you start to make the adjustments of what you've got to do.
[258] Put up the Christmas cookies.
[259] There's enough already.
[260] I'm talking to myself now.
[261] Sounds personal.
[262] But the, but I mean, I'm going to pay off this debt.
[263] If I'm going to pay off $2 ,000 a month and you look up, and you've only paid off 1 ,000, well, you're off goal.
[264] And when you write out your debt snowball, when you write out your budget, which is your monthly goals for money, then you've got it in writing.
[265] If you want to earn more, put it in writing.
[266] And then start talking about what you're going to do to cause that to happen.
[267] Because something has to be different for you to be different.
[268] Hello?
[269] If you want to be out of debt and your in debt, something has to be different.
[270] So what's going to be different?
[271] Well, I'm selling some crap.
[272] I mean, we're amputating the Tahoe here.
[273] That boat that's been sitting out there in the yard that we act like we use and we don't use, it's gone.
[274] I mean, you know, yes, I have a $9 ,000 riding lawnmower.
[275] I'm an idiot, so I'm selling it, yes.
[276] Okay.
[277] I mean, you're an idiot if you have $9 ,000 riding lawnmower and you owe $9 ,000 on it.
[278] Now, if you're a billionaire and you have a $9 ,000 a running lawn.
[279] And you pay cash, that's okay.
[280] That's an idiotic butt thing to do.
[281] People do that.
[282] So sacrifices must be made.
[283] Well, something has to change.
[284] And generally, change always feels like a sacrifice.
[285] It may not be as sacrificial as you think.
[286] It may be you just look up and you go, oh, there's $50 ,000 in my savings account.
[287] I owe $35 ,000 on this stupid but student loan.
[288] And apparently Joe Biden is not coming to the rescue.
[289] Hello, are you just now waking up to that?
[290] And so, I mean, he can't even find by anyway.
[291] But, yeah, so, oh, my gosh.
[292] just now wake.
[293] So if the change could simply be, you're going to reduce your savings account by $35 ,000.
[294] Ready, set, go.
[295] Boom.
[296] And it's still going to hurt a little bit.
[297] Tap out.
[298] Done.
[299] Just like that.
[300] And the last one is the goals have to be your goal.
[301] That's the unexpected one in the mix here.
[302] Well, other people let people set goals for them.
[303] My mama always wanted me to be a dentist.
[304] I'm not going to you.
[305] My parents told me I should stop wasting money on rent and buy a house.
[306] Yeah.
[307] It's a terrible reason to buy a house.
[308] Yeah, and yet they didn't fund any of this suggestion.
[309] Nope.
[310] You know?
[311] They don't pay your bills.
[312] My friend said I should always have a car payment.
[313] Yeah, but he ain't paying it.
[314] So, hello.
[315] You know, oh, people are always, people always got opinions about everybody else's stuff.
[316] And, you know, my dad always want to be a preacher.
[317] I'm not going to your church unless you're talking about God, your dad, God, the father.
[318] But other than that, I don't, you know, for people whose earthly father called them into the ministries, they don't make good pastors, hello.
[319] And so, you know, I always, you know, but you need to say, so my wife wants me to lose 30 pounds.
[320] That's it.
[321] Is that a trick question?
[322] No. It's not a trick question.
[323] It won't work until I want to lose 30 pounds.
[324] I could want to do it to please her.
[325] You resent her.
[326] That's really horrible.
[327] That's, that's wussified right there.
[328] I mean, my wife wants me to earn more money.
[329] No, that won't work.
[330] My mama always wanted me to, I don't care what your mama wants.
[331] It's time to be a grown up.
[332] If you're 25, your problems are now.
[333] problems.
[334] You can't blame them on your parents anymore.
[335] You're like an adult walking around in like a large body and stuff, and you need to freaking act like it.
[336] So you can't, the days of blaming mama and daddy are done.
[337] So that expired.
[338] Exactly.
[339] Now, seven areas we recommend you set goals for, certainly financial goals, intellectual goals.
[340] You're going to read a book this year.
[341] How many nonfiction books you're going to read this year?
[342] There's a direct correlation between your income and the level of nonfiction books.
[343] You read, read a book.
[344] Family goals.
[345] How are you going to break that out?
[346] Spiritual goals.
[347] Prayer time, Bible reading, going to church, physical goals.
[348] We talked about losing weight, exercising, run a marathon, career goals, social goals.
[349] You should set goals in these areas, and they should be specific, they should be measurable.
[350] They should be in writing and they need to be your goals, not you living someone else's life.
[351] Otherwise, it doesn't work.
[352] This is the Ramsey Show.
[353] Hey, when you go against what society thinks is, quote, normal, like avoiding debt, for example, it might seem weird at first, and that is totally okay.
[354] We want you to be weird if that means doing things intentionally, including how you spend your health care dollars.
[355] And one way to be intentional is with Christian health care ministries.
[356] CHM isn't health insurance.
[357] They're a health cost -sharing ministry that's helped hundreds of thousands of families, like yours, take care of health care costs without sacrificing their freedom.
[358] Find out more and join at c .hministries .org slash budget.
[359] That's c .hministries .org slash budget.
[360] George Camel, Ramsey Personality is my co -host today.
[361] Alyssa is with us in Naples, Florida.
[362] Hi, Alyssa.
[363] Welcome to the Ramsey Show.
[364] Hi.
[365] Hi.
[366] Hey, what's up?
[367] Oh, not much.
[368] Just taking a break in my workday.
[369] Okay.
[370] How can we help?
[371] So I just got remarried in October, and my husband and I, you know, after the wedding, really sat down and took a good look at our combined finances.
[372] Good.
[373] And we definitely made a lot of debt choices independently and now coming together, trying to figure out how we can tackle that, hopefully, you know, for the new year, planning on, you know, having a kid, I already have a nine -year -old daughter, and trying to get those, you know, figured out so that we're not constantly worried about savings and being able to retire.
[374] Sounds like you need to do all the things that all of us need to do.
[375] Yeah, definitely.
[376] Feed babies, retire, get out of debt, save money, right?
[377] Right.
[378] And part of the thing that's a little bit frustrating is, you know, between our combined finances, we're bringing in about $11 ,500 a month and still feel like we can't, you know, I've only got about $3 ,000 in our savings, I'm not able to really contribute to retirement or anything like that.
[379] So trying to figure out.
[380] How much debt do you have?
[381] So student debt, we've got about 140 ,000 credit.
[382] I'm the mental health therapist.
[383] Oh, okay.
[384] So I've got about 90.
[385] He has about 40, and that was, you know, from his parents' It's pushing him to go to college.
[386] And so he has debt with no real...
[387] What other debt have you got?
[388] Nothing really to show for it.
[389] Car payments.
[390] How much?
[391] About $50 ,000 total in our cars.
[392] You owe $60 on your cars.
[393] Okay.
[394] Mm -hmm.
[395] And then we've got a mortgage that's got about $240 ,000.
[396] Mm -hmm.
[397] Okay.
[398] That's as far as debt goes.
[399] Mm -hmm.
[400] Hmm.
[401] Okay.
[402] So, Alyssa, looking at these numbers, let's ignore the mortgage for now and focus on the consumer debt.
[403] You've got about 190 or so in consumer debt.
[404] And you guys are bringing home, what, 130, 140 grand?
[405] And so this becomes a great math equation where we go, how much margin can we create every month to throw at that smallest debt?
[406] That's all we're focused on.
[407] No saving, no investing.
[408] We're not eating out.
[409] We've got to make some sacrifices here.
[410] How quickly could you, Could you pay off?
[411] You know, could you throw three, four, five thousand dollars a month at the smallest debt?
[412] What's holding you back?
[413] I think for me, it's the fear with my daughter, making sure that we have enough.
[414] Because with me, with me being self -employed in him doing construction and things like that, I get worried about catastrophic expenses.
[415] You know what I'm worried about?
[416] You make $130 ,000 a year and you're freaking broke.
[417] That's what I'm worried about.
[418] I think you need to be worried about that.
[419] You're driving cars you can't afford and you have a lifestyle that's absolutely asinine.
[420] Mm -hmm.
[421] And that's nothing to do with a nine -year -old.
[422] What does she need?
[423] That's thousands of dollars a month worth when you say I need to take care of her.
[424] It's more just in case.
[425] Yeah.
[426] There's no bit, but you're not doing anything about it.
[427] You've got $3 ,000.
[428] So that's a complete red herring.
[429] That's absolutely, you're not, you're doing nothing about that except creating anxiety.
[430] right yeah so it's time it's time for a pension for action some urgency here and say okay the more dramatic we more dramatic we change our life the more dramatically we change our life the more sacrificially we change our life the the faster this is going to turn around and we're going to have a pile of cash and we'll be out of debt yeah the more you just goof around with it because here's the deal you guys just you guys have no idea where this money goes Right.
[431] And so we're going to get you on a detailed written budget.
[432] So here's the thing.
[433] What kind of mental health professional?
[434] What kind of work do you do?
[435] So I do counseling, like therapy, depression, anxiety, stuff like that.
[436] Okay.
[437] All right.
[438] And so what you do is there's some parallels to what we do.
[439] So you can be physician heal thyself, okay?
[440] Right.
[441] So because here's the thing.
[442] You are an objective observer.
[443] to someone's misbehavior.
[444] Right.
[445] And you look at that and go, hey, you ought to try this because the way you've been doing it, not working.
[446] You know, this yelling and screaming at your wife, not working.
[447] You know, this zero activity sitting in a dark room, adding to your depression.
[448] So you need sunlight and vitamin D and activity.
[449] So you need to get an exercise and be in sunlight.
[450] Helps with depression.
[451] Am I wrong?
[452] No, not wrong.
[453] So you send somebody because you're in a, but they're sitting in the dark room.
[454] They don't see it.
[455] So what I want to do here is I just want to do.
[456] want you to say, okay, if I hired you, you're a smart person.
[457] If I hired you, even though you're not a financial professional, it's because the stuff we're dealing with here is sixth grade math.
[458] If I hired you to look at this and say, you come in objectively and you look at this family, they make $130, $140 ,000 a year.
[459] They have $3 ,000 to their name.
[460] They have $60 ,000 in car debt, and they have student loans that have been hanging around so long they think they're a pet.
[461] They feel stuck.
[462] You could objectively look in from the outside like you do every day, And look at this, the way George and I are looking at right now going, these people need to tighten things up.
[463] They need to sell a car or two.
[464] They're not going on vacation because they're broke.
[465] And if they're sick and tired of being sick and tired, you'll change your process.
[466] And if you, because you look at this objectively from the outside, I can see in a three -minute radio conversation with you, I can see $40 ,000 or $50 ,000 a year here that you could throw at, this and you'd be out of debt in no time, but it's going to mean you're driving different cars.
[467] You're not going on vacation.
[468] You're not eating out.
[469] And it's not going to be comfortable for a while until you set some new grooves in your brain.
[470] Yeah.
[471] So we definitely already decided on completely cutting out vacations.
[472] Okay.
[473] We've had like huge conversations, you know, with family of like, you know, even like big family crews and just saying, sorry, we can't do it.
[474] you're going to learn to say no a whole lot yeah you're going to say no so you can say yes the way we say it is you live like no one else so that later you can live and give like no one else so if i were prescribing to you from the outside looking in the way i'm asking you to do for yourself i could look at these numbers and say these people have a really tough two and a half years ahead of them so that they have an awesome life the rest of their life yeah and it's worth it and it works because it is just math.
[475] It's just sixth grade math.
[476] But it has to do with controlling the angry little boy or little girl that lives inside of each of us and making that little person who throws a fit on the cereal aisle and wants fruity pebbles.
[477] No, no. Because that little kid, he rises up.
[478] I want a new car.
[479] I deserve.
[480] I mean, I have a master's degree.
[481] I deserve a good car.
[482] No, you don't.
[483] You're freaking bro.
[484] You deserve freedom, not this life of stress.
[485] And the math does give me. in the situation.
[486] You make 11 .5.
[487] The beautiful story about your, the beautiful part about your story is, Alyssa, you have the income.
[488] And the parallel would be if you were sitting with a patient who is master's degree in something, they have the intellect to adjust their mental behaviors, to adjust their mental health with behavior shifts, with directions you can give them.
[489] They have the capacity.
[490] You didn't call me up, make it $30 ,000 with these numbers.
[491] Thank God.
[492] You call me up making $130 ,000 of these numbers.
[493] Yeah.
[494] So you can do this.
[495] And the correlation is very simple.
[496] The deeper you cut, the more sacrificial and weird you are.
[497] And it's going to feel very strange for the first 90 days.
[498] And then it'll get to be a normal rhythm.
[499] But the deeper you cut, the faster you're out.
[500] By the way, that works for all of you.
[501] The deeper you cut, the faster you're out.
[502] And I'm a rip the band -aid off guy.
[503] Yeah.
[504] This pull it off one hair at a time.
[505] No, thank you.
[506] That's a lot of pain.
[507] That's why you like to amputate the Tahoe.
[508] Just do the big stuff.
[509] Knock it out.
[510] It's a stupid car.
[511] I'll get another one later.
[512] There's more Tahoe's.
[513] I got a lot of stupid cars now.
[514] And, you know, but I didn't use to, I mean, it's a stupid car.
[515] It's a stupid house.
[516] You know, it's just stuff.
[517] And you can get you some more stuff, but you can't get your life back.
[518] This is The Ramsey Show.
[519] Buying your first home is a big deal and sets the stage for your financial success.
[520] So, work with the mortgage advisor you trust, not just some random website.
[521] Churchill Mortgage is Ramsey trusted because they help you avoid hidden traps and expertly guide you through every step.
[522] Learn more at Churchillmortgage .com.
[523] This is a paid advertisement.
[524] NMLS.
[525] ID 1591 .1 and MLS Consumer Access .org, Equal Housing Lender.
[526] 1749 Mallory Lane, Suite 100.
[527] Brentwood, Tennessee, 37027.
[528] George Camel Ramsey Personality is my co -host today.
[529] Luke is in Tusterville.
[530] Luke is in Tust.
[531] Scalusa, Alabama, where they are crying this morning.
[532] Hey, Luke, welcome to the Ramsey Show.
[533] Not too many to clean up this morning on my end.
[534] How's everything going?
[535] Better than I deserve.
[536] Oh, my goodness.
[537] Tell me how we can help today.
[538] Yes, sir.
[539] I'm just looking to get a plan together on possibly buying a house.
[540] Not necessarily in a set time frame.
[541] dating a girl currently that kind of has her stopwatch clicking on me and I don't want to go through the whole running process if I don't have to so I was just kind of wanting to get y 'all's opinion on that So you've got a girlfriend, she's wanting you to propose You're wanting to buy a house There's a lot going on here And you're wondering when is the time to buy a house?
[542] Yes, sir How old are you?
[543] I'm 24 When will you get married?
[544] probably in the next year and a half or so you got any money i currently have about 53 ,000 uh sitting i know you are going to get upset with me but uh in a second account i'm not upset with you i'm happy you're 24 years old got 50 grand that's fair that's that's you're a stud man i thought you're going to say but i have 100 ,000 in debt you got any debt uh no sir currently uh living with the parents and have been blessed that they have giving me that opportunity.
[545] That's incredible.
[546] I would just stack up as much cash as you can until this wedding and we'll cash flow it, and then we'll talk about buying a house, but I wouldn't do it before you guys are married.
[547] No, I wouldn't.
[548] She's going to want a different house than you, the one you picked out.
[549] Oh, that is 100 % for certain.
[550] Okay.
[551] Yeah, so ideal is you guys pile up as much cash as you can, and somewhere around a year after the wedding you're purchasing.
[552] okay that's ideal the reason that's ideal is it gives you enough time of being married folk to make a better decision together because you'll make a better decision after you've been married a year than you will one after you've been married one week okay and you'll because you will have learned to work together on other things as well during that year that first year of marriage is very interesting so um you know you just take that time get to know her she gets to know you and the way we always joke about it is we say it takes about a year to know how far away from your mother -in -law to buy.
[553] But, you know, that's about the measure.
[554] So, but, you know, there's some truth in that joke.
[555] That's why it's funny.
[556] But the, yeah, that's what we look at.
[557] And, but that means you're going to be like 26 years old, which is okay with me. It also means you're probably going to have $100 ,000.
[558] Yes, sir.
[559] Which is okay with me. Love it.
[560] Does she have any debt?
[561] Uh, not that I'm aware of.
[562] Um, she comes from a pretty well -off family.
[563] That doesn't mean a thing.
[564] Oh, I know it doesn't mean a thing, but from what I've heard in a story, it doesn't look like she does.
[565] Okay.
[566] Okay.
[567] That just might delay it if she did, but it sounds like you guys are both going to get married, completely debt -free with a pile of money in the bank, which is the best case scenario.
[568] Before you start talking about put a ring on, uh, this finger is an engagement, you need to know everything about her financial life and she needs to know everything about yours.
[569] Yes, sir.
[570] Now, one follow -up question.
[571] What do you suggest I do?
[572] Because obviously $53 ,000 sitting in the bank and not doing me any good.
[573] I mean, it's doing me a lot of good just sitting there.
[574] But I feel like I could use it elsewhere, you know, finance or some kind of account with a financial manager of some sort.
[575] I don't think I'd get fancy.
[576] You might do a high -yield savings account, which might pay you in this current world, what, three or four percent, something like that, instead of a half a percent of the bank.
[577] I don't know what the bank's paying you, but talk to that bank about a high -yield savings account if they don't have one, shop around and find one.
[578] What are those paying in that you're...
[579] Yeah, I got one that's about 5 % right now, but you can easily find one that are in the 4 range.
[580] Yeah, 4 and 5 is...
[581] But I really don't...
[582] I'm not going to try to get rich on this money.
[583] I just don't want to lose it, and I want to be wise with it, which is what you're asking.
[584] I don't want you to pay a half a percent or something silly sitting in checking.
[585] But you have a two -year time horizon.
[586] You don't want to go investing in the market, and all of a sudden your account dipped 20 % because of a bad year.
[587] Yeah, you're not going to buy a house because of the amount of money this account makes.
[588] You're going to buy a house because of how wise you are putting money into this account.
[589] The savings rate for sure.
[590] That's where this money's coming from.
[591] John's in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
[592] Hey, John, welcome to the Ramsey Show.
[593] Hey, there.
[594] Thank you so much for having me. Better than, great, man. How can we help?
[595] All right.
[596] So my question is, I'm on baby step number two, just kind of started following y 'all stuff and i'm super stoked about it um my wife and i are teachers and we are set to have some loans forgiven not through the public service loan program because i have learned through y 'all that that is not a good route to go but um our state south carolina will forgive loans um for teaching in high areas of need um wife is special ed teacher and i teach out of school with like uh low income students yeah at what rate do they forgive it so they actually don't forgive it they pay it yes yes um so my mine can be uh they will forgive up the 5 ,000 after five years of teaching 5 ,000 dollars after five years yes that's nothing okay what's the other one um so they will forgive uh 17 ,500 of my wives after five years okay so that's $5 ,000 a year no no it's not five years you said I'll either one of these we're screwing with.
[597] Y 'all need to just get out of debt.
[598] Just go ahead.
[599] Because the total we have $64 ,000.
[600] Yeah, but 22 -5 of that is you're waiting five years on $22 ,000.
[601] Now, I don't, I want you have a life.
[602] Yeah.
[603] And you won't be locked in.
[604] Some of these things forgive like $10 ,000 a year and none of the ones you're doing do that.
[605] So that's why I was asking how it worked.
[606] But no, that's not that's not generous enough for me to be wanting to stay in debt.
[607] And also to have the golden handcuffs.
[608] You may decide to change the direction of your teaching career, and you don't want a lousy $1 ,000 a year motivating you on that.
[609] Right.
[610] So follow up with that, I'll be to the point.
[611] I only have one year left until I could get that $5 ,000.
[612] Well, that makes a difference.
[613] Okay.
[614] Yeah, I'll take it then.
[615] If it's one year, I thought we were starting ready set go today.
[616] What about your wife?
[617] What about your wife?
[618] How long to the 17 -5?
[619] Yes, sir.
[620] She has three years left, so that is a little more touch and go.
[621] I'm probably okay with both of those now that you change my time horizon.
[622] Would you guys stay in those careers in those areas?
[623] He just wasn't on the table.
[624] For one year, he will.
[625] So take the five grand.
[626] But her three years.
[627] For her, I will.
[628] The question is with her, special ed is just a very difficult field.
[629] Very strange.
[630] And your support is not where it needs to be.
[631] and we have a one -year -old and one on the way, so her ability to stay in the field, we're not really sure with that.
[632] So I'm leaning towards like, hey, should we just pay it off?
[633] I'm with that.
[634] I'm with that.
[635] Or here's the other thing you could do, and this is what I was going to recommend at the close of the call, is go ahead and set a separate savings account up with that amount of money in it, to where you have paid it off.
[636] It's in your debt snowball, but you're holding the money, and then the day she decides, I want to be with my babies instead of the strain of this job.
[637] Boom, you pull a trigger right to check and it's done.
[638] Okay, that's, that's very smart.
[639] Okay.
[640] That takes a pressure off of her to stay in the job.
[641] Passed when she should with little babies.
[642] And then, but your five is going to be here in 20 minutes.
[643] I mean, right, right.
[644] You don't even have to, if you want to set that aside too until the five hits, it can.
[645] But it just gives you an extra bump towards your baby.
[646] Maybe Step 3 emergency fund then.
[647] Because you still got, what, 40 grand left even after both would be forgiven?
[648] Pretty much.
[649] Unfortunately, we both have master's in teaching, and so, yeah.
[650] What's your household income?
[651] Household income is teaching salaries is 105, and then I work in the summer, so it's about 115 altogether.
[652] Good for you.
[653] Okay.
[654] Good.
[655] Very cool.
[656] Well, I mean, you're going to be okay.
[657] You're going to be fine.
[658] And it's just a matter of kind of analyzing the, you know, where the squeeze meets the juice, right?
[659] Yes, sir.
[660] So always, even if there's a forgiveness program we go along with, we say set the money aside in savings, which takes away the golden handcuffs.
[661] That's the big thing you want to do there.
[662] So good question, man. Good question.
[663] You sound like you're a good dad, a good husband.
[664] Proud of you.
[665] Keep it up.
[666] Happy New Year.
[667] This is the Ramsey Show.
[668] Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions.
[669] It's the Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships.
[670] George Camel, Ramsey Personality, is my co -host today.
[671] Open phones at AAA 825 -5 -225.
[672] Thank you for joining us, and happy new year to you.
[673] Dalton is with us in Indianapolis to start this hour.
[674] Hi, Dalton, welcome to the Ramsey Show.
[675] Hello, thank you for having me. Sure.
[676] What's up?
[677] So about a year ago, soon after I got my first job, I invested into an IUL due to talking to my parents' financial advisor.
[678] And since after having kind of seen some of your work and I saw one of the videos you guys talking about it, and I kind of looked into it myself, I kind of decided I would like to get out of this.
[679] However, the problem is, is there the surrender charge.
[680] So I have about, I've been invested since last November and I have about like $1 ,500 invested.
[681] But if I were to try, I can't transfer it into anything else.
[682] And if I try to leave it, I'd be left with $400.
[683] And the surrender charge isn't going away until like another 10 years.
[684] And I've had to keep investing.
[685] So I'm not sure what to do about this.
[686] Well, it sounds like you've lost $1 ,100 to me. Yeah.
[687] And, yeah, make note.
[688] this guy screwed you putting you into this product.
[689] I mean, put you in a product that the only way you avoid surrender charges is 10 years?
[690] Oh, man. How old are you?
[691] 20.
[692] Good Lord.
[693] Man, I'm sorry.
[694] We file this one under stupid tax and we've all paid our version of it, but I hate that you have to deal with this and lose that $1 ,100.
[695] The only other option is continue to pay them money and lose even more.
[696] yeah what are you paying into this thing you're um it's 150 a month who what do you make um 22 a year my gosh gosh what do you do for a living dalton i'm a diesel technician okay well um as painful as it is and i'm i'm hurting with you right now and i'm kind of angry at this character for putting you in this thing um as painful as it is i i would stop now and let me just tell you that here's an interesting story i was 22 and a guy that was in the in a fraternity that my wife had been the little sister to the fraternity came to our house with northwestern mutual sold me a whole life policy and i've got a finance degree i should know better um and oddly enough Dalton, that was a long time ago, but it was 150 a month.
[697] And when I discovered like you have about a year in that I had to stop, that I'd been screwed, then I canceled it.
[698] And you know how much of my cash value I got?
[699] Zero.
[700] I lost about the same amount you're going to lose.
[701] And I was 22 years old.
[702] But that doesn't mean that I would, you know, that staying in it would have just been worse.
[703] Yeah.
[704] You're going to pay 1800 this year just paying into that thing.
[705] The bad news for Northwestern Mutual in my case is that I've gotten to tell this story now for 40 years about how they screwed me. They've lost a lot of customers, thanks to you.
[706] You know, it's cost them a lot more than the little bit of money they got out of me, and I've gotten almost as much satisfaction as the money they got out of me. So it was worth it.
[707] Yeah, but you're not going to get that opportunity.
[708] I doubt as a diesel mechanic, you might.
[709] You might tell some of the diesel mechanics not to get due business with this particular guy.
[710] But, yeah, I'm sorry, Dalton.
[711] But the actual proper correct thing to do is just if you have a hole in your pocket, so up the hole, don't keep putting money in it.
[712] Yep.
[713] Yeah, that's kind of why I figured, but, you know, I just want to make sure there was another option, but, you know.
[714] And don't be mad at your mom and dad.
[715] They don't know any better.
[716] The financial advisor should know better.
[717] But a financial advisor that sells universal life is not a financial advisor.
[718] A financial advisor that sells universal index is an insurance agent.
[719] They're not a financial advisor.
[720] Yeah, that's what I kind of started to learn because my parents also were invested to him and I found out what he has them on is also another life insurance product.
[721] So I think he just, you know.
[722] He doesn't, yeah, he doesn't really do investments.
[723] He just sells insurance.
[724] Yeah.
[725] He makes a lot of money on it too.
[726] Like he made as much as you lost on this deal this year.
[727] That's the other thing.
[728] I talk about this, Dave, in my new book, Breaking Free from Broke.
[729] I have a whole chapter on investing traps and I took a lot of time on the permanent life insurance.
[730] insurance section because too many young people are falling for this.
[731] It's, you know, it's come back around.
[732] It's got, you know, the TikTok idiots have stepped up in a really hammering this stuff.
[733] Well, they call themselves, Dave, tax -free wealth strategists.
[734] That's what they, they don't call themselves financial advisors anymore because it's, it's cooler to call yourself a wealth strategist.
[735] Here's the, here's the dumb butt part of that, okay?
[736] Tax -free wealth strategists.
[737] Now, let me tell you how you get tax -free money out of a permanent life insurance policy.
[738] Number one, you pay into it for years and years and years and years.
[739] The tune of 150 bucks a month.
[740] Pass this thing.
[741] He's got no cash value right now after a year of paying in 150.
[742] Just what we've been telling you for years.
[743] They keep it all.
[744] Once you get past that, you finally build up a little bit of horrible.
[745] Pocket change.
[746] Piss poor returns.
[747] And you got $2 ,000 in there.
[748] You keep doing it for your whole stupid life, and it would be a stupid life.
[749] And you got $50 ,000 in there.
[750] You know, you get your $50 ,000 out tax -free?
[751] You borrow it.
[752] Well, guess what?
[753] If you go the bank and borrow $10 ,000, it's tax -free.
[754] Borrowed money, it never is taxed.
[755] It's dumber in hell, but it's not taxed.
[756] It sounds cooler when you put tax -free in front of it.
[757] That's unbelievable.
[758] Yeah.
[759] Of course it's tax -free, you idiot.
[760] Not you.
[761] Thank you.
[762] Not you, Dalton, but the guy, I'm a tax -free wealth strategist.
[763] Well, of course you are.
[764] The way you get your money out, you borrow your own stupid money out of this.
[765] and you pay them interest.
[766] Of course it's tax -free.
[767] Borrowed money has never got taxes on it.
[768] That's dumb.
[769] Don't poke holes in their genius strategy, Dave.
[770] There's a bunch of genius.
[771] I'm a tax -free wealth strategy.
[772] I have a hot take for every investing trap.
[773] I got on the bank and borrow 15 ,000 bucks.
[774] That's tax -free.
[775] Here's what I say.
[776] I said, permanent life insurance as a wealth -building tool is a legal scam peddled by insurance agents posing as financial advisors.
[777] It gives them fat commissions and locks you into a lifetime of stupid tax.
[778] Dalton is Exhibit A. And luckily he's getting out.
[779] I'm Exhibit A. He's B. Dave did it before it was cool.
[780] Now it's trendy on TikTok.
[781] That's why it still makes me mad.
[782] Oh, my goodness.
[783] Of course, the guy, the fraternity bro, right?
[784] Makes it even worse.
[785] You know how long he was in the business?
[786] About 20 minutes after he sold our policy, he was gone.
[787] Because that's 80 % of those agents are out of the business in one year.
[788] So much turnover.
[789] 80%.
[790] Well, they must.
[791] lose their soul in the first three months selling this crap.
[792] They don't lose their soul until they sold all their family and friends.
[793] There we go.
[794] And then when they try to sell it to individuals who are actually using their brain instead of the relationship to make the sale, then they find out they lost their soul.
[795] That's what happens.
[796] And they get out of the business.
[797] They run out of steam.
[798] But the business is set up to, the industry is set up to milk your sphere of influence.
[799] So they put you in there as a greenie.
[800] They milk your sphere of influence your natural market.
[801] And they tell you go after your friends and young people and college students.
[802] We're going to serve your natural.
[803] Oh, my gosh.
[804] With a tax -free wealth strategy.
[805] Shoot.
[806] Just shoot me. This is the Ramsey Show.
[807] George Camel, Ramsey Personality, is my co -host today.
[808] Deanne is in Atlanta, Georgia.
[809] Hi, Deanne.
[810] Welcome to the Ramsey Show.
[811] Hi.
[812] Hey, what's up?
[813] So, my husband was laid off yesterday on New Year's Day.
[814] Oh, my God.
[815] Yeah, happy new year.
[816] Yeah, really?
[817] He is, he was a direct operation, so he was right under the owner for a luxury landscaping and hardscaping company that works in Buckhead.
[818] They work on commercial homes and all kinds of stuff.
[819] So the business owner basically has losses behind and is dissolving everything, and we kind of have the opportunity.
[820] opportunity to not purchase the business from him, but get the equipment, purchase the equipment from him for what he owes on it.
[821] And then he will give us his client book freely.
[822] And he's been very open, like, wants to help.
[823] So he's closing up shop.
[824] He's closing shop, and there's a lot of money left to be made on the book scheduled, and he's washing his hands of it.
[825] So my question is like how what's a lot of money um right now they probably have two to three months on the books and i think there's about 250 000 on the table give or take on the table being gross revenues not counting expenses right correct what will those what were those jobs net you have any idea i don't know your husband's ops manager you don't know his margins yes yes what would it cost for you to buy all the equipment?
[826] So one machine he owes 30 ,000 it's worth 60.
[827] Another he owes about 30 ,000 it's worth 60.
[828] And then he has another machine that's brand new.
[829] It's worth 30 and he owes about 30.
[830] Okay.
[831] What are you guys having money?
[832] We have about 30 to 40, 35 to 40 in cash, just hidden away.
[833] We have 16 in the bank.
[834] and we still owe $11 ,000 on his truck, his personal truck.
[835] Do you have to buy all of the equipment for this deal to happen?
[836] Rick, would he give you the client book anyways?
[837] He bought the $2 .30 over 60s and leave the 30 over 30 for him.
[838] Yeah, he will give us the client book no matter what.
[839] He's very encouraging and will be very helpful.
[840] He's very sad about the situation, you know.
[841] He just gave up.
[842] He just gave up.
[843] Yes, he did.
[844] He just gave up.
[845] Why did he lose his butt if there's all this money laying there?
[846] You know, I, from an outsider's perspective, honestly, I don't know, but they all drive Porsche's, they have a big old house and Buckhead, and it just looks, he's selling his house, he's filing bankruptcy, it's just all not good.
[847] Okay, well, there's a lot going on here.
[848] Number one, let me stop with the last statement.
[849] If he files personal bankruptcy and tractor number one, he owes $30 ,000 on it and it's worth $60 ,000, he can't sell it to you.
[850] Oh, okay.
[851] His plan was, he's told my husband this week to take all the equipment that is owed on back to, like, the tractor company and give it back to him and just say, here, you know, I'm done.
[852] It doesn't matter.
[853] anything if you buy it from the tractor company that's fine but here's the thing anything that happens within 90 days of him filing bankruptcy that was an asset can be undone by the bankruptcy court oh okay it's called a preference period and you're not allowed to give one creditor preference over another so for instance those voluntary repossessions your husband takes the equipment over there turns it in that dealer is not going to turn around and sell it to your husband the next day, that's $60 ,000 tractor for $30 ,000.
[854] Right.
[855] And if your husband buys it for $30 ,000 and it's worth $60 ,000, the bankruptcy court's going to come in and say, we could have got more than $30 for that tractor and given it to the creditors.
[856] Okay.
[857] And they're going to take it away from you.
[858] Yeah, that's not good.
[859] No. No. So this guy, he doesn't, if he files bankruptcy 90 days from now, you'd be safe.
[860] Okay.
[861] But if he files bankruptcy immediately, which it sounds like this guy's very emotional and pulsive.
[862] And it's probably going to file soon because he's in freak out mode.
[863] Yeah, he's, yeah, yeah, probably.
[864] Yeah.
[865] Ouch Okay What if we You know what I would do What I would do is do what he said to do And see if you can talk the dealer Into selling it to you as you take the keys over there Okay But you need to turn it back into them And then If it's been repoed And what the bankruptcy court would then have to do I'm not a lawyer but I deal with this crap all the time The bankruptcy court would have to come in the trustee of the bankruptcy would have to come in and come to the dealer and say that repossession that you did, you've got to undo it, which they usually won't do that.
[866] But they would undo an individual transaction that benefited your husband versus the creditor.
[867] Okay.
[868] You see what I'm saying?
[869] Yeah.
[870] So here's our strategy.
[871] Okay.
[872] I got down in the weeds there for a minute.
[873] But, yeah, the book of business, you sound like you are.
[874] excited about it is your husband yes okay you think he can take it and run it so in that case what i would do is the first thing you need to do is do an autopsy and you really do need to know what the crap went wrong right why this book of business is not worth hanging around for okay what is what is this guy doing is you doing cocaine me what's the deal what happened here you know i got to know if it's the business model that's broken you don't need to book a business of a broken business model right no thank you yes I'll take the book of business if I can figure out what caused it and if the book of business is clean and I can still cut the deals with those guys and they can I can still make that profit I'll step into that and go do it and then I would buy one or maybe two of these pieces of equipment with cash okay if you can get them for 30 ,000 and they're worth 60 so that's more cash than we have so that was you have six you have Oh, no, you only have 30.
[875] You've got 40 and 8 and 16, right?
[876] Right, yes.
[877] What do you guys?
[878] What do you make?
[879] Well, he did make about 80 ,000 a year, and we paid, and I make, we paid off all of our debt.
[880] Good.
[881] Except the one truck.
[882] Except the truck, yes.
[883] I quit my job working in the banking industry.
[884] Okay, so you, let me stop you.
[885] Then you got 16, and you said you had 40 other?
[886] Yes.
[887] Forty one or something?
[888] 40 and cash 40 okay so you got 56 all right you get one piece of equipment you pay off the truck and the rest of it's your starter emergency fund can you pull off the projects with that you can rent the equipment go rent equipment to do the project okay yes we could rent the equipment yeah rent the equipment and then cash flow the rest of the equipment you do not let that dealer talk you into financing that equipment okay don't go back in debt it's not worth it you'll get this Listen, if this business works, it will cash flow enough to buy equipment for cash.
[889] I agree.
[890] So just take your time, buy your equipment.
[891] Take that which of the $2 .30 ,000 worth 60s is the best deal and the best piece of equipment.
[892] Take that one.
[893] If the dealer will sell it to you for 30 when you take it over there and turn it in on his former boss's behalf.
[894] Okay.
[895] If they won't, if they try to jack it up above the loan, then no. Don't do it.
[896] And do not buy it from your former boss.
[897] it from the dealer after repo.
[898] Okay.
[899] Because the bankruptcy court will come take it from you.
[900] Okay.
[901] It's like buying stolen goods from a fenced operation kind of.
[902] Gosh.
[903] Even if you didn't know they're stolen, you're screwed when the police come.
[904] Yeah, we don't want that.
[905] Yeah, that's where you're going to end up.
[906] It's called a preference period in bankruptcy.
[907] Look it up and you'll see what I'm talking about.
[908] But yeah, I would buy, I'd spend 30 on this and I'd pay off my truck and I'd have a little bit of cash and let's get going.
[909] Going.
[910] Let's get going.
[911] Resurrect this business.
[912] Yeah, sounds fun.
[913] She's got her head around it.
[914] Oh, absolutely.
[915] That's what was giving me a lot of hope.
[916] I have hope for this.
[917] Yeah.
[918] This is the Ramsey Show.
[919] George Campbell, Ramsey Personality, is my co -host today.
[920] Open phones at AAA 825 -5 -225.
[921] Sabrina is in San Antonio.
[922] Hi, Sabrina.
[923] Welcome to the Ramsey Show.
[924] Hi, sir.
[925] How are you?
[926] Better than I deserve.
[927] What's up?
[928] Hi.
[929] So me and my husband, we are on babysat two.
[930] We're almost done.
[931] We have about 12 ,000 left on our car.
[932] And my husband keeps trying to convince me that we should trade it in because we have, I guess, equity in it right now.
[933] And so we have 12 ,000 left.
[934] I Kelly blue booked our car.
[935] It's around 22 ,000.
[936] He is thinking we should upgrade to a bigger vehicle.
[937] So this first.
[938] value of the new vehicle would be $25 ,000, so about $3 ,000 more.
[939] And so I just wanted to see your opinion.
[940] I refuse to go to the lot because I don't want to make a bad decision.
[941] So we have about six months left projected until we paid off.
[942] And he just thinks we should trade it right now.
[943] And we're going to pay it off regardless this year.
[944] So that's kind of his mindset.
[945] I just want to get your opinion.
[946] How old are you guys?
[947] we're 2928 and we've done the stupid 10 years of car payments and I'm so over it but he just thinks we should upgrade to the biggest one which is the Yukon right now we have a GMC Acadia so he's wanting them more why do you need to why do you need to upgrade um his reasoning or you know the big reason would just be more room we have four kids and um so there's really no trunk space um so So it's, I know it's silly, but...
[948] You do know they have large SUVs that are cheaper than 20, don't you?
[949] Yes.
[950] Does he?
[951] Yes, he does.
[952] So part of the problem is we are not on Baby Step 2.
[953] You are.
[954] He's not.
[955] He's wanting to stay into debt, it sounds like.
[956] He's trading in one car payment for a slightly bigger car payment.
[957] Yeah, like his, like, view is, because I told him, you know, So, you know, Billy Ramsey does it is we cash flow and then we trade it in and then we pay the difference.
[958] And he's like, well, why don't we just do that now and then pay it off all at once?
[959] But I'm like, no, I'm so ready to be done.
[960] And he's like, it's just $3 ,000 more.
[961] And I'm like, well, that's just.
[962] Well, the dealer's not going to give you $22 for if you trade it in.
[963] Yeah, that's true, too.
[964] But let's just stay with the concept for a second.
[965] The concept, though, is he's willing to be in.
[966] He's willing to continue to borrow money to get what he wants.
[967] yep when he wants it yes you got a fifth kid in the family you didn't even know it yes so I don't think the car is the issue I think the car is revealing the issue that you all are not on the same page okay yeah yeah and if I'm you that's what's disturbing because here's what you would really do if you wanted a bigger car you would buy an $18 ,000 one instead of a $25 ,000 one and that would get you out of debt faster and you'd have a bigger car correct correct yeah so I think we have I think the two of you need to have a discussion about the fact that the way you feel about debt and the way you feel when he acts this irresponsibly and contrary to what you believe and how you want to how you thought we were you know it sounds like this honey i thought we were agreed that we were getting out of debt and staying out of debt and now you're coming in here and extending the time that we're in debt to buy something that we obviously can't afford why didn't you come in here and suggest we buy something 18 ,000 that is larger because there's 18 ,000 dollar SUVs out there agreed agreed yeah and why didn't you bring that in and then we'd had some something to talk about because that gets us out of debt faster and we get a larger car.
[968] But instead, you're scaring the crap out of me that I'm going to have to struggle with you the rest of our lives on this money issue.
[969] This is really scary for me. And you ought to bring that up to him that way.
[970] Okay.
[971] Because you don't really, you know, you laughed, but you don't really want to be married to a little boy.
[972] You want to be married to a man that's walking along beside you.
[973] shared goals and it's not cute that you're the mommy it's not fun for you that's why I ask how old you guys are because I was a little bit thinking you were a lot younger honestly like you were 22 or something and he still hadn't grown up you know but um but maybe he's 29 and but you know no I would not go along with this I would not go to the dealership I will not sign this I don't believe in it you're scaring the crap out of me but the car is not the problem the problem is that you would bring this in here knowing how that's going to make me feel that you disrespect me on that level if i'm you that's how i'm feeling yeah it'd be like you know let's let's pretend sharon ramsie came in and suggested we borrowed money can you imagine how that would go you know i mean it's i'd get pay -per -view tickets to see yeah that would be a hillbilly knockdown oh my gosh unbelievable that'd be a one of those fights right but i mean obviously we we've had those fights long ago in our marriage we got past them but i i want you i'm really concerned that you use this opportunity that to get the two of you on the same page more than i'm concerned about the car transaction and maybe bringing up we could buy one for 18 why didn't you bring me that is a good way to start talking about it but most of all i'd if i were you i would talk about how it makes you feel when he um you know how it makes you scared that he you know he's going to mess up everything after you guys have worked so hard to get it cleaned up you know it's just at least he didn't come in and go I want to borrow $60 ,000 and buy a brand new something you know he didn't say that so he's still thinking he's silver lining still thinking he's going to get paid off in a year but but you know that means he's kind of like a two you know on a scale of one to 10 right he's not he didn't go to it he didn't take it all we'll make the problem slightly worse yeah yeah but but but the big problem is that that's a slippery slope.
[974] I mean, once you stick your toe in that water, the vortex will suck you in.
[975] You know, it's just like, it's hard to go on the lot of a car dealer and not leave without a car.
[976] It is dangerous.
[977] It is, because they're fabulous cars.
[978] And they're great salespeople.
[979] Even if the salesman sucks, the cars are fabulous.
[980] Start looking at these new features and you're like, oh, man, we've got a lot more room.
[981] These little kids are on top of each other.
[982] I'm having to, you know, the one benefit, though, of having them on top of each other is you can discipline them all at once.
[983] That's easier.
[984] You can reach them all.
[985] that might be a that's the parenting style they used to do back in his day i did i grew up in the day when your mother would reach across the back seat and you could not find a way you could not get away there was no escaping there was no dodging it's hard to do in the yukon it was within it was within reach i'm just saying well some of them have automatics that do that now automatic moms is that a thing i'm kidding that's a feature moms would pay for i would pay for it as a grandparent There you go.
[986] Just zap you in the seat.
[987] If you're misbehaving, just a little z -z -z -z -z -z -z -p, zip.
[988] There you go.
[989] So, yeah, the key here is either sell the car private and she'd have 10 -K left after that, and they'd save up and pay for a car with cash, or wait, pay it off, then they can sell it and upgrade with cash.
[990] Either way, or if you want to reduce the debt, okay, she said she owes 12.
[991] It's worth $22.
[992] And if you sold it for $22 and you bought something for $18, you would only owe $8.
[993] you know and you pay that off in less than a year yeah but that does that's not really the strategy the reason for bringing that up is to point out that he didn't bother to go that direction it was going if he had gone that direction out actually maybe gone with him you know I said sure yeah you want to move up in car and down in debt yeah that's a plan up in size but not in value yeah um actually move down in value going down in debt but up in size but up in size and Yeah, I'm for that.
[994] It's like people call up and say, you know, we owe $12 ,000 on our car and it's worth $12 ,000 or $10 ,000 or whatever.
[995] Or, you know, but it's a, you know, we have a, you know, a tiny little Honda or something.
[996] And we've got like two kids on the way.
[997] What are we going to do?
[998] Well, you can move to a $12 ,000 van.
[999] It's a break -even scenario.
[1000] But don't go further in debt.
[1001] People use all these events to justify going further in debt.
[1002] It's so easy to justify going into debt, especially, car, Well, Dave, it's for the safety and reliability.
[1003] No, it's not.
[1004] It's for you.
[1005] It's for you, little boy, little girl.
[1006] I want my twuck.
[1007] That's how they sound.
[1008] I want my twuck.
[1009] It's all I hear.
[1010] My twuck.
[1011] I'm sure your grandk sounds like that.
[1012] I want my twuck.
[1013] My twuck.
[1014] That's Dave's grandkid right there.
[1015] This is the Ramsey show.
[1016] George Campbell, Ramsey personality is my co -host today.
[1017] Lots of things happening here at the first of the year.
[1018] you know, when you get stuck in a rut, it's kind of like being stuck in an orbit.
[1019] The gravitational pull of stupid is amazingly powerful.
[1020] It will hold you in that orbit.
[1021] Is that an Einstein quote?
[1022] I just made it up.
[1023] It's the new Ramsey theorem.
[1024] Ramsey theorem of stupid gravitational pull.
[1025] But I've been stuck in an orbit on something, you know, it's just your habit is you've got a dumb habit.
[1026] You've got a habit of not paying attention to your mind.
[1027] money as an example.
[1028] And so when we're doing this thing on this huge, it's already over 200 ,000 people registered for it, live stream on the 11th of January.
[1029] It's completely free.
[1030] And you got to go to ramsysolutions .com and register for it.
[1031] It's called breaking the cycle.
[1032] What we're doing is we're breaking out of the orbit of stupid.
[1033] You got to break the cycle.
[1034] And sometimes it feels like, oh, it's a family cycle.
[1035] Sometimes people in my world in the Christian.
[1036] Generational.
[1037] it a generational curse, right?
[1038] Well, it's not a generational curse once you're 26.
[1039] It's just you're being stupid.
[1040] It's in our DNA to be broke, Dave.
[1041] It's not in your DNA to be broke.
[1042] It's in your behavior that's causing you to be broke.
[1043] And you've glorified it by blaming it on your family.
[1044] No, you can't do that anymore.
[1045] You've got to break the cycle.
[1046] You've got to break the cycle.
[1047] And the way you break the cycle is with new emotions and new knowledge and new ways of viewing things, a new paradigm, and all of that comes from intersecting with someone that can slingshot you out of that orbit, break the cycle.
[1048] And that's what we're going to do.
[1049] It's completely free live stream on January the 11th, and we do not want you to miss it.
[1050] It's at 7 p .m. Central time, 8 o 'clock Eastern Time.
[1051] Make sure you sign up, because even if you can't make that exact time, we'll send you a link to watch it.
[1052] And we're doing a special giveaway with this, Dave.
[1053] This is It's cool.
[1054] We haven't done this before.
[1055] $10 ,000.
[1056] $1 ,000 to 10 different viewers.
[1057] Now, signing up won't get you in the deal.
[1058] Viewing will get you in the deal.
[1059] Because we're giving it away during the live time.
[1060] Two viewers, okay?
[1061] But 10 different viewers are going to win $1 ,000 to jumpstart their new year.
[1062] We're going to announce the winners live that night as we're broadcasting.
[1063] So that's pretty cool.
[1064] Must be present to win apparently.
[1065] Like that, even digitally.
[1066] Yeah, you've got to register to win at ramsysolutions .com slash break the cycle.
[1067] The whole thing's free.
[1068] Dr. John Deloney, Rachel Cruz, George Camel, Jade Warshaw, navigating money anxiety, bad money habits that keep you stuck, practical money tips that actually work.
[1069] We're going to help you break free of the orbit of stupid.
[1070] That's what we're really good at around here.
[1071] We are.
[1072] We are good at it.
[1073] We're probably the best in the world at it.
[1074] And it's one of the reasons this podcast just showed up on Apple.
[1075] the other day is the number one podcast in the world that was incredible out of all the podcasts millions of podcasts in the world and we roast the charts thanks to you all out there listening subscribing around 10 or 15 sometimes up or 7 up to 5 but i don't i don't think we've ever even broken three and then we hit number one in december we beat all the true crime podcasts out there there's a lot of those it's gracious we're in the wrong business apparently well maybe not but yeah so hey thank you guys by the way for spreading the word about the show you're the ones it did it.
[1076] Thank you for sharing the show and for clicking the five -star reviews and subscribing and all that kind of stuff.
[1077] All that stuff helps the algorithms on that.
[1078] And it drives people to know about what we're doing here.
[1079] And you are our only marketing plans.
[1080] So God help us.
[1081] Thank you.
[1082] Thank you.
[1083] Thank you.
[1084] And you help us.
[1085] Ramsey Solutions .com slash break the cycle, January the 11th.
[1086] And man, we'd love to have you view it with us.
[1087] Samuel is in Madison, Wisconsin.
[1088] Hi, Samuel.
[1089] Welcome to the Ramsey show.
[1090] how are you doing better than i deserve what's up um i just have a quick question my uh family my parents are in uh financial ruin and i want to uh i want to help them out and so i just i need some help i guess how old are you 18 what do you make uh 37 a year what's the situation with your mom and dad huh um well my dad has been jobless for since we moved for madison um four years ago but their plan was to uh for summer take us out on a camper and travel the united states and stuff but my mom got stage four cancer so he's been taking care of her for four years and it's she's on like hospice and stuff so i'm the only one that is currently working and i'm trying to help as much as I can, and I'm actually debating on getting a second job.
[1091] That's one of the main reasons I'm calling you.
[1092] So your 37 -5 is supporting, and he's taking care of your mom while she's on hospice?
[1093] Yes, but I'm getting a second job, so I'm probably going to be pulling, like, $100 a week because I got money saved and savings and stuff like that, but I'm not paying their bills.
[1094] I'm just paying for their gas, the phone bills.
[1095] You don't live there?
[1096] No, I'm living by myself, yes, but I'm still paying their stuff.
[1097] You're paying for their what?
[1098] Their Wi -Fi, the phone bill, some of the propane.
[1099] How are they eating if your dad's not working?
[1100] My dad's living off his Roth IRA.
[1101] I have 50 years old.
[1102] How much is in the Roth?
[1103] I bet he did not disclose, but it's bad.
[1104] What's the plan once the Roth money runs out.
[1105] God only knows.
[1106] I mean, I'm setting up, I have about $1 ,500 in investments, and I just opened up a Roth IRA because my company that I work for doesn't get ship to my 401K, until I'm 21.
[1107] So what hours do you work now?
[1108] Third shift, so I work a 7 to 7.
[1109] 7
[1110].P. to