0:01

Live from

0:11

the headquarters

0:29

of Ramsey Solutions, this is

0:32

the Ramsey Show. It's where we help you win in

0:34

your life. We're going to help you win with your

0:36

money. We're going to help you win in your work

0:38

and win in your relationships. All three of those are

0:41

interconnected. If you're not winning in one

0:43

of them, it's going to be affecting

0:45

the others. I'm Ken Coleman. Dr.

0:47

John Deloni is with me as well. We are here

0:49

for you this hour. The phone number is 888-825-5225. That's

0:52

888-825-5225. Of

0:57

course, we're going to take your money questions. We'll

1:00

take some relationship questions, mental health questions. How

1:02

about work questions? You're

1:04

talking about making some more money. Do

1:07

I launch a side hustle? Is it

1:09

the right time in the baby steps one through three?

1:12

What do I do to make more money? We

1:14

want to take on all of those questions. There's nothing

1:16

off limits. Maybe we'll

1:18

take a March Madness call. Do you fill out

1:20

the brackets? Bracket

1:23

mania time where people who never watch college basketball

1:25

fill out a bracket. I'm pretty terrible at the

1:27

brackets because I'm over committed to my Texas Tech

1:29

Red Raiders. I over commit. I appreciate that. I

1:32

get delusional. It's your school man. I

1:34

just assume they're going to... I'm always stunned that they

1:36

don't win at all. Okay. Well, I

1:38

like that loyalty. We'll take your questions. We

1:40

always have fun together and we're not

1:42

afraid to dig deep. Let's get it started. In

1:44

New York City, the Big Apple, Sarah is joining

1:46

us there. Sarah, how can John and I help?

1:50

Hi. Thank you guys for taking my call. Sure.

1:55

We are currently working on baby step

1:57

number two to get out of debt.

2:00

And I'm kind of struggling with the

2:02

idea. I'm a stay-at-home mom. And

2:04

so I'm very well aware that I came

2:07

into the marriage with student loan debt and

2:09

our car debt. And

2:11

so I've also been

2:14

taking on the majority of the consumer debt that

2:16

we have on our credit cards. And

2:18

so I struggle with the idea of

2:20

feeling guilty but also feeling like I'm

2:23

not doing enough to contribute on tackling

2:25

this debt. So I mean,

2:28

I don't know. I

2:30

feel like I want to do more, but I'm

2:32

not exactly sure how or where I can even

2:34

start with that. All right. So

2:36

let's take on that second part. I want Dr. John to

2:38

jump in on that guilt here in a moment. But

2:41

let's just look practically at I'm not sure what

2:43

I can do. So let's just try to back

2:46

into this a little bit. How

2:48

much time, if any, do you

2:50

have in a given week that is not

2:52

related to the very, very, very

2:55

important duties of being CEO of that house?

3:00

I mean, I count on

3:02

him to be with the kids on

3:04

the weekends. And so I have taken

3:06

on some tutoring that

3:08

I'm doing. And so I'm bringing in maybe

3:10

like $150 on the weekends.

3:12

Okay, great. Okay. So

3:15

first of all, we didn't mention that in the opening

3:17

question. You were actually bringing in some money.

3:19

So we could say that on

3:21

a given month, on a four-weekend month,

3:23

you're bringing in what? Yeah,

3:27

yeah. Okay. That goes a long

3:29

way, doesn't it? If I was talking to your husband right now

3:31

and I said, hey, man, how's that $600 your wife

3:34

adding to the pot? How does that feel? What would he

3:36

say?

3:38

He'd say he's grateful. Probably.

3:42

Probably? Or you know he would? Yeah,

3:45

I know he would. So let me ask you this. How

3:48

much time do you have during

3:50

the traditional Monday through Friday that

3:53

you could give to work? So

3:56

I mean we do door dash about

3:59

three. You're not answering my question.

4:01

Three hours. You're not answering my question.

4:03

I'm actually trying to help you here on a

4:05

practical matter. How many hours could

4:08

you give to making

4:10

money Monday through Friday? Outside

4:14

of you taking care of the kiddos and all the important

4:16

stuff you do at the house. Be

4:18

realistic. I

4:21

would say maybe two or three. Two or three

4:23

hours a day? Mm-hmm.

4:25

Okay, great. So let's just say two hours a

4:27

day. That's ten hours a week and then we've

4:29

got the weekend stuff. So what I want you to be focused on, I'm

4:31

not going to put you on the spot. You don't have to come up

4:34

with this on the air. But

4:36

ten hours a week, what

4:38

could you do from a skill

4:40

and experience standpoint? All you've got to be

4:42

thinking about at this stage is what talent

4:45

slash skill do I have that

4:47

I can then turn into easy money? And what I

4:49

mean by easy money is I don't have to get

4:51

a degree. I don't have to go get trained. I

4:53

literally apply or I raise my hand on social media

4:56

and I can start doing this. And

4:58

I think if you look at your skill and your

5:00

experience and you have a lot of both, even being

5:02

a stay-at-home mom, okay, you have a lot to offer.

5:04

And you've already shown that on the weekends. I would

5:06

just look to add those extra ten hours and

5:09

don't feel guilty about it. I want to hand it

5:11

off to John on this guilt stuff. But

5:13

I would just be focusing on what you can do.

5:16

And I think that'll go a long way. But the ten hours,

5:19

how do I turn that into some extra money to

5:21

help us in baby step two and three and four

5:23

as we move on and keep doing the weekend stuff?

5:26

But I would keep it that simple. Don't overthink it. Just

5:28

find what you can do and do it when you

5:30

can. Sarah, what's your total debt load

5:32

of your house? We're

5:35

about $30,000 in debt. And

5:37

what's your husband bring home? He's

5:40

bringing home around $36,000. Around

5:43

$36,000? Ooh, I'd like to help him

5:46

make some more money. And y'all live in New York? Yeah.

5:49

Ooh, how many kids do you have? We

5:52

have two, a ten-month-old and a two-year-old.

5:55

Ooh. All right,

5:57

I want to give you some potentially

5:59

hard... Truth because I love is a cool.

6:02

Job price okay. What?

6:05

You're running into sounds like

6:07

is what you want vs.

6:10

Reality. And what

6:12

you want is you want to be a stay

6:14

at home mom which I applaud and I love

6:16

guy and he gets amazing. And

6:19

you want to live in New York City?

6:22

Where. The most expensive places on planet Earth. And.

6:25

Your husband makes thirty six thousand dollars a

6:27

a year. For.

6:29

This particular moment in time

6:32

that reality doesn't match. So.

6:35

You're either your husband wants to make thirty six

6:38

thousand those year, then it's You're probably gonna have

6:40

to find somebody to watch your kids and you're

6:42

gonna have to go to work. Until

6:46

you get this stuff paid up in in by

6:48

the way that thirty six thousand those year elegant,

6:50

get a bottle water for thirty six thousand those

6:52

year and your anus or they can afford the

6:54

child anyway, your family that could they could see

6:56

added an immediate forgets affording at the A family

6:58

there. Yeah I think

7:01

I only have thought that that is the

7:03

have family. and during these now i

7:05

think that is more of my

7:07

it and. Decided to look inside. the

7:09

family. Or your husband do

7:11

a Saturday's. Sees as is

7:13

a construction worker. Okay, What's.

7:17

He may for our. I'm

7:20

so they get paid on. A on a

7:22

weekly basis. It's a small company down.

7:25

Okay, I'm gonna say some John ire

7:27

up a New York all the time

7:29

doing media stuff and I see construction

7:31

everywhere and I'm not a huge fan

7:33

and unions but I know that he

7:35

should be and he could be making

7:37

way more than thirty six hours. He

7:39

owes more. He needs emergency. Ah, this

7:41

is less about you feeling guilty and

7:43

he needs to feel some what I

7:45

would call positive pressure from us, his

7:47

his older buddies, kids. In two months

7:49

he needs to be doing everything he

7:51

he is is. The construction market

7:53

is the trades they're dying for

7:55

People. and if into just forty

7:57

three guys he to move to new jersey been here

8:00

You're the family. So it's easier for the

8:02

kiddos to be watching. You both are crushing it. You

8:04

guys should be combined income, $75,000, $80,000

8:06

really soon. I

8:09

don't think you're feeling guilt as much as you're feeling

8:12

fear. And your fear is founded because you all can't

8:14

afford to live in the world you all have created

8:16

for yourselves. So it's something you've got

8:18

to give. I hope he goes, you know what? I'm going to get

8:20

a new job and I'm going to get three jobs and I'm going

8:22

to get us out of this mess, number one, and I'm going to

8:24

find a sustainable way for us to live, number two. And

8:27

we're going to decide I'm going to go to work also and

8:29

we're going to rely on family or we're going to do

8:32

all three and we're going to move, right? But something's got

8:34

to give because the world you have created isn't real. Yeah.

8:37

John Mayer's song, Waiting on the World of Change

8:39

is not applicable here. You guys

8:41

got to stop waiting for

8:43

something better to happen and make something

8:45

happen. Like right now, it's

8:48

urgent. Get after it. This is the Ramsey

8:50

Show. Hey,

8:53

you guys know this, but I'll say it anyway.

8:56

Change is freaking expensive and student loans

8:58

are out of control. The average private

9:01

student loan in 2023 was $55,000. So

9:05

if you're in over your head with private

9:07

student loan debt, don't beat yourself up. Look,

9:10

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9:12

past. What matters is doing something about it

9:14

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9:16

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8442-Ramsay or the letter Y, then

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refy.com/Ramsey. Y-Refi is not licensed by

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9:42

and Innovation. Y-Refi is not authorized

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by the New York State Department

9:47

of Financial Services to service any

9:49

New York loans. Funding may not

9:51

be available in all states. Welcome

9:56

back to the Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. Dr. John

9:58

Deloni is with me this hour. here for

10:00

you triple-8 825-5225 that's triple-8 825-5225. Alright,

10:02

coming up May

10:09

10th and 11th this is a brand new

10:11

event from Ramsey

10:13

land. It is called Total

10:15

Money Makeover Weekend

10:18

and in this weekend it's a destination event here

10:20

at our national campus and this

10:23

is obviously the baby steps really broken down

10:26

all the personalities including me and John

10:28

will be joining Dave Ramsey and Rachel

10:30

Cruz and Jade Warson, George Campbell and

10:33

it's going to be a fun

10:35

fun weekend. I'm told that

10:37

George and Rachel will be doing a

10:39

live version of their podcast Smart Money

10:41

Happy Hour and it's

10:44

an event for anybody on

10:46

the baby steps that needs that little extra

10:49

sense of confidence encouragement

10:52

to get through it. As I said we're all going

10:54

to be doing brand new talks that

10:57

are aligned and we're doing Q&A as well. Platinum

10:59

Plus tickets already gone, still

11:02

platinum, some VIP. If you

11:04

jump on it now you

11:06

can go to ramseysolutions.com/events ramseysolutions.com

11:09

slash events. Alright let's go to Minneapolis,

11:11

Minnesota next where Dylan awaits. Dylan how

11:13

can we help? Hey

11:16

guys thanks for taking my call. You bet. Well

11:20

I'm just trying to figure out what

11:23

I want to do for a career.

11:25

I know it's

11:27

a big question but I

11:29

just wanted some advice on

11:31

how to figure out what that passion might be

11:34

and what I want to do for the rest of my

11:36

life. Tell me how old you are and I'd

11:38

love to know where you are now on

11:40

that journey and then what ideas

11:42

that you've allowed your brain to think about. So

11:45

it's a three-part question. Hit me with those answers.

11:49

Well I'm 21 right now.

11:51

I'm still young. I'm

11:54

working as a server right now

11:56

and detailing cars and out of

11:58

Arishop and I've I've tested the

12:01

waters a little bit. I wanted to

12:03

do landscaping so I tried that out and that ended

12:05

up not being something that I really liked. Okay. So

12:07

what have you been wondering about lately? Because I

12:10

know you don't make this phone call without some

12:12

ideas that have been circling your head. Yeah.

12:18

I don't know. I was thinking about firefighting.

12:21

But I kind

12:23

of deal with a lot of self-doubt, I

12:25

think. I think when I think about the

12:27

firefighter thing, I'm a

12:29

very small guy. I don't

12:32

think I really fit the bill for what

12:34

they're looking for. Okay. All right. Let's

12:36

take that specific thing on and then I want

12:38

to pull back for a little bit because I

12:40

understand doubt big time. And we're

12:42

going to go through real quick exercise and

12:44

I think we're going to get you some

12:47

clarity. So on the firefighter thing that you're

12:49

a small guy, okay? Have you

12:51

actually sat down and had coffee or lunch with

12:53

a firefighter? No,

12:56

I haven't. All right. I want you to do that. That's

12:58

your homework assignment because I promise

13:00

you, Dylan, you know somebody that knows

13:02

somebody that could get you in touch

13:04

with the local fire department. And I'm telling

13:06

you, those firemen would be happy to take a young

13:09

guy out like you and let you kick the tires,

13:11

find out everything about their job, the good, what do

13:13

they love about it, ask them what they hate about

13:15

it. Don't be afraid of that question. And

13:18

then tell them what you're really doubtful about. Tell them. Look

13:20

them right now and go, I don't think I'm too small.

13:24

And let's just see how that goes. Do you agree to do that? Yeah.

13:27

All right. Now, quick exercise. All right. So

13:30

the world of work, Dylan, can be divided

13:32

into four areas. It's really simple. There's people

13:34

work. There's process work.

13:37

There's ideas work. And

13:40

there's object work, okay? Let me explain that. People

13:42

work kind of what John and I do, right?

13:44

We're dealing with people. We write books. We speak.

13:46

We coach. All that. And ideas

13:48

work, that's a little bit of John and I too, right?

13:52

We're dealing with people who are coming up with

13:54

methodologies or concepts or whatever. And then there's process work, right?

13:56

So think of somebody who is maybe an engineer, maybe a

13:58

project manager. Does that make sense to you? The

14:00

process part? Yeah. Alright great. And then the

14:02

last piece is the object work and that

14:04

is a little bit of what you have tinkered

14:06

around with, right? Detailing cars, mechanics,

14:09

we're building something, we're fixing something. Does that make sense

14:12

to you? Yes.

14:14

Alright, so we got the four areas of work. Here's what I

14:16

want you to tell me. I want you to tell me in

14:19

the four areas, people, process,

14:21

ideas and objects, if

14:23

I interviewed everybody that knows you, Dylan, what would

14:25

they tell me and John that you're really talented

14:27

at? Which four areas? Which of the four? And

14:30

it's okay if there's a couple. What would

14:32

they say? Dylan's really good at this kind of

14:34

work. What would they say? I'd

14:37

like to think people. Okay.

14:40

Probably the biggest one. People's the biggest one.

14:42

Okay, now let's ask you the question. Now

14:45

let's forget about talent, what you're good at. You think

14:47

of those four areas of work, which

14:49

of the four areas do you think you

14:51

would enjoy the most? People work, this is

14:54

just your heart. You would feel fulfilled, enjoy,

14:56

you would enjoy it, you'd be excited. Would

14:58

it be people work, process work, idea

15:01

work or object work? Probably

15:06

ideas. I'd like to see what I

15:08

think come to life. Okay, so

15:11

we're not going to lock you into anything today,

15:13

but Dylan, that's a really good experiment for you

15:15

to go, okay, this is who I am. And

15:18

I'd run that by some people and

15:20

say, okay, I love ideas, so if I

15:22

can use ideas to help people, what would

15:24

that be? Does anything pop at the

15:26

top of your mind really quick when I say it that

15:28

way? If you knew you couldn't

15:30

fail, what would be some type of idea-based

15:33

work that you could

15:35

do with people? What would that be? What

15:37

jumps to the top of your head? I'd

15:42

say something to

15:45

do with helping people find houses for

15:49

cheaper. Very good. All

15:51

right, John, what are you reading? I want

15:54

to bring you in here, because what we've done here is

15:56

just classic, let's just get how he's... We wanted Dylan to

15:58

be able to identify who deals with you. Dylan is.

16:01

And so that he can go, because he's got a lot of exploration.

16:04

Dylan at 21, some people know at 21 a

16:06

lot of people don't. But based on

16:08

what you're hearing, John, you've heard me do this before, we've

16:10

done it together. There's something there

16:12

behind what he chose. This idea

16:14

of, I like ideas and

16:16

I want to help people. And so he came up with,

16:19

maybe helping people find houses, right? What

16:21

are your thoughts? Well, earlier... There's

16:24

something behind the landscaping and the firefighting too.

16:26

Right. That's what he did. What

16:29

are the patterns here? So let me ask you a strange

16:31

question. Dylan and I heard

16:33

this from a guy who has a

16:35

show, his name is Chris Williamson. Chris

16:38

asked this question and it caused... I was just

16:40

scrolling through, wasting my life away, scrolling and it

16:42

caught me. And it's

16:44

kind of wormholed its way into my head

16:46

for the last few weeks. Here's what it is.

16:50

What do you want to want? And

16:54

here's the question Chris asked was, what if we all

16:56

spent our energy on? What do we actually want to

16:58

want? And here's what he means by that. If you

17:01

ask me, what do you want John? I would say,

17:03

well, I want a nicer car because the

17:05

car I drive is not great. I want a bigger house.

17:07

I want to get promoted here at the office. I want

17:09

to get X, Y and Z. But

17:12

what do I want to want? I want to want peace

17:14

in my home. I want to

17:16

want to build some time where I can just have some

17:18

reading time or I've got some time with my kids. So

17:21

what must be true for those things to happen? So

17:23

you've rattled off server,

17:25

you rattled off landscape guy,

17:27

firefighter. Now you're getting more

17:29

into like counseling and real

17:32

estate guy. What

17:34

do you want to want Dylan? If you

17:36

could snap your fingers and I got this

17:38

from Ken, you snap your fingers and you're

17:40

29 years old and you have a career and

17:43

you're surrounded by a family and little ones running around. What

17:46

career would that be? What would that

17:50

look like? I don't

17:52

know. It's really hard

17:55

to figure out. I really want to have

17:57

a lot of freedom in my life. You

18:00

want to help people. I'm money. Yeah.

18:03

So here's an exercise you cannot answer necessarily

18:05

on the air, okay? But

18:07

we've been kind of guiding you through this process. Here's what

18:09

you have to answer. Who are the people I

18:11

most want to help? See, you said

18:13

that you're good with people. And

18:16

so those people skills, you've got

18:18

to get some self-confidence. You're dealing with a lot of

18:20

doubt. And that

18:22

is a doubt that to me is very simply

18:24

defined as I don't believe something good will happen

18:27

if I move forward. That's doubt. And

18:30

I think that you've got to answer the question, who are

18:32

the people I really want to help in work? And

18:35

what's the problem that those people have? And

18:38

then what are all the solutions through

18:40

work that will address that problem? So

18:42

for instance, if you were sure that firefighting is it,

18:45

we would say, who are the people I want to help?

18:47

People that are in danger. What's the problem

18:49

that they have? Their life is on the line. What's

18:53

the solution? Somebody like me stepping in a burning

18:55

home and pulling them out. This is

18:57

the exercise you've got to work through and you're 21. It's

19:00

going to take some time to figure that out. Ken,

19:02

if I had to go back and talk to my

19:04

21-year-old self, I'd tell them one thing, chill out. Because

19:07

the job you have when you're in your 40s doesn't

19:09

even exist yet because YouTube and podcast did not exist

19:11

when you and I were 21. Right.

19:14

However, though, these are the right questions he needs to

19:16

be asked. You don't need to be

19:18

putting pressure on getting the great answer. What you have to

19:20

do is use those questions that we just gave you and

19:23

begin to trust your heart

19:25

and follow that till you begin to

19:27

discover things that you never saw before.

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20:15

back to the Ramsey Show America. Thrilled that you're with

20:17

us. Dr. John Delonie is with me. I'm Ken Coleman

20:19

and we're here for you. The phone number to jump

20:21

in is 888-855-225-828-825-5225. Ed

20:29

is going to join us next. He's in

20:31

Los Angeles. Ed, how can we help? Hi.

20:34

I was, thanks for taking my call. Sure.

20:37

I appreciate it. You bet.

20:39

I was calling, thank you. I was calling because I've

20:41

been working on Baby Step 3, so I'm getting

20:44

18% put into my 401K

20:46

Roth IRA. But

20:51

I go back and forth, like sometimes I

20:53

have to take money out of my bank

20:55

account, out of my savings to cover our

20:57

expenses during the month. It

21:00

doesn't happen every month. But

21:03

I want my

21:06

six months of,

21:11

sorry, expenses, I'm trying to build that up.

21:14

So I'm wanting to know if I should back

21:16

it all out, stop investing

21:18

in the 401K until I

21:20

get that built up or. That's

21:23

what we teach. So we teach. What

21:25

was that? That's what we teach, Baby Step

21:27

1, 2, 3, and 4. And we

21:29

don't start investing 15% until

21:32

we get the three to six months fully

21:34

funded. But I think we need to step back a

21:37

bit and find out why is it

21:40

that you are having to dip into Baby

21:42

Step 3, the emergency fund, from

21:45

time to time in order to cover

21:47

your monthly bills? What's

21:49

causing that? I

21:52

feel like my contributions to my 401K

21:54

are a bit too high. So

21:57

they're taking out too much.

22:00

I mean- So, okay. So

22:02

that means that you feel like that is the sole

22:04

reason that you are paycheck to paycheck. No,

22:07

I believe the biggest reason is I don't have

22:09

a budget. I haven't for five years since the

22:11

last time we took the day-v ried

22:59

about the question that you asked. I

23:02

think it's about budget because is it safe to assume, Ed,

23:05

that you have enough money to be contributing the 18% anyway?

23:10

I believe if I did a budget, I

23:13

would. I'd have to

23:15

cut some expenses that I know I don't

23:17

need and I think I would. And

23:20

that has been something I've been adamant

23:23

about the last couple of weeks since doing my

23:25

taxes. Let's say you did a budget for April,

23:27

which you need to do. Let's say you do

23:29

a zero-based budget. Every dollar is how you do

23:31

it. It's the greatest tool in the world for

23:33

it. Let's say you do that in April. If

23:37

you had a disciplined budget, you knew where every dollar

23:39

was going, which meant you also

23:41

cut back on some stuff that you're just not monitoring,

23:44

could you not get the extra

23:46

money in the first month in April to

23:48

finish the baby step? Three? I

23:53

feel it would take me two

23:55

to three months at least. So

23:58

my point is that you're that close. to

24:01

having six months, right? Yes.

24:04

Well we say three to six months. So how much more

24:06

money do you need to make it three months? Probably

24:12

another 15,000. Okay, all right.

24:14

So that's gonna take you two or three months, but this

24:17

is all about the budget. What do

24:19

you think is the biggest drain

24:21

on your budget right now if you had to guess? Because

24:24

I don't think you actually know. I

24:27

believe little expenses like streaming

24:29

services they

24:31

add up and maybe

24:33

not eating out as much. We have

24:35

cut back on that and

24:37

then everything else is just a question

24:40

mark, but I know there's stuff I'm

24:42

not considering. Yeah. Well here's the way

24:44

we play the baby steps out. Technically

24:46

to the letter of the law then

24:48

you would stop. You would stop until you get your

24:50

house in order, right? Until you complete

24:52

baby step three. So if you were to pause

24:56

the 401k investing starting next month,

24:58

that would free up a sizable chunk of change for

25:01

you to allow you to finish baby step three. If

25:03

you wanted to be six months then it's six months.

25:06

At that point then we just come back

25:08

online with the 401k investing. That is technically

25:10

how I like that for Ed

25:12

Ken. Ed,

25:14

I can tell you have

25:17

a thing about investing. Yes,

25:19

it's starting late. So

25:22

you cutting it off, it

25:24

would force you. So in behavior

25:26

change we want to reduce friction

25:28

in the behaviors that we want to do more of,

25:30

right? We want to make it easier to eat healthy

25:33

so we only have healthy foods in our house and

25:35

we want to put hurdles in front of those behaviors

25:37

we want to change. It's

25:39

going to make you mad. Like

25:41

not mad angry but mad like cuckoo,

25:45

like to not be investing

25:47

and then to see your

25:50

family going out to eat again. I Have

25:53

a feeling you follow the baby steps to

25:55

the letter. You Stop investing. By The Way,

25:57

investment is a gift for future you. I'm

26:01

a more an emergency fund as a gift

26:03

to present you to right now and it's

26:05

it right now you is not okay then

26:07

future use doesn't have a chance. And.

26:09

So get your emergency fund built up

26:11

so that you can be okay in

26:13

the present and you could take care

26:15

of yourself extra planning, but that idea

26:17

of you. Not. Investing is who

26:19

drive you bananas. You're going to watch every

26:21

dollar like a hard to get that emergency

26:23

fund so you can start investing again So

26:25

I like I like get in your case

26:27

a spare Lms where we teach it but

26:29

for you especially I love you Walk in

26:32

and tomorrow in the office in getting with

26:34

a h person putting it off and then

26:36

you sit down your wife's tonight we're going

26:38

to give you. On. Ramsey

26:40

Plus we're gonna give you fp you are

26:42

going to give you have the a year

26:44

subscription to every dollar for so you in

26:46

your wife have to sit on into a

26:48

budget together. Actually on how can you

26:50

can let it wastes but sit on a do

26:52

it and give you the tool the best to

26:54

on the markets and go in there and put

26:56

a hurdle in front of yourself. Stop investing to

26:59

get this emergency fund paid up and you're going

27:01

to get them for feel real quick I promise

27:03

you. Said. Right do

27:05

I do? The match They match. Five

27:07

are now we know everything get crazy

27:09

about. Didn't family safe? Your family Still

27:11

not safe. Your got a debt. But

27:13

one thing that goes sideways, you're an

27:15

air conditioner or a roof away for

27:17

having zero money. Yes,

27:20

So. We're talking to three months. It. right?

27:23

Yes or no. So what we're doing is we're

27:25

doing a forced pause. Is John laid

27:27

out for a beautifully. But. That's now.

27:29

We found you some money right now and posited

27:32

a bio and call a charm for the days

27:34

out your couple hours behind us. no excuse of

27:36

their paws it today. You. Pick right

27:38

back up. After. You get the

27:40

baby! Step three finished. But.

27:43

Here's the deal. You. gotta get

27:45

a budget anyway so that you can make

27:47

hay in other areas or else you to

27:49

be in the same boat as a free

27:51

to get base of three fully funded rights

27:53

go back to all the investing again and

27:55

you're still living paycheck to paycheck because you're

27:57

not watching your money and then you have

28:00

to dip into an immersive fund for a

28:02

non-emergency. For a restaurant, come on man. Or

28:04

you just don't have money for vacation because you

28:07

haven't been using your money wisely. So,

28:09

Ed, we're trying to force some change here, but

28:12

you can fix this pretty quick and you're not going to

28:14

fall behind. The two, three months, by the way, whatever gland

28:16

is freaking out right now, it's going to

28:19

be okay. You know

28:21

what I'm saying? Thank you. Yes, sir.

28:24

All right, buddy. This is about changing the behavior, John.

28:26

I love what you said there. I think that's a really good point. He's

28:29

going to be really uncomfortable not seeing his 401k account

28:31

get deposited. Oh man, one of his kids is going

28:33

to ask, hey, Dad, can we go to Sonic? And

28:35

he's going to

28:38

put a stop to that real quick, man, because that

28:41

5% match, that's somebody

28:43

else's money. And it's just not going to be

28:45

going into your account because you didn't do the

28:47

stuff you need to do ahead of time. Let's

28:49

get it knocked out. I think it's going to

28:51

change his behavior real fast. Yeah, it really is.

28:53

Wow, wow, wow. Unbelievable. And again, if you're new

28:55

to us, okay, and you're hearing the baby steps

28:57

one, it's just a real quick review. Baby step

29:00

one is we want you to get $1,000 in

29:02

the savings account for your run of

29:04

the mill emergency, right? And then

29:06

baby step two is we begin to tackle debt. That's

29:09

your smallest debt all the

29:11

way up to the largest debt. We want to get

29:13

momentum. Baby step three that you heard us talking about,

29:15

that's three to six months of your complete budget living

29:17

expenses in the bank as

29:20

an emergency fund. After that, you begin

29:22

to invest 15% of your income. Those

29:25

were the steps we're talking about. The reason

29:27

we lay it out that way, and Dave

29:29

Ramsey figured that out after counseling thousands of

29:31

people, now it's hundreds of thousands, is

29:34

that how you create financial momentum and

29:37

behavior change at the same time. You're

29:39

new to it, check out Total Money Makeover,

29:41

get to ramsysolutions.com, click

29:43

get started right there, and you're going to begin

29:45

to see where you are in the process. All

29:47

right, quick commercial break, got to pay some bills,

29:50

and we'll be right back. This is the Ramsey

29:52

Show. I

29:55

saw some recent financial statistics, and there

29:57

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before they faced financial hardship if a

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30:53

need to get this done The

30:57

Ramsey show continues and we are thrilled that

30:59

you've joined us. I'm Ken Coleman. Dr. John

31:01

Deloney joins me The phone number is triple

31:04

eight eight two five five two two five

31:06

taking your money calls any

31:08

kind of work professional income related

31:10

calls and Mental health and relationship

31:12

calls we take it all and

31:15

we're thrilled to be able to serve you that

31:17

way triple eight eight two five five

31:19

two two five Jeremy is

31:22

up next in baton Rouge baton

31:25

Rouge for the rest of you Jeremy Howard

31:28

Don't welcome have itself. I'm doing well I'm having

31:30

too much fun with the place you live but

31:32

you know you got to say a little bit

31:35

more exciting every once Oh, absolutely. Yeah, it's a

31:37

great place. So how can we help today? so

31:41

I'm working on my PhD and I'm

31:45

part-time in it right now. It's

31:47

a 90-hour program At

31:50

the University and I'm trying to

31:52

determine whether or not this is actually worth it

31:54

I've been in the program since 2000

31:58

and cash flowed the whole whole myself

32:01

and that it's I'm feeling

32:03

like I'm in a rut and I'm trying to figure

32:05

out I'm close to retirement is this is this really

32:07

worth the headache and what's the

32:10

program but not our family leadership and human resource

32:12

development now why did you get into it where

32:14

do you think it was going to take you

32:17

well I was expecting to

32:20

to be able to advance into the fire

32:23

chief role in in

32:27

the local area but it's not going to

32:30

happen here it's I have to go elsewhere

32:32

and is that an option not

32:35

really now so if I'm understanding

32:37

this right we pursued this

32:39

PhD for a

32:41

very specific role and that's not an

32:43

option that's done right right

32:46

how much do you have left about

32:48

30 hours and how long would that take probably

32:52

another three three plus years well

32:55

John's answer may be different than mine so I'm gonna

32:57

go first cuz mine's quicker I am

33:00

a guy who believes in degrees for one

33:02

reason and one reason only it

33:04

is the only way for me

33:06

to do the thing that I want to do well

33:08

let me say as a caveat if you want to go get a

33:10

PhD just for

33:13

your own personal accomplishment I got no problem with

33:15

that either all right but but

33:17

when I look at this situation this is a clear

33:19

no for me I'm not gonna just

33:22

continue to sink time and money into something

33:24

that has zero return zero

33:26

at this point and I died would cut my losses I

33:28

don't know what John thinks but that's where I'm at on

33:31

it I mean this is a rare

33:33

moment but I 100% agree with you

33:36

like Jeremy I get like you're talking

33:39

about three years of your life and

33:41

that's propped 30 hours at part time

33:44

that's six four that's that's being real generous

33:46

if you take two classes of term and

33:48

then you got to write a dissertation that's

33:50

another year right

33:52

how old are you 49 okay

33:56

so hard pass my

34:00

My mom finished her PhD at 53,

34:02

but she had a very

34:04

laser-focused career trajectory.

34:09

Are you in love with human resources or do you want

34:11

to be a human resources professor? Not

34:14

at all. Yeah. No, I think

34:16

it was a one-shot deal. I would do it for the leadership purposes. Do

34:20

you have an opportunity, and a lot

34:22

of doctoral programs will do this. If

34:24

you go sit with

34:26

your advisor, they will offer

34:28

you with a master's degree after you already

34:31

got 60 hours. Most master's degree programs

34:33

are 45 to 60 hours. Would

34:35

they do that for you or do you already have a master's? I've

34:38

got a master's already, but I'll

34:41

finish their master's program in December. I

34:43

would finish that and sayonara. Roger

34:47

that. I agree. Now, can I dig a

34:49

little bit, Jeremy? Sure. What's

34:51

going on there in Baton Rouge with this ...

34:53

You got a lid on you. What

34:56

are you comfortable sharing? I don't want to, in

34:58

any way, share anything that you're not comfortable with,

35:00

but where's this lid? Answer

35:03

that first, then I've got a follow-up. Lid

35:06

meaning what's keeping me here? Why this option?

35:08

Why the chief ... The thing that you

35:11

went after, why it's not an option? Option

35:15

that they put into the positions are very

35:19

young. Before

35:22

they retire, I will be long retired. I

35:25

see. You're 49. Yeah,

35:27

that's young, brother. Yeah. I'll

35:30

retire in four years. Then

35:33

what are you going to do? Yeah, that was

35:35

my follow-up question. What's next? You

35:37

can't just retire and do nothing. Consulting

35:40

was what I was looking at. The

35:44

only redeeming factor in this whole

35:46

PhD program is being

35:51

able to go into consulting

35:55

and organizational development. Great.

35:58

I think the master's is enough, man. who's

36:00

as sharp as you are, a retired

36:02

firefighter, you were in some type

36:04

of a leadership role, correct? Right.

36:07

Yeah. I mean, dude, you got a great resume and you

36:09

got a master's degree. You got two of

36:12

them. Have you started consulting yet? No,

36:15

not especially. Here's what I

36:17

would do. To give yourself a piece of

36:19

mind, you're 60 hours in, you're two-thirds, I

36:22

think Ken and I both, I think we're both right. I

36:25

mean, I've just sat with too many doctoral students over the

36:27

years that get halfway through and they're like, what am I

36:29

doing? Everyone just kept saying keep going,

36:31

so I just kept going. I don't want to be here. I

36:33

don't like this. I don't like the trajectory. I don't want to sit in a classroom or

36:35

a research lab for the rest of my life. I

36:38

want you to actually consult once. Yeah.

36:42

Even if it's free, by the way. It sounds like

36:45

a scam. It sounds like, oh dude, you just get

36:47

like, there's a great on New Girl once. He's like,

36:49

my girlfriend's running this awesome scam called consulting. I love

36:51

that you even know what New Girl is. I love

36:53

that show. Yeah. It's like blue

36:56

oyster cult, New Girl. Those are my two favorite things.

36:58

But listen, either you're going to

37:00

be all about it or

37:02

you're going to think, oh dude, I don't want to sit here

37:05

and listen to someone else's problems and help people solve problems that

37:07

they don't really want to solve. Some people

37:09

are like, why is that? Some are not. And

37:11

before you go spend four

37:13

more years of the best years of your life,

37:16

transition out of a job you love into,

37:18

and you're going to be losing a brotherhood,

37:20

and so you're going to be rudderless, and

37:22

you're going to be wondering where to go,

37:24

and sometimes getting in a room with a

37:27

computer and say, I'm a consultant now. I

37:29

mean, it's a hollow run of it for a

37:31

while. Go try some consulting on the

37:33

side, like Ken said, even for free. Give

37:35

it a shot for a minute. And then if you love it,

37:37

and they're like, dude, if you had a doctorate, you could do

37:39

anything. Okay, cool. Fire

37:42

it back up. Yeah. And Jeremy, I

37:44

want to ask one more question on this. Sure. Why

37:46

did you want to be the chief? I'm

37:50

asking myself that on a regular basis. I

37:55

was one of those things that I

37:58

Was told that I was... Gonna be

38:01

a good leader n could

38:03

be able to to run

38:05

the department and. I've

38:08

been told by was over the years

38:10

as good as. It's

38:14

like map of or soon as this I was

38:16

digging for something. I may have found something I

38:18

didn't think I was gonna find Edu one of

38:20

lead because you were told. That. You would

38:23

be delete or did you want to lead because you

38:25

wanted to lead. I

38:27

want to delete. Okay, that's what I thought.

38:29

And. I can hear the disappointment. Can.

38:32

We be honest the this pretty disappointing.

38:34

Pretty hurtful. You. Feel like

38:36

I'm Leah? Okay, so can I just tell

38:38

you. Everything. John said is right

38:40

about consulting. We agree hundred percent by think you

38:43

need to realize that you want to lead. And.

38:45

I think of fifty three year old

38:47

retired leader in the fire department going

38:50

to be really attractive in Baton Rouge

38:52

area when leaving in any number of

38:54

companies. Either. Yard start

38:56

kicking the tires now having

38:58

conversations now shown up. it's

39:00

that of at dub. Business.

39:03

Meeting showing up a business mixers

39:05

start getting connected L Se in

39:07

three years. And I'm punching the

39:09

clock out. The Fire Department I want to lead

39:12

people I've been leading. I got a masters in

39:14

this I got a masters in that I want

39:16

to lead at my friend. I'm gonna give you

39:18

my my book the proximity principal. And.

39:20

I want you to read it. Do it. But

39:22

I think that consulting search. try it. kick the

39:24

tires but I do ya to kill as many

39:27

people fossil you want to continue to lead. it's

39:29

a D Three. A

39:31

Check. Everything oilers because I did. You wanna? we

39:33

don't you Juri. Absolutely absolutely

39:36

so my friend. This.

39:38

Is great. Here. to collect a fireman's

39:40

retirement pension or whatever it is you gots

39:42

and i think you got a lot of

39:44

years of leading i think you need to

39:47

give it everything you got and find a

39:49

place to leads there's a lotta transferable leadership

39:51

skill and experience you're bringing the tables and

39:54

this nation's this world is starving for good

39:56

leaders and i think baton rouge gonna be

39:58

a very nice place for you. So

40:01

hang on the line. I want you to read

40:03

the proximity principle. I want you to get around

40:05

people that are leading currently, that are hiring leaders.

40:08

Hang out with guys that are going to

40:10

leadership conferences like Entre Leadership Summit. Start listening

40:12

to the leadership podcast. I would begin to

40:15

completely surround myself with all things leadership and

40:17

you watch what begins to appear right before

40:19

your very eyes. Thanks for the call Jeremy.

40:22

You're going to get there man. Be encouraged.

40:24

John, great advice. Great hour.

40:28

James Childs, our fearless leader and his

40:30

merry band of men behind the glass. This is the

40:32

Ramsey Show. Live

40:36

from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is the

40:39

Ramsey Show. It's where we help you win

40:41

in your life. We want to help you win with your money. We

40:44

want to help you win with your relationships. We want you to win at work. And

40:46

that's all done through James. Magical, hopeful, divisive work for decades. We're here to

40:48

help you. I'm Ken Coleman. Dr. John

40:50

Delonin is with us. We're here to help you. We're

40:52

here to help you. We're here to help you. We're here to

40:54

help you. We're here to help you. I'm Ken Coleman. Dr.

40:57

John Delonin is with me. The phone number is 888-255-225-8255-225. If

41:00

you're bold new to the show

41:02

and we hear about it all

41:04

the time from our amazing team,

41:07

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41:10

even from YouTube, podcasts, SiriusXM, radio, however

41:12

that you are joining us, we

41:14

want to say thanks. You're welcome. And John

41:17

and I are here for you. Love helping

41:19

and coaching people. We're messes

41:21

too. And so no shame

41:23

in your game today. We want to

41:25

help you. So if somebody's been listening and watching

41:28

and you go, man, it's nerve wracking. I get it.

41:30

Trust me. Our nerves are wracked. Hey,

41:33

join the club. We

41:35

want you to feel free to reach out today. So

41:38

that's your invitation. Please join us. 888-855-225.

41:41

Let's go to Baltimore, Maryland, where

41:43

Greg is waiting. Greg, how can

41:45

we help? I

41:49

recently purchased a car and I

41:51

think it's a mistake. Uh-oh.

41:54

Give us some evidence that makes you think it's

41:56

a mistake. Mercedes

42:01

it's it's very luxurious

42:06

I feel like the gas

42:08

is premium that's a fact that's not

42:10

a feeling I've

42:12

got one of those extra how

42:15

much did the car cost seventeen

42:18

thousand seventeen thousand all

42:21

right and did you take a loan out on it

42:25

I did because I didn't have a

42:27

check at the dealership but I'm

42:29

gonna pay it off as soon as the first bill comes

42:33

so you've got the 17,000 in the bank yes okay

42:37

great so we're off to a decent start

42:39

here how much money do you make my

42:43

household is about a hundred

42:45

and sixty I got

42:47

great news for you Greg that car's not

42:49

too expensive for you yeah what's your

42:51

hang-up dude what's going on nothing but you actually have

42:54

the money in the bank so you've been disciplined enough

42:56

to save it up so what's making

42:58

you think it's too much car it's

43:00

a really

43:02

nice car and what year is it

43:06

at 2013 bro all right

43:08

what model hold on eleven-year-old car I know hold

43:10

on I'm going somewhere what what model is it

43:13

it's a 300 dude I got this I got the third 2013 c250 that's

43:16

not too much car it's

43:20

a great little car did you

43:22

grow up with not very much

43:24

Greg yeah we were pretty

43:27

poor yeah and when you grow

43:29

up that way sometimes you those

43:32

people drive Mercedes not not folks

43:34

like us yeah

43:37

and then you put those people

43:39

into a category of bad people

43:43

no no bad people I just feel like

43:45

I don't deserve it okay yeah you got

43:47

to stop with that nonsense yeah

43:49

I you know what Greg is

43:52

it that you don't think you deserve

43:54

the used 2013 Mercedes or

43:56

is it that you think you're being irresponsible

44:00

Yeah, maybe that's it. That's

44:02

what I'm hearing. I don't want to necessarily hang

44:04

that on you, but you started talking about, oh,

44:07

it's 17,000. Well, I think he's finding

44:09

a reason to break up with a

44:11

car. You know, you're dating somebody in

44:13

high school and you're like... Because he thinks he's being

44:15

irresponsible. That is $17,000 where I come from? That's

44:20

what I think is going on. Am I right, Greg? Yeah,

44:23

something like that, yeah. Most

44:25

of the calls we take with people in your situation on

44:27

this show make $160,000 and

44:30

they've just bought their third Tesla. Or

44:33

a 50-to-75,000-dollar truck. We

44:36

got that call yesterday. Yes. Like,

44:38

when it comes to the number... Like, you are

44:40

showing incredible restraint and discipline by buying a $17,000

44:42

car and by

44:46

buying a used car where somebody else has paid

44:48

all the depreciation on this thing. If

44:52

you don't like it or don't want it, sell

44:54

it. That's true. Who cares? How

44:56

many miles do I have on it? Yeah,

44:59

here's what's interesting. I got mine a steal of a

45:01

deal. I bought it from a dealership and an old

45:03

couple had just turned it in and I think I

45:05

got it with 40,000 miles. So it was practically a

45:08

brand new car. You remember what I got? And

45:10

it's still... Here's the thing about the Mercedes, the only

45:12

thing I would say, because I'm watching it. The

45:14

repair bill's high, huh? I just put brakes on it.

45:17

Just a normal maintenance. Just proud of those brakes.

45:20

It's everything on the Mercedes they're proud of. So

45:23

what I would tell you, Greg, is that a part of

45:25

this purchase, you've got the $17,000 to pay it off, but

45:27

you do need to understand that yes, your gas

45:29

bill is going to be more. Everybody else is excited

45:32

about gas dipping in the threes and I'm

45:34

always like, because again, it

45:36

requires the premium gas. You feel me, don't you,

45:38

Greg? So

45:40

you're also looking at the inflation

45:42

that is always there with

45:44

any kind of car that requires premium gas. You're

45:47

also looking at it's a lot more expensive to take

45:49

care of. The

45:52

reason I got that car is it was a great deal,

45:55

but it's also going to go to my kids. If

45:58

I take care of that, which I am... last forever.

46:00

And I plan for it, a Mercedes will

46:02

run forever if you do and you

46:04

save and a sinking fund. So you

46:06

need to have a budget item in

46:09

your budget for that car so that

46:11

when you got a pop fifteen hundred

46:13

bucks for breaks you're still

46:15

gonna have some an acid issues but

46:18

you've got the money. Does that make sense Greg? I

46:20

do want to prepare you for that because that's something

46:22

that I have to think about. Yeah

46:25

that makes sense. Well can you do that?

46:28

Yeah I can do that. I know you can't I

46:30

wanted you to hear you say that you can do

46:32

that. Okay.

46:35

But I think you need to say is it

46:37

okay John I still he's dealing

46:40

with he thinks he is just highfalutin

46:42

just pissing money away.

46:44

Other people drive Mercedes and

46:47

I want you to say whatever you and

46:49

your household have done y'all work your butts

46:51

off you're doing good you're paying cash for

46:53

cars you are making six

46:55

figures y'all doing great man. You

46:58

may need to lean into this new identity that

47:00

you have this new world where I work

47:02

hard I get paid I

47:04

get rewarded for the hard work I put in and

47:07

we're extra generous and I buy 10

47:09

year old 11 year old used cars but when I

47:11

do I get a nice one. Or

47:15

dude here's the other thing

47:18

I'm not a Mercedes guy I'm an old

47:20

beat-up truck guy okay right

47:23

so that's fine it

47:25

comes at a cost I look ridiculous in the

47:27

truck I drive sometimes they like it's silly and

47:30

also oh that's alright. You

47:33

know what I'm saying? So if it if you're gonna

47:36

lose sleep over it then sell the car but if

47:38

it's an identity thing that's gonna be that's your new

47:40

thing to work on okay because you're a

47:42

good you're a good man who worked hard and bro

47:44

11 year old used car you're

47:46

fine get it man. Alright John I gotta flip the

47:48

tables on here. Okay. What

47:51

about your Texas upbringing Texas

47:53

Tech pedigree makes you

47:55

think that you don't deserve more than a

47:57

beat-up truck? I actually do. I

48:00

went to, I don't know if it's

48:02

a dessert, but I think it's okay. I went to

48:04

buy, I saved up, went to buy it, and to

48:07

get me a brand new Tundra, and I went to the

48:09

dealership, got all worked out, and

48:11

I just couldn't do it. And that's,

48:14

I came in with a Highlander, great car. It's

48:16

a great car. Good car, good for grocery carrying. Why did

48:18

you do that? I just wasn't

48:21

in a place psychologically to do it yet. I will one

48:23

day, but I just wasn't there yet. All right. And I'm

48:25

not gonna fight. I think I like turning the tables. I'm

48:27

not gonna fight myself on it, but I do know, this

48:29

is an achy point for you, John,

48:31

because me growing up, those people drove the new

48:33

trucks. Yeah, and that's- In our house, we didn't

48:35

do things like that. Well, that's for me to

48:37

work on. I had the same issue, you

48:40

know? I was like, what? You're

48:42

gonna pay that much for gas? I

48:44

think my old man's still freaking out about it when

48:46

I told him what I have to pay for gas.

48:49

Yeah, but it is what it is. Good stuff. Hey,

48:51

thanks for the call, Greg. You're in great shape, my

48:53

man. Enjoy that, Benz. This is the Ramsey Show. Welcome

49:00

back to the Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. Dr. John

49:02

Deloni is with me, and we are here for you,

49:05

888-825-5225-825-5225. Okay,

49:11

we got a brand new event. This is breaking

49:14

news here. We never do breaking news

49:16

on the Ramsey Show. I just, James, I just felt like

49:18

saying it, because I

49:20

do TV, I do this, and

49:22

I've never said breaking news. So

49:25

we've got some breaking news. Dave

49:27

Ramsey's Investing Essentials is a brand new

49:29

event. It's a deep dive into how

49:31

Dave invests himself and thus

49:34

how he teaches investing, and

49:36

this is the first time ever. It's why it's

49:38

breaking news, James. First time ever. And

49:40

so this is gonna be really, really fun.

49:43

He's even gonna include how he buys real

49:45

estate, and I think at this point,

49:47

we could say Dave's a real estate baron, can't we,

49:49

John? He's a mogul. Oh, that's even bigger than a

49:51

baron. I think that's probably

49:53

right. Sounds bigger. We

49:55

don't know. James will Google it. But

49:58

we know that the audience is on. always asking us

50:00

all the time. We want more investing

50:02

advice, investing, investing, investing, so we said, alright, leave

50:04

us alone, we're going to do it. And so

50:07

here it is, here are the

50:09

details. This is an

50:11

online event, two nights, so

50:13

it's a virtual event. You can watch it in

50:15

your pajamas at home or however you

50:17

want to watch it. May 21, 22, May 21 and May

50:22

22, our very own good buddy and colleague,

50:24

George Camel, will be joining this event as well.

50:26

They're going to start with the basics and go

50:28

deep all the way up into mutual funds,

50:31

real estate and more. So tickets start at $199, $199

50:33

for the new Dave Ramsey's Investing Essentials

50:39

event, ramsysolutions.com/events. That's where

50:42

you go to get your tickets, ramsysolutions.com/events.

50:44

So that's going to be fun. Don't

50:46

miss that. Alright, now we go to

50:48

Kansas City where Sheila is joining us.

50:51

Sheila, how can we help? Hi,

50:54

thanks for having me. I'm excited to talk to you

50:56

too, John. I loved your last book. And

50:58

Ken, I need some career advice. Alright, good. Alright,

51:02

so my question is really about kind

51:04

of where I go from here. I recently

51:06

left a relatively lucrative career in order to

51:08

have more time with the kids. I was

51:10

traveling a lot, but we are on baby

51:13

step six and trying to pay off the

51:15

house. Awesome. So interested in getting

51:17

your advice on if I go and find another

51:19

job like it, or I have

51:22

my real estate license and if I should go back into

51:24

real estate, I did that a couple of years ago and

51:26

it also turned out pretty well. So what was

51:28

the, you sound like a rock star, first

51:30

of all. I'm very excited to talk to

51:32

you. I feel like it might give me

51:34

some type of glow here because you're a

51:36

rock star. So you were successful in real

51:38

estate and then you were successful in

51:40

whatever this lucrative career was that you left. What was

51:42

that? I

51:45

was a senior director for a large

51:47

makeup company. And

51:50

so I sold wholesale really, but I was a leader of the

51:52

sale team. Got you. So you're a sales

51:54

rock star. Yes. Yes,

51:56

I love that. How

51:58

much were you making? I

52:00

was making 185 plus a 30% bonus. And

52:04

how much are you loving this season of

52:06

stepping away from all that hustle and

52:08

being at home? It's

52:11

a little anxiety-producing, not going to lie. I love

52:13

my kids. First

52:15

week was spring break and that's a lot. Okay,

52:17

so this is why I'm asking here because

52:19

you were super

52:21

successful, you step away and we're

52:24

on baby step six and now you're like, okay,

52:26

should I go back to work? And it feels

52:28

like you're looking for permission to say, I don't

52:30

think I want to be a stay-at-home mom. Am

52:33

I right or wrong? You are right.

52:35

Okay, so A, you don't need

52:37

our permission. Right, granted. And John, you're

52:40

chomping at it. Well, I did it either

52:42

way without your permission, so I definitely jumped

52:44

in head first. Here's

52:46

my one, like,

52:49

I was going to be careful when I'm talking

52:51

to women making this shift because I know that

52:53

there's the Western Guilt

52:55

Factory that no matter what decision you

52:58

make, it's the wrong one. That's right.

53:00

Correct. But is there any chance

53:03

way deep down that

53:06

you use time with kids as an excuse

53:08

to get off the train of a job

53:10

you weren't really into anymore? I

53:15

think, well, so my youngest is

53:17

going to kindergarten, so it was definitely like I have

53:19

this time I can use it or lose it, and

53:22

everybody says you don't get these

53:24

years back. So it's probably that. But I don't

53:26

care what everybody says. What about you? I

53:30

mean, there's things I loved about my job. There are things

53:32

I did not like about my job, so I don't think

53:34

this particular one is the right fit for me. It's also

53:36

like 75% travel, up to

53:38

75% travel, which with little kids is just not

53:40

cool. Perfect. So what I'm getting at is,

53:42

if you wanted to quit your other job because it's

53:44

75% travel, quit that job all

53:47

day long. I did. But

53:49

he's saying, but don't put it on your

53:51

kids to carry because then you get this

53:53

weird guilt thing that is unnecessary. And

53:56

so if that's not the right job for you, cool. Spend

53:58

a few months at home, regroup, and then go to school.

54:00

recalibrate and spend those precious days you don't get back, etc.

54:03

And then find out, okay, here's what I really want

54:05

to do. Because as someone who's good at sales, you

54:07

can literally work anywhere. Anywhere.

54:09

Yeah. And so I thought so.

54:12

So just looking around at jobs, you know, a lot of

54:14

the jobs I've had, you either have to live in San

54:16

Francisco or New York, but I mean, I did the Zoom

54:18

thing for two years. And I love

54:21

the kind of in-person interaction. So that kind of leads itself

54:23

to real estate. But I also did real estate for five

54:25

years and that didn't really, I don't know, it

54:27

wasn't it for me either. So I'm not quite sure

54:29

where to go from there. All right. So now we can

54:31

focus on that part, right? But I wanted to get to

54:34

this other stuff first, because I

54:36

think that you could be, I

54:38

think you need a little bit more time at

54:40

home. I agree with John. Also to know, was

54:42

it just spring break and that was a little

54:44

bit too much for me and reentry? Like let's

54:46

just get into a- Yeah, you often jumped into,

54:49

yeah, you swan dive into a frying pan. Yeah.

54:52

Like I'd like to see you not

54:54

just take some time to

54:57

be with the kids, but also to go, well, wait a second.

55:00

Do I like this new role? And

55:03

let's stop making it about, well, baby step

55:05

six and I could go earn more money.

55:07

I just want you to sit for

55:09

a season because you can, correct? Yes,

55:12

I can. But also, we've saved up

55:14

a fair amount. We just recently became

55:17

network millionaires, which is very exciting. I would like to

55:19

keep it that way and watching the account sit down

55:21

is very stressful for me. Okay.

55:24

I get that. But

55:26

again, we're not talking for six months. That's necessarily, we're

55:28

just saying, I want you to just sit because here's

55:30

the deal. We got to figure out what's next for

55:32

you anyway and I'm not so sure, that's why you

55:34

called. You're like, Ken, what's that thing for me? So

55:36

I think it's going to be easy for you. You

55:39

ready? You ready to answer? I

55:41

want you to answer right at the top of your head. You got it? Yes.

55:44

All right. You've been very successful. You've

55:47

been very successful in multiple things. What's

55:50

the thing that you think about? You go, I think

55:52

I can do this. And if

55:54

we didn't have to think about for

55:57

just a moment, San Francisco, New York,

55:59

wherever, I just said, I'd like

56:01

to take a shot at this. The

56:03

professional Sheila still wonders, could

56:05

I win at this? What's that

56:07

thing that's answering right now? It's

56:09

at the top of your head. What

56:12

is it? Yeah, I'd

56:14

love to tell outdoor gear and work

56:16

with design and creating something that makes

56:19

people's lives better and helps the earth.

56:22

Now see, that's very personal to you. Yes.

56:25

That's lifestyle value stuff, yes? Yes.

56:28

And that's what I would be angling toward. Patagonia, that's REI.

56:30

Can you go get started at a local store and work

56:33

your way through there as the seasons change

56:35

in your life? I

56:37

could, but again, it's hard to go from

56:39

making it is. I mean, an hour to

56:42

17 an hour. Yeah, well, you

56:44

quit that job. You quit that job. And

56:46

it was cool how you had it, and it served

56:48

a role to get you to millionaire status, and now

56:50

it's time to do something that's got more time with

56:52

your family, that's not gonna take as much brain power,

56:54

and you can still work towards your mission, right? I

56:56

appreciate that job. But Sheila, that's not

56:59

who she is. Sheila, I'd rather you take

57:01

some time and hold out, and

57:03

let's go look for a role with those kind of

57:05

companies. And I'd be starting in your area. Don't

57:07

just assume that some great company's not there

57:10

in Kansas City. I'd start there and

57:12

work my way out. And

57:14

I'd also be really interested in getting into

57:16

like Net Zero Building and developing, but

57:19

again, two totally different career paths. Doesn't

57:21

matter. Hold on a second. See, that's what I love.

57:23

Those are two options that you need to explore in

57:25

the days ahead. Because as long

57:27

as you are selling, right,

57:29

or let me use the word, let me take you

57:31

out of a sales role for a moment and go,

57:33

what if you're just in a role where you're involved

57:35

in promoting? Because that's what you're gifted at. You're

57:38

a gifted communicator, you're a gifted cheerleader, you're

57:40

a person of conviction. Is that true? Yes,

57:44

Austin. All right then, there's a lot of roles

57:46

that involve that talent. You got a great resume

57:48

too, like a really nice resume. Am I correct?

57:51

Yeah, I do. I just fix it up,

57:53

and I think it's bigger than

57:55

me at the moment, which is a unique issue to have.

57:58

Yeah, but it's just, this is something.

58:00

the new. So here's the deal, take

58:02

all that sales experience, all that confidence

58:04

that you have, let's channel it, let's

58:06

start looking at those two specific ideas

58:08

that you just gave us and let's

58:10

see what's out there and go for

58:12

it. And be okay in the season

58:14

where maybe the bank accounts are whittling

58:16

down just a little bit because I'm

58:18

not worried about you replacing me at

58:21

all. You got to be you. You got to chase

58:23

this thing on your heart and you're going to be

58:25

great at it mama. I promise, this is

58:27

the Ram-G-Shirt. Welcome

58:33

back to the Ramsey Show. So excited that you

58:35

were with us. Hey, we are growing and that

58:37

is because of you. The audience is growing and

58:39

you are sharing. So we'd love for you to

58:41

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58:44

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58:46

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58:49

Share it with a friend and give us a positive

58:51

review. All of that helps us continue to grow. We

58:53

don't know how to spell algorithm but we know that

58:55

it matters and we'd be grateful

58:57

if you would do that. Let's go to

58:59

Marissa now in Grand Rapids,

59:01

Michigan. Marissa, how can we help? Hi

59:05

Ken. Hi John. Thank you so much

59:07

for taking my call. My

59:09

husband and I are currently in Baby Step 2. We

59:12

have two investment properties and a

59:14

primary home. My husband plans to

59:16

use the rental property investments as

59:18

part of his retirement plan. The

59:21

Baby Step 2 part is we have

59:23

a $25,000 personal loan. My

59:25

question is if we should sell one

59:27

or both of the rental properties to

59:29

pay off the personal loan, our mortgage

59:32

on our primary home and invest the

59:34

rest into retirement accounts or

59:36

keep the investment properties as passive income

59:38

and continue paying down the debt. So

59:40

how much do you own your primary

59:43

home? On

59:45

the primary home, we owe $197,000. Okay. So if I heard you correct,

59:47

I just want to do

59:51

a quick review here. You have a $25,000 personal loan

59:53

and you owe $197,000 on your primary

59:57

home and outside of those two investment homes,

59:59

that's a good question. That's all the debt that you have. Correct.

1:00:03

All right. And so the idea is you would sell

1:00:05

one of these investment homes? Or

1:00:08

both. One or both. Wait, wait,

1:00:10

wait, wait. Is your husband up to this plan or did

1:00:12

you just make this call and thought, well, I'll see what

1:00:14

Ken and John think, but I'll tell him later. Well

1:00:17

played. Well played. We've talked about

1:00:19

it. You've talked about it, but you led with my

1:00:22

husband's planning on these homes being a part of his

1:00:24

retirement. So when you threw that in there, I was

1:00:26

like, er, does he know? And how open

1:00:28

to this would you discuss it? How open to this is he?

1:00:32

He wants numbers. He wants a

1:00:34

plan, or written out so that he

1:00:36

can see it. All right, let's do it. And we've met with,

1:00:39

yeah. Yeah. So let's walk through

1:00:41

that. All right, let's walk through that. All right, so let's

1:00:43

go. Let me write

1:00:45

this down. Investment home number one, how much

1:00:47

do you owe on it first and what

1:00:49

do you believe it's worth? Okay.

1:00:52

We owe $46,000 on it and

1:00:55

it's worth about $240,000. Okay,

1:00:57

and then let's do the same thing for investment property two.

1:00:59

What do you owe on it? We

1:01:02

owe $76,000 on it and it's worth

1:01:04

about $150,000. Okay.

1:01:08

All right, so there's your numbers. Okay,

1:01:10

so we've got $197,000 on the house.

1:01:13

We got the $25,000. What do you

1:01:15

guys make income-wise, joint income or

1:01:17

single? Joint

1:01:19

income. Without the

1:01:22

rent income, we make $150,000. Okay.

1:01:26

So how long if you guys buckled down, would it take you

1:01:28

to pay off the $25,000 personal loan?

1:01:32

I would say probably six or seven

1:01:34

months. That sounds about right. So

1:01:38

the reason I asked that question is I would

1:01:40

never sell these homes to knock out

1:01:42

the 25K. Okay.

1:01:46

And because of what

1:01:48

these houses are worth, I

1:01:52

think it's up in the air. I mean, I don't

1:01:54

know what John thinks. My

1:01:56

gut says Where

1:01:59

you guys are. This process you can knock

1:02:01

out twenty five thousand and now years.

1:02:03

By our definition, debt free ah in

1:02:05

baby steps to okay and then and

1:02:07

then you guys could get pretty quickly

1:02:09

in the baby Sept three, three six

1:02:12

months emergency phone for act. You guys

1:02:14

did not get out pretty quick. He

1:02:17

added a month or two probably?

1:02:19

that's what I thought. So am.

1:02:22

I come want to see you guys. Are

1:02:24

com want to see? you guys treat these rental

1:02:26

properties as. As as

1:02:29

as part of the baby steps is where

1:02:31

my head goes of. I. Want

1:02:33

to get that a mercy on in there? But I mean

1:02:35

how quickly we're going to knock out the forty six K

1:02:37

on the house is worth two forty? And

1:02:40

in the seventies, his kid. I mean, I'd I'd kind

1:02:42

of go after that. I'd. I'd get

1:02:44

aggressive on. I don't know that I would sell

1:02:46

either one of these. John you disagree with? No.

1:02:48

I mean. I. Like a I

1:02:51

think selling where are these rental properties to clear

1:02:53

everything puts you right back in the same boat

1:02:55

two years from now. Because you haven't

1:02:57

learned on that, you haven't learned the unions for

1:02:59

have to learn to work together and stick to

1:03:02

a plan over a period of time. Of

1:03:05

them as a legacy A legacy all commit to

1:03:07

one another and say we can do this. I

1:03:09

mean if you're in and will do this will

1:03:11

meet every week, will meet every month as can

1:03:14

be annoying. are going to fight to be frustrated

1:03:16

and cigarette Louis to talk to each other and

1:03:18

would get this thing done. Out

1:03:21

that that the plans. Are you guys on a

1:03:23

budget? Yes, we

1:03:25

are. Yep, I mean

1:03:27

I'm trying to do some some mass here

1:03:30

on think in three years from now, you

1:03:32

guys are out of debt on these homes.

1:03:34

My right. And

1:03:36

all three mover. No

1:03:38

No No No No No not all three. Are

1:03:41

on the on the to rental homes. Oh

1:03:44

okay. And. The

1:03:46

at that that could be doable. Because.

1:03:49

You told me a be six or seven months

1:03:51

to knock out the twenty five thousand. Person.

1:03:54

Alone and then we're gonna be able to knock out you

1:03:56

said a couple more months. For. the

1:03:59

three that the six month expenses. Hold

1:04:01

on, what do you do for a living? I'm

1:04:04

a legal assistant. Okay, what's he do? He's

1:04:08

a lab manager. Okay. I

1:04:11

would love to see y'all come together and say 45 days, this

1:04:14

$25,000 is gone, what has to happen? 45 days?

1:04:18

Yep. Wow. I'm gonna get up at 5 o'clock

1:04:20

and I'm gonna

1:04:22

drive Uber until it's time for me to go

1:04:24

to work and then I'm gonna drive into the

1:04:27

office. And then you're gonna get off and

1:04:29

you're gonna go deliver Uber Eats while he

1:04:31

takes care of the kids or whatever the

1:04:33

plan y'all come up with. But I

1:04:35

want that $25,000 to kind of sting a little bit. Because

1:04:38

it's just, y'all make too much

1:04:40

money and y'all are playing rich

1:04:43

and at the same time you're drowning,

1:04:45

right? Yep. Because

1:04:47

at parties y'all talk about, y'all like, yeah, we got rental properties

1:04:49

here and it's like cool and it's like, yeah, we had to

1:04:51

take out a $25,000 loan just to pay bills.

1:04:54

You see what I'm

1:04:56

saying? Yeah, that sounds about right. And

1:04:58

here's what you are, you're America. We

1:05:01

like, everybody looks all good but man, it's like hey,

1:05:03

can I borrow $25,000 so I can take my kid

1:05:07

to the hospital because I don't have any money. Yeah.

1:05:09

But I got rental income. I got rental property, I

1:05:11

got cash flow. What are you

1:05:13

making on each house? The

1:05:15

rental house. On the rental

1:05:18

property, our rent income is

1:05:20

$18.50 and on

1:05:22

the second one it's $1400. That's net? And all three of

1:05:25

our properties are on a 15-year mortgage. Okay,

1:05:27

good. But that's net, those numbers are after

1:05:29

your, that's what you're netting over

1:05:32

and above your mortgage? No, no, no, no.

1:05:35

I'm sorry. So our net on the first

1:05:37

one is $1000 and our net on the

1:05:39

second one is $500. Yeah. So just

1:05:41

to let you know like why you need to

1:05:43

pay these off because that's not

1:05:45

anything to be excited about. No. $500.

1:05:49

$500 bucks a month? Are you kidding me? Work

1:05:51

Saturdays at Starbucks. You're actually losing money on the

1:05:53

house after you guys fix it up and do

1:05:55

gentle repairs. Yep,

1:05:57

we do. So, so here's all that one. Good.

1:06:00

That's good grief. I'm wrong. I

1:06:02

totally retract what I was saying. Not because you

1:06:04

can't get paid off because it's just not worth it. It's

1:06:07

a bad investment. Okay.

1:06:09

It makes you $6,000 a year. That's

1:06:12

a partial roof replacement. Yeah.

1:06:15

I could go either way. I don't disagree with John.

1:06:18

John makes the right point though. Selling

1:06:20

these is the quick fix to

1:06:22

a problem that you don't actually learn

1:06:24

from unless you have

1:06:26

the pain. He's right about that. But

1:06:31

I would be okay with selling both to be honest

1:06:33

with you, but if you don't make any life change,

1:06:35

you're going to be right back in the same spot.

1:06:38

That's where John's 100% right there versus

1:06:40

having two properties that

1:06:43

now are great assets, but

1:06:45

you're still not making enough. You're going to make it $500

1:06:47

a month. Even after you pay the mortgage off on those,

1:06:49

those aren't really worth it now

1:06:51

that I think about it. No, no. You

1:06:54

don't want? Yeah. Wait a second.

1:06:56

You're just not clearing enough on those homes.

1:06:59

Certainly the one where you're making $500. Is that

1:07:01

the one that's worth $150 and you owe $76? Yes.

1:07:05

Yep. I think John's

1:07:07

right. You can get for it. It's $1,500 a month? Yes.

1:07:10

It's a small home. It's like $100 worth. Oh,

1:07:12

100% I would sell that. Sell

1:07:16

it tomorrow. I would sell that and that's going

1:07:19

to take care of the $25 obviously.

1:07:25

That's also going to get you your

1:07:27

emergency fund and then some, right? Okay.

1:07:30

Yes, it will. Yep. The

1:07:32

next time you buy a rental property, pay cash for it and

1:07:34

make sure it's a worthy investment. I

1:07:37

would add the $46 to the snowball

1:07:39

on that other home. Heck yeah. Knock

1:07:42

that out. You guys need to get rid of that.

1:07:44

Now you've got something there, but no more of this

1:07:46

nonsense. This idea of, oh, I'm going to buy a

1:07:48

small house and we're going to clear $500 a month.

1:07:51

Woo hoo. It's an American dream. No, it's

1:07:54

not. And I don't know why we're

1:07:56

doing it. So yeah, we talked ourselves into that one. I

1:07:58

would clear that. Hey, thank you for

1:08:00

the call. All right, don't move because we're not going to

1:08:03

move. Quick commercial. We'll be right back. This

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is the Ramsey Show. If

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1:08:44

Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman.

1:08:46

Dr. John Deloni joins me. The phone number for

1:08:48

you to join us is triple eight eight

1:08:51

two five five two two five, triple

1:08:53

eight eight two five five two two

1:08:55

five. Let's go to Richmond, Indiana. And

1:08:57

Sabrina is there. Sabrina, how can we

1:08:59

help? Hey

1:09:02

Ken and John, so excited to talk to you guys.

1:09:04

Well, we're excited to talk to you. My question. Thank

1:09:07

you. My question today is when should

1:09:09

we move? We're just looking for

1:09:11

extra wisdom on our current plan, which is

1:09:14

pay off debt, build that emergency fund, and then

1:09:16

sell the house we're in now to move

1:09:19

closer to the ND route where

1:09:21

we actually work. So

1:09:23

right now we're about an hour away from

1:09:25

our jobs, friends, church, all the above, and

1:09:28

we're looking at about three or four options of when

1:09:30

we should move. So I wondered if you guys had

1:09:32

any opinions on that. Yeah. Give

1:09:34

us the options. So

1:09:37

right now we can either stick with

1:09:39

the plan, you know, move after the

1:09:42

emergency fund or, um, after

1:09:45

that stay continue to pay off the house.

1:09:47

Cause by then we'd only have like 82,000

1:09:49

left. Then

1:09:52

move and possibly do some renovation

1:09:54

projects in between there or

1:09:56

just stay until we pay off this house and

1:09:58

wait until we can pay for. the next one

1:10:00

in cash. Do you think it

1:10:02

matters either way? Well I want to know

1:10:04

more about where we're going. I think that'll help us decide

1:10:07

what we need to be doing where we are. So

1:10:10

what would you be looking to

1:10:12

purchase in Indianapolis where everybody is?

1:10:14

Jobs, everything else. What kind

1:10:17

of house are we talking about? Compare that

1:10:19

to where you are now because if we want to

1:10:21

be able to look at you know

1:10:23

we're paying off debt and selling

1:10:25

the house moving to Indianapolis. What are the additional

1:10:27

costs? How does that change our budget? That's the kind

1:10:30

of thing we need to be looking at. So

1:10:32

walk us through the

1:10:35

Indianapolis options. So right

1:10:37

now so we're actually about to graduate nursing

1:10:39

school so we have jobs lined up for

1:10:41

a hospital in that direction. So we

1:10:44

just anticipated like renting a year when

1:10:46

we move over there. Great. Because houses

1:10:49

over there are about like in the

1:10:51

300k range. What's

1:10:53

your house worth right now? Oh

1:10:59

it's probably just about 130,000. Okay. We got it for a

1:11:01

hundred. Okay good. And and

1:11:04

what's your mortgage right now? The

1:11:08

mortgage we're sitting we owe like 93,000

1:11:11

and it's only 486 a month. So we're saving a lot by staying

1:11:13

where we're at. You

1:11:15

are. However when you get the nursing jobs

1:11:17

will it still be about an hour commute?

1:11:21

Yes. And what will be the increase in income

1:11:23

if at all? I'm guessing there'll be an increase

1:11:25

in income with both of you getting into nursing.

1:11:29

Oh yeah we're gonna go up to about I think

1:11:31

it's 150 a year combined. What

1:11:34

are you making combined now? Oh

1:11:37

like 60. So here's

1:11:39

here's how this works. So

1:11:41

if John and I are your issues we're gonna answer

1:11:43

it that way. Okay and so what

1:11:45

I would be looking at is all right my

1:11:48

income is going to more than double but

1:11:51

housing is also going to be a lot more

1:11:53

expensive but I'm

1:11:56

not gonna buy right away because that's super smart

1:11:58

because I'm moving to a new area. new

1:12:00

careers and renting is really

1:12:02

smart. Stacy and I rented for two years,

1:12:04

well we moved here 10 years ago. We

1:12:08

rented for two years, we wanted to make sure.

1:12:10

Where would it be good for the kids? What's

1:12:12

the best location compared to the office here at

1:12:14

Ramsey? A lot of things and we just wanted

1:12:16

to kind of just breathe a little bit and

1:12:18

deal with the transition. So in that year, and

1:12:20

it may be more than that, but let's just

1:12:23

play with your timeline, in a year of renting,

1:12:25

what is it gonna cost us to rent? Do

1:12:27

you have a general idea of what

1:12:29

Indianapolis rent is gonna look like where you're gonna be

1:12:31

living, all your options there? From

1:12:35

what we've seen, around 1,800 a month. All

1:12:38

right, so immediately we go to $1,400, let's

1:12:41

call it $1,300 in change, increase

1:12:44

in living expenses, correct? Correct.

1:12:48

So we write that down, we go okay, a move to India

1:12:50

is gonna cost us 1,300 plus in

1:12:54

the living item in our home expense

1:12:56

item, right? So we look at that

1:12:58

and we go okay, but how much more are we gonna

1:13:00

clear in our paychecks? And

1:13:02

I would run those numbers too. You

1:13:05

know, I would talk with a tax specialist

1:13:07

and try to get an idea, you could do some research, you

1:13:09

go what's my take home gonna be, we're gonna figure it out.

1:13:11

And we start to look at how

1:13:13

our take home increases and

1:13:15

we look at that increase and we look at the

1:13:17

housing increase. And that's gonna

1:13:19

help me make the decision on Indy. And I think

1:13:22

it's gonna make the decision a lot easier. I'm not

1:13:24

saying you gotta move to Indy now, but

1:13:26

I definitely think I would move sooner rather than

1:13:28

later just because I know what it's like to

1:13:31

drive that long every day,

1:13:34

two hours round trip, nurses

1:13:36

brand new, working hard, church

1:13:38

is there, friends are there,

1:13:41

and we're all the way out here. And I think it's gonna

1:13:43

get old quick, but I wanna bring in John on that. Dude,

1:13:45

I'd sell my house in the next 30 days. And

1:13:48

go rent. And I'd go rent. We

1:13:50

would build a fun life together and begin

1:13:52

working on saving with our new reality. That's

1:13:54

what I would do. Yeah, I agree. Okay.

1:13:58

You are underestimating my. Guess

1:14:00

is you're underestimating like we all do. When.

1:14:03

You both are in full time gigs. Crank

1:14:05

in it out. Know school, airbus, run and

1:14:07

gun in full time nursing jobs. Somebody gets

1:14:09

a promotion, somebody gets put over other nurses

1:14:11

some buddies do and he our work. Whatever

1:14:13

that, the work is. Having

1:14:16

a home base that is. Your

1:14:18

somewhat close to there's actually some studies

1:14:20

on The further away your commute is

1:14:23

them it takes time off your life

1:14:25

strides. Absolutely So the closer you can

1:14:27

be to where you worked, where you

1:14:29

have church to got friends were your

1:14:31

family you can drop in and just

1:14:33

for plop on somebody couch and they

1:14:35

know Yeah dude out outside that house

1:14:37

today agree how much we met on.

1:14:39

It. Conservatively.

1:14:43

Think we'd make very much as maybe

1:14:46

thirty thousand. Okay, a desolate, That

1:14:48

immediately a ten percent down payment on a three

1:14:50

hundred thousand dollar house had. ah, Ten.

1:14:53

Percent. At to put in a

1:14:55

high yield savings account that's right and in stack

1:14:57

it. And. Double it and get a twenty percent. Income.

1:15:01

Should I be worried about like renovation project

1:15:03

on the test then I just carry on

1:15:05

and late. Now you can sell it

1:15:07

good or ill and real say pro in

1:15:09

there and. Let. Him tell

1:15:12

you it's a bit a surprise at at. Somebody.

1:15:14

May want to come in and buy it at one

1:15:16

twenty five and they want to take on the the

1:15:18

project. Get. A good

1:15:20

real estate pro to tell you should you finish it.

1:15:23

Don't let him talk you into going into debt and

1:15:25

all that kind of garbage because you can. Price is

1:15:27

based on it as is, but look at every angle,

1:15:29

hold him to that. Some real states people can All

1:15:31

you gotta finish all this. Get two or three opinions?

1:15:33

Maybe. And and I think

1:15:36

that's wise. But yeah, I'm with John. I would.

1:15:38

Absolutely so. I just wanted to walk you through

1:15:40

the number so that you go. Oh this is

1:15:42

the a crazy idea to go rent in Indianapolis.

1:15:45

And. It's also a damn talk and akin

1:15:47

here. but he I want you to

1:15:49

listen to this server Yeah, I'm. People.

1:15:52

think because with the ramsey show because

1:15:54

stay ramsey and family and drams and

1:15:56

company were on the skanks that the

1:15:58

most important message The metric in our

1:16:00

lives is net worth. The most important

1:16:03

metric in our life is house appreciation.

1:16:05

It's not. You have

1:16:07

to also take into consideration whether

1:16:10

you're living a good whole life, whether you have

1:16:12

community, whether you got a place to go to

1:16:14

church, whether you actually see your spouse just flying

1:16:17

by each other in the night because there's a

1:16:19

four-hour commute between the two of you, each of

1:16:21

you going one hour there and one hour back.

1:16:24

Take all this into consideration and the baby

1:16:26

steps there to guide this life that you

1:16:28

want to live and to do it

1:16:31

debt-free. If you all move to a more expensive place, you

1:16:33

might have to rent longer. That's cool. You got friends, family,

1:16:35

community. Awesome. Yeah.

1:16:38

But it's a full picture here. It's not

1:16:40

just this one dollar amount that drives everything.

1:16:42

That's right. Sabrina, how, when

1:16:44

you just pictured doing what John and I told you to do,

1:16:47

what does that seem

1:16:49

like to you? And you get to look at that

1:16:51

as your new alternative. I

1:16:54

mean, it's a right off the shoulders a

1:16:56

little bit not to have to drive so much. We both

1:16:58

spend the nursing school at the same time. We've hardly seen

1:17:00

each other. So like to be close to friends would

1:17:03

be really awesome. I think the only thing

1:17:05

that goes off in my mind is the

1:17:07

debt still that we have to pay off and increasing

1:17:09

that rent amount and scary. How much

1:17:11

debt? 142-ish thousand.

1:17:16

Oh, that's a lot. Yeah, take that money that you made on

1:17:18

the house and dump it into that debt and knock it down

1:17:20

to 110. Yeah.

1:17:22

Yeah. I have to revise my statement. I did not catch

1:17:25

that, that you owed of 142,000. So

1:17:28

the 30,000 you make on the house, that immediately goes to

1:17:30

the debt snowball. Live in a one bedroom apartment. It's going

1:17:32

to not be the greatest thing. You're going to be fine.

1:17:34

You're all going to go get it done. You guys are

1:17:36

crushing it income wise. You guys can do this. Your

1:17:39

life is going to be better in

1:17:41

Indy paying off 142 than it is going

1:17:43

to be an hour away paying off 142. That's

1:17:47

fair. That's exactly right. It's quality of life. It sucks

1:17:49

paying off debt. So I would want everything else to

1:17:51

not be so sucky, right John? Tell your friends, hey,

1:17:53

we can't go out. We're going to go for a

1:17:56

walk in the park or whatever. That'd be great. You

1:17:58

guys come over to our house and have microwave popcorn.

1:18:00

ball. Dude, don't get me started. I

1:18:02

know. That shouldn't cost you much at all. Ken is becoming

1:18:04

a pickleball legend. That's true. I gotta get

1:18:06

you out on the courts with me. I think the people want

1:18:08

to see you just smash a pickleball right in the face. I

1:18:10

mean, you're not going to see that. I think they do. I

1:18:13

know, James. Alright, good hour.

1:18:15

Thank you, Dr. John, for being with me.

1:18:17

Thank you, James Childs, and the fearless band

1:18:19

of merry men behind the glass. This

1:18:22

is The Ramsey Show. Live

1:18:26

from the headquarters of The Ramsey Solutions, this is

1:18:28

The Ramsey Show. It's where we help you

1:18:30

win your life. And

1:18:33

when in your life, you can do that by

1:18:35

winning with the money, your relationships, and in your

1:18:37

work. And those are the areas that we cover.

1:18:40

Triple 8, 825. Hi, I'm 2-2-5. I'm

1:18:42

Ron Tim Coleman. Dr. John Belloni joins us this hour. And

1:18:45

we're here to take your questions. Triple

1:18:47

8, 825, 5225. Let's

1:18:50

go to Seattle, Washington. And Josh is joining us there. Josh,

1:18:52

how are you? Yes, pretty good. Thank

1:18:55

you for taking my call. You bet. What's

1:18:58

going on? So,

1:19:00

I'm thinking about

1:19:03

jumping ship to a

1:19:05

different company, different position.

1:19:09

The new position would entail that I would have

1:19:11

to travel. And

1:19:13

where I'm stuck is I have

1:19:15

two little ones at home. They're

1:19:17

eight years old. And,

1:19:21

you know, I'm just thinking

1:19:24

of what type of effect that would

1:19:26

do to them if I do

1:19:28

take this traveling position. How much would you travel

1:19:30

in a given month? I told you? Yes,

1:19:35

basically I'd be traveling four days out

1:19:37

of the week. So, pretty

1:19:39

much traveling all the time. I

1:19:41

would be back Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and

1:19:43

then start all over on Monday. Okay.

1:19:47

Let's press pause on the kids for a moment. What's

1:19:49

your wife think about this? She's

1:19:52

on the fence as well. But,

1:19:55

you know, she has been very

1:19:57

supportive. And she stated that... She's

1:20:00

willing to make the soccer

1:20:02

advice herself. As

1:20:04

long as at the end of

1:20:06

the day it could be beneficial

1:20:08

to my career. Let's talk about that. And

1:20:11

if it's something. That's where I want to

1:20:13

go next. So to me, beneficial, we have

1:20:15

to look at two factors. What's

1:20:17

the income bump by taking

1:20:19

this gig? And then

1:20:21

what does it set you up for? What

1:20:24

specific ladder does

1:20:27

this job set you up for? And I want to

1:20:29

also know, are you always traveling

1:20:31

or is this a two year stint? Is

1:20:34

this a 12 month stint where we're traveling and

1:20:36

then it sets you up for promotion? Do you

1:20:38

even know that? These are the things we've got

1:20:40

to look at because what we don't want is

1:20:42

to take something that's just a financial bump in

1:20:45

the short term and then we're just

1:20:47

hoping for a promotion. This is a two to

1:20:49

three year deal where you're gone that long. I

1:20:52

start to get real uncomfortable with that. So tell

1:20:54

me what you know about those questions. Okay.

1:20:58

So I know that it'd be

1:21:01

a two year type of deal. Two

1:21:03

years. And yeah. And

1:21:05

that would basically, if I stayed there the

1:21:07

two years with a new company, that

1:21:09

would basically put me in

1:21:11

talks or open

1:21:13

me up for a promotion management.

1:21:17

So we're talking management and we're talking

1:21:19

about a bump in 15,000 a

1:21:21

year, but I'd be doing

1:21:25

management versus pecking out in

1:21:27

the field. So that would

1:21:29

kill the travel? Yes. All

1:21:32

right. So that's two years from now you get a $15,000 bump?

1:21:36

Correct. What

1:21:38

kind of bump are you going to get for taking the job from

1:21:40

where you are to where you will be if you take this gig?

1:21:44

There is no bump. It's the same amount.

1:21:46

All right, Josh, you're not going to like this answer.

1:21:48

I want to bring in my colleague to see if

1:21:50

he disagrees with me here and I'm okay if he

1:21:52

does. I'm just saying this is a hard pass. You

1:21:55

are and here's why you are going

1:21:57

to sacrifice time with the eight.

1:22:00

eight-year-olds, you're going

1:22:02

to put your wife, you're going to miss time with

1:22:04

her, you're going to put your wife in a pretty

1:22:06

intense position, and this is a two-year

1:22:08

rhythm for a $15,000 bump. No

1:22:11

thanks. The

1:22:14

trade-off's not worth it. Have you

1:22:16

done them? And just to go further in this, you

1:22:18

can do this later, but do the math on how

1:22:20

much you're actually going to see in your paycheck with

1:22:22

the $15,000 bump, but I think you're going to

1:22:25

have a really salty taste in your mouth. John? Yeah,

1:22:27

I'm – and this

1:22:30

is like the John and Ken and Green show. What?

1:22:33

It's okay. No, it's amazing. I love

1:22:35

it. Ken's exactly

1:22:39

right. If you were going to get a master's degree and they said two

1:22:41

years, you're going to miss a lot of time with your kids, and

1:22:44

you do X, Y, and Z, and we're going to

1:22:46

guarantee you that we'll hold up our end of the

1:22:48

bargain and you're going to walk across the stage and

1:22:50

you graduate. That's one

1:22:52

thing. But all this does, two years of

1:22:55

missing out time with your kids that you

1:22:57

can never get back for no extra money,

1:22:59

for a strain on your marriage. Probably

1:23:01

you're going to be out money because you're going to have to eat out

1:23:04

while you're on the road. Your health is going to suffer,

1:23:06

and that puts you in line for the

1:23:09

potential chance for a $1,000 a month raise.

1:23:12

I'm out. I'm out. It's

1:23:15

not even worth it. What do you make total right now? About

1:23:17

$120. Okay. That's good money. So

1:23:19

you make great money. Can you stay in your current job, or are

1:23:21

they going to ask you if you don't get on the road? Yes.

1:23:25

I mean, no, no. I can

1:23:28

stay in my current job, and I

1:23:30

actually have a follow-up

1:23:32

interview with my current employer

1:23:35

to talk about a development program

1:23:38

a year from now. Great. That's

1:23:40

my thinking, is if you're the same company and they're going to let

1:23:42

you stay there, they're already paying you six figures, you're a young guy,

1:23:44

I bet you can get to management

1:23:46

that way too. And there's other options.

1:23:49

Okay. You have a lot to offer, right? How

1:23:51

old are you? I'm

1:23:53

39. Yeah. Okay.

1:23:56

You're crushing me. And what's the path for

1:23:58

you? I know you said management. Let's go five,

1:24:00

ten years from now. Where would Josh like to

1:24:03

be? Probably

1:24:07

operations and manager. Okay.

1:24:10

So let's look at multiple paths in

1:24:13

Seattle, around you and the

1:24:15

kiddos and the wife, and let's just see

1:24:17

what our options are there. Sometimes we

1:24:19

get an option and it's great to be

1:24:21

wanted. It really is. It feels wonderful to

1:24:24

get an offer. But this just does not

1:24:26

have any kind of redeemable qualities to say

1:24:28

yes to this. I don't see the upside

1:24:30

at all. There's no upside at

1:24:32

all. Okay. You got us? All

1:24:35

right. You know, yes. Thank you for your help. We're

1:24:37

asking you not to do it for

1:24:40

you, for your wife, for

1:24:42

your kids. That's what I think this

1:24:44

is. I think it's that serious. I think John did a really

1:24:46

nice job of laying out. This is

1:24:48

emotional, physical, mental. I mean,

1:24:51

this is the whole nine yards that affects you.

1:24:53

And this is me generalizing, but I've learned in

1:24:55

my house that when my wife is on the

1:24:58

fence about a major life decision, that's her gut

1:25:00

telling her no, but she doesn't want to break

1:25:02

my heart. Almost always. Gospel

1:25:04

truth. Hey, let's move. I want to take this

1:25:06

new job. I'm thinking about – and

1:25:08

she's like, well, I'm on the fence. That means – She's

1:25:11

only on the fence because she's considering your feelings because she's a good

1:25:13

woman. She's a good person. She doesn't want

1:25:15

to bury me. But her gut says this is a

1:25:17

terrible move for us. Correct.

1:25:20

Thank you. And, Josh, listen, man,

1:25:22

saying no to the

1:25:24

good means you can say yes to the best. I didn't

1:25:26

come up with that. Somebody out there said that. I know

1:25:29

I'm ripping somebody off, so I'm saying that I'm ripping it

1:25:31

off. But I mean, I think there's a lot

1:25:33

of truth there. As cheesy as it is, I don't

1:25:36

even think this is good. No. And

1:25:39

that's the trap, John. You know, I want to come

1:25:41

to you on this from a psychology standpoint because

1:25:44

the trap in the American workplace

1:25:46

is the promotion. It is. Because

1:25:49

you're an idiot. You feel like an idiot if you don't say

1:25:52

yes to something, but you may not want to lead or you

1:25:54

may not want to do this. But if you say no to

1:25:56

the promotion, you say no to a bump in the check, and

1:25:58

I think it's a terrible thing. trap. What say you? Well a

1:26:00

lot of times you don't get a bump in the check. You

1:26:02

get a extra word. You get

1:26:05

an extra title. But buddy let's just say, let's take

1:26:07

a situation where you get the

1:26:09

bump. So I think one of our core fears

1:26:11

is nobody's

1:26:13

going to want us. And so when the

1:26:15

boss calls you in and says, I've been watching

1:26:17

you and you're going to go from assistant to

1:26:19

associate now and you're going to have all this

1:26:21

and weekends and we're going to pay you 48

1:26:23

more dollars. You feel like you have to say

1:26:25

yes. Because it feels good and it's going to

1:26:27

feel boxed in. And you can say, I like

1:26:29

my life. No thank you. It's a

1:26:31

real trap folks. What Josh is facing

1:26:34

is very real. Don't fall for it. You

1:26:36

have options. I promise. We're

1:26:38

here to help. Thanks for the call Josh. You're a good

1:26:40

man. Your wife's going to be really happy. All right. Quick

1:26:42

break. We will be right back. This is The Ranched

1:26:44

Show. I

1:26:48

know you work hard for your money. And

1:26:50

the key to keeping more of it in

1:26:52

your pocket is by making a plan for

1:26:55

your spending with a budget. And Every Dollar

1:26:57

is the budgeting app that I use personally

1:26:59

because it's perfect for looking every dollar you

1:27:01

make in its little president face and telling

1:27:03

it exactly where you want it to go.

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Just like you told that guy in traffic

1:27:07

exactly where you wanted him to go. And

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1:27:13

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in the App Store or Google Play today.

1:27:20

Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. Dr.

1:27:22

John Deloney is with me as well. And we are

1:27:24

here for you. 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. And if I can

1:27:27

get it out of my hands here. Here we

1:27:35

go. It's time for our question of the day.

1:27:37

Today's question comes from Justin in Michigan. I'm currently

1:27:39

attending college for mechanical engineering. But I'm unsure if

1:27:42

that's the right path for me. My friend and

1:27:44

I have been discussing starting a business together. We

1:27:46

already have a complete plan laid out. I don't

1:27:48

want to waste three years of college if I'm

1:27:51

not going to use my degree. Should we go ahead

1:27:53

and start the business? I could look into doing an

1:27:55

online business degree while we're getting things off the ground.

1:27:57

Would this be a good idea? I

1:28:00

really appreciate these questions and I really

1:28:03

appreciate Justin, but this is one John

1:28:05

where I can't go back and forth

1:28:07

I don't know what the business is I

1:28:09

don't know. This is a good idea senior or is

1:28:11

he a freshman? We don't know Yeah So so

1:28:14

I just want to tell the audience I'm qualifying

1:28:16

this because this is a very

1:28:18

very difficult question to answer and give really

1:28:20

solid Advice so I'm gonna I'm gonna pull

1:28:22

back a little bit and give

1:28:24

a general answer here. So if

1:28:27

I'm you Justin And

1:28:30

I'm attending college and I've gotten enough of

1:28:32

the mechanical engineering and I'm unsure if it's

1:28:34

the right path for me What

1:28:36

I want to do first John and this is your

1:28:39

world you counseled a lot of students your time I

1:28:41

want to I want to dig deep with my professors.

1:28:43

Maybe the head of the department You

1:28:45

know and maybe a couple of mechanical engineers out

1:28:47

there that my mom and dad know and

1:28:50

and I'd start there and go All

1:28:52

right, I'm unsure and I

1:28:55

want somebody the department head my teachers professors

1:28:57

real mechanical engineers ago Hey, that's that's I

1:28:59

felt that too. Let's just let's dig first

1:29:01

on the unsure. I wanted to start there

1:29:03

Yeah, I'm gonna talk to an actual mechanical

1:29:05

engineer or two and find out do you

1:29:07

want that life? Yeah, what are we unsure

1:29:09

of and is it just because it's scary

1:29:11

and it's new or it's a bit of

1:29:13

a lot more math Than you thought the

1:29:15

engineering students are up there till the middle

1:29:18

of the night man them in the architecture

1:29:20

students It's a tough degree like first is

1:29:22

if if Kim Coleman Took

1:29:24

a was in this position and

1:29:26

my unsureness John would be absolutely correct because

1:29:28

I would be over my skis Well me

1:29:31

too. I can't do math. Yeah, but but

1:29:33

his kids were have been little yeah They've

1:29:35

been told get a degree engineering

1:29:37

go to engineering engineering. It's a great and then

1:29:39

you get to engineering and it's hard Thank God.

1:29:42

It's hard. I don't like buildings falling over right?

1:29:44

I want I want you're still doing right So

1:29:46

we want to get to why he's unsure right

1:29:48

if it's legit unsure that it's not a right

1:29:50

fit Then yes move on yeah, if it's just

1:29:53

other stuff you're a little scared and it's new

1:29:55

that's okay now on this other issue again My

1:29:57

friend and I a little nervous about that a

1:29:59

snow own business? We just don't

1:30:01

know. Car detailing business? Yeah, you got a complete plan

1:30:04

laid out. That's great. I can't tell you how many

1:30:06

complete plans I've laid out in my life that were

1:30:08

complete crap. So just because

1:30:10

it's complete doesn't mean it's not crap. And

1:30:14

so I want to get sure

1:30:16

on the college question first. I'm

1:30:19

okay with you and your buddies trying

1:30:21

to start this business on the side

1:30:23

only. Low risk, low

1:30:25

money, low labor. Let's

1:30:28

just test this idea if

1:30:30

it doesn't conflict with college and

1:30:33

if college is not the right path here. That's

1:30:36

all I can say here. Any other advice I give

1:30:38

here is a stab in the dark. The only thing

1:30:41

I'll add is if you're a freshman, you took first

1:30:43

semester, you came back from the holiday

1:30:46

break, you're at spring break, and you're like, dude, I literally

1:30:48

hate this. Awesome. Great point. If

1:30:50

you're a second semester junior,

1:30:53

I'm going to probably coach you just finish. Like

1:30:56

25 years from now, finish unless you have a

1:30:58

great off ramp, not you and your buddy having

1:31:00

a snow cone machine. I think that's right. Because

1:31:02

to your point, if you're already

1:31:04

well past halfway mark, you

1:31:06

don't have to become a mechanical engineer to

1:31:08

use the mechanical engineer degree. Is that safe?

1:31:10

You've already committed to the marketplace. I can

1:31:13

do something hard for four years. I don't

1:31:15

give up. I'll finish up. Don't you think

1:31:17

it's transferable? Are you kidding me? Yes. I

1:31:19

think a lot of people go, you have

1:31:21

a mechanical engineer degree from Texas Tech or

1:31:23

wherever. A software engineer, a human engineer,

1:31:25

whatever. You don't have to go that route. I think

1:31:27

you're right. Once we've committed that much time, let's go

1:31:29

ahead and see it. Knock it out, dude. That's a

1:31:31

very good point. We

1:31:33

should take those kind of questions, James,

1:31:35

and turn them into Dean Deloney. We

1:31:38

make you put on one of those fake collars

1:31:40

and ties, and we do some school music. I

1:31:42

think my students had plenty of Dean Deloney. They're

1:31:44

done with it. I just like to say Dean

1:31:46

Deloney. I think it's fun to say. Good advice,

1:31:48

Dean Deloney. That was my name for 20 years.

1:31:50

Way too long. Too long? All right. Too soon

1:31:52

to bring it back? No, I

1:31:54

don't believe in the phrase too soon. I don't

1:31:57

believe in it. I love it. Good stuff. Thanks for the

1:31:59

question, Justin. We did our best with that. All

1:32:01

right, Michelle is up now in Los Angeles, California.

1:32:03

Michelle, how can we help? Hi.

1:32:06

I was calling for some advice to plan the

1:32:08

rest of my life. That

1:32:11

sounds easy enough. We got you, Michelle. Not

1:32:13

a problem. Okay,

1:32:15

so I started really super late saving

1:32:18

for retirement, both my husband and myself.

1:32:21

We're in our mid-40s. I

1:32:27

owe, I have my health payment and

1:32:29

my car payment, and then our daughter goes to

1:32:32

private school. Those are our only bills. I

1:32:35

have enough cash to pay off my

1:32:37

$20,000 that I owe on my vehicle,

1:32:40

but I'm having a hard time letting go of that $20,000. But

1:32:45

then I want it to attack the house because I don't

1:32:47

want to work forever, and I want to

1:32:50

be debt free, so I don't just maybe

1:32:52

need a little bit of help. Okay,

1:32:54

let's get into the numbers, okay? Let's talk about

1:32:56

your car payment. What is your car payment per

1:32:59

month? That's a

1:33:01

little under $600, but I've been doubling it. All

1:33:04

right, so let's ... Okay, so it's $600, but

1:33:06

you've been paying $1200. How

1:33:09

much is left on it? $20,000,

1:33:12

like $21,000. Let's

1:33:14

call it $21,000. What's it worth? Probably

1:33:22

$28,000. It's a 2023 vehicle.

1:33:26

Gotcha. When will you pay

1:33:28

it off if you keep doing $1200 a month on this?

1:33:36

Two to three years, possibly, I think. My

1:33:39

husband's been all the math. I'm just the caller, and he's not

1:33:41

here. I know, but because you're the caller, I want

1:33:43

you to walk through this emotionally. Because here's

1:33:45

the deal. You got the money to pay this

1:33:47

off as soon as this call's over. You're

1:33:50

going, ugh. If I lose, if

1:33:52

I pay all that money, I've got all this risk. Yes.

1:33:57

All right, do you have $1,000 in your emergency fund? addition

1:34:00

to the $20,000. Okay. So

1:34:02

I want you to look at this as

1:34:04

I'm not blowing money. I am

1:34:07

paying off a 2023 car that should

1:34:09

last me for quite some time and I'm now giving

1:34:12

myself a $600 a month raise

1:34:14

by paper, but in all honesty you've been

1:34:16

paying $1,200 a month so you get

1:34:18

a $1,200 raise the minute you pay it off. And

1:34:21

then you put that $1,200 added to

1:34:23

my full scanner? Yeah,

1:34:26

if you want to pay the house off. But

1:34:29

you're jumping steps. So sorry,

1:34:31

I said yes, I'm incorrect. The

1:34:33

baby steps are baby step one is $1,000

1:34:36

in your savings for emergency. Baby step two

1:34:38

is to pay off this debt. The only

1:34:40

debt you have, because I'm not, your school

1:34:42

payments, that's private school, that's a tuition

1:34:44

payment, yes? Yes.

1:34:46

That's not debt. So

1:34:49

the only debt you have is this car payment in your

1:34:51

home, right? Correct. Alright, so

1:34:53

that would put you in baby step three. The minute you

1:34:55

cut the check for the car, you're

1:34:57

in baby step three, which is three to six

1:34:59

months expenses. So

1:35:01

what is three months? So I actually have

1:35:05

a larger amount to put towards my

1:35:07

house, but do I just

1:35:09

keep that cushion in my bank account? No,

1:35:12

let's start, okay, let's start all over.

1:35:14

Are you familiar with the baby steps? Yeah,

1:35:17

I've been listening to your show for this year,

1:35:20

so I am familiar with them. Okay, so alright,

1:35:22

so I started walking you through it. How much

1:35:24

cash do you have total? Stop giving me that.

1:35:26

I got 20 for the car. I got this.

1:35:28

How much cash do you have saved

1:35:31

right now? $140,000.

1:35:33

Oh my gosh, that would have

1:35:36

been nice. They're burying

1:35:38

the lead, Austin. Alright, so you

1:35:40

have $140,000 in

1:35:42

cash. So here's, I've been

1:35:44

talking enough. John, I'll hand the baton to you. I want

1:35:46

to bring my colleague in. I want to dominate here. How

1:35:48

much do you owe in this house? $265,000. I

1:35:53

would take three months salary and put it

1:35:55

in an emergency fund. After you pay the

1:35:58

car off. In a separate account. Yes,

1:36:00

after you pay the car off right this second and you go

1:36:02

to 120,000. Yup. Then

1:36:05

I would take three months of that which is going

1:36:07

to be about 30 grand and I'd put it in

1:36:09

an account. Saving

1:36:12

to count. That's your emergency fund. And

1:36:15

now you are down to $90,000. I

1:36:18

would put all the rest of that onto the house, every

1:36:20

penny of it and now you only owe

1:36:22

$150,000. What did you say, $250,000? Yeah,

1:36:28

$260,000. Okay, $260,000. So now you

1:36:30

owe $170,000 on your house and

1:36:32

you and your husband can run around

1:36:34

like Will Farrell hitting the gotta have

1:36:36

more cowbell bell, cheering and having the

1:36:39

time of your life tonight celebrating because

1:36:42

you're debt free. You don't owe anything except a little bit

1:36:44

less on your mortgage and you're all going to knock this

1:36:46

out in two to three years and you're going to be

1:36:48

free. And you're in baby step four immediately after you've done

1:36:50

everything done. And you're now investing 15%. Hang

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on the line. We're going to get you told you money makeover. This is the

1:36:56

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up with the stock market and

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essentials before the prices

1:37:58

go up. Welcome

1:38:02

back to the Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. Dr. John

1:38:04

Deloney is with me and we are here for you,

1:38:06

888-825-5225. Let's

1:38:09

go to Ashley in Los

1:38:11

Angeles, California. Ashley, how can

1:38:13

we help? Thank

1:38:15

you so much for taking my call. I've

1:38:19

been a stay-at-home mom for about 14 years

1:38:22

and my husband and I were on step 4, 5 and

1:38:24

6. And being

1:38:27

a stay-at-home mom for 14 years, our

1:38:29

kids are older now and I'm really

1:38:31

in this odd

1:38:33

stage of not being needed as much

1:38:35

at home and looking

1:38:38

to possibly go back to work or

1:38:40

school and just

1:38:42

needed some guidance. I did

1:38:44

the Get Clear Career Assessment

1:38:46

and that was helpful

1:38:48

but I kind of feel like almost

1:38:51

like the world is my oyster right now and

1:38:54

I don't know. There's like too many options. Well,

1:38:56

do you have your results on you by any chance? I

1:39:00

just have the part created, my

1:39:02

passion and to accomplish my mission.

1:39:05

Yeah, that's all I need to see. I'd love to hear

1:39:07

your purpose statement so you don't have to read me all

1:39:09

the detail but you know how we spit out a purpose

1:39:11

statement with your results? You have that? Let

1:39:14

me look at that. I

1:39:18

don't have that easily on hand. Oh,

1:39:20

purpose statement, yes. Okay, so slowly

1:39:22

read that. Just

1:39:25

give me your top talents, slowly.

1:39:27

Okay, it says I was

1:39:30

created to organization,

1:39:34

is that instruction,

1:39:37

execution, to perform

1:39:41

my passions of solving, making

1:39:44

and finishing. Solving,

1:39:46

making, hold on one second. Solving,

1:39:48

making and finishing. And your

1:39:50

mission result, what motivates you is? Efficiency.

1:39:53

Interesting. Do you agree with those

1:39:56

results? I

1:39:58

do. I then. The hard

1:40:00

part was what has piqued my

1:40:02

interest in possibly going back to school

1:40:04

didn't really line up with that. Tell

1:40:08

me what that is and I'll tell you if I think it lines up. We

1:40:14

had our kids very young and I was in

1:40:17

the middle of cosmetology school and I had

1:40:19

to quit that because

1:40:22

I got pregnant when I was 18. As

1:40:26

forward I went into

1:40:28

mortgage processing administration which I

1:40:31

was successful at but now

1:40:34

I can't really see myself going

1:40:37

back into the administration field. I

1:40:40

am high on my creativity

1:40:43

so I'm wondering should I go

1:40:45

back to school? Is it too late for me

1:40:47

at this stage of life to pursue that? Pursue

1:40:50

what? Cosmetology

1:40:53

to be a hairstylist. Let's

1:40:55

leave that there. That's what you're

1:40:57

saying. Does cosmetology fit with my purpose statement?

1:40:59

Is that what you're asking? Yes.

1:41:03

Great. Let's just look.

1:41:05

Your talents are organization, instruction and execution. Let's

1:41:07

just look at organization and execution. These are

1:41:09

words by the way when you create

1:41:11

an assessment and I worked on this for

1:41:14

three years. These

1:41:16

words are my best attempt to go

1:41:18

this is a general

1:41:20

description of a talent. Let's

1:41:22

have some license with it. Does

1:41:25

a cosmetologist need to be

1:41:27

organized in their process? Yes.

1:41:31

Does a cosmetologist need to be able to

1:41:34

execute on a plan that he or she

1:41:36

creates for the customer? Yes.

1:41:39

Is there a level of instruction and

1:41:41

teaching and guiding that a cosmetologist would

1:41:44

use? Yes.

1:41:46

Interesting. Now

1:41:49

let's go to what you love to do. Do

1:41:51

you see cosmetology as solving a problem?

1:41:56

Yes. Do you see it as making

1:41:58

a new system? solution, coming

1:42:00

up with a creative thing

1:42:03

to make someone look and feel beautiful? Yes.

1:42:08

And when the job is

1:42:11

done and the person gets out of the chair

1:42:15

and they feel a little brighter or they

1:42:17

stand a little taller, have you

1:42:19

finished, have you accomplished something there? Yes,

1:42:22

absolutely. That was very helpful. Okay,

1:42:26

so these are just, this assessment is

1:42:28

nothing more than a guide and it's like a high

1:42:30

level job description, John. It's kind of like that

1:42:33

purpose statement, it needs to be viewed as I'm in a

1:42:35

plane 35,000 feet above and

1:42:37

I'm looking down at all of my possibilities.

1:42:40

And so I'm less concerned about the purpose

1:42:42

statement, Ashley. I'm

1:42:44

more focused on cosmetology and

1:42:46

it's this thing you've always wanted to do

1:42:49

and you're creative and

1:42:51

you love the idea of getting

1:42:53

somebody's wish list, sitting them down

1:42:55

in the chair and driving

1:42:58

that job all the way through

1:43:00

and that efficiency

1:43:02

thing for you is I want it

1:43:04

to look neat and good. That's

1:43:07

what you enjoy about the cosmetology, am I right?

1:43:10

Yes. There's a sense of order about it,

1:43:12

yes? Yes. Well,

1:43:14

it's not too late to get into that.

1:43:17

So what happens? I guess one of the,

1:43:19

I'm sorry to cut you off. No, no, you didn't cut me

1:43:21

off. Go ahead. I

1:43:24

guess one of the things is because I've

1:43:26

been home for so long and my family,

1:43:28

I've been so available to them, which I'm

1:43:30

so grateful to have that opportunity

1:43:33

for so many years. I

1:43:35

have this nervousness about not only

1:43:37

just going back to school and

1:43:39

pursuing a career at 38

1:43:42

years old, but also

1:43:45

what if it doesn't work out because some of

1:43:47

the things I've done before haven't worked out. Okay,

1:43:49

let's play that out. So let's play that out. I'm

1:43:51

going to bring John in here in a minute, okay, but I want to

1:43:53

kind of walk you right into this. So