It's Not a Math Problem, It's a Me Problem

[0] Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where we help people.

[1] Build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships.

[2] Jade Washall -Ramsey Personality is my co -host.

[3] Open phones at AAA 825 -5 -2 -2 -25.

[4] That's AAA 825 -5 -2 -2 -25.

[5] We're glad you guys are with us.

[6] We're here to help you.

[7] Jade is a Ramsey personality and best -selling author of the book, Money's Not a Math Problem.

[8] It's one of our Ramsey Quick Reads, which means it is 74 pages long.

[9] Is that right?

[10] Yeah, look at that.

[11] That's pretty close.

[12] That's pretty good.

[13] 70 close.

[14] It is 74 pages long.

[15] Look at that.

[16] My memory is impeccable.

[17] Steel trap.

[18] That's it.

[19] That's it.

[20] Hey, thanks for being with us, guys.

[21] We're glad we can serve you where we want you to be here and, gosh, help you move to the next level and whatever you're doing.

[22] All right.

[23] Rochelle is in Houston, Texas.

[24] Hi, Rochelle.

[25] Welcome to the Ramsey show.

[26] Hi, Dave.

[27] Hi, Jay.

[28] Thanks for taking my call.

[29] Sure.

[30] What's up?

[31] I just wanted to get Dave's input on a situation.

[32] So my husband and I, we have four kids.

[33] We're a blended family.

[34] I have a daughter.

[35] He has a son, and then we have two boys together.

[36] His father died, and he inherited some land from him.

[37] It's family land.

[38] And so when we are talking about inheritance for our children, he wants, and understandably so, the land to go to be split between the three boys because he wants to keep it in his bloodline.

[39] And so I am fine with that, but where we disagree is on how to do inheritance for my daughter.

[40] He thinks the land should be not even taken into consideration when we do inheritance.

[41] So monetary value, et cetera, shouldn't matter.

[42] And so what we're kind of looking at is actually selling our current home and then using the money that we make to move to that land and then build on it, in which case we would live out the rest of our days there and put our money into it.

[43] And I think that that also should be taken into consideration.

[44] But he thinks that the boys should get the land split between them, and then whatever else inheritance we have left should be split equally between all four kids.

[45] And so I just kind of wanted your opinion on that.

[46] Wow.

[47] Does it occur to him how hurtful it is when he says that?

[48] I don't think so.

[49] If you said that's hurtful, you're a butt.

[50] I haven't said that.

[51] I try to talk very nicely to him.

[52] I know, but that's what my wife would have said.

[53] I'm just thinking.

[54] And it is, it's very sentimental to him.

[55] His, you know, his dad is.

[56] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[57] And Cinderella has to go, the stepchild has to go and mop the floors while the three other ones go to the ball.

[58] I lost you.

[59] All right.

[60] Are you there?

[61] Yeah, you cut out.

[62] I don't know what happened on your phone.

[63] That's okay.

[64] Then like I said, I don't mind them getting the land.

[65] That's totally fine.

[66] So how much land is involved?

[67] It's only about 33 acres right now.

[68] It was his grandmother's land.

[69] She sold it.

[70] And then his dad bought back this portion and was in one of it surrounding it.

[71] And so my husband wants to buy back the remainder as well if we can.

[72] The what?

[73] The remainder is how much on top of the 30.

[74] I don't know how much more there is that he would want to buy.

[75] What is your personal income, and what is his income?

[76] He makes about 65, and I make about 55 right now.

[77] But we both increase pretty regularly every year.

[78] How old are you guys?

[79] 36.

[80] Okay.

[81] All right.

[82] Well, I don't know that our opinion really matters here, because Bubba's made his mind up.

[83] yeah um so i just kind of wanted to know so i you know no i i i think that you know probably what you've got is a situation where you need to sit down with your pastor marriage counselor or somebody like that um i i just uh uh it it is it is it is a thing to require some thought but after just listening to you so here's what i've got okay you make half the money in the house approximately you guys are going to be married and living there probably 40 years.

[84] So more than three quarters of your life, his life, is going to be spent doing things together here, and including your daughter.

[85] And so I'm just calling BS.

[86] I think these four kids should be treated equally because your connection to it.

[87] because you're wanting to he's wanting to you to use your income and help him buy a house on land he doesn't want to leave to your your daughter after 40 years how old is how old are the kids my daughter's 14 my stepson's 13 and then our twins are two yeah what a wedge yeah yeah no and that that's thing one thing two is um people and relationship friendships, Trump stuff.

[88] This kid is more important than this piece of land.

[89] And he's her daddy now.

[90] And she lives with you all, right?

[91] Yes, she does currently, yes.

[92] You know, his relationship to her is more important than 33 freaking acres in Texas.

[93] Okay.

[94] I just don't, you know, I would give him about a 20, 20 % part of the right answer here and about 80 % wrong.

[95] So he loses.

[96] I feel like a different scenario would be you guys were 55 years old.

[97] It was your second marriage and the kids are grown.

[98] That feels different.

[99] That's a completely different situation with saying, hey.

[100] But you're contributing, you know, the vast majority, you're contributing half with the sale of the house and the building of the house and your income for 40.

[101] years from age 35 to age 65 or to age 75 right you're contributing half all the way through there and so how your daughter doesn't get into that half is ridiculous okay that from a math standpoint from a philosophical or spiritual standpoint it's just a stupid piece of dirt I don't really care where it came from I mean I've got some dirt that I own that I really love and I'd like to see my kids and grandkids playing on it my great grandkids my great great great grandkids when I'm looking at them from heaven I'd love to see them playing on that and enjoying that dirt but I don't want it to form their life and I don't want them to value that dirt over relationships yeah yes yes sir yeah I just I I so I don't buy off on the sentimental crap you know if you I got some hand tools from my dad that's sentimental okay they're ancient antique hand tools right and so those are sentimental but but I'm certainly not going to let a wrench and a hammer stand between me and a kid that I'm raising I just you know that that's how I put this that's a bucket I put this in I agree I agree wholeheartedly so if the if the step kid wants the hammer it's okay that's fine you know give the other one a wrench it's just stuff Yeah, and I just, I don't want to, so I got, I got a, I don't think he's thinking this through.

[102] I don't think he's a butt.

[103] He's acting, but, but, but, uh, it was kind of fun to say that, but I kind of do.

[104] Yeah.

[105] In this moment.

[106] Yeah, I don't, I don't think he's a hurtful person.

[107] Like, you know, I think that's what he's doing, okay?

[108] He's not thought of it from all angles.

[109] But I just don't think he's thinking through the message he's sending to this teenage girl.

[110] And I, I don't like that message.

[111] This is The Ramsey Show.

[112] So here's a quick math refresher.

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[118] That's NetSuite .com slash Ramsey.

[119] Jade Walshaw, Ramsey Personality, bestselling author is my co -host today.

[120] Brooklyn is with us in Indianapolis.

[121] Hi, Brooklyn.

[122] Welcome to the Ramsey show.

[123] Hi, thank you for taking my call.

[124] Sure.

[125] What's up?

[126] So my situation, we are currently renting one of my parents' properties.

[127] We're getting a discount on the rent.

[128] I'm sorry, you're renting what?

[129] We're renting from my parents.

[130] We're getting a discount on rent.

[131] They own a rental house that you're living in?

[132] Yeah.

[133] Okay.

[134] And so you have cheap rent.

[135] Okay, cool.

[136] Yeah, yep.

[137] And we have no debt.

[138] Our emergency fund.

[139] is funded.

[140] My question is we also purchased a rental in November.

[141] We owe $65 ,000 on it.

[142] We could sell it for 80 or 90, and we could possibly pay it off by July of next year.

[143] But we're also really itching to buy a few acres and bill.

[144] So we just wanted your opinion on whether we should sell it, keep it or what you think what stops you from moving into it instead of in it being your home instead of you renting and then renting another that just feels I know are we thought about that to you and yet that's our problem is we do think that we may have done it backward yeah I think so too it doesn't make sense to be in a renter's position and then buy a house for someone else to rent I think you're trying to get ahead too quickly.

[145] Does that make sense?

[146] No, I agree.

[147] That's why we're, once we sat down and we thought about it, we probably shouldn't have that.

[148] It's only 600 square feet.

[149] And we have two kids, so that would be really.

[150] Okay, so it won't fit you.

[151] So sell it.

[152] What happens if you sell it?

[153] Yeah, sell it and use it towards your building project.

[154] Okay, that's what we were leaning towards that.

[155] We just wanted to, we do have, like, we were concerned about, like, the capital games on it.

[156] It's not going to be hardly any.

[157] How long have you owned it?

[158] Six months.

[159] We bought it in November.

[160] Okay.

[161] And how much has it gone up in value since you bought it?

[162] We bought it at 70.

[163] And I just talked to our realtor yesterday.

[164] He said we could probably get anywhere from like 80, 85, 90.

[165] Well, your capital gains inside of one year won't be capital gains.

[166] It'll be ordinary income.

[167] So it'll be at your tax rate.

[168] If you make $10 ,000, it costs you $2 ,500 in taxes.

[169] Okay.

[170] Whoopee.

[171] I got you.

[172] Okay.

[173] A small price to pay to get on the right side of this.

[174] Yeah, it's not a big deal.

[175] So it's not like capital gains, taxes.

[176] No, I mean, it's $2 ,000.

[177] And it's not even $2 ,000 because it's actually, it's after all the fees and any improvements you've done to the property are added on to your basis.

[178] And then any depreciation you've done, if you depreciated it in this calendar, you're for taxes.

[179] That comes off the basis.

[180] So you've got what we call an adjusted basis, and then the sale price minus expenses minus the adjusted basis is how you calculate the gain.

[181] And in this case, the gain will be taxed because it's under one year at ordinary income rather than at capital gains.

[182] And my guess is that your ordinary income is probably, you know, your tax right might be 25%.

[183] and capital gains is 15%.

[184] So the difference is probably like $3 or $400.

[185] It's not a big deal.

[186] Now, we could say if it was $30 ,000 or $40 ,000 difference between the 15 % capital gains rate because it was a lot of money, okay?

[187] Then we could say wait until the one year mark to actually have the closing.

[188] That makes sense.

[189] Which makes you qualify for the 15 % rather than the higher.

[190] So like in my case, I'm taxed at about $40.

[191] percent and my capital gains rate is 20 percent and so that's fun because I might make over 400 K so but still that's the difference of 20 percent and 20 percent on 200 thousand dollars would cause me to wait to close it until yeah to get that until the one year mark and so you would stop and think that through but but for a couple of hundred bucks here or there or a thousand dollar or two thousand dollars total tax issue I'm not going to worry about it you just need to do right thing.

[192] And Brooklyn, I think here's the thing.

[193] I think you guys know now down inside of you before you called that that was the right thing to do.

[194] You kind of told us that.

[195] You kind of telegraph the answer, right?

[196] And I'm going to warn you and say, you probably knew before you bought this.

[197] Oh, that's good.

[198] That's this is a pop -a -day moment.

[199] You probably had that that moment where you paused and went, is this really the right order?

[200] And, oh, no, we're going to buy it.

[201] rental property and you're just plowed right ahead.

[202] Listen to that still small voice.

[203] Listen to that tightness in your chest and across the back of your shoulder blades that's telling you not to do something.

[204] When you don't have peace about a major decision, that's God telling you not to move forward.

[205] And most of us can go, you know, I knew I shouldn't do, but I did it anyway.

[206] I mean, I can tell you a thousand things I've done like that.

[207] And you just got to, you got to stop and listen to that and go no I know I'm not I and and even though all these other voices saying do it do it do do it do it on TikTok I'm still not going to do it that that's good and yeah listen to that it saves you a lot of money Matthew is in Matthew's in Orlando Florida hi Matthew how are you hey Dave how are you today better than we deserve how can we help hey so my wife and I we have a net worth together of 1 .5 million and we have no no debt way to go Yeah, that's great.

[208] And I have a business I own.

[209] I do car hauling here in Florida, and I'm looking to upgrade my truck and trailer.

[210] Both of what I have are pretty old.

[211] My question is, is it okay to mix our personal money and business money?

[212] I just started this two months ago, and it's kind of...

[213] I mean, you started this two months ago, and you bought it.

[214] a junk truck?

[215] I bought a 20 -year -old truck, but it's, I mean, it's reliable.

[216] It's just really old.

[217] Two months ago?

[218] Yeah.

[219] I mean, why didn't you think about that before you bought the truck?

[220] It was kind of a, I guess it was an emotional decision when I bought the truck.

[221] What was the emotion?

[222] I guess it's more like a sentimental thing.

[223] about it.

[224] I wanted a truck with a manual transmission.

[225] They don't make them these days at all, and I wanted a truck with a reliable engine.

[226] That was kind of like all this crazy emission stuff, so it doesn't have any of that sort of equipment on it.

[227] And what?

[228] Now you're realizing this doesn't work for you?

[229] So the nostalgia doesn't work in the real world?

[230] Well, it's not that the truck has any problems.

[231] It's just...

[232] Okay, so here's the deal.

[233] Yes, you can do whatever you want.

[234] You've got a million and a half dollars.

[235] You can go buy another truck okay there's a couple things from a business standpoint you need to think about anytime you're buying equipment for a business or buying things for a business they are an expense and they lower the return the profit of the business agreed agreed yes and so what we teach entrepreneurs and small business people in entre leadership i'll be with three thousand of them in week at our Ontario Leadership Summit.

[236] What we teach them is to buy the least expensive equipment that will, quote, get the job done, unquote.

[237] Now, let's define get the job done.

[238] Get the job done involves a layer of reliability.

[239] Get the job done means they literally have to get the cars from one point to another in this case.

[240] It has to be able to actually pull the trailer.

[241] Get the job done if you're going to be in the truck.

[242] Five, ten hours or five or eight hours a day for five days a week involves a level of comfort.

[243] So you'd end up in the chiropractor's office.

[244] Okay.

[245] I'd also think it involves a level of time.

[246] Like how long can you use it and it's in working order?

[247] Yeah.

[248] Yeah.

[249] I mean, how much life has it got left in it?

[250] So then that tells you that in the early stages of a business, you do not buy new equipment.

[251] So you were wise to buy used equipment.

[252] Now, have you proven the business model out?

[253] Are you making money?

[254] I have managed to make money in my first two months somehow.

[255] Doesn't sound real convincing.

[256] Managed somehow or not words I like.

[257] That's like barely by the skin of your teeth got through.

[258] So, you know, I'm going to keep the old truck until I get this business cooking.

[259] When it gets cooking, it justifies moving up in the quality of vehicle, but even then, probably not a brand new one.

[260] And then the business can pay for it.

[261] Yeah, you can organically out of the cash flows.

[262] She's right, buy the truck.

[263] That's what I would do.

[264] It's what I do.

[265] This is the Ramsey Show.

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[275] 800 -356 -4282 or zander .com.

[276] Jade Walshaw, Ramsey, personality, bestselling author is my co -host today.

[277] Well, exciting news, guys.

[278] We relaunched or launched yesterday, the Live Like No One Else Cruise.

[279] Yeah, baby.

[280] We're going on Holland America.

[281] We've got the whole ship, one of the top brands out there.

[282] This is not the Walmart on the seas.

[283] This is the good ship.

[284] This is the good ship lollipop here.

[285] I mean, this, Holland America is the good stuff, baby.

[286] Yeah, the Walmart brand, we won't call them by name.

[287] We won't name it, but you know what it is, okay?

[288] And so anyway, yeah, hey, this is a lot of fun.

[289] We had booked this, and our sale date was March 23rd, 2020.

[290] Hey.

[291] Yeah, when the Fauci pandemic shut down the seas, nothing happened on the seas.

[292] And so we had to cancel the seas, and we didn't get to go on the seas.

[293] And so it was rather painful.

[294] Everyone got their money back.

[295] Thank God, no one went broke doing all this thing.

[296] But anyway, so now all these years later, we are announcing today that on March 22nd through the 29th, 2025, about a year from now, we will sail to Turks and Caicos, St. Thomas, San Juan, the Bahamas.

[297] I'll be on the ship with my wife, Sharon, the whole week.

[298] Jade will be with us the whole week.

[299] Of course, all of the Ramsey personalities, Dr. John Deloney, Ken Coleman, Rachel Cruz, George Camel, all of us will be there.

[300] They're all week.

[301] We're going to be doing events on the ship.

[302] We'll be some of the entertaining.

[303] They'll have some of their little dancing people there, too.

[304] Oh, will they?

[305] The little dancing, you know, that's what I used to do.

[306] You know about these cruise dancing people.

[307] Doing the can -can, yeah.

[308] That's it.

[309] They'll have their actual talent, but we're bringing our own, too.

[310] Man, we've got some friends coming with us.

[311] Stephen Curtis Chapman, three -time Grammy Award winning, 69 Doves, and an all -round good guy.

[312] Stephen and I've been friends for a long time.

[313] World -renowned Christian artist will be with us.

[314] Manit Shohan from the.

[315] the food channel, Iron Chef winner, a fabulous chef.

[316] Again, a friend locally here in the Nashville area, she owns a whole series of restaurants and has done events with us before.

[317] She'll be teaching you to cook there on the ship.

[318] It's going to be a lot of fun.

[319] Dina Carter, remember strawberry wine?

[320] Strawberry wine.

[321] There we go.

[322] See, I knew I couldn't do that, but I knew I could cue you.

[323] There you can count on me. So there we go.

[324] Dana's going to be with us.

[325] Tons more.

[326] We've got some of the Nashville songwriters will be with us.

[327] comedians, illusionists, all kinds of people hanging out.

[328] It's going to be all of us and you.

[329] Now, you do not come on the live like no one else cruise, unless you're on baby step four or beyond because one through three, you're getting out of debt and you're not going on vacation and you're not eating out and you're a gazelle intense cleaning up stuff.

[330] And we don't want you to come.

[331] We're not hypocrites.

[332] This is a celebration.

[333] So you've become debt -free.

[334] This is the ultimate debt -free scream in the Caribbean, baby.

[335] Yeah.

[336] And so here's the problem.

[337] It's selling out.

[338] It's only been on the market one day, and it's selling out.

[339] I mean, it's the, we melted the internet.

[340] The poor cruise people, they're like, you shut us down.

[341] Your people slammed our website.

[342] So it is not sold out, but the VIP upgrades are sold out already.

[343] And there's just a few of the sweets left.

[344] So if you want a suite, you better jump on right this second and do it.

[345] at Ramsey Solutions .com slash cruise.

[346] It's March 22nd through the 29th, 2025.

[347] We're going to celebrate together a lot of on -board special events with all of us hanging out with all of you.

[348] We're going to be on the ship together for seven days, man. It's going to be a blast.

[349] And our whole team is pumped about this.

[350] They're really excited.

[351] They got me to do it again because after that Fauci pandemic thing, I was just, I was scarred and wounded.

[352] I bet.

[353] And didn't ever want to be near a cruise.

[354] ever again.

[355] But anyway, I'm doing it, and I'm excited about it, and it's going to be fun.

[356] And here we go, baby.

[357] Here we go.

[358] We got quite a lineup.

[359] There's some really, I mean, the famous people are coming.

[360] It's pretty cool.

[361] So get your tickets now.

[362] Get the reservations done now.

[363] I know it's a year away, but if you want, I mean, cabin selections, like anything else, the better ones go first, right?

[364] You want one with a window, so don't wait.

[365] Yeah, and you, yeah, and all that stuff.

[366] You know, and if you want a suite, there's just a handful left.

[367] Again, the VIP upgrades are already gone so but the sweet the sweets are there that was some VIP stuff we were doing on the boat but but but are going to do so I don't think you call them a boat Sharon always says don't call it a ship yeah you got called it a ship boats ships carry boats yeah boats are what you ski behind okay there we go catch fish out of yeah that kind of stuff all right so anyway that's what we're doing go to ramesysolutions dot com slash cruise uh seriously if your baby step for and beyond this is your chance you know We teach you to live like no one else so that later you can live like no one else.

[368] On the live like no one else, Cruz!

[369] Yeah!

[370] There you go.

[371] Laura is with us in Salt Lake City.

[372] Hi, Laura.

[373] Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

[374] Hi, thank you for having me. Sure.

[375] What's up?

[376] Well, my basic question is, is it worth it to move our family to a new state for basically a 13 ,000 annual race?

[377] um there's more to it kind of sounds like you don't want to already that was a big side is it worth it do i have to this is awful that's what it sounds like um that's a good point where would you be moving to so we're currently in utah i'm going to be moving to missouri which is where i grew up so i know the area and i like the area it's just we have four kids and and we're pretty settled where we are.

[378] What just settled me?

[379] How long have you been there?

[380] Oh, five years, which is actually a long time for us.

[381] Okay.

[382] How old are the kiddos?

[383] The oldest one is 15 and the youngest of four.

[384] Okay.

[385] What kind of work is it?

[386] What type of work are you chasing?

[387] So this is for my husband's work, and he's an arborist.

[388] He works on trees.

[389] Got it.

[390] We're in Missouri.

[391] I'm in Columbia What made him look for a job?

[392] Because he's at basically the top of what he could earn here and the biggest reason we're looking in that area is because we could sell our home here and make 150 to 200 ,000 on it and we could buy a house cash over there or almost cash and owning our home has always been like not having a mortgage has always been one of our goals.

[393] How old are you?

[394] With our current, I'm, well, I'll be 40 this year and my husband just turned 40, so we're both 40.

[395] I don't know how it is at your house, but when Rachel Cruz and Denise Whittamore were 15, the drama was unbelievable.

[396] Oh, yes.

[397] Now, I'm my older two, our boys, and so, I mean, there's still drama there, but.

[398] Well, there's not as much, but, yeah, that's true.

[399] True.

[400] I mean, those two went to college, and we were left with a teenage son, and we didn't even know he was there.

[401] I mean, that, so I was just, I was just thinking that maybe that was entering into your, they don't want to leave and you're telegraphing what they want.

[402] Yeah.

[403] Yeah, that's her.

[404] But you nailed it.

[405] Okay.

[406] Well, that's the way it would have been at my house.

[407] I mean, the kids are like, weh, wah, wah, wah, everything you do, they like, well, I mean, Mark Twain said when they turn 13, put them in a barrel and, uh, feed them through a hole.

[408] And when they turn 15, plug up the hole.

[409] I mean, that's how Mark Twain said to handle teenagers.

[410] This is all for $13 ,000 a year, though.

[411] No, it's for getting their house paid off and going back towards what her home is.

[412] And the only thing is the kids don't want to go.

[413] That's true.

[414] All the adults want to go.

[415] The adults want to go.

[416] The kids don't want to go.

[417] Am I wrong?

[418] No, you're right.

[419] Okay.

[420] You said, when we asked you before, how long you'd been there, you said five years and you said, Well, that's a long time for us.

[421] Have you guys been moving around a lot?

[422] Is that another part of this?

[423] We have moved a lot.

[424] So each of our kids have been born in a different state.

[425] And we're not military.

[426] Why?

[427] Just he's chasing work?

[428] Chasing, yeah, chasing jobs.

[429] Okay.

[430] Our kids' feelings got heard and they had input, but they didn't have a vote.

[431] the adults make the decision we love our kids we want to know how they feel we want to know what they think and hear hear them out but at the end of the day the adults have to make the decision because the inmates don't run the asylum so that's how we did stuff and i think you guys are moving laura now one thing you can commit to the kids and to each other is we're not moving again you can say that we're going to stay this is our we're making this move so that we don't move And that's what I would do.

[432] This is the Ramsey Show.

[433] You know, it doesn't take a degree in statistics to realize this one stinks.

[434] 93 % of undergraduate private student loans are co -signed.

[435] So when you're delinquent and drowning, mom or Papa or Uncle Joe is stuck in that financial stress along with you.

[436] But there is a way out.

[437] Why Refi?

[438] Why Refi offers a custom refinancing option with a fixed rate loan based on your ability to pay.

[439] and the average interest rate Y -Refi offers is 3 .9 % which can significantly reduce your monthly payment and decrease your total cost.

[440] Contact Y -R -R -R -R -F -2 -R -Z or go to Y -R -R -F -F -2 -Ramsey or go to Y -Refi.

[441] That's 8442 Ramsey or the letter Y, then R -E -F -Y .com slash Ramsey.

[442] Y -R -R -R -Fi is not licensed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation.

[443] why refi is not authorized by the New York State Department of Financial Services to service any New York loans.

[444] Funding may not be available in all states.

[445] Jade Warshall, Ramsey Personality, is my co -host today.

[446] David is in Manchester, New Hampshire.

[447] Hi, David.

[448] How are you?

[449] I have had better days.

[450] Okay.

[451] My wife passed away a few weeks ago.

[452] Oh, my.

[453] Oh, gosh.

[454] I'm going to try and keep it together.

[455] I'm sorry.

[456] How old was she?

[457] she was just a few days shy of her 60th birthday oh my how long were you all married 33 years wow what happened to her uh long story lots of health issues in in the end it was heart problems and cancer kind of combined wow sorry long road then long road yeah what was her name her name was Lynn Lynn okay I'm so sorry David thank you sir hard to breathe right now how can we help you sir well I was a long time listener started listening in the late 90s and we taught FPU together we got serious about working the baby steps in about 2006 when we moved up here from Texas we were debt -free except for the house when she passed and our net worth was just shy of a million.

[458] Good for you.

[459] Wow.

[460] And now when I look at those calculations, it just tastes like ash in my mouth.

[461] Why?

[462] Well, all those years of doing things the right way, and then I lose her just before we hit the finish line.

[463] Oh, I see.

[464] I know I'm not, I shouldn't make big decisions right now, and I'm not.

[465] Good.

[466] But I seem just so much more aware that tomorrow's not guaranteed.

[467] Hmm.

[468] and all the things we'd plan to do that now we won't be able to do together have me mourning not only my wife my future so my question is how can I balance the desire to try and live my life fully and still be wise um um you know I spoke at a friend of mine's funeral with another friend of mine the other day and the other guy speaking is a world class communicator and he said something that stuck with me he said when a baby is born or when we do a funeral all of us stop and readjust our lives to the plum line it's that those things are tune those events are tuning forks and you tune to it right you know what i'm saying i said the exact same thing at her funeral the other day oh wow okay and that's so that's exactly what you're doing that's what your question is about and that's not a bad question it's all it's a question it's a question we all ought to do but the the tragedy that you've gone through recently is is just making you very aware of it.

[469] We always have this pull between being wise and future -oriented and living in the moment, enjoying the moment, enjoying the present, enjoying why wouldn't I, you know, kind of thing.

[470] And so that's why when I turned 60, I went and jumped out of an airplane.

[471] Why wouldn't I?

[472] You know?

[473] And, well, you might die.

[474] No, I'm going to die.

[475] It might be of this.

[476] It might not, but I'm going to, you know.

[477] So I'm going to go do.

[478] I'm going to live, right?

[479] And so, you know, that's the kind of thing you want to do.

[480] Now, did I jump out of an airplane without a parachute?

[481] No, no. Did I take the class and did I learn from the video, all the things that could go wrong?

[482] And did I make sure all the equipment and the people involved were, yeah, so I was wise about living my life wide open.

[483] I'm using that as a metaphor, not as me being smart or something, but it's a metaphor for the answer to your question.

[484] question i think is that is it communicating yeah i that makes a lot of sense and and that's what i'm trying to do it's just really well i mean you can't breathe right now it was two weeks ago i've been married 43 years you've been married 33 let me just tell you if sharon dies before me i i'm going to be i i'm useless so i i can't even i can't even breathe thinking about it it and you're actually living it so I mean give yourself a chance to just catch your breath and cry a little yeah right now everything is in extremes yeah just face the extreme amount of grief and now in your mind the idea of living life to the fullest is all the way on another extreme yeah and I think over time it'll balance out but you're not a guy who's going to live life to the fullest celebrate the moment live in the moment to a level of immaturity and burn through a million in four months you're not that guy no you don't have that capacity it's just not who you are so you're going to be wise but but you're right you're going to treasure every cup of coffee every sunrise every sunset you're going to treasure every puppy that you buy you're going to treasure everything now i mean it's you know everything's a little brighter everything's a little darker and and i i completely understand that and embrace that um And then a year from now when you're doing that thing that you all wanted to do together, just remember you're really doing it together.

[485] Yeah.

[486] Yeah.

[487] That makes sense.

[488] Yeah.

[489] I'm so sorry.

[490] I just, it's hard to, you can't think your way through where you are.

[491] You have to live your way through where you are.

[492] It's just, it's hard.

[493] I'm sorry.

[494] But I, I, the only.

[495] only thing I can promise you is that you're you're you will be thinking clearer and these answers will be readily available to you six months from now that they're not now and uh it's it's not that it hurts less it's just that you've learned how to walk your way through it and it's part of the process of grieving and you got good people around you david i do i've got a great church and i've got an amazing group of men that have come around me that's so vital that's so vital that's so vital that's blessing yes and um yeah that dr john deloney always says this and i had never heard it before he came on with us and started talking he said grief demands a witness and that's from one of the researchers and writers that he's uh familiar with he quote is quoting i can't remember who the guy was but i so i'm quoting deloney instead but but i think that's true grief is not something to be done alone and so we're honored that you would share yours with us today well thank you sir i appreciate your wisdom and your insight yeah i'm so sorry david i'm sorry um yeah so and and and and um you're in my age group and uh so i've got people in my situation in your situation in my uh all around me in my friend group and so forth.

[496] And the only thing I will warn you is that you've done very well financially.

[497] And so you're prime picking.

[498] You need to just be aware that the sharks are going to circle, buddy.

[499] They're going to come at you.

[500] It's the weirdest thing.

[501] You're talking about the cougars?

[502] How attractive the 60 -year -old man becomes.

[503] Interesting.

[504] oh man it happens it happens to ladies as well but this must be a real thing yeah it's a real thing believe me and so especially when you've done well like he has and financially so you're not even thinking about that now and that's why i'm saying it because you're not thinking about it so you need to um just be aware and keep your shields up brother for a while yeah wow that's tough so there's not listen so here's your options okay spend everything you make and be broke and live completely in the moment like a child and then if something like this happens with your spouse you've lived every moment but you've also lived stress and anxiety the entire time yeah so it's easy to take a story like that and say well that's a reason to not save for the future That's a reason to not think about there because you don't ever know if you're actually going to get to live out those HD high definition dreams that you laid up put on the whiteboard with your spouse.

[505] Yeah.

[506] You don't know if you're going to get to live them out.

[507] But if you don't plan to live them out, then you leave every year in between there in angst.

[508] That's true.

[509] And so it's, you know, he did the best thing he could have done even though it didn't turn out the way he planned.

[510] That's right.

[511] And he's right.

[512] He's having to grieve the future or lean into a new future now.

[513] Wow.

[514] That he didn't visualize before.

[515] I'm sorry, David.

[516] Love you, man. Thank you for calling in.

[517] And if you need some help, you call us anytime.

[518] This is the Ramsey Show.

[519] Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions.

[520] It's the Ramsey Show where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships.

[521] Jade Walshaw, Ramsey Personality, bestselling author, is my co -host today.

[522] And as we kick this hour off, we've also got one of the other Ramsey personalities.

[523] Rachel Cruz on the line with us.

[524] She's on the road doing a book signing for her new book.

[525] I'm glad for where I am, a great children's book and a great bedtime story all about gratitude.

[526] Rachel, how's it going in Los Angeles today?

[527] Hey, guys.

[528] Can you hear me?

[529] Absolutely.

[530] I feel like I'm like a reporter for the next.

[531] news.

[532] I'm like out on the streets, calling in.

[533] But yeah, doing great here in L .A. We got in last night here.

[534] We were in Phoenix before that, New York, before that.

[535] So we're just on the road.

[536] It's been great.

[537] So you had a Phoenix book signing last night.

[538] How'd that go?

[539] Yes.

[540] It was so great.

[541] They were probably, gosh, 50 families or so that came out.

[542] A lot of little kids, which was so great.

[543] That's what we want.

[544] Yeah.

[545] And yeah, it's always so encouraging being out because, I mean, literally every person that came up, they had a story, right?

[546] And the Ramsey Show was always a part of it.

[547] And things, you know, from Deloney and Ken to Jade and George to you, Dave, you know, everyone's just like rocking it with their money.

[548] And it's, and it's helped them so much.

[549] So it's always fun to hear people's stories, one after the other with all these little kids.

[550] It was so great.

[551] Yeah, powerful.

[552] So tonight in Los Angeles, the Barnes & Noble at the Grove from 7 to 8 p .m., right?

[553] that's right yeah i'll be there uh same thing we did this in phoenix and it was so fun so i do like a little story time read the read the book talk to the kids yeah you got them all right there so it's just so fun to hear from them and then yeah line up and you know we took pictures sign books did it all so we'll be there at the grove from seven to eight yeah that barns and noble at the grove is a great store i've done signings there and it's a wonderful store they do a good job for a signing And so any of you in that area, in the Los Angeles area, the Barnes and Noble at the Grove tonight, 7 to 8 p .m. local time.

[554] Rachel's book, I'm glad for where I am.

[555] Now, this book is gratitude, right?

[556] Yes.

[557] As a big truck passes, sorry.

[558] That's all right.

[559] We're grateful for the cement truck.

[560] That's right.

[561] I know, yeah.

[562] So, yeah, the first book, I'm glad for what I have that came out was contentment.

[563] This one is all gratitude.

[564] And I was telling the newsmakers this morning when I did Good Day, L .A., that so much of my work, I feel like, you know, even on the Ramsey show, it's the tactical side of money, right?

[565] Like we're talking about saving and investing in all of it.

[566] But that emotional side of money, those of you that have listened to Ramsey, too, we talk about this a lot.

[567] It is such an important part.

[568] And so whether it's contentment, gratitude, generosity, all of those emotional side is really important for our kids to grasp and for us to grasp.

[569] So, yeah, the book is based on really the foundational principle of being thankful for stuff that you can't buy, that money can't buy, which is our family.

[570] It's our home environment and all of that.

[571] So teaching the kids that foundation is what I wanted in this book.

[572] So cool.

[573] So you're in L .A. It looks like later on you go to Dallas, Atlanta.

[574] I want to know, are your kiddo is going to make any cameo appearances, Rachel?

[575] Oh, you know, no, but do you know who is?

[576] Oh, that's my son.

[577] That guy, wow.

[578] Doing my part.

[579] He's doing his part.

[580] He's on the phone with the guys in the booth there at Ramsey, just in case this call drops.

[581] I'm going to jump on his phone if this call drops.

[582] So we're doing good.

[583] So he came out to L .A. last night.

[584] He's technical support.

[585] He looks like your bouncer, like your security right there.

[586] Yeah.

[587] He's got the glasses, got the L .A. vibe.

[588] Yeah.

[589] This is very good.

[590] We look sketchy.

[591] Yeah.

[592] What is they doing?

[593] I love it.

[594] All right.

[595] Dallas Saturday, the 20th, Lincoln Park from 1 to 2 p .m. in Atlanta next Friday, a week from tomorrow, April the 27th at Mansell Crossing and Alfreda.

[596] All those are great stores.

[597] I've been to every one of them from 1 to 2.

[598] In each case, Rachel will meet with the kiddos, sign books for them, read the book.

[599] It's not that long.

[600] And so it's a great bedtime story.

[601] And we've already been using it on the old Ramsey kiddos.

[602] Papa Dave loves to read to the kiddos.

[603] So good stuff.

[604] So contentment, gratitude.

[605] That's what the first two are.

[606] The first one was a children's bestseller.

[607] This one will be a children's bestseller.

[608] It just came out this week, and it's available at ramsysolutions .com slash store, or, of course, anywhere great books are sold like where Rachel's going to be.

[609] So again, Los Angeles tonight at the Grove from 7 to 8 p .m. Dallas on Saturday, April 20th, the Barnes & Noble at Lincoln Park, from 1 to 2 p .m. in the afternoon.

[610] in Atlanta in Alfreda the following Friday, April the 27th from 1 to 2 p .m. So, Rachel, and tonight, I'll throw this out there.

[611] Tonight, the illustrator, Lauren Gallegos, is going to be with me at this book site.

[612] She lives in L .A., and so she's coming, and so you'll get a, yeah, a signature from the author and the illustrator, which is so fun.

[613] I got to tell you, illustrator signed books better than authors.

[614] I bet.

[615] They make little pictures.

[616] They make little pictures with it every time, yeah.

[617] And Lauren's precious.

[618] She does a great job.

[619] And these illustrations are world -class in both these books.

[620] It's one of the reasons they've done so well.

[621] And the whole process.

[622] And it's just, it's so important as parents, if we can teach our children these skills of character.

[623] The skill, the care, you know, godliness with contentment is great gain.

[624] Content.

[625] Content.

[626] Gratitude.

[627] Learn to say, please, and thank you, and mean it.

[628] And this book is all about gratitude, humility.

[629] These are skills that cause children when they become adults to become very attractive adults.

[630] That's right.

[631] To employers, to future spouses, because they're good humans.

[632] Oh, yeah.

[633] And that's what we're trying to do is raise good humans.

[634] Andy Andrews, our good friend, Rachel, always says that we're not trying to raise great kids.

[635] We're trying to raise kids who become great adults.

[636] That's right.

[637] And that's what these skills do.

[638] So it's very, very vital.

[639] Good stuff, Rachel.

[640] We're proud of you.

[641] Keep it up.

[642] Thank you.

[643] Make sure that you keep that bodyguard straight back there.

[644] We're kind of worried about him.

[645] Look at him.

[646] So good.

[647] Thanks, you guys.

[648] Have fun tonight.

[649] I love it.

[650] Thank you.

[651] We will.

[652] We will.

[653] Bye.

[654] All right.

[655] So again, tonight, for those of you in Los Angeles, the Grove Barnes & Noble from 7 to 8 p .m. Tonight being Thursday, the 18th of April, whenever you happen to be listening to or watching this.

[656] And Dallas, Texas, April, the 20th on Saturday at Lincoln Park from 1 to 2.

[657] p .m. Atlanta Friday, the April the 27th, a week from tomorrow, for those of you listening live or watching live.

[658] And that's the Barnes & Noble at Mansell Crossing at Alfredo.

[659] You can find all this on our website.

[660] And obviously Rachel's Instagram, she's going to post every bit of this and then some, because that's what she does.

[661] She's the Instagram queen.

[662] I love seeing this.

[663] Her and you with your cooking.

[664] Yes, that's right.

[665] You got to follow Jade if you want some cooking now.

[666] I'm just saying.

[667] That is true.

[668] I'm not a chef, but I cook a little No, you're a cook is what you are.

[669] It's good.

[670] I pop that open.

[671] I'm like, Sharon, I got to have dinner now.

[672] Jade's over here cooking, got my mouth watering.

[673] So, hey, check it out, folks.

[674] You can learn all of that at Ramsey Solutions .com slash store.

[675] We'll get you going right here on the Ramsey Show.

[676] Thank you for joining us, America.

[677] Jade Warshall, Ramsey Personality, is my co -host.

[678] We appreciate you being here.

[679] The phone number is AAA -825 -2 -2 -25.

[680] Scott is in Indianapolis.

[681] Hi, Scott.

[682] Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

[683] Hi, Jade.

[684] Hey, Dave.

[685] We're really grateful for your ministry.

[686] Thank you very much.

[687] Thank you, sir.

[688] How can we help?

[689] My mom passed away last year, and my two brothers and I inherited the home that my dad, who passed away 10 years ago or so, had.

[690] I'm wondering just how to be a good steward of that asset and wondering if, like, an LLC is the best way to manage that going forward.

[691] But in addition to that, my middle brother is living in the house and will likely leave in a couple years, and my wife and I are considering, like, purchasing his portion at that time and had some questions about that, just as far as doing that well.

[692] Okay.

[693] If you're going to end up purchasing it, and in the meantime, a relative lives there, I don't think an LLC is necessary.

[694] Okay.

[695] The main reason you would do an LLC would be to save on risk -matism.

[696] management.

[697] So if a tenant falls off the porch and breaks their face and decides to sue you for $10 million, they have to sue the owner of the property, which is the LLC.

[698] You're not the owner.

[699] And so we do LLC's for risk management.

[700] There's really no tax benefit to LLC.

[701] And it doesn't cause people to get along who otherwise don't get along.

[702] So you guys are, the three brothers are discussing what we're going to do with this house all the time.

[703] Is that what we're doing?

[704] Well, yes, basically.

[705] So we've done a few, like, renovations to it, and it's in a decent area.

[706] And my wife and I've wanted to, you know, get involved with some property or real estate.

[707] So you're thinking about it to live in or as a rental?

[708] As a rental.

[709] And so we were wondering about limiting our own liability, just in case, not just my brother, but, you know, something happens.

[710] Yeah, and if we're going to keep it as a rental, I would put it into an LLC.

[711] see um at least your ownership portion now uh why is your how old is your little brother that's living in it um he's 53 so okay somehow i had him in college in my head or something um so what in the world why is he got to live there for two or three years what's the is he was he there before your mom passed no but that was something she wanted was to have him he was renting an apartment nearby and she wanted him to have a home to live in and so I was I helped her with her estate planning and then I'm the executor of her state but it's the intent was to give him a place a home to live in he has a daughter who's married now but eventually will have kids and he would like to move closer to her when that happened so he basically stated his intent that that it would be a sure short interim period, maybe a couple years, and then he would likely move to be closer to her.

[712] And the other two of you are not receiving rent from him?

[713] So we haven't, we have told, we have discussed that, and he is paying rent, but it is part to go into the operational cost of the home.

[714] So it's like a pile of money that we all contributed to in order to service the home, and that rent is being accounted for in that accounting so okay all right as long as everybody's got their expectations set and we have a game plan um uh i mean it occurs to me that that you guys could all put this into an LLC and then the way you purchased the home would simply be to buy the shares from each of your brothers okay i think that's where we were leaning i just based on your real estate experience and yeah that would make sense in this case i'm now i'm catching up with what your plan was i thought he was just going to live there and then you guys were going to move in it at the first start of the conversation so that's why i'm changing my stance here but i don't own anything anymore i don't have a single thing in my name my cars aren't my name i i'm i'm a complete i'm a complete poverty case i owns nothing so it's all it's all in some kind of a company a trust and l lc uh to and it's all risk management associated and so um they were very very careful and very direct about that so um you know something happens uh worst case scenario you can bankrupt an LLC and it's you know it's just that piece of property doesn't touch anything else you know it's no big deal and so obviously you don't want to do that but um but before you let somebody take all your other stuff you know that's what you'd have to do right so anyway that that's that's what you're facing and so yeah i'd go ahead and drop it into an LLC now and I think I would put as much of this in writing even if it's in letter form that this is what our intent is and if you guys can go ahead and come to a formula type agreement as to how you're going to price their shares to buy them out two years from now and and go ahead and put a two -year date on your brother so that two years isn't five years because she didn't have children.

[715] Yeah, that's my that was my main concern was that timeline.

[716] I wondered how fluid it would actually wind up being.

[717] Yeah.

[718] It sounds like all of you have a lot of grace for each other and there's nobody grabbing or anything.

[719] You're being very kind and loose with this and that's that's good.

[720] But also the best way for that grace to remain is if we all have a and have a clear understanding of what the other one's doing.

[721] And so if you just said, I want to write all this up and then you guys all sign off on it.

[722] And here's how I'm going to buy you guys out at the end of two years.

[723] And here's how, and, you know, the 53 -year -old is going to move at the end of two years.

[724] And in the meantime, the money, the rent comes in and it's just piled up there for the three of us to use to update the house and keep the house moving operationally, as you said.

[725] And so all of that, you know, all of that makes sense.

[726] And there's nothing wrong with any of that.

[727] But I have found that even when I'm doing something internally inside the company, I will send out an email and sometimes I'll copy myself.

[728] Just to have it as a record.

[729] Because I forget what I said.

[730] Yeah.

[731] I got a couple things going on.

[732] That's great.

[733] You know, I can't remember what all I've done.

[734] I slept since then, you know.

[735] And I don't want to not keep my word just because I'm stupid and forgot.

[736] You know, and that's possible with me. So I like writing it all down, and that way I remember what I said.

[737] You remember what I said.

[738] We all said the same thing.

[739] And if it comes to it, you can reference it.

[740] Yeah, you just pull it up and go, okay, this is what we talked about.

[741] Now, if we want to do something different, we can, but this is where we left it.

[742] Mm -hmm.

[743] Mm -hmm.

[744] And then you've got a baseline to have a change discussion if you need to, or you've got a baseline for referring back to, you know, I think we probably need to go with what we said.

[745] Yeah.

[746] And that kind of thing.

[747] It doesn't have to be mean, but it really helps maintain the quality of these relationships.

[748] And Scott, it sounds like the three of you have a very quality relationship, or at least you and your brother, you're one brother.

[749] I'm assuming based on the way the whole conversation went that all three of you are getting along.

[750] And that's good.

[751] But I'd lay out the formula now.

[752] What's the price going to be?

[753] Or it's going to be, we're going to get an appraisal at that time by a certified appraiser.

[754] I'm going to pay for it.

[755] And I'm going to pay you guys 80 % of.

[756] appraisal for your share and that kind of or whatever the formula is I don't care that's not a bad formula by the way because if you put a house on the market and sell it and you list it on the market with real estate agent at appraisal you very seldom get that number and so it's negotiated down and then you have real state fees and you have closing costs and you have other fees and so you don't usually net more than about 85 percent 85 cents on the dollar so somewhere in there, 88, 85, somewhere in that range is where you're usually going to end up.

[757] So then if they sell to you, that's still approximately what they're going to get.

[758] So whatever the formula is, you'll lay it out.

[759] And I don't care what it is, but it's just really good to lay it out in advance and nobody's mad later.

[760] Well, yeah, we're on a two -year timeline.

[761] It's easy to forget in two years.

[762] Two years ago, so fast.

[763] I mean, it's blinding.

[764] You know, it's, yeah, I mean, it's just everything moves so quick.

[765] And, of course, the older we get.

[766] The faster it moves.

[767] It just goes, goes, goes, goes, goes, goes, goes, goes, that's the plan.

[768] So, yeah, that's, but yeah, just lay it out.

[769] And yes, an LLC would be an excellent vehicle, the three of you own equal shares in it, and you're able to buy out the other two shares.

[770] And you actually can probably quit claim deed it into the LLC, and you won't have any registration costs hardly.

[771] And then when you buy the shares on the LLC, there is no registration costs because it's not, a Register of Deeds issue.

[772] So it's going to save you on that, too.

[773] Make sure you guys keep good, strong insurance on this property as well.

[774] This is The Ramsey Show.

[775] Jade Washall, bestselling author of the book, Money's Not a Math Problem.

[776] One of our Ramsey Quickreads, a whole 74 pages.

[777] You can read it in one setting, and you're going to learn some stuff about money and yourself when you read it.

[778] She's a Ramsey personality.

[779] She's my co -host today.

[780] Our question of the day comes from Barry in Indiana.

[781] Yeah, Barry says, I'm hoping for some validation on a decision we have made regarding flipping Baby Steps 5 and 6.

[782] We completed Baby Steps 1 through 4 and we have 95 ,000 parked in CDs.

[783] Instead of saving for college, we currently pay $5 ,000 a month on a 4 .85 % mortgage where the monthly payment is about $2 ,500.

[784] If we stay on track, the mortgage will be paid off in four years.

[785] Once the house is paid off, we plan to use the extra 6K that we have.

[786] have been putting on the mortgage to cash flow college.

[787] What are your thoughts on this plan?

[788] What are you doing with $95 ,000?

[789] I underlined it.

[790] I don't know.

[791] It sounds like they already made the decision, but I mean, that's not even, that's not even baby step five and six.

[792] That's just too much in facts.

[793] I mean, he never, he never says.

[794] You flip baby step three.

[795] Yeah.

[796] Yeah, that's a lot of money.

[797] Um, there's a lot here.

[798] Yeah.

[799] Go ahead.

[800] No, you're fine.

[801] Have it.

[802] Have it.

[803] I mean, my thing is the baby steps are in order for a reason.

[804] In four, five, and six, you can do them simultaneously, but you do them in order simultaneously.

[805] So if you're going to prioritize one over the other, you prioritize it in order.

[806] Does that make sense?

[807] So you don't skip four to do five.

[808] You don't skip six to do four.

[809] You do four.

[810] And then if you have money left over, you do five.

[811] And then if you have money, you do six.

[812] And if five doesn't apply to you because you don't have kids, then you skip it.

[813] Does that make sense?

[814] So my thought is...

[815] And you have an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses, which is not $95 freaking thousand dollars.

[816] So you take some of that and throw it at that mortgage.

[817] That's right.

[818] And my thought is, I think there's a lot of ambiguity around Baby Step 5.

[819] It's like, how much do I do?

[820] How often do I have to do it?

[821] And I think that that's something that you guys can sit and decide because it sounds like...

[822] I'm fine if you put $50 a month in Baby Step 5.

[823] Me too.

[824] That's what I'm saying.

[825] I'm like, it's not to say that you have to stop putting extra to the mortgage.

[826] Just put a little something because this is a four -year plan.

[827] Who knows what's going to happen over four years?

[828] And I want to have something put aside for them.

[829] The only reason I might, and it's not to say that you wouldn't put it aside, it's just where you put it.

[830] Like if this is a less than five -year, less than four -year deal till college.

[831] We don't have his mortgage balance.

[832] By the time I drain most of that 95, down to three to six months of expenses, it might be.

[833] three -year plan.

[834] That's true.

[835] And so $50 a month going into the kids college for three years while you lean heavy on the mortgage is perfectly fine.

[836] But, um, but, Barry, I've been doing this for 30 years and I don't flip baby steps.

[837] Yeah, don't do it.

[838] Just put, put something aside.

[839] There's no reason to.

[840] If it's, you know, I would probably, and Dave, you can correct me on this, but if their kid is 16, I'm not putting it in a 529, I'm just throwing it in a H -YSA, let it sit.

[841] Yeah, it doesn't matter.

[842] And, and again, the interesting thing here is that he didn't just flip, try to flip five and six.

[843] He's also sitting on 95K.

[844] I see.

[845] So you're just kind of making up your own deal here, Barry.

[846] That's what we're saying.

[847] So, let, you know, this stuff works if you work it.

[848] I mean, we've taught 10 million people to do this, literally, exactly, I mean, actually more, but that's a minimum.

[849] And so that's what we recommend.

[850] in.

[851] But the point of $5 of $50 is just you're building the muscle.

[852] You're making an intellectual, not a big mathematical, but you're making an intellectual, spiritual muscle building moment, says, I'm doing college.

[853] And then I can move on.

[854] It's also.

[855] So for instance, let's pretend you got two -year -old.

[856] Right.

[857] $50 a month for three years.

[858] And then you do it and you pile it on.

[859] Yeah.

[860] Let's see.

[861] But he doesn't.

[862] He doesn't say how old the kids are or when they're going.

[863] We plan to use the extra 5K.

[864] We've been putting on the morest of the cash flow college.

[865] But it kind of indicates you've got teenagers, but maybe.

[866] But either way, I think you're going to accomplish exactly the same thing you want to accomplish.

[867] We put $50 towards this.

[868] And especially if you use the vast majority of that 95 and take it down to a three to six months of expenses.

[869] Because you do not have, you've got too much in cash.

[870] Yeah.

[871] And the fact that it's sitting in a CD is somewhat laughable.

[872] Aaron is with us in Richmond, Virginia.

[873] Aaron, how are you?

[874] Good.

[875] Thank you for having my call.

[876] Sure.

[877] What's up?

[878] All right.

[879] So we are, my wife and I are in Baby Step 2.

[880] We've just driven in and found you, which is fantastic.

[881] However, it occurred to us that we hit tax season and we had to pay this year.

[882] And we're worried about stopping our investments because we're going to have to pay probably three times more next year in taxes.

[883] So I'm really wondering what's the justification of, you know, it's not paying ourselves first and investing and more so paying the government.

[884] and losing out on some of that money, even though we'll have more to go towards baby step two.

[885] How much are you putting in your 401 case?

[886] I have a 6 % and a 6 % match.

[887] The match doesn't count for taxes.

[888] How much are you putting in the 401k's in cash?

[889] About $540 a month.

[890] So $6 ,000 a year?

[891] Yes, sir.

[892] And what's your household income?

[893] $131 ,000.

[894] Okay.

[895] So this saves you $2 ,000.

[896] dollars in taxes okay right yeah it does okay and how much debt do you have about 120000 on what we have 12 ,000 on credit cards 50 on student loans and 16 vehicles okay so um I'm trying to keep from being a smart ankle um the um yeah so so You've got $120 ,000 in consumer debt.

[897] You've been spending more than you make on credit cards.

[898] And now suddenly you're worried about tax planning.

[899] So, you know, sorry.

[900] What we have found is that the power of focus supersedes a little bit of tax savings and missing out on a little bit of match for a short period of time.

[901] And so you've got cars you can't afford.

[902] You've been living a life you can't afford.

[903] and so you've never addressed the student loans.

[904] They have their own bedroom at your place.

[905] And you make a ton of money, and you're still broke.

[906] And so, and a little bit of tax savings does not fix that.

[907] What fixes that is a dramatic change in paradigm by you and your wife to completely take your lifestyle to scorched earth and get this freaking mess you made cleaned up.

[908] And with that visceral emotional movement, the way I just set it down in your stomach, that's when you quit everything because the house is on fire and we're trying to get the family out alive.

[909] And we're not worried about whether or not we turned off the faucet.

[910] Does it make any sense?

[911] You're majoring in minors.

[912] Right.

[913] it just is that something we just need the budget for for the taxing yeah you change you change your withholding to where you have the appropriate amount withheld so you don't have a a tax bill above your withholding at the end of the year but the the loss on taxes and the loss on uh the match is temporary and mathematically you come out way ahead 10 years from today because you actually do clear the debt because you actually do transform the people in your mirror and that's the key to this it's not a math problem if you were doing math you wouldn't be where you are people that do math don't buy 60 ,000 cars they can't afford people that do math don't have credit card debt and so um you know this is not a math problem it's a behavior problem and a and a shift in how we live and how we think and how who we are as people and that's what we're trying to to get you to do.

[914] And so when we start nuanceing and carving off the edges around the thing, it changes.

[915] It keeps that from occurring.

[916] You have to have balanced reasoning on both sides.

[917] If you say you care about the $2 ,000 saved in taxes, then why don't you care about the $2 ,000 that you're losing on interest on your student loans and your cars and your credit cards?

[918] That's way, way more than that every month keeping that debt around.

[919] Yeah.

[920] So let's get an attack mode and clean this out of your life for the last time, Brody.

[921] that's what we're telling you to do and so um yeah yeah it's not a math problem it's a me problem personal finance is not the problem it's the symptom this is the ramsie show jade wasshaw ramsay personality is my co -host she's the author of the ramsie quick read money's not a math problem which is kind of what we were just talking about that's right so Yeah.

[922] It's more about your way of thinking sometimes.

[923] Yeah.

[924] So, Dave, I don't want to pay, I don't want to take my savings and pay off my credit cards because it doesn't feel mathematically correct like you were doing math when you ran up an 18 % credit card.

[925] Right.

[926] So it's interesting when we choose to do math and we choose not to.

[927] I think that's a cop -out when people say that.

[928] What it really is is I don't feel.

[929] like doing that i don't want to do that yeah and i think i figured out how i'm smarter than this system that 10 million people have done that's right yeah that's what that is so it's kind of like you know i heard a personal trainer because and he was helping me at the house you know at our home gym and sharon's making fun at me she's like he goes down and counts to 10 you don't know how to count to 10 you got to have somebody count to 10 for you you can't tell you can't count the 10 by yourself And she's giving me a hard time.

[930] I'm like, no, he's here because he has a six -pack and I have a keg.

[931] And so what he says to do about that matters more than what I think I need to do.

[932] That's true.

[933] And she said, that's true.

[934] That she agreed with.

[935] So there you go, the keg part especially.

[936] Well, then there's the layer of it where you actually have to do what he says.

[937] Oh, God, now you're getting meddling.

[938] Just meddling.

[939] All right.

[940] Janice is with us.

[941] Janice is in Cincinnati.

[942] Hi, Janice, how are you?

[943] Hi, Dave.

[944] Thank you so much for your ministry, and thank you for taking my call.

[945] We're honored to talk to you.

[946] How can we help?

[947] Well, I would like to know if you can help me work through numbers to see if it's okay for me to retire.

[948] I've been working.

[949] I've retired from the Navy and from teaching, and I've been working for about eight years.

[950] I am really tired.

[951] So I need to know if I have enough to retire.

[952] Okay.

[953] So how much do you have coming in from those two, from the teaching and from the Navy?

[954] Thank you for your service.

[955] You're welcome.

[956] So the teaching, my retirement for teaching, I have 4 ,490, 31.

[957] And just to break it all down, I have 12 ,000 coming in monthly because I've got a rental income.

[958] I've got the Navy retirement, and I'm working two other jobs.

[959] I'm working two jobs.

[960] Yeah, but that counts you not retirement.

[961] tiring, so I'm trying to figure out, 4 ,400 from teaching, how much from the Navy?

[962] $608 .90.

[963] So that's $5K, and how much from rental?

[964] Well, the rental is $2 ,800 a month.

[965] Then you have expenses.

[966] And I have expenses, yeah.

[967] So it's probably netting $1 ,500, right?

[968] Right.

[969] Okay.

[970] All right.

[971] So you've got about $6 ,500 if you don't work.

[972] Does that sound right?

[973] It sounds about right, yes.

[974] And I, yes.

[975] How old are you?

[976] Oh, we're the same age.

[977] I'm 63.

[978] I just turned 63 on April.

[979] I mean, on Sunday.

[980] Okay.

[981] Well, happy birthday.

[982] And, okay, so how much debt have you got?

[983] Okay, that's my big problem.

[984] I have a condo.

[985] I've listened to you for years.

[986] I never got out of debt, brought my cars, and for cash, and now I have a condo for that I owe $98 ,000 on.

[987] I brought it for, in the pandemic, I brought it for like $2 .70 something, so I've been paying on it as much as I can.

[988] That's your only debt?

[989] That's my only debt.

[990] Do you have any money?

[991] Do you have a nest egg anywhere?

[992] I have $30 ,000 in a, oh, gosh, I'm so nervous in a money market and the next.

[993] Maybe federal, maybe credit union.

[994] Good.

[995] Okay.

[996] And then I have, yes.

[997] Do you have anything else?

[998] I just paid a big lump sum on the condo in order to get that third.

[999] It came down to 30.

[1000] It was 100.

[1001] So I'd pay like 60 or 70 to get it down to 90.

[1002] Okay.

[1003] And what was your question?

[1004] I'm sorry.

[1005] You have anything else?

[1006] Any other money?

[1007] Any cash?

[1008] No. You have investments, a retirement account?

[1009] I have a retirement counter at 200 ,000, and then I have, you told me, so when I turned 62, I stopped contributing to the 403 so I can start getting money to pay the condo off, and then I start putting in an IRA.

[1010] How much is in it?

[1011] About 20 ,000.

[1012] Okay, so your nest egg is 220 ,000 plus the 30 in the Navy Federal Credit Union, anything else?

[1013] No. Okay.

[1014] All right.

[1015] And are you making $6 ,000 a month at work?

[1016] I'm making $4 ,000 at my one job, and then at my other job, I just found out I need to pay more taxes.

[1017] So now it's down.

[1018] I'm just getting $470.

[1019] I'm having a rescue to Uncle Sam because I had to pay last month, well, last week, and I don't want to have to pay it a lot.

[1020] Okay.

[1021] So you're making about $4 ,500 a month.

[1022] take home pay working is that right no i'm making 12 it's 12 no honey i'm talking about at your work i already got your i already got your 6500 from everything else okay yes what do you what do you take you to live what can you live on i got a budget i got a budget about 2 000 well for my house up here for where i live at because i don't live in the condo it's uh 2 ,331 dollars where do you live I live in Ohio, Cincinnati, Ohio.

[1023] Where's the condo?

[1024] It's in Florida.

[1025] It's in Florida.

[1026] It's in, right, about three miles from Disney.

[1027] Oh, that's the rental.

[1028] Got it.

[1029] That's the rental.

[1030] Yeah.

[1031] Okay, so when you pay it off and you pay it off and retire, are you going to move in it?

[1032] My home is our family's gathering place.

[1033] So the answer is no. I may go down there for like a couple of months.

[1034] I would like to.

[1035] So you're going to rent in Ohio while you're on a condo in Florida?

[1036] You told me to pay this house off and I paid this house off.

[1037] Oh, that, oh, Jesus, Murphy, okay.

[1038] That's great.

[1039] Okay.

[1040] All right.

[1041] What's the condo worth?

[1042] Oh, that's okay.

[1043] What's the condo worth?

[1044] I'm saying about $3 ,9 ,400.

[1045] So what would happen if you sold it and quit work?

[1046] You'd have a half a million dollars in.

[1047] investments and you have $6 ,000 a month coming in.

[1048] That's great.

[1049] So you think I should sell the condo?

[1050] I mean, it's only making you.

[1051] I just asked you.

[1052] I said, what would happen if you sold it and put $300 ,000 to go with your $200 ,000?

[1053] That'd be $500 ,000 in investments with a SmartVestor Pro.

[1054] You're 63.

[1055] You have zero debt.

[1056] And from teacher and Navy, you've got $5 ,000 a month coming in that you easily can live on.

[1057] Right.

[1058] And the $500 ,000 is just going to sit over there and grow, and your current home is worth what?

[1059] About $300 ,000.

[1060] Okay, so you have $800 ,000 net worth at that point, soon to be a millionaire.

[1061] Sell the condo.

[1062] I like the condo.

[1063] I don't.

[1064] It's in Florida, and you're in Ohio.

[1065] Okay.

[1066] You want to quit.

[1067] You know what?

[1068] You're working your butt off.

[1069] You call me because you're talking.

[1070] tired because this condo owns you.

[1071] Yeah.

[1072] Well, I was the one that plan I was thinking is to sell the condo and get another condo there.

[1073] I did boot camp in Florida, and I really want to go down to Florida.

[1074] They got hotels in Florida, honey.

[1075] How much time do you spend in Florida?

[1076] Well, now that I'm working, you know, I'll fly down for like, you know, a weekend or...

[1077] See, I don't...

[1078] It's summer.

[1079] I mean, if you retired, how much time would you spend in Florida, honey?

[1080] At least three months, because I don't like the winter.

[1081] Okay.

[1082] And then I figured I could.

[1083] Then you need to work another year and pay the condo off and keep it.

[1084] And don't put renters in it, honey, if you're going to live in it.

[1085] Because they're going to destroy it.

[1086] Hello.

[1087] And you can't live there while they live there.

[1088] And that's how that works.

[1089] So if you want to go down there for three months and you have a renter in there, you can't go.

[1090] So if you're going to use it as vacation property, use it as vacation property.

[1091] Otherwise, sell it.

[1092] and retire in Ohio almost a millionaire.

[1093] And within a year or two, you would be a millionaire if you sit down with the smart best of pro and do good investing with the mutual funds with a half million dollars.

[1094] It'll double about every seven years roughly.

[1095] This is the Ramsey Show.

[1096] Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationship.

[1097] Jade Washall, Ramsey Personality, is my co -host today.

[1098] She is a Ramsey personality and a best -selling author of the book, the Ramsey Quick Read, Money's Not a Math Problem.

[1099] So joining us to help us answer your questions about your life and your money.

[1100] Open phones here at AAA 825 -5 -225.

[1101] Bill is in Chicago.

[1102] Hi, Bill.

[1103] Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

[1104] Hi, Dave and Jade.

[1105] Thank you for having me. Sure.

[1106] What's up?

[1107] Last year, my father passed away and he had a business, but he left the business in a trust.

[1108] And he's put the accountant that he was working with as the executor of the trust.

[1109] And since then, I've had very little contact with the accountant.

[1110] I'm calling and emailing, and I'm just trying to get answers on what I can do to find out how the business is doing are you the beneficiary of the trust yes I am I am a 50 % beneficiary along with my sister okay and the accountant is not responding no I mean I'm lucky to get a response like once in a blue moon okay what is the business how big a business are we talking about um my dad had it valued at roughly about two and a half million what is it just before just before he passed it's a generator repair and sales so who's operating it the accountant is he's doing generating operating and repairs and he's accountant generator repairs yeah yeah yeah um I said it wrong the accountant no no you're fine or I'm I could have said it wrong no I did um the uh I'm sorry he's out so it's got him and this guy's running the business?

[1111] Yes.

[1112] Where is it?

[1113] In the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

[1114] And you live there?

[1115] I live just south.

[1116] All right.

[1117] You should contact an attorney, and you and your sister should remove him as the trustee.

[1118] He's not the executor.

[1119] Trusts don't have executors.

[1120] Trusts have trustees.

[1121] Okay.

[1122] And the trustee makes the decision, but the trustee is supposed to run the trust for the benefits of the beneficiaries.

[1123] Not returning the phone call or the email of the beneficiaries is not something you get to get away with when you're a trustee.

[1124] You will be removed.

[1125] Okay.

[1126] So the first thing you do is contact an attorney and find out how you're going to do that under Illinois law.

[1127] And then right after you leave the meeting with the attorney, go ahead and just drive over to the office where this guy is.

[1128] okay and say baba we're not doing this anymore i'm the beneficiary which means you work for me that's what a trust means and so you're not going to be working for me anymore unless you start working for me okay how's that sound i like that idea okay and we remove him and remove him from the business and put someone into run the business or sell the business right right or he decides to straighten up his act and go oh i didn't realize you were my boss.

[1129] Seems like he got it twisted, as they said.

[1130] So I don't know why your dad did this.

[1131] This is very strange.

[1132] My dad kind of did the will and trust as almost like a last minute kind of deal.

[1133] I don't think he actually hadn't.

[1134] You don't think he even understood what he pulled off.

[1135] Right.

[1136] I don't think he had the time to dot all of his eyes and crossed his keys.

[1137] Yeah.

[1138] Okay.

[1139] Well, it would have been real simple to just leave the business to his kids.

[1140] Oh, I understand that.

[1141] Yeah, okay.

[1142] All right, but anyway, yeah, so I think I'm going to contact an estate attorney, a state planning attorney, and send them the documentation of the trust.

[1143] I'm sure you have a copy of it.

[1144] If not, it's part of the public record.

[1145] It had to be filed with the will being filed and everything else, and then sit down with that attorney and say, what is the process to remove a trustee who is not acting in the best interest of the beneficiaries?

[1146] Okay.

[1147] Because the beneficiary is the actual, that they are the ones who benefit, the beneficiary.

[1148] And so you're the stockholder.

[1149] You own it.

[1150] Right.

[1151] Yeah.

[1152] And if the trustee is not acting in the best interest of the beneficiary, they can be removed in almost any trust.

[1153] Okay.

[1154] And so, but I want to know what my rights are.

[1155] I want to know what the law says in Illinois.

[1156] I don't.

[1157] And if I'm you, you need to become an expert on that.

[1158] And then you need to go have a conversation with Bubba about whether he wants to run.

[1159] this thing or not.

[1160] Bubba's tripping.

[1161] Bubba's getting ready to be tripping after this conversation.

[1162] He's going to be having an issue.

[1163] He's got a new issue.

[1164] His issue is Bill.

[1165] And we're going to help Bill be an issue.

[1166] Brody is in Jacksonville, Florida.

[1167] Hi, Brody.

[1168] How are you?

[1169] Hey, Dave and Jade.

[1170] How are you all today?

[1171] Better than we deserve.

[1172] What's up?

[1173] So I've kind of been in a tail spend for the last six to eight months.

[1174] I jumped out of a career where I was making, you know, between me and my wife almost 300 ,000, but it was coming at the sacrifice of my family.

[1175] I missed my daughter basically growing up until she was a year old and just woke up one day and couldn't do it anymore.

[1176] So I jumped ship on that career and have moved over to a lower -paying career.

[1177] It's going to give me a little bit more of some family time.

[1178] What were you making before?

[1179] I was making by myself, not including my wife, I was making about two.

[1180] $250 ,000.

[1181] What were you doing?

[1182] Selling new construction.

[1183] And why couldn't you just work less?

[1184] It was a pretty set schedule.

[1185] It wasn't really an option to work less.

[1186] I was gone.

[1187] 80 hours a week?

[1188] Well, just gone every weekend.

[1189] So I got two days off during the week and basically never saw my wife.

[1190] I was commuting over an hour each way to the community I was in.

[1191] Your wife works?

[1192] Makes 50.

[1193] My wife works.

[1194] Monday through Friday.

[1195] I see.

[1196] And so you just said, okay, I quit.

[1197] And so now how much do you make?

[1198] This year I'm expected to make roughly 160 by myself.

[1199] Okay.

[1200] So you took $100 ,000 your pay cut.

[1201] Yes, sir.

[1202] I'll be home with my wife and daughter on the weekends.

[1203] Does that work with your budget?

[1204] It definitely does.

[1205] We're 100 % debt -free.

[1206] Great.

[1207] All we have is our mortgage.

[1208] We owe about $3 .40 on the house.

[1209] And you have a $210 ,000 income, so you can afford a $340 ,000 mortgage.

[1210] So what's the question?

[1211] Yes, sir.

[1212] The question is we've got roughly $160 ,000 just sitting in a savings account.

[1213] We pretty much stockpiled my entire income while I was selling new homes.

[1214] We've lived way below our means.

[1215] So I'm wondering if I should take some of that, throw it at the house and recast the mortgage?

[1216] No. No. No. The point is to pay off the, is to pay it.

[1217] off you don't want a lower payment well we've only had the mortgage roughly eight months we just moved in so my thought was it wouldn't really extend the loan that much but it would just put some more buffer in our monthly you don't need buffer in your monthly you make 210 ,000 you need to pay off your mortgage that's definitely the goal yeah so keep three to six months aside other than your emergency fund I would throw every piece of cash I've got at this mortgage and then I throw a bunch of income at the mortgage.

[1218] Noah, you don't want to recast and take your payment down.

[1219] It's right.

[1220] No, no, no, no. You're going the wrong way, Brody.

[1221] Wrong way, dude.

[1222] This is the Ramsey chef.

[1223] So it's just a little over a month away.

[1224] I'll be doing the Ramsey investing essentials event.

[1225] It's a two -night, two -hour -a -night virtual event.

[1226] I'll be doing it.

[1227] George Campbell's going to come along to help me, come in and interrupt me periodically.

[1228] That's how George helps.

[1229] And, uh, A little snark here and there.

[1230] He's an expert at that he is.

[1231] Yes, he is.

[1232] And so about like me anyway.

[1233] But yeah, we're going to have some fun.

[1234] And here's what we're going to do.

[1235] We're going to lay out the basics of investing, number one.

[1236] And then number two, we're going to go beyond investing 101 and go into 201, 301, and 401 in some graduate levels.

[1237] So I'm going to unpack details on mutual funds, how I actually personally select my mutual funds.

[1238] We're going to get into real estate at length, a ton about real estate.

[1239] I own several hundred million dollars with a real estate.

[1240] I don't sell a course on TikTok on how to do real estate.

[1241] And so this is just me. I'm going to tell you what I do.

[1242] So if you want to know what my playbook is, and I own, I actually do it.

[1243] I've actually done it for decades.

[1244] And so it's not like a theory like I'm doing this out of the trunk of my car or something.

[1245] So anyway, we'd love to have you.

[1246] It's going to be March 21st, I'm sorry, May 21st and 22nd.

[1247] Dave Ramsey's investing essentials, and it's pretty cool.

[1248] I've never covered this material in public before.

[1249] Dave, I'm a little nervous.

[1250] Give us a taste of what a topic might be in the 401 conversation.

[1251] The details of exactly how to place valuation on an investment real estate property.

[1252] I like it.

[1253] The stuff you would learn if you get a CCIM, which is the highest designation in commercial real estate as an example.

[1254] So we'll unpack that and then look at internal rates of return, which is how you properly measure real estate returns, and look at risk management and risk measurement and things like that as well.

[1255] So we're going to unpack every bit of that.

[1256] And it's just, it's pretty highbrow junk and it's pretty nerdy.

[1257] And so, you know, if you don't have two nickels to rub together, you probably shouldn't spend your time or your money on this.

[1258] I'll probably teach it again someday or it's going to be recorded.

[1259] So we'll have it out there somewhere I'm sure but anyway it's um I think it's a couple hundred bucks for the ticket or something so Dave Ramsey's investing essentials I've never done the material before so I'm looking forward to doing it's going to be kind of fun but it's a me teaching nerd finance class so and some of you some of the you know the trolers or whatever think I don't actually know this stuff and that that's the humorous part of this so anyway we're here to help everyone even people who have a lot of money so there you go I love it Ramsey Solutions .com slash events to sign up for any of our events and that includes, of course, that one.

[1260] So thanks for being with us.

[1261] David is in Atlanta.

[1262] Hi, David.

[1263] Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

[1264] Thank you, sir.

[1265] I appreciate you taking the call.

[1266] My pleasure.

[1267] How can we help?

[1268] I don't know that you can.

[1269] I was told to be brief, so I'll be brief.

[1270] I recently got into a rental home back in March.

[1271] of this year we are already behind and unfortunately we were not completely forthcoming with the landlord that we leased from in what way he doesn't have my correct Social Security number okay why because the way we've been living over the last several years we have been kicked out of previous homes that we've rented.

[1272] How many?

[1273] At least six.

[1274] So you've been evicted six times and now you're behind on your rent for the seventh?

[1275] Yes, sir.

[1276] Okay.

[1277] We are.

[1278] Why?

[1279] There are several reasons.

[1280] A lot of it has been me attempting to try to make my spouse happy and not making the right decision as a man as a leader and being too passive.

[1281] Is that a that in the form of you not working or you choosing places you just grossly can't afford?

[1282] Placing, yeah, choosing places we can't afford.

[1283] Okay.

[1284] So what do you make, David?

[1285] I have a few sources of income, sir.

[1286] I work full -time.

[1287] That brings in about a thousand a week after taxes.

[1288] And once I'm done with that job, I have other companies that I work for when they need me to do towing and changing tires and getting people's keys out of their cars and things of that nature on a slow week that adds about another 300 on good weeks it could add up to around 600 so around 50 so let's call that another five another six thousand dollars a year give or take okay and and does your wife work outside the home no I get an additional 415 now through the Army from a retirement or medical discharge okay so you get another $4 ,000 a month correct okay so I got 52 and 6 and 4 and 48 and so you're making over $100 ,000 a year pray tell what is your rent 2610 okay Okay.

[1289] Which you actually can afford.

[1290] Exactly.

[1291] It's the lifestyle.

[1292] And what else are you doing with the money instead of paying for the rent?

[1293] This time around, it was because I made the poor decision to promise a trip for one of my children.

[1294] And so it was one of the situations where I mean, you're bringing in $10 ,000 a month.

[1295] You have $2 ,600 in rent.

[1296] Where is all the money going?

[1297] We had to buy a car outright, and we've had to put up to this point about...

[1298] How much?

[1299] How expensive a car did you buy outright?

[1300] It was $1 ,400, sir.

[1301] You bought a $1 ,400 car.

[1302] No, this is...

[1303] Sorry, this can't be it because...

[1304] that's not even close okay so what i'm not talking about this month i'm talking about over the last several years you've been making serious money and have chosen not to pay your rent no no no sir this has only transpired over the last nine months okay so why'd you get kicked out of the last place then why weren't you paying your rent i mean you got a you got is there you have a huge car payment anywhere no sir okay how many kids do you have i have five okay how old are they the oldest is 28 out on our own the other one is 23 he's out on his own good and then I have a 21 year old a 19 year old and a 12 year old that are living with us okay and does your wife work outside the home sir she doesn't work outside the home she's doing something on her own on the side and that brings in an additional now 1 ,400 a month okay all right and so if you brought in $10 ,000 last month.

[1305] Why did you not pay your rent?

[1306] Because you promised a trip and bought a $1 ,400 car?

[1307] Well, it was a $1 ,400 car, but unfortunately it needed about $2 ,500 with the repairs that we weren't aware of, and now it needs another $14.

[1308] How long have you been making $100 ,000 a year?

[1309] How long have you been making a decent income?

[1310] No, he did nine months.

[1311] As he said, nine months ago, he got this job.

[1312] Nine months.

[1313] Got you.

[1314] Okay, I missed that.

[1315] Okay.

[1316] All right, David.

[1317] There's something really glaringly missing in this whole equation, and I can't put my finger on it.

[1318] And I hesitate to just start lashing out at this very frustrating situation because you're hurting and you're scared.

[1319] Okay.

[1320] So here's the simple, let me just back into the way you should be doing this.

[1321] Okay.

[1322] Okay.

[1323] The way you should be doing this is you ought to be bringing home the money, and the first thing it does is buy food.

[1324] The second thing is lights and water.

[1325] And the third thing is you pay your rent.

[1326] you have the money to do all of those.

[1327] What in God's name causes someone to buy a $1 ,400 car and then spend $2 ,500 on it and then propose to spend another $1 ,400 on it?

[1328] You drive that thing over the junkyard, park it, and take a check, and walk away and go buy something else.

[1329] This is dumber and a rock, man. Don't do that.

[1330] And then you guys have got to get on a game plan and start to control your money.

[1331] And I don't know, and quit promising kids stuff, and then you get evictive.

[1332] Oh, and by the way, commit criminal fraud and don't give them your actual proper Social Security number, too.

[1333] That's like go to jail stuff, man. Don't do this stuff.

[1334] So you guys got to get control.

[1335] Jade Walshaw, Ramsey, Personality is my co -host today.

[1336] Open phones at AAA 825 -5 -225.

[1337] You jump in.

[1338] We'll talk about your life and your money.

[1339] Caleb and Christina are with us on the debt.

[1340] free stage right here in the lobby of Ramsey Solutions.

[1341] Hey guys, how are you?

[1342] Doing good.

[1343] How are you, Dave?

[1344] So excited to be here.

[1345] Well, we're honored to have you.

[1346] How much, where you guys live?

[1347] Denver, Colorado.

[1348] Very cool.

[1349] Very cool.

[1350] Thanks, man. We appreciate y 'all coming all the way out here.

[1351] And how much debt have you paid off?

[1352] We did 102 ,000 over 36 months.

[1353] Good for you.

[1354] And your range of income during that time.

[1355] So we started around 85 ,000, and we are around 200 now.

[1356] very good what do you all do for a living um so i'm a personal trainer and uh online health coach as well and then up until now i've done um a nursing by trade on an energy medicine practitioner and i'm also a makeup artist oh very cool up until now what do you mean up until now because i've made this transition into coming out of nursing and doing my energy medicine practice full time ah very cool got a baby on the way yes we do the second one okay very good good for you guys What kind of debt was the 102 ,000?

[1357] A little bit of everything.

[1358] Cars.

[1359] Credit cards.

[1360] Credit cards.

[1361] And student debt.

[1362] A couple personal loans in there, too, yeah.

[1363] How long have you guys been married?

[1364] Two years.

[1365] Yes.

[1366] All right.

[1367] So a little bit before you got married, you started thinking about this stuff.

[1368] Yes.

[1369] Yeah, we didn't do things exactly the day Ramsey way.

[1370] Okay.

[1371] All right.

[1372] So you decided to get in attack mode on the 36 ,000, I mean, on the 102 ,000.

[1373] Tell us the story.

[1374] How did you get plugged into the Ramsey?

[1375] stuff.

[1376] So it was actually right around just before COVID started that we were introduced to you guys and we had a friend that had paid her debt off and, you know, we saw one of her posts.

[1377] And so we were just asking about it and she told us.

[1378] So we both bought the, um, the FPU course and we started going through that.

[1379] And it wasn't long after that that like, boom, pandemic.

[1380] And, um, that messes up personal training.

[1381] Yeah.

[1382] I mean, the gym closed for, oh, you know, a little bit over three.

[1383] And, you know, a little three months.

[1384] And so, and that was a big part of where the difference in income was, because for that time, I was, I ended up going working at Costco for a while and, you know, making $15 an hour.

[1385] And, you know, so that was, that was kind of really all I was doing at the time.

[1386] But I also saw that as an opportunity where the, the biggest portion of the student loans was mine.

[1387] And I noticed that, you know, I found out whenever they were pausing the payments and the interest, I was like, this is the time to attack this.

[1388] That's right.

[1389] Yeah.

[1390] And so, you know, we just, even though we weren't making as much, we just started attacking it then.

[1391] And from there, you know, as things started to reopen and life started to get a little bit more normal, I went back to training and got a different job, got out of the retail world.

[1392] And, yeah, we just built it from there.

[1393] Yeah, it took off.

[1394] I love that you didn't allow, you know, your decrease in income for the time to, to, you didn't let that take an opportunity from you, like that interest -free period and that payment -free period from student loans.

[1395] That's really cool.

[1396] Yeah.

[1397] That would have been an easy thing to use as an excuse, is what you're saying.

[1398] Might have been a few people did that.

[1399] I don't know, but not you guys.

[1400] And to be honest, in the beginning, him and I were not on the same page.

[1401] We come from very different financial backgrounds, and he was like gung -ho from the first go.

[1402] And to be honest, the first 12 months was a little bit rough between both of us.

[1403] because he was like, we're doing this.

[1404] And I was like, nah, I'm okay to have a little bit of debt here and there.

[1405] Like, it's totally fine.

[1406] So I was like, lukewarm.

[1407] And so.

[1408] I'm like, well, babe, Dave says.

[1409] She's like, oh, this guy.

[1410] So how'd you go from lukewarm to boiling?

[1411] Okay, this is, well, we listen to your guys' show when we're working out together.

[1412] And we listened to one of your episodes where some caller was talking about how she sold her home to pay off her debt.

[1413] And so I like took out the air pod and I was like, have you ever thought about this?

[1414] And he was like, babe, I've literally thought about this a million times, but I know that you won't do it.

[1415] And so for me, I was a single mom when I met Caleb.

[1416] And so it was really important to me to keep this rental or I mean this condo that I had purchased by myself.

[1417] And I was like, I'm going to save this for my future kiddo so that he always has this like piece of investment in his life or he can do whatever he wants with it later.

[1418] And then when we heard that podcast episode, I was like, wait a second.

[1419] He gets really stressed out with finances.

[1420] Okay.

[1421] So for me, it was like almost a stressor on me too.

[1422] And I was just like, look, if this is going to make our life that much easier, then 100 % I'm on board.

[1423] Let's get rid of this mortgage.

[1424] Let's pay off the rest of this debt.

[1425] Let's get into step three.

[1426] And I'm all in.

[1427] And so since then, it's not been easy because budgeting is not very, fun for me. Obviously, I'm like the extrovert, so I like need to have all the fun around it.

[1428] So we made it into like a date night and it became something that I wanted to do.

[1429] And so now I'm like, hey, it's the 30th.

[1430] Like we need to get on reviewing what we did the month before.

[1431] And then we need to get into our every dollar and make sure we're prep for the next month.

[1432] And Caleb quit using my name as a cuss word.

[1433] That's good.

[1434] It was no longer a threat, yes.

[1435] I love it.

[1436] Way to go, you guys.

[1437] Very good.

[1438] Cool.

[1439] How's it feel to be free?

[1440] I mean, I was one of those people, you know, when I came out of college, I had, you know, 50, 55, close to 60 ,000 in student debt.

[1441] And then I didn't touch them for a few years.

[1442] And they just built up to a maximum of around 70.

[1443] And there was a good amount of time where I just saw that and I thought, this is just what people live with.

[1444] Just hopeless.

[1445] Yeah, I'm never, and I'm never going to pay this off.

[1446] It's just, it's just going to be something I have, you know.

[1447] And when I finally started to realize, like, that's not how you have to live life, you know, you can have something, you can have a debt -free life and you don't have to carry these loans and all this, all this extra weight on you.

[1448] Yeah, I mean, it feels incredible.

[1449] I mean.

[1450] Caleb's been dreaming about this moment.

[1451] When we first started at FPU, he was like, I cannot wait until we're on that stage.

[1452] We're going to do our debt -free scream.

[1453] And we were supposed to go on a baby moon.

[1454] So this is our baby moon.

[1455] And so I compromised.

[1456] Nashville.

[1457] Nashville's a cool, baby moon.

[1458] It works.

[1459] It works.

[1460] She wanted Vegas.

[1461] We settled on Nashville.

[1462] I just wanted to be by a pool.

[1463] Somewhat the same, I'm afraid.

[1464] Way to go, you guys.

[1465] Way to go.

[1466] I'm proud of y 'all.

[1467] Thank you.

[1468] Was anybody cheering you on from the outside?

[1469] Yeah, I mean, more or less, a lot of our friends and family, you know, even though a lot of people kind of look at it and they don't maybe understand what we're doing.

[1470] and, you know, it's not something that they necessarily believe in themselves.

[1471] We had a lot of people saying, you know, this is really cool that you guys are, they're on this journey.

[1472] And, yeah, so.

[1473] Yeah, I think it's really cool because when you start this journey, you actually start sharing it.

[1474] People that are also like Dave Ramsey weirdos come out and they're like, oh, yeah, we're so with you.

[1475] And then they share their story with us too.

[1476] You have to know the code, though.

[1477] You have to unlock the code.

[1478] Then they start coming out of the woodwork.

[1479] Yeah.

[1480] Yeah, we figured, we figured out.

[1481] Better than I deserve is the code.

[1482] That's code for we're doing this.

[1483] Yeah, we figured out people don't talk about it unless you bring it up first.

[1484] Yeah, because they get trashed by their crazy friends.

[1485] That's right.

[1486] That's it.

[1487] Way to go, y 'all.

[1488] Proud of you.

[1489] Hey, we got a couple of years of every dollar for you.

[1490] One year subscriptions for that to say thanks for coming down.

[1491] And we really appreciate you guys.

[1492] All right.

[1493] Let's bring the young man up.

[1494] What's his name and age?

[1495] Neo.

[1496] And he's seven.

[1497] Neo is seven.

[1498] and his parents have changed his life.

[1499] I love it.

[1500] Way to go.

[1501] Very cool stuff.

[1502] All right.

[1503] Caleb and Christina and Neo, 102 ,000 paid off in 36 months, making 85 to 200.

[1504] Count it down.

[1505] Let's hear a debt -free scream.

[1506] Ready?

[1507] Three, two, one.

[1508] We're debt -free.

[1509] This is how it's done right here.

[1510] Oh, man. I do.

[1511] I've heard the story a lot where I go from Cussword to Saint.

[1512] It's possible.

[1513] All in one fell story arc right there.

[1514] I love it.

[1515] This is the Ramsey show.

[1516] Our scripture of the day, this is Habakkuk 319.

[1517] The sovereign Lord is my strength.

[1518] He makes me as sure -footed as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.

[1519] Tina Faye said confidence is 10 % hard work and 90 % delusion.

[1520] Love it.

[1521] I'm with it.

[1522] Open phones at AAA 825 -5 -2 -2 -2 -5.

[1523] You jump in.

[1524] We'll talk about your life and your money.

[1525] Amy is in Boston.

[1526] Hi, Amy.

[1527] Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

[1528] Hi, Dave.

[1529] Thank you for having me. Sure.

[1530] What's up?

[1531] Well, I'm hoping you could help me figure something out.

[1532] I'm dealing with a lot of resentment and anger and frustration over the fact.

[1533] that I have a friend who is basically committing workers' compensation fraud.

[1534] She was injured on the job.

[1535] It was legitimate.

[1536] And she was collecting workers' comp for a couple of years.

[1537] For four years, she's been absolutely fine.

[1538] And she collects a good portion of her salary for doing whatever she wants.

[1539] And she acts like it's okay.

[1540] and what's worse is I often puts me down for working and I don't know what to do about it I think if she were not part of my friend group and I wasn't going to see her I would just stop being friends with her but she is and I don't want things to be uncomfortable and yet I just have such a hard time with this I've worked my whole life I raised two kids by myself.

[1541] I'm divorced since they were three and four.

[1542] They're in their 20s now.

[1543] They're both struggling to buy a house even though they work really hard and they're saving their money.

[1544] Yeah, I got you.

[1545] I think of a $40 ,000 in taxes last year.

[1546] I got you.

[1547] Yeah.

[1548] It's just, it's maddening, yeah.

[1549] Are you the only one in your friend group who knows this?

[1550] Like, is this a secret or everybody knows?

[1551] Oh, everybody knows.

[1552] Everybody knows.

[1553] And are you the only one who has a problem with it.

[1554] Because what I'm trying to decide here is if she's the problem or if the friend group in general is the problem.

[1555] Well, we go back a long way.

[1556] We've been friends since grammar school.

[1557] And, you know, there were a lot of years when we were raising our families, you know, we're in our 50s now, where we didn't see each other very much.

[1558] And so a lot of this wasn't really known.

[1559] But, yeah, we all have a problem with it.

[1560] some reason we just don't.

[1561] Has anyone confronted her with it?

[1562] Because if you're telling me, I'm trying to put myself in your shoes, if I have a good buddy, which I do, and I have had this situation, I've earned the right at that point to, you know, speak truth and say, hey, listen, here's what, here's what you've told me. Unless there's something I'm missing, here's what I'm observing.

[1563] And, you know, we've always held each other to higher standards in this.

[1564] Like, what's going on?

[1565] And if I'm your friend, you know, she has always been the kind of person who will tell you exactly what she thinks but if you do it to her she'll cut you off at the knees okay well she can dish it out and she can't take it exactly exactly i mean i mean what what is the big draw here why not just yeah why not just sever the in this relationship there's no point i mean you don't have to be mean and call her up and say i break up but i mean just quit hanging out with her she's not good people period yeah i don't think the chance i don't think there's any chance you're going to change her.

[1566] So why hang out with people that are misbehaving?

[1567] You're going to become one of them.

[1568] Plus, yeah, you are, because you become who you hang around with.

[1569] And you're angry all the time about something that is not even your problem.

[1570] And that was the indicator.

[1571] When you first told us, I have a friend who's committing fraud, but then after it, you were like, I do this and I've done that and I pay my taxes and my kids are trying to buy, like, that's when I was like, oh, this is really making you feel some type of way.

[1572] It's not worth it.

[1573] Yeah, why hang out?

[1574] You're right.

[1575] Cut it off.

[1576] Why?

[1577] Okay.

[1578] What's the purpose?

[1579] There's no purpose.

[1580] There's nothing gained when you're with her.

[1581] Mm -mm.

[1582] Well, I don't hang out with her.

[1583] It's enough to make you call the show.

[1584] Yeah.

[1585] I know.

[1586] I know.

[1587] I know.

[1588] I know.

[1589] Because I, you know, why, because I saw her today.

[1590] And I just, you're right.

[1591] It makes me crazy.

[1592] I guess my problem with her.

[1593] That's not her.

[1594] She's not bothering her a bit.

[1595] She's living rent -free in your head.

[1596] I know right.

[1597] And she's committing fraud.

[1598] This chick's got it all way around.

[1599] So, I mean, I would just let her go do whatever she's going to do.

[1600] I mean, I know lots of people who misbehaved, but I don't want to hang out with them.

[1601] And I'm certainly not going to spend my brain calories trying to fix them when they don't even want me to.

[1602] Right.

[1603] That and she's at home eating a ham sandwich and you're here ripping your hair out over her.

[1604] yeah you're right i know i know i know and i think the reason i mean the reason why i i haven't done that i think it's because i don't want to be awkward when i know i'm going to see her i don't need to see her yeah i don't even think you need to have any it's i have a i have a friend that i have known for um 45 years roughly okay who has uh about 10 years ago I said I don't even want to be in the room with them again because they have a tremendous problem with their temper and they'll be going along just fine and sweet as they can be and then just decide they're going to light somebody up and they usually do it digitally because usually they're coward okay and they'll light somebody else in the friend group up and just tear them to pieces and then go on and act like they didn't do anything just pretend like it never happened and those people are dangerous and I don't want to be around them and so I've just made a decision I've known them a long long time but I don't you know if they're going to be at the party I'm probably not yeah I just don't want I don't be around them and it's not awkward at all I it's I don't want to expose myself to the foolishness of this human being and that's what you're that's what you're talking about and so it's sad but you know and and friendships run their course and that's fine.

[1605] Yeah, they do.

[1606] You know, everybody is not a lifer and that's okay.

[1607] For sure.

[1608] Yeah.

[1609] I mean, for sure they do.

[1610] And because your life changes, they change, everything changes.

[1611] You move different areas of the country.

[1612] You start to, you know, commit fraud.

[1613] You know, you're, I'm sorry?

[1614] I said you start to commit fraud.

[1615] Oh, yeah, there's that.

[1616] You start to be a criminal and yeah, there's that.

[1617] And, you know, just, and then, and then you run other people down who work hard.

[1618] Yeah.

[1619] Yeah.

[1620] Because I rub banks.

[1621] but you work.

[1622] Right.

[1623] Look at you, you know, and so, but yeah, I mean, that's, yeah.

[1624] Amy, you're spending too many calories trying to fix somebody doesn't want to be fixed, and you're doing it over and over and over in your head, and she doesn't care.

[1625] So I just, you don't have to call her up and break up.

[1626] I just wouldn't be around when she's around.

[1627] That's simple.

[1628] Yeah.

[1629] And then if she calls up and says, hey, where are you been going, you know, I just had enough of you.

[1630] Yeah.

[1631] Yeah.

[1632] I just got a gut full of your fraud and you running me down, and I'm a hardworking person.

[1633] that pays my bills and I don't cheat and steal and you do and I just have enough of you and um you can't you can't be friends with someone you don't respect yeah bottom line like you there's has to be a base level of I respect you as a human being yeah I respect something about you you know and it's like you know like I have people that are friends of mine that vote wrong but they've got great intellect yeah and they're just using it poorly and so it's a lot of fun to hang out with and I like I like getting and good -spirited friendly arguments.

[1634] There you go.

[1635] You know?

[1636] Because I like being around people that believe things I don't.

[1637] Of course.

[1638] Just to learn and to check my ideas against them and all that.

[1639] It's a little intellectual sparring, if you will.

[1640] But that's different than this is the person I'm going to call when my family's in trouble.

[1641] Yeah.

[1642] Because this person, you know, a friend is somebody, a 2 a .m. friend, we call them.

[1643] So you call it 2 a .m. when the kid's sick and you got to run into the emergency room.

[1644] And you need somebody to keep the other kid.

[1645] Yeah.

[1646] Well, there's also a level of this, and I'm not trying to go too deep, but if you're committing fraud, you're lying, and it's hard to be friends with liars.

[1647] Oh, there you go.

[1648] There you go.

[1649] Everything moves at the speed of trust, right?

[1650] Yeah.

[1651] Wow.

[1652] Good stuff.

[1653] Good stuff.

[1654] All right.

[1655] That about puts this particular hour of the Ramsey show in the books.

[1656] We'll be back with you before you know it.

[1657] In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace.

[1658] Christ Jesus.

[1659] Dr. John Deloney here.

[1660] Mental and emotional health challenges, broken relationships, it's all just part of life, but they don't have to define you.

[1661] The Dr. John Deloney's show is here to help.

[1662] It's a collar -driven podcast where you can get practical advice on dealing with anxiety, loneliness, depression, relationship challenges, your kids, and so much more.

[1663] Listen to questions from our callers, or if you're walking through a tough situation and need some help, Give me a call.

[1664] You were never meant to do life alone, and that's what this podcast is all about.

[1665] Follow along on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or the Ramsey Network app.

[1666] Remember, your worth being well.