Discipline With Money Leads To More Control

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“>> Normal is broken, common sense is weird.”

So we're here to help you transform your life from the Ramsey Network in the Fair Once Credit Union Studio. It's the Ramsey Show. I'm Jade Warshot next to me, Dr. John Deloni on the ones and two. >> Let's get it going.

>> All right, go and straight to the phone lines. We've got Ryan who's in Tacoma, Washington. What's going on Ryan? How can we help today? >> I'm calling on behalf of my father.

I'm a very concerned person. He's 79 years old. And he's very financially goalable. He has just been recently scanned out of $3,600. The trend actually just went through yesterday.

“I stopped to scan the last year, there was an involved him.”

He has a time share of course in Mexico that was contacted about and somebody wanted to buy it from him. And he's getting a call from somebody claiming to be a bank manager in Mexico that has an account with a large amount of money in it. And he's believing everybody, but he's not believing me.

And I'm so concerned for him. He's a winner. He's a loan home with his dog and a little bit lonely. And I'm trying to find a way. And I'd call him for help. Are the resources available to me that I can help my father see that this is a scan

that these things are not true, that it is too good to be true. The one that he was just scammed out of, he was called, he started an e-commerce business. And it is a website, it's a live website. And he says he's people a large amount of money to build on this website where they will basically put up these products.

And then they'll get shipped directly to. And he can sit back and just comfortably gain 30% profit margin on everything without leaving his chair. Does he recognize the scope of this latest scan? I still don't think he does.

He has confirmed he's been very quiet about it. And he's a little embarrassed, but he won't be completely open with me. OK, have you ever been scammed? No. OK.

No, have you ever made a mistake?

In here's what I'm looking at looking for.

I, there may be resources, but I can't think of a better resource than a father's, the love of a son for his father. And so I don't know there's going to be a website or a new article. Like the scams against aging, our aging population has increased so much. It's a multi-billion dollar business.

And the robbing seniors blind, and you nailed it, it's a group of people who are increasingly lonely, don't have resources, and who are being fed, rage, and anger, and fear all day long. And then somebody comes along and says, hey, I can give you a bit of this. The reason I was asking if you ever been a part of a scam is for your dad, nothing's

going to be more embarrassing than falling for something. And this same group of people who stole the 3600 bucks is going to loop back with a different scam and say, have you been scammed?

Give us $500 and we'll make sure it never happens again, he'll fall for that one too.

“Like this whole thing, you're, you're working with pros, OK?”

And so if you have ever made a mistake with money, been scammed out of something, leading with that first is often a way to mitigate shame. To I Dave Ramsey always leads with the story of, hey, I promise you, I've blown my life up financially more than any of y'all have. It gives everybody else permission to say, oh, you had $4 million in debt, I just had $100,000

in debt. Right? So if you can sit down and say, I've messed up before debt. I've been buried under the stuff before this happens. And then the next step is, and he may not do it, would you be willing to, like these kids

with their computers are so good, would you be willing to give me financial power of attorney? Would you let me pay your bills for you? And he may say, no way, no, how? And I know a lot of aging dads have a lot of ego and a lot of pride still. But I don't know another way around it, brother.

We're hearing this more and more and more and more and more and more. He did put me on his account so that I could help him with that stuff. But in that, I said, alert, which, you know, he went to the branch and told 3600 out

Cash.

And I said, dad, what's the cash going for it?

It's for his business account. He had to go deposit it into a chain account for this business. And I said, dad, nobody does business like that. Yeah. Nobody takes cash from one account just completely severed in line of traceability to this.

How much money does he have access to your dad? Well, his bank account is savings is, as I feel, nothing is savings, but he has a monthly pension and Social Security amounting roughly $4,500 a month. And does he have a nest egg anywhere else? That I don't know.

“I think he's got an investment account, you know, and he keeps getting this call from”

these people and you're right John, they are absolute pros and they keep made a certain amount

of time pass and they'll call in them and, you know, hey, you know, we just got this account. I'm a break. The last one was I am a bank manager from San Antonio, Mexico City, and we have this large amount of money. Sure.

Yeah. Is there nobody does that? Is there, could you get through and say, hey, dad, I've been reading about a lot of people with pensions and Social Security getting a lot of calls from all over the country, all over the world, with people trying to scam them out of their money, would you be willing

to, like, not make it about, hey, I heard you got scammed, but hey, here this is going on and they're praying on people like you.

“He might say, oh, never happened to me, who knows, man?”

I'm just trying to think, Jay, I'm trying to think of ways to connect relationally here. I'm, yeah, that's a good idea because I was thinking about even if he has friends or people that are in his circle, that maybe he does listen to, and you start with those guys and say, hey, I don't, this is, this is big in your, in your age group. Are you guys dealing with this?

Because if you are, my dad's dealing with it, maybe you guys can talk some sense and join because at the end of the day, yeah, you can do all the things you can freeze credit, you can, you know, make sure your name is on the account, it already sounds like it's that way, but until you really have, it sounds like until you have full control over this and you're more so distributing money to him, sadly, this could continue to go on

and it's huge John, you hit on it before, but the latest statistic is adult 60 years old

and older have lost 3.4 billion dollars to scams in a single year, like in a single year,

that's crazy. So maybe, I don't know what kind of guy your dad is, maybe he's an analytical guy, and it's just like maybe you print out some crazy stats and you just slide it over on the table and say, hey, just read this, just please read this and it's not you talking, but you let somebody else do the talking for you, maybe you sent him this episode and you

say, dad, I was really concerned, I called, I called a few experts just to see and what they said really bothered, like it was really troubling me and I wanted you to hear it too. And so Ryan's dad, if you're listening, you, you got to let Ryan help you out. This is a, this thing is bigger than you and for all aging parents, yeah, it's bigger than you.

It's coming to you with some expertise or some care, love, man, let them love you, right? Yeah, yeah. They're not, they, they want nothing for you, but to help you, they gain nothing for it. And remember, the scammers, the one asking you for money, not your, not your sons and your daughters who are saying, hey, please don't do this thing.

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Back to the phone lines where we have Amanda in San Antonio, Texas, Amanda, how can we help

out today? Hey guys, I'm calling to get some live guidance on what to do in my marriage and with our finances. My husband was pretty irresponsible with spending on a daily basis and nothing seems to change for a longer period of time. And my next step for what I thought is to separate our finances and just ask him to pay

a portion of our bills to me so I can handle our finances a little more responsibly. I just don't know if that's the best next step.

“What do you mean when you say he's irresponsible, like tell us what those behaviors look like?”

What was the most recent thing he did that you would say, man, that was just so irresponsible? Yeah, so mostly we're averaging 50 to $70 a day between 5 and 7 days a week, spending at gas stations.

That's not what I'm doing.

He's getting a drink and a snack or a sausage biscuit. That's what he's doing. Well, yes, it's precious to energy drinks and a lot of it is the liquid cradem shop. Oh, yeah, so yeah, number up. That's next level.

Yeah, I've got a close friend who went through a gnarly cradem detox. That's the issue here. Yeah, yeah, definitely I think an addiction at this point and you know, I bring up my feelings about it, but is they changed for two days and then it goes right back to where it was. Yeah, John real quick, explain cradem for folks who are listening who don't know.

It's just a, it's, I considered it. I mean, in the same way, I don't even go down that road. It's something you can get a gas station that alters your mind. Yeah, it's a plant. That is an ingredient in things that it's addictive, just like any other substance.

But a lot of people don't know that it is and when they, when they buy it for the first

time. Anything, if you ever go to a gas station to try to feel better, that's your first signal, probably not a good idea.

“Where else in your life is he not showing up for you?”

Well, I think the lot of it is kind of tripled down from the cradem thing. I think it, you know, frustration caused by that, I think it's, you know, just lack of intimacy as well caused by that, but, you know, it's just, it's something every two weeks. It's a new obsession. I want to buy watches and now I want to buy Pokemon cards and we're just draining money.

Like there's, there's an ale on our tire and we can't even keep it filled. So I, I want you to treat this, this might be a, and what I would call, it might be an overcorrection, but I want you to treat this as though he has an alcohol addiction. He is regularly consuming a substance that is altering his ability to show up for himself and his marriage, and that is costing a bunch of money, it's costing relational conflict,

it's costing relational disconnection, all that stuff. And so anytime you're sitting with somebody who is struggling in any sort of addiction, what you can control in that moment is you, and it's you saying, here is what I'm going to do next, and yeah, I would advocate for you right now to get your own checking account and to make sure you've got your bills paid and make sure you've got your, how, you roof

over your head and make sure you can afford your own counseling bills because this is

“a bigger issue than the $50 or $75 a day, he's blowing it gas stations, right?”

It's a much bigger issue, that's just, that's just one of the alarm bills going off. Do you guys have kids together? We do, we have three. Okay. What are their ages?

Um, eight, four and ten months. Okay. Okay. Is he still showing up at work? Yes.

Okay. Um, he took a pay card at cleaning up this year, um, you know, but loves the job, so that's, I guess, better than making more money than hitting your job. Um, well, for a short time, but do you have, do you have, do you work outside the home? I do.

And my concern with having our bills split proportionally to what we make is that I make more money than him and I don't want him to feel less of a provider. That, that's not about that at all. That ship is sealed. We're solving for safety.

We're not solving for feelings right now.

We're solving for safety.

And I think, I think it's good that he knows that, hey, you've, you've put us in a situation

where I can't trust you. Yeah. And therefore, I have to be a woman and make sure that I'm keeping myself and the kids safe and the way that I can do that is I can keep this money aside. And I can use it to pay the bills, keep the house running.

And when you're ready to get the help that you need, I would love for you to come back into the marriage and be a participant again in a healthy way.

“And I think that's just you saying what you're going to do and controlling what you can do.”

And, and there's no apologies given for that because he's doing what he's going to do. Right? Yeah. And before warned, anytime you put up a boundary like this, and by the way, this sounds like a boundary to re-establish connection down the road.

That's right. And to keep you safe. So it's not like you're like an immature 26 year old, like I'm cutting off my parents because they gave me a curfew and I was a teenager. You're not doing that.

You've talked to, yeah, because you've taught them the bridge to come back on. You've said when you are able to take responsibility, get the help you need.

I'm happy to have you back, basically.

We're all back in. Expect him to run full force into this boundary with everything he's got to see if it will hold. And if you give him, I expect this much money for rent. I expect this much money for bills.

And he stops paying you.

“You're going to have to, you're going to be forced to say, okay, what next?”

You might get a hold of the line here as you can have to move out. Like you, you go ahead and set that stuff up in your mind because he's going to test those boundaries to see if they hold. What do you make every month Amanda? I make about 4500.

Okay. And what portion of the tax? Okay, after tax. And how much is the rent or mortgage? Well, our, the house we just bought is a 2150.

Okay. And we're currently staying in half of a duplex that we own. And the remainder to cover that mortgage is about 500. Are you renting out the other side? We are, and we have renters lined up for this side when we move out in the month and a half.

To go to the new house. Correct. Was the duplex another one of his scams? No. No.

I think it was a wise investment. Okay. What about daycare? Do you pay for daycare? Yeah.

Okay. We do pay for daycare. It's about $230 a week for one child that's in daycare. Okay. When you say it's a wise investment.

What are you going to clear after both rents come in on the mortgage? And the insurance and the upkeep? Yes. We clear about 900 a month. Okay.

So that's enough to cover daycare, basically.

And does that come to you? Are you able to get access to that money before? Basically grab access to that money. So you can make sure it's getting used to keep the household running? So some of it and a portion of it is from like Section 8 and that goes to our joint account.

So I have access to that bill. Okay. And I would make sure that you keep that access because what I don't want is anything to come in the way of you being able to keep a roof over the heads of your children. Them getting to school and daycare so that you can go to work. This is a four-wall situation.

So let me just back up and explain.

“You're up against it financially. There's four things that you need to be in control of and prioritize.”

The first one is, yeah, you got to keep shelter. So you got to make sure you're able to pay the rent. You've got to keep the utilities on. That's number two. You've got to make sure there's food, right?

You've got to eat and you've got to make sure there's transportation. And in a close fifth, John is things like daycare insurance. Making sure that those things are going. So that's your top four and then five and six that I would throw in there as well. And if you can just keep that ship running and like John said and force those boundaries.

I mean, this is not going to be an easy season ahead. But I think for you finding those areas of the things that you can control and the things that you can be responsible for when you put your head down on your pillow at night. That's going to be life-saving for you and to know that you're going to be mama bear with these kids and say, Hey, there's a lot of crazy going on, but I am like the source of like steadiness and peace. That's the best that you can do for yourself and for your kids right now.

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$25 forever requires customers to remain active on BoostMobile unlimited plan. [Music] Right back at it to James in Detroit, Michigan, the Motor City, what's going on James? And how are you doing? Doing good.

How can we help? So my question is, so about two or three months ago, I kind of found the day of transit show, and I like what you guys preach as far as, like, corking as a team, I'm married. And I have two kids, and just lately I wanted to pay off dead, and I got my wife on board.

I'm a police officer, and I just got a second job as well.

And I got the, so we did things up one work and I'm being set to. The only confusion that I have, and I don't know if there's a difference or not, is do I use those extra payments? And as soon as I get paid, do I put that towards... My name's smallest, um, sorry, I'm freaking worried right now. That's okay.

Yeah, if I put that towards the smallest debt right away, or should I see you up to now? So, like, say it's $10,000. Do I put that, do I see you up $10,000, and then pay it all off at once? No. You can do it as you go along.

You can do it as you go along. So, let's say, what month are we in April? So, let's pretend that for April, you've paid all of your minimums.

“You've satisfied everything else on your budget that you need to satisfy, and you've got $500 left.”

You would then say, all right, just like I budgeted, and just like I planned, I'm going to put this extra $500 on my smallest $10,000 debt, and now it's $9,500, and then you just go along like that. And the reason for that, at least in my mind, the reason for that is number one, each payment that you make, it's more exciting for you, right? Every time you pay down that debt, you're like, yes, I see the balance go down.

You get that shot of adrenaline, you're feeling good about yourself. And then the other reason for that is simply just kind of like, I'm going to just say natural behavior, which is when you start stacking up a pack of a pile of money, that's just kind of over to the side, your brain wants to spend it on other fun things, and so just hurrying up and assigning that and doing what you got to do.

It kind of keeps you from, you know, being left to your own devices with that money.

And I'll throw in a third thing.

If you get that payment done to the $9,500 or that balance done to $9,500, that next month, you're only paying interest on $9,500. Yes.

“And then the month after that, you're only paying interest on $9,000, right?”

So it, otherwise, you're going to pay interest on $10,000, $10,000, $10,000. But all those months, the actual amount of interest you're paying goes down to. And just for the larger audience, what we're talking about here is the debt snowball method, where you're listing all your debt's smallest to largest. And make sure that you're doing this guys by the balance, the full balance, the full amount owned.

Oh, don't list it by monthly payment, certainly don't list it by interest rate. It is by full balance. And then, of course, in the meantime, you're paying minimum payments on everything. And you're throwing any and extra, any and all extra money at that smallest debt. And to James's point, we're going to do it as it happens.

We're not going to wait in, in, in pile up that lump sum. So it's a very good question, James. Thank you for that. We've got Crystal, who's in Sioux Falls, Iowa. Hi, Crystal, how can we help today?

Hi. So my husband and his been following you guys since he was at high school. We're 25. So for about 10 years. And we've both been living the day and day lifestyle.

We have no debt.

Our net worth is just shy of $690,000. We earn a home outright that's worth about 170 to 180.

And we're buying some million to build a home.

And we're just trying to figure out if we slow down on maxing out our 401(k)s, which we've been doing to save more money to pay cash for that, which could take some time. Or, I guess, what's the best option? Do we slow down on our 401(k)s to save more money?

“And pay cash or do we take out a construction motor?”

What's your advice there? How much are you investing? Is it beyond 15%. So my husband is passing out, who's the 401(k)s, which I'm not sure what it is right now, to 22,000.

I don't know if it's relevant or whatever it is. And I'm both in Roth 401(k)s, and mine, I'm doing 60% of my income, which is the most I can do. Okay. So, I mean, you could essentially play this,

like, hey, we're going back to Baby Step 3B, because in you guys' situation, and I should probably ask, how much is it that you're trying to save up? What's the dollar amount? So, that's the thing. We don't really have, like, a set dollar amount that we're wanting to save up to.

So, we're buying the land in the next probably year, and we have to cash for that right now. Okay. So, the family just saving for building, which probably between $500,000 to $600,000. Okay.

So, I mean, realistically, it could take us, I don't know, seven to 10 years to save that up in cash. I'm not exactly sure. And you're going to sell the current home, so that'll be part of it, right? Then one that's worth 180?

So, our plan was to actually turn that into a rental. Okay. I mean, you could, but it's going to cost you a lot of time. I mean, that's almost $200,000 there tied up.

So, what I would do, first of all, we can't make a plan if we don't have real numbers,

or at least, as close to you. This is how things get way out of hand on a build. Yep. We need a budget. We need a budget.

You guys get to set the budget and say, this is how much based on our research, based on our numbers, based on our timeline, we are spending $450,000, or we're spending $550,000. So, I think that's thing one to this entire question. Because then, so let's pretend just for the purpose of today.

Let's pretend, hey, the budget is set. It's $550,000 that we are spending on this build. Okay. Now, how do we get the money? Well, I personally, I'll tell you the truth.

With what you guys have accomplished, I personally would have a lot of, a hard time going into debt again. That being said, we don't, we don't poop who on folks for going into mortgage debt. If they do it the right way on a 15 year fixed rate mortgage, where the payment is more than 25% of their take on pay.

Okay. Let me start by saying that. That's what we suggest.

“That's what we would tell most folks to do,”

because most folks don't have the money to pay outright for cash, which is technically the best way you could buy a house. Okay. So, I want to say, there's nothing wrong with the mortgage. But in your case, I kind of feel like it might feel like taking a step back.

You tell me if I'm wrong. No, for sure. And that's kind of, so my husband and I are kind of on two pages. My husband would like to, yeah, say about the cash. Continue, maxing out our 401(s), and just slowly build up our cash.

And then, you know, a year or so before we are estimated to have that cash, kind of start that building process. Yeah. What's the timeline? I can start an end.

What do you mean time when you want to have a deadline? So, like, he says, like 2035. So, that's like nine more years. Oh, my concern. Yeah.

So, my concern though, this is where the discussion comes in the place. So, the current homework, and that's worth the 170 to 180, and we three bedroom one baths. We have no children at the moment, but we're hoping to start a family soon. Okay.

And the kitchen's quite smooth. We have one bathroom. And so, I mean, like, I know it's doable, but my concern is I work from home. And also, that's true. That's true.

“I hear we're going crystal, but here's the thing.”

We're just setting up an idea, a plan today.

You can always reassess it, right?

You can all, because the truth is there is no baby yet. There's no inconvenience yet. It hasn't caused you a problem working from home yet. So, what I think you can do is look at this and go, okay. Let's set the plan first of what our ideal situation is and what the smartest play forward is.

Then we can start to factor it. Okay, here's some things that might cause that to affect our timeline. And then you can start making contingencies for that. So, what I would say is, okay, 550,000 is what we're spending. We've got a 9-year horizon.

Are you okay with 9 years? Are you thinking more like 5 years? I'm thinking closer to 5 years, but I just don't think we're going to be able to have like,

100% complete amount of time.

I think if we've probably sold the current home market because we have the cash.

Yes. Most of it at least. And I like that for you.

“I think you run out, I think you run out both of these scenarios in your mind.”

And with your husband, Crystal, I would do a 9-year play. Obviously, the 5-year play would cause you to sell the current house that you were going to use for a rental. And then I would say, well, what happens if being in this house with a kid does start to pose a problem, then maybe instead of taking out a mortgage for, you know, $400,000.

You're only taking out a loan for $150,000. Do you see what I'm saying? So, you have options. This plan can morph over time.

But I want you to start with a plan and start with an end in mind.

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Love that. While we're at it, let's get to our Ramsey show question of the day that's brought to you by Why ReFi. Defaulted private student loans can leave you feeling stuck and overwhelmed. But why ReFi helps you explore refinancing options with a low fixed rate and a payment

based on what you can actually afford. Visit whyreFi.com/ramsy. That's the letter whyreffy.com/ramsy. Remember, may not be available in all states. All right, today's question comes from Denise and South Carolina and it's a good one.

Denise writes, "I'm 76 and I have two children. A daughter that's 45 and a son who's 47. My will divides my assets equally which is how I want it to be structured.

My daughter is and always has been irresponsible with money.

I'm now considering putting her share about $500,000 and a trust to provide an income for her without giving her access to the principal.

“Is this the best way to provide for her or should I just let her have the same payout?”

My son will get and let her blow it all on concert t-shirts. Number one, don't hate on the concert t-shirts. I don't know. I've got my own opinions on this. What do you think, Jade?

I think that it's her money, meaning it's the 76 year old. It's Denise's money. And I think she knows her children and I think she gets to decide how she's going to divide up and if she has discerned that one of her children is responsible with money and can handle it being dispersed to them and that the other needs a little bit more guardrails.

I think that that's her choice to make. Yeah, you get to do what you want with your money. Because you don't want it to be harmful. Right, right. And the challenge here is I've gotten this question before and someone's like my son is an alcoholic

or my daughter's struggle with drug abuse. And this is one, I just don't like how she spends her money. She buys concert t-shirts and whatever. I don't know if she's playing, but you get to do whatever you want with your money. And that means if you're going to take that responsibility, you have to take responsibility

For being honest about what your plans are with your money before you pass away.

And that means you have to be responsible for your daughter getting mad at you and not liking you. Yeah, don't let this be a surprise from beyond the grave. Yes, otherwise your son, who I'm assuming is responsible, gets all the blowback here.

Mom's always treated you different.

And so you're refusal to have this hard conversation about what you're doing with the money and how you're structuring it. We'll like make in concrete that your son and daughter will never have a relationship either, don't do that to anybody. And so if you're going to have the courage to say to my money, I want to spend it high. I want you great, I love that. And that means have the courage to do the relational hard thing, which is tell the truth.

I like the idea of saying here's what I want this money to go to.

“And if you want to put it all in a trust and say, I'll pay off both of your mortgages.”

I will like put this in retirement. I mean, in accounts for kids, your kids college from a grandkids college. I like that. But again, it's your money to what you want to do with it. Mm-hmm.

All right, I think that settles it. I like that response. Let's go to Alex who's in Tampa, Florida, Alex. How can we help out today? Yeah, thank you guys so much for taking my call.

No worries, how can we help? Yeah, so me and my wife are expecting our first baby on the middle of June. So pretty soon here. And we are currently on baby steps five and six.

“And I just had a question as to what the best way to manage kindling both of those steps are.”

Well, being proactive with both, but putting one in front of the other. We're definitely trying to get the house paid off soon. Mm-hmm. But also want to be able to set our son up for a good life. Yeah, I mean, obviously, for those listening baby steps four, five and six are to be done simultaneously.

So baby step four, you're investing 15% of your gross income every single month when you get it. At the same time, you're also putting aside a designated amount, whatever you get whatever you decide for furthering your kids education. And that could be in an ESA. That could be in a five to nine. That could be you just throw some money in a brokerage account.

It's up to you. And then also simultaneously, you're denoting an amount that you're going to put extra on your mortgage. And again, with that, you get to decide how much and you get to decide the frequency on which you apply that money.

And it doesn't always have to be the same.

I like patterns. So, you know, I like to set up a reoccurring pattern, but Alex, for you, you don't, you can do this the way you want. So, are you telling me that, tell me right now what the plan is and how you're thinking about changing it? Yes. So, I mean, I think the plan is to just put, obviously, you know, an extra, like, $2,500 towards the mortgage each month. And then, you know, probably, you know, a few hundred dollars every month towards a, like, a five, 29 clients or something.

I love that. I love that. Why does that bother you? What are you concerned there won't be enough money for education? Yeah, I think coming up would be a amount to do each month for, like, a five, 29 or four, you know, the baby in general is kind of a hard thing. We've been trying to come up with like a number, and I think that's one, one area we've been getting stuck with. I mean, for college.

Yeah, just just take a million dollars and know that we'll probably cover semester one and books. Right. Like, yeah, who knows, like, would it be in 20 years, right, or 18 years? There's some projections that you could run if you wanted to get super nerdy. But to John's point, it's still extremely, I mean, it's unknown, right? All of that's a big guess, but you could run out some projections and say, my kids going to go to college. And I don't know. I'm not going to do the math, but in in 2040, what will the cost of tuition be then, right? You could do some things like that and run it backwards.

But then there's also the variables of you might have kids that aren't cut out for college or they want to do trades or they start their own business when they're 19 or they started implanting chips in our head in a few years. Right. We've all been beamed up. Like, there's a lot of things that could happen by then. So I think what you're doing, let me just say, I think what you're doing right now is working really well.

“And I think you continue to write that train and unless you look up and you go, oh my gosh, it looks like he's looking like the type of kid who's going to go to college. Let's, let's amp it up a little bit, right?”

Whatever the plan is, you can always make, make changes to that plan. And I think, I think that's the biggest part of this question.

I don't know about you John, but I feel like the biggest part of college, more so than having the amount set, I think conversations about expectations, Trump dollar amounts any day. It does as a planner who lived inside the college system, I came up with a number that I wanted to try to hit. And then I regard this of what college costs are going to be. This is the number I can come up with. And then I, my son's just turned 16. He's a sophomore.

We had big conversation and we have conferences all the time, but we had big ...

In two years, regardless of what cost is, this is what we're going to have.

“Yes. And we even went down, like as far to say, if you get this on your ACT and you get this much scholarship, I'll write you a check for this much when you graduate.”

Right? So it's just being honest, and I'm in a fortunate situation. If you're in a situation where that number is 10,000 bucks, I'll be able to come up with 10th out. And tell your kid as earliest possible, this is what I will have to contribute. And so if you don't want to pay anything, then we're looking at two years free community college and we'll figure out the rest. You got to work two jobs, et cetera. Oh, like, so it's been honest about all of it. Yeah, I love that. And that's exactly right. Even if you have zero dollars to put aside my parents and I've told the story before I'll tell it again.

They told me early on, they're like, hey, you don't have a college fund and we're not taking out student loans, like we're not taking out parent plus loans.

And you're not taking out student loans either. And so that told me it was like, okay, I have scholarships and they told me they're like, you better be good at sports or you better be smart, basically. Because you're getting scholarships. And that seed was planted and that was what I worked towards. And now I was an idiot and I took out student loans just to pay for life.

“But I had full rights to college. And so the point here is talk to your kids early and often about whatever the plan is for college.”

If you don't have money and you know you're not going to have money, set the expectation. Hey, you're going to community college because college choice is the number one factor for being able to go to school and go to college debt free. So you're going to community college. You're going to a state college. You're working. You're doing work study. We're not taking out student loans. You're getting scholarships. This is the way it's going to be done. And if you do that, they're going to then morph their life to go down that path as well.

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And some of you are going. We are not Jade. We're not. We're what happened to Jade and John. And I have great news. They're both healthy. They're right out here to my left in the lobby of Ramsey Solutions. We got a camera on them so that the audience who's been watching are going to watch. Oh, there they are. They're okay. They're safe. They're sound.

And Rachel and I, we should. Rachel and I just, I mean, about an hour or so or so ago, landed from Los Angeles. Yes, we had an event last night and in Seal Beach, we learned that. Yeah, North Sea, seal Beach. Seal Beach. Yeah, close the end. But had an event there last night, awesome crowd. So fun. It was kind of our last tour stop of doing it.

I've been doing Ramsey Show live, which was so fun. And yeah, we got up early early early and landed. And we're back in the studio. And because we made the efforts and the intentional decision to do that. Because we have some better sweet news to share with our audience. We do. We do. So there's no other way to say it than just to say it. But today, this show will be the last show that I host of the Ramsey Show because my season at Ramsey is over.

And it's been a phenomenal season. And let me just be very clear. I am doing what I have coach people for many, many years to do when when an opportunity comes to you.

You should listen.

And you should weigh it based on is this something that I believe I have the talent to do. Is this something that I can enjoy? Well, I'd love this work.

And then finally, does it create a result that I care about?

Can I measure all of those things and say, okay, this is something.

“And then you have to ask, is this a challenge that will push me? Will it push me in ways I haven't been pushed before?”

And what's on the other side of that? And without getting all the details because of right now, I cannot get into details. And it doesn't matter, but stepping in a completely different lane. Yeah. Stepping into work that is an extension of what I've done, but no longer in a public personality role.

Yeah. And so here we are. And I want to say, I had to tell Dave a couple of weeks ago and it was such a sweet time. We spent a couple hours together and I told Dave and I want the audience to hear this. This opportunity that I'm so blessed to take would not happen if it wasn't for Dave believing in me. And that's huge.

Yeah. And then we've had so much fun and we've helped so many people. And so as we began to discuss, okay, what does that look like? Dave and his grace and his goodness said, finish, finish strong. And so here we are. So we've just so weird.

That's very weird.

It's been a couple of weeks since we've known.

Yeah, but today's week. And today, yes. And it is. It is so it's so bitter sweets. Yeah.

“Because from the bottom of our hearts, I know our team.”

And, you know, John and jayter sit on my couch. I don't want to get off. I don't want to get off. Yeah. I don't want to get off.

I don't want to get off. I don't want to get off. Yeah. I don't want to get off. I don't want to get off.

No, I'm going to say that. Everyone is so happy for you. Thanks. We really are. Can we are cheering for you?

You're going to kill it. But we're going to miss you. How am I supposed to talk? I know. It's.

Ken Coleman is one of these people. Y'all of that. He's like, we've all set it. George, John and Jade. And I can.

“We've been on a text thread for the last like couple of years, obviously.”

And the word that keeps coming up consistently. Ken, for you is the glue. We say, Ken is our glue. Like Ken, we, every personality loves hosting with Ken. This shows specifically like on our schedules when you get the email for the week.

And you're like, okay, who am I hosting with? We love hosting with each other, obviously. We all love each other. But in when it's, it's safe. You're just like, okay, good.

He's like, your big brother. And you're like, okay. When we're on stage together, he can have chemistry with anybody on stage. He's a masterful interviewer, which is what he did even before. He stepped into a Ramsey Personality role.

He's so good at connecting with people. And it is, that is a gift job. You have been on stage with people that are awkward and hard to talk to. It's hard. It's awkward and hard to talk to.

John's raising his hand out there. No, but Ken can bring, bring the goodness out of anyone that he is with. And the fact that we've gotten to stand and sit beside him for so many years. Um, it's going to, yeah. There's not, there is, there's going to be a whole Ken and we're going to, we, uh,

Thank you. We're dearly going to miss you.

Well, I, I never had a sister.

Always one and one. True story. Um, I was nine years old one day. I said, my dad said, I really want a sister. And I've got two.

Um, Rachel, uh, no one showed a long time. And the other one is out there in the lobby. Jake Orsha, I mean, just like, I love these two. Uh, they're so, so great, great women, great friends. And, uh, you know, it's, uh, geez.

I didn't know you were going to do it. I know I was going to cry either. We're just tired. So here we are. We got up before I am this morning.

We don't even know who we are. I do want to say this to the audience. Because we're going to continue to show we're going to coach people. It's one of the loves of my life. Uh, outside of my family and my friends is to meet people

where they are. Um, it is, it's the highest honor to have someone open up to you. You guys know, uh, to trust you in a public setting. I mean, my goodness. And the, uh, the privilege to just be a small, little encouragement to people is, uh, man, and to get paid for it.

And, uh, it's just been such a high honor. And, and that's the honor to Dave and I, and I, I'll tell you, I, uh, Dave and I cried and then I went and hugged Michigan. And then I said, I got up, we hugged and I said, uh, can I go tell Miss Sharon?

And, uh, he's, of course.

And so, uh, he walks me into the kitchen, opens up the door from his,

he's got this fabulous smoking room above his garage. We smell like an ash tray. We're just smoking cigars. He says, Sharon, Ken wants to talk to you. And she said, oh, I'm in my house coat, Ken.

And, uh, I love that she called it a house coat. I think it's a house coat. That's a southern thing. Uh, not a rope. And I said to her, I go, let me see that.

“Because I think that's the robe that, uh,”

I'm in the station. I bought you and sure enough it was. Yeah, Ken bought, sure. I gifted Sharon and Dave. My favorite robe.

Of course.

That's what one does for friends.

And she had it on. And she does like house errands. So I came over to her and, um, and she, uh, we had a sweet moment. And, uh, got to give her a hug.

And she was just so sweet and so kind. And so, uh, this is again, uh, it's really, really bitter sweet. And I'll say this. Folks, sometimes you get opportunities. You don't know what got completely up to.

Uh, and I don't know how it's going to all play out. Uh, but, uh, you know, it's time to walk through it. So to all of you who said kind things,

“you know, some of our team are out there.”

They're making me cry. This is crazy. I love all of you all. And, uh, we're going to take a quick break. Try to get ourselves together.

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All right, we're going to go to Hunter. He's joining us now in Chattanooga. Hunter, how can we help you today? How are you guys? We're doing well.

Let's go on on. So I'm a bit conflicted on what I should do as far as paying off my truck. You know, I've been listening to y'all since right after I bought it. And I know y'all say to attack attack. At the end of my uncle who's like another father figured to me.

He says that he thinks I should wait for at least a year or two to build some credit before I completely pay it off. Oh, yeah. So keep the debt around. So your credit score stays somewhat at a good score.

Is what he's telling you. Yeah. Okay.

“Do you know how a credit score is calculated Hunter?”

Do you know why you use it? Why you wouldn't need a credit score? I mean, I know it helps with interest rates. I feel like on loans. But I don't know.

I'm not a junior. Some 20. Yeah. So everything around. Totally.

Yeah. So so the way mathematically your credit score is calculated. It has to do all with debt. So it's all the different types of debt you have. How how you pay on those debts monthly.

If it's on time. If it's not, I mean, all of it is centered around debt because you're right. They use that score when you go into more debt. So our line of thinking here at Ramsey is to live a debt free life to not have debt. So you don't need loans.

You don't need to get a person alone or another car alone. You don't, you don't need debts because you live on less than you make. You have a plan. And that is how you live your life with money is debt free.

Now, one hang up.

People have is a mortgage and a mortgage is the one type of debt.

We won't yell at you for but you can do manual underwriting. So you can actually still get a mortgage with a credit score that is undetermined. So people don't have a credit score. You can still get a mortgage. So all of that to say, hunter, if you are a person that says,

I don't want debt. You know, I'm not going to be going into debt. Then you don't need a credit score. You know, my credit score is undetermined. Now, if you have a mortgage, obviously, that will still come into play.

But all that to say, yeah, having a credit score is kind of a move point. If you're not going to live with debt.

“But if you want to live with debt and you know you're going to be getting loans in the future,”

then maybe you would need it. But how are you wanting to live, hunter? Not what your uncle says and not what other people say, how do you want to live with your money? Well, that was my thought about it.

You know, I've been listening to you all, like I said,

after I bought the truck, so I definitely don't want that.

I don't like it. And I've also been asked, how would you also just pay in and off? 'Cause I'm just over 9,000 less on it. And I have probably 13-ish thousand total. Great. Is that your only debt?

Yeah, that's all I did. Nice. Well, we would tell you to pay it off today when you hang up, because you're still going to have money left over in savings. Right?

And so that would be complete for baby step two, since it's your only debt. And now you're on your way to baby step three completion. And there's just no waiting on it. Since you've got the cash, what a wonderful thing to be able to do.

Right? You can just get it out of your life right now. What's your car payment every month? I want to say it's 271. So now that's 271 dollar raise that you just gave yourself.

Yep.

“So yeah, I think you can respect your uncle.”

And I'm sure he is a good man, but when it comes to money, we just have different philosophies than your uncle. So you'll have to choose on your, which would you want to choose? A debt for your life? Yeah.

Are you going to keep a debt around to keep a credit score to stay in the business and the cycle of debt? And because he's a father figure, I would tell you, you can honor him. You can say, hey, uncle, this is what I'm going to do.

And since you guys are so close, he's going to weigh in on it. And you can honor him and say, hey, here's why I'm going to do this. And here's why I don't need a credit score. And you can explain that to him. And I think all he wants is the best for you.

And it doesn't sound like he's not going to be supportive. It's just that he has influence over you. And so the way to do this is to just honor him, explain it the way Rachel just laid it out to your words. And I think he'll be fine.

So importantly, you're going to be debt free and a lot more cash in your pocket as you start to make your way through life. How old are you? Just 20. Oh, man.

You're 20. Oh, yeah, Hunter. This is a lesson. And I will tell you so many people listening. I'm watching right now.

And there are 40s, 50s, 30s are like, I wish I hadn't done this at 20. If you can just avoid debt hunter and you just, and you have a plan, you start saving and investing and start working the baby steps. I'm telling you, you will be a multi-millionaire when you,

before retirement. Like, it's wild. The numbers I can happen. So that's your homework assignment by the way, Hunter. Go to RamseySolutions.com and click on the

investment calculator. Super simple. But you're going to be in that position. And you start putting in some numbers. Realistic numbers and watch what Rachel's talking about

happened before you're very eyes. You're in great shape. Thanks for the call. Let's go to DOTC. What we just left that area of California.

There it is. Zero out of home. DOTC, how can we help today? Hi. Okay.

Why I've been waiting a long time.

So basically, my husband and I got out of debt

and said you were in this year. One of the reasons we were able to get out of debt is we switched over to CHM ministries for our health insurance. The only problem is they have a policy that, if you are pregnant, your due date has to be

active after 300 days of being a member. Well, turns out we're pregnant. And our due date is before that time. So they can't cover the pregnancy and birth. And so my question is, how do we cash flow this?

Because we just got the estimate from our midwives about what the cost would be. And it's $24,000.

“That's a big, that I think you should handle.”

Our due date is in October. So we have 50 months to kind of come up with a solution. I think in home birth, I'm a low risk presence. Tradition, essentially. So I'm thinking home birth, burden centers, something that's not

a hospital because that's for the main chunk is coming from. Okay. So just give us quick update.

If you were to not have the baby at a hospital,

how much would come out off of that total? Yeah.

“So I checked one burden center that I'm actually going to go to a”

couple of months ago. So I'm going to go to a couple of months ago. So I'm going to go to a couple of months ago. So I'm going to go to a couple of months ago. So I'm going to go to a couple of months ago.

So I'm going to go to a couple of months ago. So I'm going to go to a couple of months ago. So I'm going to go to a couple of months ago. So I'm going to go to a couple of months ago. So I'm going to go to a couple of months ago.

So how do we prepare for those that emergency? Yes.

Well, what I would say first docies is we want you and your baby to be safe.

So whatever that looks like for you all in a situation is you need to go forward with the safest option.

“Life is the most important thing in this equation over money.”

So you guys need to make the best decision for you all. But because of your circumstances, you're going to have to know ahead of time. If this happens, plan A, plan B, plan C, here's probably what we're going to owe in medical bills. And it is so difficult because medical bills, you know, a lot of people face that. That is part of their debt snowball.

And so what I would say is whatever you can save between now and then and save as much as possible. Save over the 8,000. I mean, just as much as you can. And then I think my goal would be for you to be healthy for baby to be healthy. And then we pick up after, you know, everyone goes home and everyone's good.

Then we look at our financial situation then. But yeah, I, I, yeah, that's a, that is a hard one. I wasn't sure about that. Yeah, because in a situation like that, I love that they went with Christian health care ministries, but there's, this is one of those deals where life is thrown you a curveball.

Yep. And, and you're going to have to, you know, make do on that. And that's tough. Hopefully everything goes well. I love that you've done your research. I had no idea that there were like birthing centers. This is like breaking news to me.

Wait, what? You didn't know this can? Well, the way she said it sounds like it's at a strip mall. It is. Like a birthing center. Like you just roll into the parking lot. You know, you're the Tuesday.

So it's basically like, it's not a home birth, not a hospital.

It's like, it's like, it's the middle option that people feel. Is it like a clinic? Yeah, I mean, I think so. I did it. I did not have, I didn't go to a birthing center for, but it's people that don't want to do traditional. I appreciate.

You know, medicine and they want to do a different route. More of a natural route. I would say is the birthing center. Is the whole birth even less money, I guess? Yeah, you're just just someone else. Just someone else.

Yeah, I mean, yeah, so it's like pioneer woman.

“That's why I'm saying, like, do the safe option of what you believe in.”

And then you can worry about the money after.

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Give them a call at 800 356 42 82. All right, we're going to go to Indianapolis where Beth is waiting for us. Beth, how can we help today? Oh, hi, congratulations, can on your new venture. Rachel, I love your show with George, it's really relatable.

Oh, thank you, Beth. We should have a cocktail today, shouldn't we Beth, this is the day.

I'm like, what a day to call in, they're both bald.

I know, I know. I know more sadness. We're going to try to don't bring it up again. I might start crying right now, Beth. We just never know.

You never know what's going to go.

Thank you for listening. How can we help? Yeah, oh, I just, I've really started to notice how close retirement is. I'm basically 56 and a couple of days. And I only have $27,000 in my 401(k) currently.

And I am just nervous and wondering, you know, if you've had experience with callers who've been in this position, and if they, if you found it up with them in 15 years. You know, they've been comfortably, that would be a good reality show. We should, we should have done that.

We should, we should do that, come forward. Okay, so Beth, what, from financial perspective, how are you financially? Do you have debt? Do you still have a mortgage?

Can I wear you out? That's right, okay. I am on the step two. The only that I have is one mortgage. It's 155k house values about 250 to 70k.

Okay. And I have a roof loan 15k debt that I really stupidly signed up for a 20 year loan. I just, I just, I just wasn't, I don't know. You're thinking, yeah, totally.

Three years ago. Sure. Sure. And I've run some calculators. And I can save about $15,000 in interest if I attack it.

Going forward. So that's my plan. Okay, so you're 15,000 from the roof is really your baby to. So it's really just that $15,000 roof.

“Do you have any other savings besides the $27,000 that's in your 401k?”

No, okay. And week to week for my entire dog life. Oh, wow. Well, obviously. Oh, um, 66k.

So, you know, it's not terrible. I've just been, um, uh, the soul financial provider for a couple of, well, they're not kids anymore. Technically they're 18. And well, okay.

And she did do. I had my daughter in private school, uh, high school. She went to public school K through eight. But, um, it was just a much better fit. Sure.

So anyway. Yes, okay. So what I would tell you best is, um, yeah, the, yeah, you'll probably still be working. I would say for the next foreseeable future.

Are you in a pretty steady position of your job? Like if you had to work in other 10 years, are you in a good spot? Oh, oh, I'm so fortunate. I work from home for a major insurance company. Um, so it's quite secure.

Okay, great. How much, um, so you are kind of, you are paycheck to paycheck.

“So there's not a lot of margin that you have to throw at this 15,000.”

So that's the first goal I would have for you is to get a thousand dollars.

Put that aside in a high yield savings account. You can open up, um, with fair winds, actually, like there's a smart bundle. And so they have a great high yield savings account in that smart bundle. So fair winds is a good spot.

And you can just put your $1,000 over there and that high yield savings. And then we got to figure out, okay, how do we work extra? What expenses can we cut? There may not be a lot to cut. So it's probably going to be from the income side,

which actually can probably can speak to some of that, but getting your income up and having a goal. I mean, Beth, if you could have a goal to make an extra, I don't know, two grand or something. You know, you just think by the end of this calendar year,

if that 15,000 is paid off and it's done, then we can really start looking to cash flow and emergency fund and start throwing a ton at retirement. Because that's, that's going to be huge. But the faster you get out of this 15,000 roof loan,

the quicker you can get to saving more for retirement in that 401k. One of the things I want to know is you said you've been living kind of paycheck to paycheck.

“And so I'm wondering, is there, is there anything you can cut?”

And I'm not going to make you list it out for us, but it's more of a general question. Do you feel like you could be tighter or you as tight as you can be on spending? Well, I personally, for myself as the mom, I'm very frugal, but I do give in quite often

to my teenage daughter, especially the first two years of high school.

You know, their eyes are big or foster plates for everything they see on social media. But I just finally wise up to myself. And for the past two years, you know, she's pretty much paid for anything. But anyways, since she's 18, just to be honest,

That'll be a few pieces.

So what, okay, so let's just run some quick numbers.

You don't have to lock these in, but what kind of margin would you now have? Even if we just said today, you're not other than the basics, how much could you put extra towards the snowball? Well, I'm planning, like once she's kind of not, once high school tuition has gone and I'm not a nun.

I can probably put 800 to the roof long monthly, and then after my other expenses, I think I would have about three or five hundred left. Okay, so let's just say for conversation, okay.

“And again, you need to do your own exercise on this after the call.”

But let's just say we came up with a thousand dollars a month. And I think we can find it in those numbers. You just gave us. Okay. I think so too.

Absolutely. So now we've said that's $12,000 a year. Just on what's coming into you now from your day job. Okay. So now we move into, okay, what can you do? What is your profession?

I work for a health insurance company.

I just review hospital contracts. I've actually been with them for since 1998, which is why it's so probably shocking to you that I only have $12,000 in my- Oh, no, we certainly understand. I guess what I'm trying to get at here is

if that's clerical type work or administrative type work, could you pick up to Rachel's point? 15 to 20 hours a week at this stage of your life. You have the freedom because your youngest is 18. Yeah.

So next we're extra. So here's where we're going. Could we make? And I'm putting out some general numbers, Beth, that aren't too big so that you can hopefully grasp this.

But let's say you made an extra two grand a month. Okay. Now that's see. Now you're with us, right?

So now we're talking about $24,000 gross

on top of $12,000 a year. And I just wanted to put real numbers to Rachel's advice because she gave you a wonderful plan. But you're going to have to get super intense. Because you are 56 or soon to be 56.

And so we want to get that nest egg up. And so you want to be in a position where you're throwing a lot of money away. And let's say we get through the loan. And now we get to the emergency fund. And now we're just straight baby step forward.

You're just throwing money. You know, how much could you invest?

“You have to ask yourself how much could I invest”

on the other side of those two steps. And now you've got a chance to stack cash for the next 10 years. Yes. And that is my goal. And I do have a couple of applications out for part time.

That's my goal. I do have a couple of applications. I do have a couple of applications. I do have a couple of applications. I do have a couple of applications.

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I do have a couple of applications.

“I do have a really good career based on your talk.”