Transcript of Wisdom With Money Means Moving Slowly

Brought to you by the Every Dollar app. Start budgeting for free today. Normal is broken, common sense is weird. So we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network and the Fairwinds Credit Union studio, this is The Ramsey Show. I'm Dave Ramsey, Ken Coleman, number one best-selling author, host of Front Row Seat, a big hit on the Ramsey Networks. He is Ramsey personality that is my co-host today. The phone number is 828-825-5225. Sarah is in Atlanta. Hi, Sarah. How are you? I'm good. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up?

I'm doing good. So my question is that... So I am in a relationship. We are not married, but we do just call each other's partners. We're both unhappy. I've voiced it, he's voiced it, and it's mainly due to our communication mission style and our differences. For me, I'm more of a person like, I love a clean house. I love to be supported by access service and going out together. He's more of a homebody, and he's really affectionate, but I didn't grow up to be an affectionate person. And when we do talk about issues, it does become escalated very quickly, such as if we're not seeing eye to eye, he's quick to yell and point fingers. And I'm more Also, just withdraw. I'll go to a different room where I say, Just talk to me later when you're calm. So I just want to know, how can we better communicate without... Or how do I handle him or handle situations when he's yelling at me and how to do better with that so he can see my perspective and see it more like a team issue instead of he's against me or I am against him.

How long have you all been dating?

So We've been together for five years, and we have a child together.

Has the relationship been the way you just described to us the entire time?

Oh, no, it was way worse in the beginning.

Well, at least we're trending up.

I didn't expect that answer. What do you think has caused it to get better?

I think what caused it to get better is maybe I'm one of those people, I learned to protect myself, my emotional state. So sometimes I just withdraw and I think of something else because in the beginning, he was very verbally abusive towards me. He'll yell at me. He'll curse me out for hours on in, for three hours or four hours, even when I was pregnant, we had arguments for that long and to the point they would just escalate where he's in my face shouting and stuff.

Is that still happening?

Oh, no, it's not happening anymore. I talked about it. He was asking me, Why am I less secessionate? And so on. I'm like, Well, I can't be affectionate to someone who's trying to purposely intimidate me. And he has said before that he does purposely try to make me cry because he said sometimes he feels like I don't have emotions.

No, I hear you. Let me ask another question. Is it getting better not because he all of a sudden got control of his anger, but because you've just detached so much and you've cowered, or you have, I'm going to use the word detach, for lack of a better word, to where he's no longer irritated, so you're almost a shell of yourself. Is that why it's better?

I feel like it's a little bit of both. I feel like me detaching and taking my emotions away from the situation has made me handle the situations better such as telling him I'm not going to talk to him when he's yelling at me or just walking away. That has worked out for me because it seems like he finally got the message.

The bottom line is you all suck at interpersonal relationships. Yeah. Both of you.

Okay. Why?

You, because you won't set a boundary, you should never let anyone treat you the way you've been treated under any circumstances. Period. If you were my daughter, I would have removed you from that house and left him in duct tape. You weren't yelling at my kid. This is ridiculous. Okay? It's ridiculous. No one should be treated the way you've been treated, and you should never allow someone to treat you the way you've been treated. And so that should have stopped the very first time it happened, not five years ago. So the only shot you guys have got, if you have one, is to sit down with a good coach, a good counselor. We're not that. I'm just an old guy that's been married 43 years, and I don't yell at my wife, not if I want to live. And so she's a hillbilly woman. Frying pan throwing from East Tennessee is an Olympic event. We don't do that stuff. We get angry, we have arguments, but we don't treat each other that way. You guys need to sit down with a good marriage counselor, go see a good pastor in a local church, and begin to get some guidance through.

You've got in-depth relational training that you need to do. You've got some the verbiage around it, so you've been reading or doing something. So you've picked up a few things along the way. But I don't think on a call, a one phone call on a podcast that two old dudes can tell you how to fix all this.

Hey, whoa, easy. Easy with the old. I don't know that I'm going to accept that label.

Compared to her.

Fair. One final thing I would say in encouragement, very much because you're not married, I think I would throw a really strong ultimatum. The line is drawn in the sand today. As soon as this call is over, and that's which you're going to say to him, either you go and sit in therapy with me and we sit there until a professional says that we have the tools to actually be healthy, then I'm no longer going to be in a relationship with you. That would be the one piece of advice. I would drop that today. Draw the line, it stops. One way this goes forward, healing through therapy.

That's it. That's it. Sit down with a good marriage counselor, and a good pastor can recommend that or have it on staff. They can help you with this and get somebody in your life, kiddo, that can guide you to. Because neither one of you had people around you up to this point that would teach you that stuff. Because this is a really dysfunctional situation. It's not fair to either one of you. It's not fair to him to keep acting like that and think he can get away with it in society. It's not fair to you, obviously, for all the reasons. Guys, Sharon and I, after we've been married 10 years, we've been married 43. We It's been about three years in the marriage counselor's office. That was about three years after we went broke. When we went broke, we couldn't afford. Instead, we're just angry all the time. But finally, we got a little bit of money and we're like, Okay, we got to work on this. The marriage counselor for me, I was telling Deloney this the other day. It was not people like, I don't need therapy. I don't need counseling. Well, I didn't really.

What I needed was a tutor. What I needed was a relationship tutor, someone to teach me how to talk to my wife, how to hear my wife, how to hear my own heart. It's a relationship tutor.

I like the tutor. You know what it also does?

If you want to call it... It's a mirror. I was like I was going to school. I felt like I was going to class. That's what I was doing. I learned a lot during those three years. Some of it I spout back at you people when you call in here. But we weren't starting from where you're starting, honey. You all got a lot of work to do. If you do not do it, this is going to continue to deteriorate and it's not going to end well. So it doesn't get better unless it gets better. It's that simple. And this, getting it to where it's tolerable is not okay. That's not a way to live your life. You don't get the end of your life, and that's been the definition of your whole life. Why would you do that?

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Well, there's a lot of chaos and a lot of noise out there about the economy, about your money right now. You can't win. You know that, right? It's impossible. Well, we don't know that. You have more control than you think. This time, this time of year, it's time for you to take back your money. Starting at our free Every Dollar Live stream that is tonight at 07: 00 PM. It's hosted by me and Jade, and we're going to give you the clarity you need to finally get ahead with money. We're giving away $20,000 tonight, $1,000 gifts. No purchase necessary. All you have to do is to enter. All you have to do to enter the giveaway is to sign up for the live stream. It's tonight at ramseysolutions. Com/livestream. We would love to have you. There's Several hundred thousand of you have already registered, and we've got between 2,000 and 3,000 folks going to be in the Ramsey Events Center with us as we're doing it live. A bunch of them already sitting outside here watching the show today. So there we go. It's going to be a lot of fun. You guys look forward to having you.

All right. Hannah is with us in Tampa, Florida. Hi, Hannah. How are you? Hi, I'm good. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up?

My husband and I, we're in our 30s. We have a 19-month-old in no debt. We take home about 6,850 per month. Our mortgage with taxes, insurance, with HOA is about 2,800 right now because we have an underpayment of taxes last year, and next year it'll hopefully be 2,400. We're just wondering if we should sell our home and downgrade and rent an apartment instead or continue to be in our home. We don't really have much of an emergency savings, about $4,000, and we want to work to eventually be a stay at home mom at some point.

Okay. Well, the deal is this, okay? You can survive your house payment being 40% of your take home pay for a period of time. You just can't prosper. There's no room in your budget because you're house poor. The answer is if you can't fix that in a reasonably close period of time, or if you do fix it and then you turn around and quit and it starts over again, then that means we have a house that you can't afford if you stay home, right?

Yeah.

If your husband never gets a raise and the taxes keep going up, or you never get a raise in the household income. Let's say the payment goes up continually and your income doesn't. Well, obviously, that's not sustainable, right? Yeah. But if you're in a situation, Hey, my husband's finishing up an apprenticeship. He's going to be making double or whatever, and it's five months from now or a year from now. Yeah, you can hang on for a period of time, right? But as you have already discovered, that's why you're asking the question. There's no wiggle room in your life, no margin to be able to win with.

No. Yeah, exactly.

So are you going to be able to fix this in a reasonable period of time?

No, he's still working on getting his bachelor's, which is going to probably take a couple more years. The plan was for me to just continue working until hopefully he gets a higher paying position and then I can quit my job. But it's going to always take a couple more years before he gets back to work.

What does he do now?

He works for a hospital just in their billing department.

Making what?

I think $30 an hour. He makes about, I think, 35 take home per month, and I make about 31 take home.

What would the bachelor's degree, what would it get him?

What degree for what reason?

Either accounting or finance to either go and be an accountant somewhere or maybe a financial analyst is what we're thinking of pursuing for him.

Yeah. Could he Does he have margins where he could pick up some projects, some other clients doing bookkeeping, the very thing he wants to get a degree for, but could do some, and I'm going to call it, basic fundamental bookkeeping? Could he do that time-wise?

I mean, with school, it would be really hard for him to have that.

No, I'm going to say, All right, so what if we drop school? Would he have time?

Yeah. If he dropped school, then he can learn to do that, and then he'd be able to have time for it, for sure.

Here's the It's a challenge. If I were sitting with you guys in your kitchen, I would be looking at alternate paths to do the work he wants to do that don't require the bachelor's degree. Now, it might require it, but if it's the type of work and he can get some certifications, I would be looking at that. I would be okay pausing school for a season. If he has to have the degree to do the accounting work he wants to do, then I get it.

If he's going to get a master's and get a CPA, then he's obviously got a great career.

He has to do it, yeah.

But if you're not going to go that route if you just want to learn accounting, that's way different. But here's the thing. You can't just wave a wand and say, I get to do all of these things. Not make enough money and have too much house and quit my job and wait on him to wander through this bachelor's for no apparent reason. We need to really get nailed down here exactly where we're going, when we're getting there, and Then that'll tell you, is this house a blocker or is it something we just need to hang on to for a minute and then it's going to be okay? Because if you told me he was getting ready to graduate, even in 24 months, and his income was going to double, he's going to be making 60,000, 70,000. Your Our income is going to go up and you could figure out something you could do from home, even with a baby. Our income overall goes up substantially. Then the house is going to be fine. But you don't want to trade a house you can't afford for your desire to be at home with a kid, too.

I'd rather you be in a cheap house and be home with a kid, if that's your desire. You guys got to make these conscious decisions. But the old thing, you can't have your cake and eat it, too. You can't do both. Casey's with us in Atlanta. Hi, Casey. How are you?

I'm doing well on yourself.

Better than I deserve. What's up?

I just received a job offer. Thank you. I'd be switching from a work from home position that I currently have to a home health position where I drive around the Metro area and provide services to patients in their home, I would be receiving a significant pay increase. Last year, I ended the year for my full-time job with about 64,000. In my offer letter for my base pay for my new job would be about 120,000.

Wow.

Wow, that is huge.

Love it, Casey. Way to go.

Thank you. I guess the question lies, I drive a 2005 Toyota Corolla, had the same car since college. It has over 200,000 miles on it. And the question then lies in, would you still recommend only $1,000 in emergency savings and then pouring my extra into my student loan debt? Because my major concern is that with this home health job, my car is my livelihood. If I'm not able to see patients, I'm not able to have money. And because I have an older car, I just am hesitant about not having a backup plan immediately or having to go into debt to get another car.

Yeah, but you're making $10,000 a month.

There.

Okay. If the car breaks, rent a car for a month, save up five grand and go buy a car.

Okay.

But the car isn't going to break.

I hope you're right, Dave.

It does sometimes. If it does. I mean, if it's a $1,000 car, it's a throwaway car, right? We get another throwaway car and we do it again. You upgrade to a $5,000 car, but you just put everything on hold, rent a car for a month, and then go and rent the cheapest little thing you can rent for a month, and then go do that. You're not married, right? You're single. The way you're using your words, I think that.

Yes, I'm dating, but I am not married.

Okay. All right. So there's no backup plan. I mean, there's no other car in the driveway type thing. Okay. Correct. That's what I was double checking. But yeah, that's what I would do. Here's the thing. I'll be honest, I am stereotyping your car. If you told me it was a Dodge Neon, I might change my answer.

I was thinking the same thing.

Because your car is the ultimate cool hoopte. These cars have so much life in them. You might get another $200 $1,000 out of that stupid thing. I don't want you to. I want you to get a better car than that. But how much student loan debt have you got?

$73,000.

Oh, man. Yeah, you're going to be done with that in about 18 months and move it up in car. I like it. Casey, congratulations. Well done. That's what I would do.

She's got to drive around Atlanta. I just want to point out, having lived there for 11 years, if you go to hell and you live in the south, you have to go through Atlanta. It's just the worst driving around.

So we'll pray for her. Absolutely. Owning a business can be a heavy load. You want to serve your customers well, make a healthy profit, and grow. And your team, family, and customers are all counting on you. And now Everybody's talking about AI like it's magic, and you're wondering how to keep up. You're carrying a lot, but you don't have to do it all alone. That's where NetSuite comes in. Over 43,000 businesses, including Ramsey Solutions, use NetSuite to lighten the load by bringing all their numbers into one system: accounting, inventory, CRM, payroll, the works. And now NetSuite's AI takes it further, automating busy work, flagging inventory issues, spotting cash problems in real-time, and catching risks before they hit. So you're not just closing the books faster, you're making decisions confidently. And when your numbers are right, that takes a lot of pressure off your shoulders. And yeah, Switching systems is a big move. But NetSuite's sweet success process gets you up and running fast. Go to netsuite. Com/ramsey for a free product tour and to schedule time with a NetSuite rep. That's netsuite. Com/ramsey. Wayne is in Indiana. Hey, Wayne, how are you? Hey, Dave. I'm doing great.

Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up?

Well, first off, I should just say that I am signed up for the livestream tonight.

That's awesome.

Thank you. I'm really looking forward to that. Thank you.

I know you have a background in real estate, and you've run your own business for literally decades, so I'm hoping you might have some useful advice for me. I'll try. My wife and I have been married for a few years, and frankly, I refuse to merge our finances because I find her financial habits to be pretty chaotic, and it's largely a function of her work.

She is a real estate agent and has been doing that for over 10 years. We tried to speak about this a few times, but it generally ends in tears and not a whole lot changes.

I'm just looking for any helpful advice you might have on how to untangle the business from the personal life and how to make meaningful changes in that regard. Okay. Now, you understand that when you sell real estate, your income, by definition, is straight commission and is chaotic. Yes, I understand that. That's not what you're talking about.

No.

Okay.

No, I'm not talking about the fluctuations in the income.

Okay. All right. Just making sure. There are certainly fluctuations.

No, I just mean like- Basically, a real estate agent is what we call 1099 or an independent subcontractor.

So they run their own business. Each real estate agent runs and owns their own business and has to pay taxes as a sole proprietorship, or some of them actually build an LLC for a crew, for a team. What she should do, and anytime you open a business, even if it's a solopreneur, a single person, is you open a separate checking account for the business. It can even be just a sole proprietorship. It doesn't have to be incorporated. You don't even have to get a tax number. You use your social security number. It would be Wayne's Wife DBA doing business as Wayne's Wife's Real Estate, whatever the name is, right? It's just opened in her social. You can put your name on the account as well, but they have a separate account. Then 100% of the business expenses only come out of that account. When she gets ready to pay her MLS dues, her real estate dues, when she gets ready to buy signs or ads or to pay for a drone to get ready to stage a house, whatever it is that she's doing to sell the house, those are business expenses. Groceries do not come out of that.

Electric for your Home does not come out of that. It's only business expenses, and business expenses never come out of the personal account. They need to be separated. This is good business regardless of your frustration. Yeah. Okay. Because it's very difficult for her to do her taxes if you have to go and unravel your personal checkbook and pull out your business expenses one at a time at the end of the year. Yeah, and that's what she's been doing. I know. That's what most of them do, and it sucks. Okay? Yeah. It's horrible. One of the things when we're coaching Ramsey Trusted Real estate Agents, we teach them to run the back office, so to speak, the business aspect of their business. Part of that is basic accounting. Everything. If you only take business expenses out of that account, and the only thing you put into that account are real estate commissions, by definition, what's left in that account is called profit.

Sure.

Out of that profit, you can leave some to cover some of the expenses next month, and you can bring some home. When you bring some home is when I would hold back a fourth of it for taxes. Because you've got your income taxes and you got 15. 3, both sides of FICA.

Yeah.

Okay. You set aside 25%, you're going to be really close unless she's making a half million a year, and then it's not enough. But if you set aside 25% of your money you pull out that's profits into another account, then she can file her quarterly estimates, which she's probably also not doing. Yeah, not. Yeah, and getting penalized every stinking year for not filing the quarterly estimates. It's costing you a lot of money, this disorganization. Okay? It's costing a lot of money. Just because we're not doing... And this is sixth-grade math. It's just a matter of the discipline of separation is all it is. We run the business over there like we're running it for someone else, emotionally. Then when It has some profit. We take some out, bring it home, hold the taxes out, and then we've got some money to add to the household budget and the household goals. But until that happens, until there's a profit in that account, she's not made money in the real estate business. How many houses she's selling a year? I'd say 15. She's making a little money. She's not making much.

Yeah.

Her expenses are eating up a bunch of that. But we don't even know that because we're not doing a good job of keeping the accounting.

Yeah.

This is an accounting and a business acumen, a business function. Now, I don't know how to emotionally get her to do that, but That's the proper way a residential real estate agent should handle their business, or for that matter, any solopreneur out there.

Yeah. My advice is, I have to bet that Wayne, you're the nerd of the family.

I think that's safe.

I think that if she's open, if she's open to you helping, you do exactly what Dave just told you to do, and you lead on this. It sounds like the tears, the stuff that keeps coming up from the tears is just the frustration between the two of you on this. I think Dave just gave you very simple but actually effective blueprint. This is where you come in, not like the guy on the white horse who's the hero, makes her feel bad. You know what, babe, I've not supported you the way I need to support you, and I can do this. I'm wired for this. I called Dave, I got a plan. If she doesn't have any problem with this, I think this is easily solved. But you got to lead.

She may not be confident of her competence to do this. That would be true of a lot of people. There are some nerds that sell residential real estate, but most of them aren't. Most of them... I mean, this is an industry that has glamor shots on their business card. This is usually not a nerd.

At times, I've seen boas.

Yes, I have seen that, too. We're not talking the constricter type. No. But it's It may be that she's not got the detail wiring that you have, Wayne, or even that I have, that will force you to do that in order to get the business run properly. But if she's wrecking the car and you can help her drive it and she's willing to let you, then that's a cool idea from Ken to come alongside and support rather than stand back and throw grenades and go, Wow, you really are stupid about this.

Well, it's spoken from experience, and I'm really glad, Dave, that you just made this point. To our broader audience, here's what you need to understand, especially if you're in a married situation, you're trying to figure out finances. I'm not wired like Dave. When I heard Dave, what you just laid out, the free spirit creatives like me do thrive with a very simple, repeatable plan. That was a simple, repeatable plan. Every time you sell a house, you get a commission. This is what you do, and you laid it out. But for those of you that are the nerds, and you're married to people like me, I know we to frustrate the absolute snot out of you, and you're right to be frustrated. But it's very key to point out we are not doing it. In this case, I don't believe Wayne's wife is doing this to drive him nuts. She's not wired that way. Dave used the word wired. It's really important to understand that that spouse will play ball with you if you give them the structure that they need, which comes with its own accountability. You don't have to be accountability if you give them structure and a repeatable process.

And that's the magic of what Dave did decades ago with these baby steps. But in that advice he just gave, that will bring a lot of relational harmony around money. If you understand that your spouse just doesn't even think the way you think, therefore, all that process stuff that Dave just laid out, it never enters into their mind that that's how to do it. I think there needs to be grace there because I know what that's like.

I'll tell you what enters into my mind when I'm doing that, because I'm a great salesman. I always think I could just out-earn my stupidity.

Oh, yeah. I'm the same way.

I don't need to add all this up. I'll just make some more. That's right. Then I don't have to deal with it. That's how I used to try, and it doesn't work. That's really a very immature thing. But a lot of salespeople think that way. The calendar might have flipped, but the way to win with money hasn't changed. Living on a budget, staying out of debt, and building wealth intentionally. Now, here's the deal. Most banks make their money when you don't do that. They're fine if you stay broke and frustrated. And that's why I recommend Fairwinds Credit Union. They actually want you to win with money. Their smart bundle gives you a no fee checking account, a high yield savings account, and the new Ramsey Be Weird debit card that says, Dead as normal, be weird, right on the front. It's not just a card, it's a statement because every time you use it, it says, You control your money. Your money doesn't control you. So this year, stick to your plan, don't chase gimmicks or points, and partner with a credit union that helps you make progress in the baby steps. Visit fairwins. Org/ramsey to take control of your money and stay weird.

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Jackson's in New York. Hi, Jackson, how are you? Good. How are you doing? Better than I deserve. What's up?

I recently, maybe not recently, a few months ago, came into a large inheritance from my parents. I'm just wondering what to do with it.

Sorry you lost them. Thank you. How much did you get?

Around $450,000.

Cool. How long have you been listening to us?

Probably maybe about a little less than a year. My brother is a big fan of you.

Okay. Well, thank you. I was asking because I I don't know how far to go back to give you the answer. We would walk you through the framework called the Baby Steps with that money, because we believe and we know that if you follow through and handle money properly after that and during that, that it will be the way that this money gives you the most lift. Okay? That means do you have any debt except your home?

We actually just sold our That's where most of the money was tied up. Right now, I'm renting. I have no debt. I just graduated college.

Okay, cool. How old are you?

I'm 23.

Wow. Okay. We sold our home. That was your parents' home, you mean?

Yeah. My parents were separated, but it was my mother's home, and it had a lot of my father's money tied up in it. And so me and my two brothers sold that house. About six months ago.

And your part is $450,000? Yes. Okay. All right. And you're 23. Are you married? I'm not. Okay. And what do you make a year?

Right now, I make $75,000 a year.

Good for you. Okay.

Thank you.

What is your plan over the next few years? Where do you plan to be?

Right now, I'm just renting with my brother in our hometown. I'm working in the city, and I live in Long Island, and I'm planning to move to the city sometime in the future, maybe about a year. I have all of that money that I got from the house that I didn't have previously, just sitting in a CD right now, which pays my rent every month.

Yeah. Okay. All right. Not a bad move for the first move anyway. That way you didn't go do something stupid with it, right? Yeah. Yeah, my client, yeah. What do you do for a living?

I work in financial technology.

Okay, good. Well, you're very early in your career, so I predict your income will go up pretty dramatically in the next seven years. Would that be a fair prediction? I'd say so, yes. I also predict that the $450,000 could grow a lot in the next seven years. If it was invested at market rates, it would double in about seven years and be about $450,000. $450,000 will not buy anything in the city. Would you agree with that? Yes. Not paid for. I mean, you could put it as a down payment, but you couldn't pay for it. You don't really make enough to pay a payment and put $450 down in the city, hardly. You're probably renting if you're living New York Manhattan lifestyle, right?

Right now, I'm on Long Island.

I know, but you said you're moving to the city. Yes, but I will be renting. Yes. Yeah, that's what you told me. I'm projecting what to do. In other words, we're not going to use this to buy a house because we can't pay cash for it with your current plan. Absolutely. Okay. Given that, I'm going to tell you to go to ramsey solutions. Com, click on SmartVestor Pro, sit down with one of the people that we recommend and start learning about investing, okay? And put it in some good Growth Stock Mutual Funds and continue to keep your dadgum hands off of it. That's been very wise on your part. Very wise. Thank you. Beyond your years wise. And so leave it alone. Leave it alone. Pretend like you don't have it and Just use your income and live off your income barely, which you barely can living in the city, okay? And just let this money grow because if you don't touch it, it will double every seven years.

Sounds good to me.

That's about the average, okay? Now, the S&P 500, have you ever heard of that? Absolutely. Okay. That's basically the bellwether, the mark of what the stock market has done. Closed the year for 2025 up 16%. It closed the year, the year before up 26%. It closed the year before, up 25%. It averages throughout its lifetime a little over 11, up close to 12%. That's the average. But in the last three years, it's done 67% total. While you had this sitting in a CD making 3%, it should have made five times as much. Okay? I don't want you doing that next year. I want it to be in a good investment instead of in a CD. Understood. Go over there and learn about it with a good smart investor pro, and don't put money in something because I said to or someone else said to, but because you start to understand it, and I've got a feeling after talking to you, you'll be able to understand it.

I think so.

Yeah, this is a massive... Don't forget something. This is a massive head start for you. When Day's Preaching Discipline, it's because we realize how How much of a massive head start this is for a 23-year-old who's very upwardly mobile in his profession.

Just leave it alone. You're so wise. I mean, you didn't call me up to say, I need to buy a Lamborghini. Because I would have smacked you sideways. I mean, for your own sake. You're just a sharp 23-year-old. I'm talking to these guys like this is why I've become such a huge fan, and I've got them on our team here of these Gen Zs. There's so many of these Jacksons in the Gen Z. That's right.

I'm not saying he should do this, Dave. I'll throw this out and see what you think about this. But my head, when you were talking, I tried to put myself in his position at 23, no debt, and now he's going to be in really good shape. I would say a small amount of money. I would consider a small, but enough to make an impact, give it to somebody.

Oh, yeah, sure.

I think it's so really rewarding when we come into money, whether we earn it or it's a to think about how to bless somebody that you would not have been able to bless before. I'm going to tell you it's a really great way to begin to appreciate the power of money, not just from compound interest that we teach, but as you teach, and you've been making it so clear for so long, live like no one else so that later you can live and give. That is such a key thing. In this case, I think he could bless somebody with some of my money.

I think that'd be a brilliant idea. Kyle is in Atlanta. Hey, Kyle, how are you? Hi, how are you? Better than I deserve. How can we help?

I'm actually post-college. I graduated about seven months ago. Currently, my situation is I have two credit cards now. I know that that isn't great. However, I am looking at an opportunity to consolidate those to one credit card that is attached to my current bank with a much lower interest rate because I want to pay it off and be done with it. I don't want to deal with credit cards anymore.

What's the balance on the cards?

One of them is 2,300, and the other one is a little shy of 1,200. Okay.

And what is your current interest rate?

From what I was understanding yesterday, I think it was 20 something.

And what is the new interest rate?

The new one's 6 to 8 %.

Okay, all right. So you're going to save about $350, $375 a year. Right. That's okay. It's not bad. But it doesn't fix a $3,500 problem. You know what fixes a $3,500 problem, Kyle? You. You're the secret sauce, not consolidation. The problem with consolidation is you think you did something. You moved $375 around. That's okay. If you hand it to me, I'll take it. I'll go buy dinner. But it doesn't fix your problem. What fixes your problem is you get pissed off about these cards, you cut them up, and you swear off of them forever and say, Samuel L. Jackson, what's in your wallet? You go get your own stinking life and you get these stinking things paid off. What are you a year?

So not a ton. So post-graduation, I make 17 a year.

Good God, you're at the poverty level. What did you get a degree in?

So I actually got a degree in film and television, but that's not what I'm currently working in.

Okay. All right. I want you to get six jobs, Kyle. It's not a joke.

In Atlanta, when it's one of the hottest areas for film and television, you could be making way more than that just as a grip, lighting grip, sound, something or other. Just get on a set somewhere.

Just a grunt. 17,000.

Not even a grip, just a grunt. Oh, my gosh. That's incredible.

That's awful, Kyle. Kyle, you don't work much. No. You need to work more. A lot more. Like all the time, Kyle. And that's going to solve this. You cannot hack your way out of credit card debt. You have to earn your way out of credit card debt. There is no hack, there is no easy button. So yeah, consolidate them if you want to, but don't act like you did something.

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Welcome back to the Ramsey Show in the Fair Winds Credit Union Studio. Ken Coleman, number one best-selling author, host of the Front Row Seat, one of our big hits on Ramsey Network. He's my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Heather's in Fort Myers. Hey, Heather, what's up?

Hi, how are you? It's an honor to speak with you.

You, too. How can I help?

Yes. Okay. Dave, I am rebuilding my life after my husband of 30 years walked away from our marriage. Wow. Since then...

Yeah. Sorry.

No, it's okay. Since then, I have furthered my education, and I received my nursing degree. Good for you. And there's a lot more back store, but we don't have I don't have enough time for that. Good for you. Thank you. I'm 54 years old, and I'm single, and I work as a registered nurse. Yearly, I am making 90K. Good for you. Great. I have just under 100K in my work, 403. I contribute 20 %, and my work contributes the 5 %. And in my high-yield savings account, I I have 170K. I have zero debt, no student loans. However, I rent because I'm just not sure at this point in my life what my next step is going to be, where How long ago was the divorce? It's been four years.

You're amazing. You've done a great job recovering. Congratulations.

Well, it's definitely been an adjustment.

It's unbelievable. It's a tragedy. But you pulled it off, warrior girl. Well done.

Thank you.

Well done. Thank you. Cool. So what's your question?

My question is what you know of my finances right now. Because I really haven't been saving much money as much as I could be, because I think I went through a period of time where I was spending my money because I knew I had the money in my savings.

You were medicating.

It's called retail therapy.

Medicating.

Yeah, that's okay.

That's exactly.

That's in the rear view mirror.

I helped people.

Yeah, good.

Yeah. I'm really this year, I'm wanting to maximize as much as I can. I love it. I want to maybe own my own home or condo, but I just don't know at this point, where am I going to be? Am I going to stay in Florida? Am I going back to Tennessee? Because I lived in East Tennessee. What would you recommend? What more can I do to secure my future? Am I going to have enough money to retire? You're going to have plenty of money to retire.

You're going to be fine. You're going to retire a multimillionaire. Okay. That's what the math says. I'm going to just make that up. The math says that, okay? Let me walk you through. There's two things that we need to do. We need to maximize investing, and we need to get a house and get it paid for.

Yes. Okay. That was That's definitely what I want to do.

If you're 11 years from today and you're sitting in a paid-for house and you've been putting away $25,000 or $30,000 a year during that time, you're going to have millions of dollars.

All right. Okay.

The way you'll know that is you need to sit down with someone and help do the calculations and help figure out how to do the investing and what to do. The only question on the horizon is which city you're going to be in. As soon as you make that decision, buy a house. Yes. With that 170.

It's either going to be the Cape Cod.

It's either Florida or East Tennessee.

Yeah.

So once you decide, and you don't have to decide today on this call, but once you decide, take the 170 and go buy a house.

Okay.

And then sit down with a Ramsey Smart Investor Pro. Go to ramseysolutions. Com, click on Smart Investor, find someone in your area, sit down, talk to them. In order for us to send people to them, they don't work for us. They're independent people. They're in the investment business. I'm not in the I'm in the investment business. I'm in the education business. But in order for that, they have to have the heart of a teacher or they don't get Ramsey the name on them. Meaning they're going to teach you how to do this investing. You're going to understand it and you're going to decide. But if you put this in good growth stock mutual funds and you have average market returns, you're going to have several million dollars going into your '70s in a paid-for house. If you stay diligent and stay on this, If you go back to retail therapy and start blowing everything, then no, you can't act like you're in Congress, right? Correct. But I don't think you're going to, because I think you just went through a tragedy. You went through a horrible time. You've got that in the rear view mirror.

You've worked your way through all the parts of that, and now the future is bright and we need shades.

Yeah, and you're young.

Yeah.

I mean that. Here's what I would I encourage you. This isn't a challenge. You don't need to be challenged. But I would encourage you to make the decision about where you want to live based on what life you desire. Not a safe choice because I'm from East Tennessee. Again, I'm not anti East Tennessee. I'm sitting next to Mr. Tennessee here. I love Tennessee. I want to be here for the long haul. But I do think in someone in your position, having come through what you've come through and financially you're stable- Where do you want to be when you're That's it. You got to choose your future because you actually are in a position to do so because of that great degree. Now you are highly sought after anywhere in the United States. Choose the place you want to be and then let the rest of the future take care of itself because financially, you're going to be fine if you do what you've been doing.

Yeah, you keep making this money and you start socking away 30,000 bucks a year, which you can do in either one of those locales. You can even make more if you wanted to, if you wanted to work more because There's all kinds of ER opportunities and everything else for you to go get. You can just work all time if you want to. I'm not suggesting that, but if you want to pile up some money, you can do it in your world. That's the beautiful beauty of that degree. You can work all the freaking time. That's the truth.

You get some margins in Florida right now. It's resetting. Real estate is resetting in some parts of Florida. Really? Okay. Not a crash, but we're seeing some prices that can be favorable. Again, you teach this. If you get in in a soft moment, I don't think Florida is going to be long term a bad place to invest in a house.

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Very cool. I mean, like Ken, you remember during COVID, we had these travel nurses coming in here. They had worked like a year on the road during COVID. They were getting COVID pay and travel pay. They were making like 400 and 500 grand as a nurse.

I was on with you one day when we took a call from a gal who had made about that money. In one year.

One year. It's not out there today. But I mean, they were getting COVID money, like battle money, Like battle zone money, and they were getting travel money, both because it was crazy. They were just loading up, man. There's two or three of them we talked to that had... I had $200,000 in student loan debt. I paid it all off this year and put 300 in the bank. I'm like, What? Wow. It's a wonderful career field because it gives you lots of opportunities and choices and things. When you go through something like a divorce after 30-year marriage, recovering from that-I can't even. Is not a bounce back. No. That's a claw out. That's a healing process to get to where you're solid as she is talking to her. She's solid. Very, very neat. Congratulations. I'm very proud I love you. Every year, I hear the same excuses for why people don't get the life insurance they need to protect their families. So this year, let's clear the air and look at the facts. Having 10 to 12 times your income on a 15 or 20 year plan is, in many cases, just plain cheap. That amount of coverage lets your family keep the lights on and keep food on the table while they're grieving.

Second, life insurance through your work is not enough, especially since these plans go away if you change jobs. You need to have your own policy so you're not without protection when your family really needs it. Third, stay at home parents need life insurance, especially those with young kids. People don't realize how quickly the call set up without someone at home taking care of things. So no more excuses, folks. Get the protection your family needs. Go to zander. Com or call 800-356-4282. They've been my choice for all my insurance for over 25 years and are the only people I trust. Jessica is in Dallas. Hi, Jessica, how are you?

I'm doing well, you're doing great.

You're breaking up. Try one more time.

Sorry. I'm doing How about yourself?

I'm doing good. Your phone's not. How can we help?

I was just wanting to just get some advice on what's realistic and what's not. I just need an outsider opinion. About what? I'm wondering what's a realistic time frame of having A business operating before you shut it down due to not having it not be profitable.

Okay. What business?

It's a lawn care business.

Should be profitable the first month. Why isn't it profitable?

I don't know. It's not a lot of jobs coming in, I guess.

Okay. All right. So we You have a lawn care business, but we don't do much lawn care?

Right.

Okay. Why?

Well, I mean, I live in an area where there are water restrictions, so really, you're not allowed to water your lawns. So there's a lot of dead grass. A lot of people just aren't.

So you don't think there's people in the area making a living in lawn care business in Dallas, Texas, where there's water restrictions?

Well, no. I see people out there on the stat.

I I lost all of that. Try again.

I do see people, other lawn care companies out there, mowing lawns and working. I just don't know why it It's not working for us.

Who's us? I feel like we've been too hypothetical. Let's get real brass tax.

This is your husband's business, right?

Right.

How long has he been in this dead zone of business? It's not doing well. How long has this been going on?

He started the business when I was five months pregnant, and now our baby is about- No, let me ask it again.

How many calendar months has it been? A year, two? How many years has the business been struggling? How many years? A number.

Like the entire time. When you say struggling- Good God, how many months?

I'm just asking for a number. How many years?

Like 20 months.

Twenty months? Okay. So two years. You've had two seasons, and you didn't make a living.

I just feel like there's more underneath the surface here. I don't know if we can identify it because you're asking us for some magical answer as to what does the business book I say. But the bottom line is, if we can't pay the bills with the business-There's no reason to have the business. Yeah, he needs to go work for somebody who will pay.

Long care is not a hobby. So we need to make a profit. And really, honestly, you should make a profit the first time you cut a piece of grass. There's really not that much to it. I mean, just work your butt off is the problem. It doesn't sound like he works much is what it sounds to me. Yeah. Are you saying that under all this? Right. Your husband doesn't work very hard?

Well, yeah, he only does a few jobs a week.

Yeah, that's a problem.

I think he needs to get a job. Yeah, let's sell his lawnmores. Because I don't think he's got the stuff to go get the business and keep the business and get up out of bed and go do the business. That's correct. Until he gets that stuff going, you have to be what we call a self starter. Hello. We're not talking about his lawnmower. We're talking about him. You need to sell the equipment and go get a job because of what you're describing there. But no, there's not a magic, when do you know when to close a business? You close a business when what you're doing is not working and there's no visible hope of it getting better. Based on what you're telling us, nothing has changed here that's causing this to trend upward in a good direction. It's just stuck on not so great.

And this is not a business problem This is a, and I'm not saying this with unkindness, I'm telling you, he has a problem. Because here's the reality. Somebody who's healthy or remotely healthy, if they've got a business and they only have two jobs a week, They are working other jobs while trying to get that going. That would be called a side hustle if he's healthy. So something's going on inside of him with him that is the source of this problem. It's not the lawn care business, and it's not the watering restriction. Conversations. Now, that's the hard truth, but that's the reality of you two have to have a marriage conversation.

Yeah. Throw out the Nintendo.

I mean, am I right, Dave? You've done this a long time. There are reasons why a guy won't get out and work.

There's something.

There's always something there.

I mean, it's not my generation, but some generations I hear have a Nintendo problem. Call of duty, but the wrong call and the wrong duty.

Well done. Yes.

Well played, Dave. It's almost like you have a radio show. Steve's in Washington. Hey, Steve, what's up?

Hey, gents. Thank you for taking my call.

Sure, man. How can we help?

Yeah, first of all, thanks for being you. You It's still been an impact on my life greatly. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Yeah. Hey, so I've had the privilege to start over in life. I just got remarried, and just see a wonderful woman. But for Until June, we have to live separately because I made a commitment to stay in my area until my daughter graduates, and then we'll connect. So we did our real first budget meeting on Sunday, and we're doing the every dollar app.

How far about How far apart are you all?

Four and a half hours.

Okay, and what does she do for a living?

She works for the Department of Justice.

Okay, and what do you do?

Self employed, and I work two days a week part-time as an EMTU firefighter.

Okay. All right. Okay. Wow. All right. So you got four months of... Wow. What's your business? It's the weirdest newlywed you're ever.

Yeah. They're working I'm out of debt, and I carry a little bit of debt into this. But my business is property management. I oversee a 600 acre private ski resort.

So who's moving in after June? You?

Yeah, I will be moving.

Uh-oh. Going into the DC Metro area, huh?

Well, no.

Or Northern Virginia?

No, she works out at the Portland office, and I'm going to be- Oh, they're in Washington State.

You're in Washington State. I apologize. Okay.

Yeah, Washington State. And she's going to be transferred to Billings, and so we'll have that confirmation in March. So there's a lot of little things to figure out one step at a time here.

How can we help?

Yeah. So we're figuring out how do we, I guess, communicate well as we still live separately, but as we become one budget together, and as we're putting on each other's bank account, and eventually it'll become one. We figure it'll be best after we move in June. But right now, I got under $8,000 to go to be debt free, and she is That's free. But at the same time, I carry a little bit of shame. I brought this in, and I don't feel like... We can pay it off, but also at the same token- We are married, so we can pay it off.

That's what goes with it. Right. That's just the deal. Sorry. That's the way it works, man. For richer, for poorer, for sickness and health, and she gets the flu, you'll buy and make chicken soup. It's the way it works out.

Yeah, absolutely. So, yeah, I don't know any advice, I guess, in that realm. Remember, this is an awesome blessing to be in. At the same token, I'm like, How do I do this well?

Yeah, you all figured out a real strenuous way to do it. That's for sure. Yeah, no kidding. The only thing I could tell you is that what you're trying to do is difficult at best when you first get married living in the same house, and now you just added a 10X to it by not being there. The only way I know to cover that is with piles of communication. Overcommunicate feelings, overcommunicate details, constantly be working on a stupid budget because that's going to give you a place to talk about all this stuff. Every night, we have a budget meeting on the phone about every dollar, and every night You talk about it a little bit. I feel a little bit ashamed about this, but I'm still going to work through it. We're going to do it together. Every night, and just lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of talk. With interest rates finally dropping, now could be the window you've been waiting for to buy a home or refinance. But don't just rush in blind. Sit down with someone at Churchill Mortgage who will tell you the truth and walk you through a plan to position you better for long-term success.

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Wow, somebody's listening. I said here on the air about... James, how long ago was that? We're talking about real estate fixes. That's probably a month ago.

Oh, yeah, it was about a month ago.

Probably right After Thanksgiving, and this is being recorded the first week of the year. I said, Listen, there's a couple of things we could do this housing market. The problem with the housing market is there's always been a shortage of inventory for the last two decades, really. The shortage of inventory has caused the market to get stopped up. There's a couple of things we could do to loosen the inventory. One is to prohibit the institutional corporate hedge funds in the Chinese from buying blocks and blocks of thousands and thousands of single family homes and taking them off the market. I would vote for that. And making them permanent rentals. When you do that, you suck out the inventory. When the inventory is sucked out, the market clogs up and stops. Today, President Trump says he will seek a ban on institutional investors from buying single family homes.

Is he listening to the podcast, Dave?

I don't know. He didn't call me, Ken. I know that. He didn't say, Dave, I got an idea. That's huge. You never know, though.

He didn't say it. You never know. He's famous for watching TV and news and calling He's been live on shows. Maybe he'll call in and you can walk him through how to do it.

Well, I'm happy if it's his idea as long as it happens, right? I don't care whose idea it is. The other thing we said, and if you're listening, President Trump, we said this one, too, and I hadn't seen this show up yet. Maybe it'll come up in a a week or two. The capital gains, zero capital gains on personal residence up to a half million dollars married filing jointly has been in place for 25 years. Here's what you do. Make that $2 million. I'm so excited right now. What happens, a bunch of boomers that are sitting on a bunch of equity would sell their houses, and that would un clog the market and put a bunch of inventory on the market. Because if you could put $2 million in your pocket and go to wherever, go buy a condo or move down, some of the boomers, they would do it. But right now, they got capital gains on everything over a half million dollars, and half million dollars on a lot of gains is not spit. If you got no capital gains, tax-free, up to a half million, now, what if you made that two million?

I promise you, it may move the upper end of the market wide open. When the upper end moves open, then that lives at breathing room and everything dominoes all the way down to the beginning of the market because everybody can move up then. They're not stuckola.

Careful, Dave. You're going to give America indigestion. Because it makes so much sense. Those of you are listening and watching and going, You're right, Dave. That would be amazing. Why doesn't it happen?

You can write these two things down because it doesn't happen very often. Dave Ramsey has a government idea to fix anything.

Well, no, that's just good legislation.

I know. But the number of times I ask government for help is pretty close to zero.

This is one of the few things they're supposed to do.

Both of these things they could do, and it would actually have an impact, and it really wouldn't take long.

But why won't they, Dave? Tell America why they won't. Because they like our tax dollars.

Well, I don't know who they is, but somebody got it.

They is all of them up there.

All of them. The whole kit and kaboo.

It's the machine.

The machine.

So what we do is we got to throw- You sound like a conspiracy theories, Rachel. No, not at all. Not at all. Throw the bums out until They start giving us policies like this. But listen, really quick, I don't want people to miss what Dave just said. These are two very practical things that would absolutely make a huge dent in this real estate cog.

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Today's question comes from Jasmine in Tennessee. We're out of debt and have just finished building a 3-6 month emergency fund. I'm anticipating that one of our two cars may need major repairs soon. In general, how do you think about deciding when to to repair a vehicle versus when to replace it? I don't want to panic buy another car, but I'm also wary of getting ripped off by a mechanic. That's a really good question. I think that's about as practical of as a fear as we hear. In this situation, I'm not going to spend money on a car. Let's say the car is worth 2,500 bucks, and it costs 3,000 to fix it. You don't do that. You don't do that. Other than that, you want to try to duct tape it, keep that thing going, get yourself a good quality mechanic. Now, I'm passionate about this particular issue, Dave, because I fall in this category where I'm very suspicious. But we have found through multiple conversations with people that have lived here, when we first moved here, almost 12 years ago, I talked to several people and tested it out like you would a church or a doctor or maybe the person who cuts your hair.

When we had some issues come up and we found a really reliable mechanic who we absolutely know is not a thief and a crook. That's important because if you do that, they will help you and they won't try to rip you off. They'll say, Okay, here's what could be fixed, but this is the should be. To keep this sucker going from point A to B, that's really important when you're in this, a hoopty land because it will get you through it. You can keep a hoopty going longer than you think if you got an honest mechanic.

Yeah. Auto repair is a low-trust industry. We were really pumped about having Christian Brothers come on. Yes, that's what we're talking about. As the official auto repair partner of the Ramsey Show. We trust Christian Brothers Automotive. I've known these guys a long time. They've had a shop in our area, but they got shops all over. Whether you're just getting started in the baby steps or your baby steps seven, you want your car to last, we recommend Christian Brothers Automotive. Go to cbac. Com/ramsey. I'll work that into the thing here. They just came on board with us. We're really glad they're here. Great group. The answer to your question, Jasmine, is whatever the car is worth as salvaged, not fixed, plus the repair cannot equal more than the value after the repair. If the car is worth $1,000 and it takes $3,000 to fix the car, at the end, that's $4,000, but the car is worth two after you fix it, well, you don't spend that. That's good money after bad. But you also look for... You may be sitting on a $12,000 car, blew an engine. You don't go to the dealer and buy a brand a new engine from the manufacturer.

That'll cost more than a new car. For God's sakes, no. You get a used engine, a rebuilt engine, or a used engine from a salvage yard, and you have someone like Christian Brothers install it. You can do that for about 25 cents on the dollar, what I'm talking about with the dealer. It depends on what the car is, what the size of the repair is, just all of that. But by and large, it's a car under $5,000 is the only one you would hardly, most always will fix it otherwise because you can find an inexpensive way to get it rolling again, even if you fixed it to sell it. Even if you fix it and say, Okay, now it runs, now I can sell it for $4,000 instead of $1,000. But it cost me $1,000 to fix it. Okay, that's good. That's a good investment. So we can go that way. If you're looking for Christian Brothers at cbac. Com/ramsey. They are now the official auto repair partner of The Ramsey Show. John's in Naples. Hey, John, what's up? Hey, how are you guys doing? Better than I deserve. How can I help?

I'm just trying to get my financial future started, and I'm having a lot of issues with that. I have a little bit of student loans I want to pay off, but I have a little untraditional background with school and how I got to where I am today. I'm just struggling to get off the starting line and into the working force and corporate community, whatever it may be, to get my future moving in that direction. You have a degree? I do, yes. I have a Master's in business and a Master's in data analytics.

And you can't get a job?

I've done about 2,000 applications.

Well, you suck at that.

I've met with C-suite executives of Fortune 500 companies, alumni from my university. I've spoken to my university. I've spoken to friends, family. I've gone through just about every avenue that I really know how to, and I really don't know what What the problem is with trying to get through and just to kickstart my career.

What's your income target? What are you asking these people to pay you?

Usually, I'd put on the lower end of what their range is. I've applied from New York to Anchorage. I've put anywhere between 80 to... Some jobs are 120 to 150, so I put 120. Sometimes I'd even put under just to try to get through to HR to get an interview. It's just not even working.

Have you had interviews?

I've had a handful, but only because I've had internal referrals.

Yeah, and that's where they come from. That's where interviews come from. They don't come from 2000 applications. Well, I tell you what, hang on. I want to bring you back around because Coleman is about the best on the planet at this, and I want him to help you.

All All right. John's got a master's degree in data analytics, has applied for over 2,000 jobs, has not been able to get a job. Ken Coleman, help the guy. Okay.

All right, John. You've been applying for things and you've been in the 80 to 120,000 range. I think where I want to start is what is a layer or a level, rather, below where you've been applying? Is there such a thing, or are you saying that those entry-level are yielding those salaries?

Those are the So at the entry level, one of the issues is that I haven't been able to do an internship. I was an athlete in college, and I was training over the summer, so I was unable to go in and actually make the connections that way. So when I apply for associate or analyst level, they say, Well, he doesn't have experience. And my internal recs who have to fight for me say, Well, nobody at this level has experience because it's the entry level. So that's how they have been able to get me through the interview But most companies just don't even... I get an email pretty quickly- Okay, so when you got the interview with the internal rec, what happened? I made it down to the final two, and then office politics and some other things went on that just were out of my control and just went in another direction.

So you told Dave before we went to break that it was a handful of interviews. Is that right? How many are we talking about that you've actually gotten?

I've done four for companies that are actually based, like base salary. I've had a handful that are the commission-based selling insurance, not really something I'm interested in. I've done every avenue from... I've talked to C-suite executives, I've talked to my grad school, my university.

No, I get it.

I've got a very wide net.

I totally get that, and I appreciate your activity. But activity in this particular situation is not the answer, just activity. 2000 applications you might as well have been spitting in the wind driving down on the interstate because of the nature of AI and filters and all these things. What we want to do is we want to get more of those interviews, and you've only got four interviews. The conversation with C-suiters, those don't always yield what you think either, because while they may give you time, I love that you got there, so you got some spunk. But here's the deal. The simple advice for you is this. You've got to up the amount of interviews that you're getting. So you've only got four in your space. So 0 for four in today's job economy, not surprising. There's no question that you're up against the fact that you're in entry-level. And so it's actually more competitive right now for entry-level roles. So there's no silver bullet here other than this idea that I wrote a I'm going to look around. I'm going to give you the book as my gift to you. It's called the Proximity Principle.

Now, what the Proximity Principle does is it increases your odds of getting actual interviews. One of the first things Dave said to you was, How are you doing an interview? I I want to know, have you gotten any feedback from anybody that's interviewed you to where we don't blame it on office politics and whatever, but any feedback on how you could do better in the interview? Do you have any of that?

I've done mock interviews. I don't have any issues with answering the questions. I don't have any issues with my background. I don't really know other than the companies I've been fortunate enough because of my internal recs. I don't know why I can't even get through to other companies. I bought software to find out who hiring managers are. So after I apply, I'll send them an email, my contact information, telling them why I'm applying, I'm following up with them. I'm trying to do everything that I'm told to do.

Yeah, but it just doesn't work.

I have a degree, I have the grades. Just whatever reason, even in the background of being an athlete, it doesn't help.

No, not at all. Nobody cares. Listen, I'm just trying to tell you, you got to stop saying these things. Not even that helps. Here's a It's a simple thing. You have got to connect relationships, and this is hard work.

The four interviews you got, you got the right way. We need to do that 40 times and you'll get a job.

We have to repeat that process.

Not cold calling something off a software and not filling out applications that are spitting in the wind.

But here's what I would do today if I were you. You need to be working a job. I'm talking stock and shelves at Target, NFL MVP, Hall of Famer, Kurt was stocking grocery shelves while playing in the Arena Football League. He did that because he wanted to make it to the NFL. I think it's the same story for you. You're an athlete. That's why I give you that example. But Kurt Warner only stocked shells because he had to feed the baby and his wife. But he did it so that he could stay in the Arena Football League. For you, right now, for you to get in this work, you need to be working, bringing home income, not becoming depressed, because that's what happens. You get depressed pretty quick, get frustrated, and you create this false narrative which will hold you back. So the best thing you can do right now is go get a JOB so that I'm getting up every day, taking a shower, shaving, and working and bringing home a check. While I'm using Ken's Proximity Principle and repeating the process that worked four times. Let's say it's eight interviews or twelve, you're going to start to see a yes.

All of those nos lead to a yes. I wish I had some silver bullet, but it's a law of numbers, but the right numbers.

Yeah. Hang on, we'll get you a copy of Proximity Principle and Ken's Book, Finding the Work You're Wired to Do. Both will help you in this process. They'll be our gift to you to help you get moving. I know you're frustrated, man, and it does sound like you're doing a lot of things right, but you're also wasting a lot of burn calories to feel like you're doing something right and some other things. Let's realign some of the efforts the way Ken's teaching, and I think you'll see some better results. I hope you do. My goodness, that's frustrating as crud. All right, Jessica is in Dallas. Hi, Jessica. How are you?

Hey, I'm good.

How are you all? Better than we deserve. What's up?

Well, thanks for taking my call. I have a question about emergency funds versus sinking funds. So my husband and I, we learned about you, Dave, in 2020, paid up all of our debt except for our mortgage. And each month, I'm using every dollar to designate money into different funds. With our house sinking funds, I'm just wondering if I'm using it incorrectly. I'm getting a little nervous as our house gets older, we're going to need major things like new windows. I feel like the house fund never really grow because, of course, something always comes up. We need a new water heater or roof. It just seems like every year we're getting money in that fund, and every year I need to take some out. I'm just thinking, a few years down the line, what if we I need to spend $30,000 on new windows.

Well, you need a plan to do that. That's not an emergency. That's a known thing. That means your sinking fund is underfunded.

Okay.

But I don't know that you need to necessarily be funding something for 25 years from today in there. But if you think in three years, you're going to need windows and it's $30,000, you probably ought to start now.

Well, I'm just thinking I would already have the $30,000 if I didn't take money out of the house fund for repairs and use- What are you going to repair the house with if you don't?

Okay. You have to repair the house and fix the windows, both. Okay. And neither one are an emergency. Both are predictable events.

Okay, so I just need- You may be needing a new sinking fund for windows. Yeah, that's true.

Start planning, because since it's worrying you, keeping you up at night, I don't know. But what But seriously, what do you think the time horizon is on that? When do you think you're going to need them?

I mean, honestly, we could use them now, but it's not an emergency for us to use them now. We do what we can when it gets cold here. It's not cold in Dallas for very long. But I mean, it's coming down the line, and I know it's a big cost.

So put a number on it and put a date on it and back into it and save for it.

Okay.

Go get a bid or three and say, Okay, 36,000 bucks in 36 months, that'd be a thousand bucks a month. Hello. Sure. Yeah. Put a number on it and put a date on it, and you can tell what your sinking fund needs to look like. Because you got to do the other home repairs anyway, and you can't wait and call this an emergency because you knew it was coming. It's like saying, Oh, my tires are bald. That's an emergency. No, you knew your dead gum tires were going to wear out. You should have been planning to replace your tires already.

Too close to home, Dave. I feel like you're Stacy talking to me right now. She was looking at my tire treads about six months ago. She goes, You're an idiot. You're literally taking your life in your own hands. I never pay attention to stuff like that. Sure enough, she was right.

I'm glad.

Thankfully, we had the money for the tires. I'm glad. By the way, windows in Dallas, if it's a little chilly, I'm getting some duct tape. We're going to stretch this a little bit. I'm kidding.

She may live in a $2 million house, man. I don't know what she lives in.

I wasn't serious. The duct tape.

You can't fix everything with duct tape, 10. You can try, but you can't fix everything. I don't know. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show in the Fairwinds Credit Union Studio. I'm Dave Ramsey, Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, host of The Ramsey Network hit. Front Row Seat is my co-host today. Open phones here at 888-825-5225. If you go to ramsey solutions. Com/liveevents, you can join us this evening. We'll be doing a live stream that is completely free to help you get back control of your money, take back control of your money in 2026. We'd love to have you guys join us. There'll be several hundred thousand people there. We'll be giving away $20,000 tonight on that live stream. So make sure you sign up for the live stream, and that puts you automatically in the drawing. The whole deal is free. We'd love to have you hang out. Jade and I will be doing that, Jade Warshana. So make sure you join us. Jennifer is with us in Nashville. Hi, Jennifer. How are you?

I'm good. Thank you for taking my call. I am so excited I'm going to talk to you. You, too. What's up? Here's my question. Okay, so I'm hoping to retire in 2032. I'm debt free with the exception of my house, which I still owe 280,000 on at a 2. 25 interest rate. My question is, what should I be prioritizing during my last six years of employment, I would like to prioritize paying off my house. And if I saw my energy and money towards paying it off, I could do it before I retire, but it would be a big expense of contributing to 401k. But others say that since my interest rate is so low, I really need to be putting all my money in my 401k. But that means I'd have to take a house payment into retirement, and that scares a crap out of me. So I wanted to know. I think I know what you're going to say, but I just wanted to know what you thought.

What's your household income?

I make 162,000.

Okay. And so you have six years, right?

Six years. I'll have two federal pensions when I retire, which are about $75,000 a year, and then if Social Security still around like another 30.

Yeah. So 6 times 4 is $240, right? Right. So 6 times 45,000 out of 160 gets your house paid off, which leaves you 120. Why can you not keep doing retirement also?

Oh, I could. You mean take my house payment into retirement?

No, darling. $45,000 a year from today for the next six years pays off a $280,000 house. $45,000 extra on the house. Okay? Yes. All right. Now, you make 160, right?

Right.

Minus 45, leaves you 115. Right. Okay. You could still do retirement and still live.

I know 162,000. It is a lot of money, but you got to take out. There's a lot of stuff in there also. When you take out taxes and just everything else that goes with it.

What's everything else?

Hiving. Well, okay, so you have taxes, which is like 37,000. Hiving, my current house payment, which is 30 grand. Your what? What did you say?

What? You're what payment?

I said my current house. Oh, your current house payment.

Okay, well, that would include your house payment because basically, I mean, $45,000 is more than enough house payment and everything to pay off the house. You don't pay $30,000 a year on your house, do you?

Well, I mean, when I think of that, I throw in all of my taxes and insurance. That's what I roll into my house payment, how I think about it. I see.

Yeah, you're right. That's true. Okay. It feels like that you don't have to completely choose. It feels like you can get the house paid off and still do something towards retirement. You may have to cut somewhere. You may have to scrimp somewhere else to hit this goal. I don't know. I don't know what all is coming out of your check. You may want to look at that. But you may be I'm thinking about coming home after 401(k) contributions, and that's not what we're talking. Still, that's part of the hole, see. If you kept doing your 401k, and then it's pinchy to do the house, but you could still do 45 total on the house in simple reduction a year, not counting interest and taxes and insurance. But if you did that, that would get you there. So it's close. What's the probability over the next six years of your income changing?

Well, so it won't go up much. It will continue to grow. The other thing is I do own a fourth of a farm. It's an irrevocable trust now, and so that's vested But I'm not sure when we're going to sell that. You never want to say it like that because it means one of my parents has passed. But so there will be about a half million dollars income coming in at some point in How much is in your nest egg now? So right now, 30,000. Then my 401k is 480.

That's your nest egg. Okay.

I knew something was off there. I'm sorry. Can I ask a real simple question? What do you do for the government? What is your job? How would you describe yourself as a professional?

As an attorney. I specialize in labor law.

Oh, good for you.

And you work for the government? I do. Does that preclude you from doing side work?

No.

Okay, here's the exercise. I think that's right. Okay, here's the exercise I would go through. I think Dave's right, but I also think you know your budget pretty darn good. If it was me, I would not be asking the question, Do I sacrifice retirement investing in order to pay this house off? I would be asking the question, How much additional money do I need to make per year over the next six years to pay this house off? You are an attorney. I know you can make that money.

If you made an extra 40 grand a year, this is soft. That's one thing. That's one way. It's just a little side thing, some a side, I don't know, venture or whatever. Here's the thing. You're going to be okay either way. You're fine. I would pay off the house early. I would put the house on a schedule to be done in six years. Then I would squeeze what I can out of retirement from working extra and/or out of your budget by carefully looking at it, all the things we've talked about. Because here's the deal. You got a half a million now in seven years, if it's in good mutual funds, that'll double, that'll be a million. Then the house is worth what today?

A 700 something.

Okay, so it'll probably be worth a million and a half in seven years, give or take. At that point, you're going to be worth two and a half million dollars, and the farm is another half million, and that's six years from today. You'll be how old at that point?

I will be 62.

Okay.

About what? 70,000 in retirement, coming to you from the plus Social Security, right?

Yeah, so 100,000 if everything stays the way it is now.

Okay, so you're at 100.

That's great. You're definitely okay if you add nothing to retirement and pay off the house over the next six years, to answer your question, now that we dug all the way through this, okay? But it took a minute to get there. But that's exactly you are okay to do all that. I, however, am like you, I want to be doing something further towards retirement. I want to investigate these other possibilities, adding some income and/or squeezing this budget. But I'm just going to sit down and go, $45,000 a year has got to go on principle. That comes out of the budget. In 6 years, I'm done, and you're going to be okay. Make sure your other stuff is invested right in good mutual funds.

Hey, George Campbell here. So you're thinking about buying or selling your home. It's exciting, but there's a lot to think about, and all those decisions can feel overwhelming. Well, here's the good news. You don't have tackle the process alone. Ramsey's Real Estate Homebase is the place to find all of your free tools and resources for help to get prepared to buy or sell your home with confidence. You'll find calculators, start to finish guides, a podcast, and even an in-depth video course hosted by yours truly.

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Buying or selling a home is a big deal. Rates are coming down. Looks like we're going to see 5% or so on a 15 year any minute here. Good time. A lot of houses are going to be coming on the market as the grass gets green, and it might be yours or you might be looking for a house. You need a pro in your corner, someone that's high octane and high protein. The Ramsey Trusted program is the only way to find a top agent you trust that we trust. Make sure your home is a blessing and not a burden. Go to ramseytrustedrealestate. You can find one for free at ramsey solutions. Com/agent, or click the link in the show notes. Brittany is in Grand Rapids. Hi, Brittany. How are you?

I'm good. How are you?

Better than I deserve. What's up?

I have just a question. I was curious what your thoughts were on if it's a bad idea to pay for our daughter to go to private school while we are still trying to get out of debt. Yeah.

Okay. Well, that's a loaded question, and there's a lot of answers to it. The answer is it depends. Number one, I would not strain my family budget to where I couldn't breathe in any case, okay, to do that. I would not spend $46,000 a year for a four-year-old to go to a private school, and sometimes I get that call. So what is yours?

Yeah. So we are in the process of paying off debt.

Now, what is your private school cost?

It's not that much. We're going between two. The cheaper one is $1,035 for the year. The other one is $1,400 for the year.

I'm so sorry. This is not a school. No. This is a daycare, right?

No, it's preschool.

A A thousand dollars a year? Yeah. And she goes every day?

No. At four years old, they don't do. It's only like one of them is two days a week and the other one is three days a week, and they're half day.

Okay, darling, this is called Mother's Day Out. This is not called private school. Yeah.

Okay.

Or run from any school that only charges you a thousand dollars a year.

It's not a school. Your kid's going over two days a week while you go grocery shopping, for God's sakes. Yeah. Okay. But if you're going to do Mother's Day Out, that's okay. I mean, they don't have a public version of that. So private is your only option. And what's your household income?

It's complicated. So I bring home about 2,200 to 2,300 a month. My husband on the low brings home 2,800 a month, but it could go up to 5,000 a month.

When?

So he manages a snow removal company. So right now, he's bringing home a few thousand a month, and then he just lands escaping in the summer. So it just depends if he's working overtime or not. Okay.

And you're in Baby Step, too?

Correct.

What's your debt? How much?

Yeah, we have a total of 303,000.

Hello. What is that consist of?

Yeah, 277,000 is left on the mortgage. Oh, okay. We have 9,700 left on my car, 4,600 left on my student loans, and then 11,000 left on his student loans.

So shouldn't he be doing overtime now?

Yes, lots of overtime. Is he? Yes. He's working The last average was anywhere from 95 to 110 hours a week.

And he's only bringing 2,800 home a month?

No, that's when he gets 5,000.

Yeah, no. Actually, last month, I think he brought home closer to 8,000.

Okay, that makes more sense. All right, I got it. Okay.

Yeah, I just filled our budget off of the low end. That way there's no surprises.

So his bare minimum that he would bring home. Are you working in the home?

No, I'm a nurse.

So who keeps your child while you work?

Yeah. We pay somebody to watch the kiddos three days a week.

Oh, and this other thing is the second or the other two days a week?

Yeah. Starting in the fall, our daughter is of preschool age, and so we were just trying to figure out whether it was a bad idea to pay for her to go to a private- If she's there, does that reduce your cost of the babysitter in the house? No. No, it does not, because it would be Tuesday, Thursday, and those are the days that I'm home.

Oh, well, I wouldn't do it. I heard enough for me. If it was my personal income in this situation, I would not be paying that money. No. Not in Baby Step, too. Dave, am I right or wrong?

I don't have a problem. It's probably not a deal breaker either way. But your daughter's already gone from home as a four-year-old while you're at work the other days, and then you're at home and you're going to send her away from home, too, into preschool. I don't think this... Well, I'm already catching hell. Okay. Having raised three that became successful, the things that they learned when they were in preschool did not enter into it, them becoming successful. It It's not that big a deal. You can make it. The difference is for some of the rest of you in Grade 1 through six, one school versus another, assuming the school is not just an absolute hell hole that's dangerous and teaches nothing. But if you've got a reasonably good elementary school, the difference is in that and the one that's $100,000 a is it's not worth the bang. It's not worth the cost. The difference is in whether those kids become successful is not based on where they went to elementary school, and it's sure not based on where they went to Mother's Day out. No, I'm not going to do it on that basis. The child is not going to be held back.

She's not a developmental delay because of this or an educational deficit because of this.

I'll fill in the last piece that I'm hearing here, Brittany, because I'm not that far removed from We had a wife working full-time, and we had three kids. As a nurse, and I know that nursing, many of the nursing positions are very, very intense. If you're asking us from, Hey, on those two days when I'm off, I need a little me time, I think that's fine. But I would, again, I would employ the person who's watching the child on the other days for maybe a portion of it. You have some dedicated time for yourself on those two days off. If that's something that is part of this decision, I think that makes sense and it's healthy. But I can also say, as a guy who sent off his oldest to college last year, I got another one leaving the nest. This goes fast. The old saying that the days are long and the years are short are really, really true. If you can still be healthy, having that time with her before she heads off to elementary school, man, it's going to be here before he know it. I would maximize that. That's just me.

No wrong decision here, but maybe some food for thought.

The bottom line of all of that, Brittany, is it doesn't matter. You do what you want to. That's right. You're not going to mess up your kid either way, and you're really not going to destroy your dead snowball either way. But what we don't want to do during, and I don't think this falls in that category or we would sell you because we're pretty mean about it. What we don't want to do when we're in Baby Step is buy luxury items, things that aren't needed. This is on the bubble. You know what bothers me about it is the way you phrased it, honestly. Start the whole thing off like this is a private school discussion, and it's a two-day-a-week, mother's day drop off. It's not like we're having a decision between Harvard and the University of Mississippi. That's not what we're looking at here.

I felt that, too, and this is not in any way a slight on you, Brittany, but you know what? Sometimes we make decisions like this because everyone else is doing it. I'm not saying that's the case, but a lot of times we talk ourselves into things that make sense It's because other people are doing it.

Yeah. It's a bubble. I mean, who you're running around with and all your kids, all your buddies got a four-year-old and they're all going to, air quotes, private school.

I'll bet you the school she's thinking about, it's got some nice shine to it. Guaranteed. It's the hot place to send the kiddos in their zip code. I'll bet you. I could be wrong. It's happened before, Dave.

Struggling with prestige out of a four-year-old.

Listen up, guys, because I've got a big question for you. Where will you be with your money at the end of 2026? Will you be better off, worse, or exactly the same? Believe it or not, you get to choose.

Look, I know there's a lot going on that can make you feel powerless over your money, but I want you to hear me.

You're more in control than you think. You can turn your finances around.

So let me help you out.

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Hey, are you staying on track with the Baby Steps? Take a quick quiz to check your progress, and you can get a personalized plan for you as well. Simply head to the show notes, click the link, Are you on track with the Baby Steps? And complete the quick free quiz, and we'll help you build a personalized plan and get you moving. It's what we're here for. Carly's in West Virginia. Hey, Carly, what's up?

Hi, Dave. Hi, Ken. Happy to be talking to you. Thanks for taking my question. Sure. My question is about life insurance. My husband and I know we need more life insurance, but we're trying to figure out how to do that. So right now, through a company-sponsored plan, we have a term life policy that is seven times my income and five times his.

That you pay for or they give?

Well, yes, I pay We pay $45 a month for it.

Okay. All right.

I'm trying to determine to fill that gap to the 10 to 12. Because this is through my employer, should we be looking for a private policy for the full 10-12?

I probably would. Let me talk you through why. Just a couple of variables. Just go to xanderinsurance. Com. They've been with us for 35 years, almost. They'll shop a bazillion companies, get you the best price. For what you're paying. I'm going to guess and say you might be able to get that privately. I don't think you're getting that credit deal. That's thing one. Okay. Thing two is when you leave your company, and you will. Yes. Okay, you'll get fired.

That's my concern. Get a better job.

If you had a diabetes diagnosis and a year later left the company, you can't get insurance.

Yeah.

Because these insurance policies are not portable. They go with you. You can get trapped with a negative diagnosis and then an exit and not have insurance. That always bothers me. I want to have the biscuit, the meat of the thing, so to speak. The main piece be my private insurance through Xander. Then if I've got some through work, if it's a good deal when you flush it out and you want to keep it, it's the gravy on the biscuit. It's a little extra. Okay. Because good news, it doesn't cost much. But I don't know that that policy is that great a deal. How old are you guys?

I am 32 and my husband's 27.

Okay. And what's your income How old is he?

I'm at 160, and he's about 80. And we have one child who's almost two.

Okay. Are either one of you overweight or smoke?

No. Okay.

Well, you got a good amount of insurance because your income is higher than I was guessing. Okay, so you got good income. Congratulations. Yeah, I don't know. You just run the numbers against it. You'll either keep it as semi-supplemental. In other words, I might If it's a great deal and you want to keep it, instead of doing 10 to 12 with Xander, I might do 6 to 8 with Xander, right?

Okay.

And just say, Okay, it's a little bit supplemental and it's a little bit there. But if I leave, I'm not stuck that way. It's not the base. It's not the foundation of my insurance plan. It's just part of the plan. Because when you count on employer life insurance only, you can really get stung based on what I was just telling you.

Dave was using gravy and a biscuit as metaphor. If you want a good life insurance rate, stay away from the biscuits and the gravy.

Ken, thank you.

Dave, I got to bring some practicality every once in a while on what you say. You're not plain enough. You're not clear enough.

It's true because if you eat enough biscuits and gravy, you'll have to have a biscuitectomy.

While you were doing that, I literally was like, Oh, I love a good biscuit.

That'll screw up your insurance rates. That's my point. Biscuitectomies, if that's on your medical record, it's a problem. There it is. Larry's in Florida. Hey, Larry.

Hey, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. See if I'm the exception to Dave's rule of borrowing money. And then here's the deal. I'll give you a quick scenario. '73, I walked to 70. We're snowbirds. We have 1. 4 in liquid assets, 50,000 of it. Sorry, 1. 4, that's in pre-tax. And then another 50, that's emergency fund. Everything's paid off up north. We live in Michigan. House is worth about $2. 75 up there that's paid off. So the condo that we've been staying in Florida for the last five or six years, a perfect one for us. It's come up for sale. And I can actually close on it this week, tomorrow, today, whatever.

And I'm looking at...

My question to you is, do you think it's wise to pull out the condos 360, pull out the entire amount out of the pre-tax? And, of course, I would incur a 20 % tax as well.

Absolutely.

Do you think that's a smart way to- It's not a 20 % tax.

It's a tax on 360. It's an ordinary income tax rate on 360. But, yeah, I definitely would pay taxes on it. It's not 20% of the withholding on it, but that's not accurate. So, yeah, yes, I definitely. That's why you've saved this money. You don't want to go be 73 years old to have a beach condo with a stupid payment on it. No, I wouldn't do that. I definitely wouldn't do that. I pay cash or I wouldn't buy it. Of course, the other question is, are you going to keep the place up north? If you are, then let's slow down a little bit on the purchase and get the other place sold and roll that 275 into it because there's no tax on that. But if you're keeping the house up and you're still going to snowbird it, then up north, and that's cool. No problem. I just take it out of that. You got a million dollars left in your 401k, and you got a million dollars in real estate now. Okay. Oh, darn. I hate it when that happens. Well done. No, I'm not paying. Yes, I'm going to pay some taxes to not have any debt.

Absolutely. That's why we got here and how we got here. Spencer's in Wisconsin. Hey, Spencer.

Hey, Dave.

Thanks for taking my call. Sure. How can we help?

Hey, I'm 28 years old and I have $750,000 a debt. I have no debt on any cars or anything like that. That's my home mortgage. Then I'm a farmer. I bought a chunk of land.

Okay, so how much is your house? How much is the debt on your home?

There's about $350,000 left on that.

Okay. And so you got about $400,000 $450 on the land?

Four hundred on land, yes.

Four hundred on land. I'm sorry. Okay. And you're a full-time farmer? That's what you do for a living?

Correct. Yes, with my dad and my grandpa.

Okay. That's your only debt. You don't have any equipment debt?

No, no equipment debt or anything.

What are you farming?

Corn, soy beans, and wheat. We're cash crop farmers, and we do a lot of trucking, too.

Good. So what make in a year?

I personally make about $80,000 of personal income. And then this year, we made about $30,000 from the farm that should make the payments for the next year.

How many acres is the 400? It only yielded $30,000 worth of profit?

Well, no, $30,000 of profit. Yeah, I know. It It was about... It's 76 acres of workable land, and it yielded about 200 bushels to the acre.

Wow.

And corn is about $4. About pretty bad price this year, but that's just how it goes. Yeah. Okay.

On a good year, I'm curious, on a good year with corn prices, what would that number be, or what has it been? What's the best year that you can recall?

The best year is probably that I can remember. I'm only 28. But during COVID there, we had about $7 a bushel, for corn.

Wow. But what would that make you on that, 78 acres, or 76 acres?

76 times 200 times. I'm lost. That'd be about 100,000 or something.

Okay. All right.

Almost double.

Yeah. Okay. Or more than double. Okay. All right. Because you got it. Listen, you're just trying to get a return on investment. It's a business transaction. There's a lot of romance in farm and an extreme amount of hard work in farming. But people romantically forget to do the math because you don't want to make 30,000 on a $400,000 investment and do all the hard work. It means you're making a dollar an hour for your back-breaking labor. That's a bad rate of return on your money. So But if that's not the average year, then we have to work into that and see. If you're getting it paid off by doing that, you end up with the asset clear. That's another part to enter into the equation. I think you can struggle through this and get there. When you're tired of feeling stuck with money, there's just one solution. To get different results, you have to do something different. No one accidentally wins with money. You have to have a game plan, and that begins with our get started assessment. Go to ramsey solutions. Com ramsysolutions. Com/start. Answer some questions, and we'll show you what steps to take next.

Don't stay stuck. Take control of your money starting today. Go with ramseysolutions. Com/start. Our scripture of the day, Ephesians 6: 11, Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. Reba McEntire said, Be different, stand out, and work your butt off. Well, that sounds good, Reba. I like that. All right, Kim is in Chicago. Hey, Kim, how are you? I'm good. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up in your world?

Well, my son is going to come into a settlement when he turns 18 in April, and it's $1,000, and I'm looking for advice on what he should do with it. He wants to buy a new car, but he's also going to be signing up. He's going to sign up for the Marines in about October. He's only going to be a short time before he goes away to boot camp, so trying to figure out what the right decision is for him.

Yeah, okay. How old is he?

He's 17. He'll be 18 in April, and that's when he'll get the settlement.

Okay. What's the settlement from?

He was hit by a car when he was on his bicycle.

Wow. Is he okay?

He's okay. Yeah. It's been just about a year. So he's fully recovered, and it's been in an account in the bank until he turns 18. So he's anxiously awaiting it to buy himself a car because right now he's sharing it with mom. Okay.

So you're a single mom?

I'm a single mom, yes. Okay. All right.

And he doesn't have a car, and he's 17. It's in the bank. Right. Is there any reason he can't buy a car with it now if you let him?

Because it's not to be touched until he's 18. I mean, we can go and petition the judge for it.

Oh, okay. But that'd be the only way. Okay.

All right. But it's the only way. Right. Okay. All right.

You're a good mom. Well, here's the thing. You and I know he's getting ready to park the car. If he's a normal 17-year-old American male, he wants a really nice car that's way too expensive and he's about to screw up, right?

He wants a Honda Civic.

Okay, but how new?

That he's open-ended on, but here's the thing- I'm thinking $5,000 to $10,000. Okay, that's what I was thinking as well. Okay.

If it parks and sits there and rots down, his life does not end. But if he goes and blows 70 grand on a car, I'm going to kill him.

Oh, no, that would never happen.

Well, I don't know. He's 18 and it's his money. Only you and I can talk him out of it, right? Because I guarantee you he's got some people telling him to do that, don't you?

I'm afraid of that.

Yeah, they're called stupid friends. We all have them. Especially when you're 17, you have them. There's lots of them around when you're 17. I'm glad that you have the influence with him that you hope you do and you think you do. I hope you can talk him out of the tree on this because it sounds like you are. It sounds like you got a good foothold on persuading him. I think you're being wise, and I hope he will, because here's the thing, that remaining $60,000 if he leaves it alone and he comes on out as a Marine and he starts, is very wise with his income there and careful, he could get a really good start in life.

That's what I'm hoping. With that rest of that money, do you think he should put it in a high yield savings?

That would be fine. That would be fine. If you want to put it away even longer, you could sit down with a SmartVestor Pro and park some of it in some mutual funds. But don't plan on touching it for five years if you do that. You can, but I wouldn't. But if you could, that would be ideal. Just forget you have it. It would be ideal, right? Put it in a mutual fund and forget you have it and look up at 24 marrying your sweetheart, and the 50 has turned into 150, and you can use it for a down payment on a house.

That's what my hopes are for him.

That's what I would do with it if it was mine.

I'm sitting here thinking, what would I do if I were you?

I would show him that example.

This is what I do to my kids. It drives them crazy, but I'm a question guy by trade. I I would ask him, so what else involved with a brand new Marine who goes off and got a car? Start asking a million questions. Now, just asking the questions will irritate him, which is great, because what you want to do is mild irritation to make him think through, Is this thing more trouble? Because you and Dave are talking and you're like, Oh, he's going to park it. But he's not thinking that. I would, and I'm playing when I say irritate, I don't mean really provoke the kid. I just mean make him consider, What is he going to do with this car? And if he's parking it where you live, make him confront that. If he's got a ticket with them and ship it or whatever, I would just make him walk through all of that. And you might be able to deter this by not suggesting, but by asking. I would try it because I'm with you, I would rather him save this money.

It'd be okay to not buy a car. That's what I'm getting at. If you're going straight into boot camp, that'd be okay. It wouldn't be the end of the world. But I was just trying to scratch his itch. If I scratch it with five grand and keep him for blowing 70, I'm on target. What did you say?

You tried it?

I tried to tell him it's not necessary. We can still share. He's got a 15-year-old brother, and that'll be a 16 when he goes in the Marines. He said, Well, then he can just use it when I'm gone. Because he thinks that it's a burden for me to have to drive them all around everywhere since it's just me. He's like, Then he can help you out.

Here's the deal. I did a quick search while Dave was talking to you. There are some decent Honda Civics in that 5,000 to $7,000 range. If you can help him stay in that range, then I think that scratch is his itch, but also keeps his money where it needs to be.

Yeah. But sell the dream of what happens to the other 60,000 bucks that's going to turn into 160 for a good down payment when he's 24 or whatever the numbers end up being. But I mean, this is the mature thing to do with it, which is very hard to do when you're-Immature. When you're not old. Hard to do when you're old, but it's not as hard when you're old as it was when you were... All right, Christian. Kristen, Kristen is next in San Jose. Hey, Kristen, what's up?

Hi. I have a question about purchasing a house versus remodeling. We've been planning a remodel for the past year and just found out from a couple of contractors that now at this point, the remodel is going to be double what we want to pay, which means we'd be way over building for our neighborhood. The same time I'm finding this out from contractors, my dad has decided to move from Southern California up be closer to us because my mom has passed in this past year, and he just want... We're his last closest family in the area. And so we are now considering instead to sell his house, our house, and purchase a new house with an ADU, so that way he can live on the property with us. This would involve all me, my husband and my dad's means, all being on the mortgage and the title to the home. And I'm just looking for some advice to see if that is That's not a good idea. We would be putting over 50% down for the price of the home, and it would be within our budget, even according to the Ramsey way of deciding for a budget for a house.

I just want to know if that is a good idea or not.

Well, there's a lot of downside to it because what you have to do is work through what happens in the event of all the negative possibilities. A negative relationship evolves. That's the problem. A death evolves. What happens to the half of the house then? What happens to the half if he becomes disabled early onset? What happens if something bizarre happened and you all got a divorce? No one ever anticipates all the negative things and the exit strategy from this brilliant idea in the event of all the negative things. We always just at, Oh, this is going to work, and we can put our money together, and we got a better house. If you work through all of those, probably on paper, as a part of a partnership agreement, you got siblings?

No, I'm an only child.

Okay. That makes it simpler, doesn't it? You're going to get half when he dies, right?

Yes. He has been very clear that he's like, The house is already yours. Do what you want with it. He just wants to move closer to us in general. He is elderly, so I do think that- How old is he? We would be taking in his mid-70s. Okay. Maybe not in the best of health like you are. But yeah.

Okay. All right. Yeah, I mean, just be careful. It's just be thinking about what happens with... And really have some good documentation on power of attorney and other stuff in case... The one that comes to mind is I've got a friend dealing with early onset right and they've got a problem with the ownership of the family business. The guy that holds the keys is not all there now, so they got a real issue. That's the stuff you got to be real careful with and be thinking that through. That puts us hour The Ramsey Show in the Book. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus.