How Can I Rebuild Trust After a Gambling Addiction?

14:51Dave Ramsey:But she doesn't have the money, like in some account she just doesn't want to touch. She spent the money to fix her kitchen or whatever, right? Right. No, it's not that. Okay. So they have no money.

15:09Dave Ramsey:Is that what you're telling me? Yeah.

15:11Jade Warshaw:Do they have anything they could sell? Do they have vehicles with payments or no payments? Is there anything they could sell to get this money? I would say both vehicles have a payment.

15:28Jade Warshaw:Nothing in my mind. I just come off the top of the head and they could sell.

15:32Dave Ramsey:Okay. If I were to sit down with them and I was their coach, Brandon, here's what i would tell them okay i would say you make two hundred and ten thousand dollars and you're completely out of control we've got to get your taxes set up and you that those tax accounts are once you set those money aside out of your 1099 income for your quarterly estimates which you mentioned it sounds like somebody knows what to do uh then that money is sacred you do not touch it. And I don't care what comes up. It's already spent. You don't have it anymore. You just have it in your name. You have to forget you own that money.

16:11Dave Ramsey:And so nothing can come up. Your little brother needs a car, toughies. Nothing can come up. Some friend calls and wants a medical bill paid, nothing. You don't own this money anymore. It's already tax money. You have to quit even leaving it available emotionally. This is me talking to your parents, okay? So that this never, ever, ever, ever comes back again. And then we need to work you out of debt with a budget, put you on every dollar, and you guys are going to start living on way less than you make because you've got a couple of stupid car payments, and you owe the KGB, I mean the IRS,$27 ,000 freaking dollars.

16:51Dave Ramsey:And so we're going to put you on a payment plan with the IRS, and they are the first debt you're going to pay off and you're going to pay them off in less than 12 months. You make$210 ,000, you ought to be able to pay$30 ,000 off very, very quickly. And just pay the IRS. That's what I would do. Would I go borrow money to pay the IRS? No, I would not. Not in this situation. Because I want to make sure that at the core of this, at the root that caused this problem, that it goes away. And you borrowing money to go get them out of this when they make this kind of money and are this disorganized and chaotic is really suicidal for you, sir.

17:28Dave Ramsey:Please do not do this.

17:29Jade Warshaw:Yeah. How long have you been listening to our show? Oh, wow. I actually learned from them that told me about you guys. Okay. So that means you both have some sense beyond this, right? And I want you to get serious about this. If you've been listening to the show, you know, the things that we're teaching around here. So I want to make sure that today, if we give you every dollar, will you go on there and will you start getting into the classes and every dollar and let it teach you what to do next? Oh, yeah, I already have every dollar. Okay. We're gonna give it to you for your mom and dad.

18:03Dave Ramsey:Let's see if we can get them moving along. But no, you don't. You knew before you called in here, I wasn't gonna tell you we weren't gonna tell you to borrow money.

18:09Jade Warshaw:This is like we certainly

18:10Dave Ramsey:we're gonna borrow money for this.

18:11Jade Warshaw:This is like that scripture where the man looks in the mirror and he walks away and immediately forgets what he looks like. If you listen to this stuff every day, it's up to you to put it into practice. It doesn't happen by osmosis. It doesn't happen automatically. You have to then go away and do the things that we teach. Otherwise, your life is not going to change.

18:32Dave Ramsey:Yeah. Including when I went broke, Larry Burkett used to say that personal financial problems are not the problem, they're the symptom of something else going on. So in this case, you don't have a tax problem. You have an accounting problem because you didn't set the money aside to pay your taxes. And then when you did, you went and did something stupid with it instead of paying your taxes. And so now you got yourself between you and the government, which is a really horrible place to be for anybody. None of us want to be there. Certainly not. These are not people with a sense of humor. These are not people that are powerless.

19:03Dave Ramsey:They have lots of power to screw you over, and they will. So you need to get on a payment plan with them and get them paid off and never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever touch your tax money for anything ever again. Yeah. Yes. It's gone. It's already gone. You just moved it in on the account. You haven't given it to them yet, but it's already gone. It's just like withholding. It's gone.

19:24Jade Warshaw:Yeah. I used to go in there and every month I'd move the taxes over. I did not play games with that.

19:29Dave Ramsey:No, you do it every time you write a check.

19:32Jade Warshaw:Yeah.

19:36Thank you.

20:09Jade Warshaw:Dave, we got a lot of calls on this show where life happens. One day someone's healthy, they're working, providing for their family,

20:15Dave Ramsey:and then a curveball hits. You know, we hear it all the time. A car accident, a cancer diagnosis, a heart attack, and suddenly everything changes.

20:25Jade Warshaw:Yeah, and that's why you've always said that having term life insurance from Xander is essential because it protects your family if the worst happens.

20:32Dave Ramsey:Yeah, that's right. You need 10 to 12 times your income. in coverage. No gimmicks, no whole life junk, just straightforward term life protection. But there's another piece that people often overlook, and that's long-term disability insurance.

20:48Jade Warshaw:Yeah, it's important to understand the difference between them. Life insurance steps in when you die. Disability insurance steps in while you're alive but can't work. So it replaces a large part of your income so the bills still get paid while you get back on your feet.

21:02Dave Ramsey:Now, if your employer gives you free disability insurance, great, take it. If it's discounted there at a better price, take it. But if not, Xander can help you find the right plan. Whether you're single or married, it's not optional. If you're going to be out of work for a while, then you need to make sure the money's still showing up. And that's why Xander is our go-to. They make it super simple to get the right coverage at the best price, no pressure, no upselling. I've trusted Jeff Xander and Zander Insurance for over 25 years, and so has my family.

21:33Jade Warshaw:So don't wait. It's fast, it's easy, and it could make all the difference. Go to Zander.com or call 800-356-4282.

21:41Dave Ramsey:Protect yourself, protect your income, protect your family.

22:00Jade Warshaw:martina's in phoenix hi martina what's up uh hi um i uh two and a half years ago i bought a car and um it's a good car to a 2018 corolla um but i have a 16.5 percent interest on it and over half of my payments go only to interest um i'm actually the co-signer on the car on the car and my mother is the main signer on the car and I have had job instability, housing instability over the years and I'm just not putting my life together. But currently I haven't even been able to make my February car payment. So I also rely on this car as a source of income. So what is your advice on the car? I would look for a different, I would start looking for a different source of income that's not tied to this car my guess is you're doing some of one of the delivery apps uh yeah i'm actually a lift driver um i had a dead-end job uh i quit that but i got a new job that is a really good job but um it just it doesn't start for a couple more weeks yeah they're going to what is how much are you gonna be making at the new good job

23:18Dave Ramsey:um about three to four thousand a year it's you mean a month or a month i mean sorry a month i

23:24Jade Warshaw:um i i am a uh swim instructor and i'm contracting with a pool that pays very well for their lesson okay and then uh what's what do you owe what's the total amount owed on this car i owe 16 200 and i originally paid 18 500 have you looked to see what it's worth if you looked on Kelly Blue Book. Have you looked to see what it's worth private sale? Yes, it's worth$7 ,500. Oh boy, what happened to it? She's been driving Uber. Oh yeah, that's true. Yeah. Oh gosh. Okay, well then your only choice here, I mean, you're going to have to pay it off because it's such a low value and you're going to have to work quickly to do it.

24:06Jade Warshaw:Is it your only debt? Definitely not. I've got about$50 ,000 in student debt and I ended up dropping out of school due to mental health issues. And I have about$25 ,000, 20 to 25 ,000 in personal loans and credit cards. And then I have an, I don't even know how many thousands of dollars in medical debt. I don't even like, you know. So you're going to be doing, you'll be doing swim lessons at this place. How long is it going to take you to build up your lesson pool to make 4 ,000 a month? Or is there a base pay? uh because i make uh i'm going to be making about 30 to 40 an hour are they going to work you 40 hours uh that's the plan but yeah that's the problem is that it does depend on how many clients they get they do get a lot of clients yeah i'd be looking really deeply into that uh first off and my homework for you leaving this call is i would have something else lined up that gives me the ability to work because you don't know how many clients they're going to send your way and you don't know how quickly your calendar is going to fill up.

25:16Jade Warshaw:And you've got to get started on this debt ASAP because here's the thing, if you default on another payment, it's really going to mess with your mom. I'm sure it already has, right? Yeah, I feel bad for my mom and my mom does try to help when she can, but she's already, she's a single mom raising my teenage brother with special needs. So she's already strapped a lot.

25:36Dave Ramsey:What we've got to start with, let's go back to basics. All right? Okay. Before you do anything else with money, you take care of food, shelter, basic clothing, transportation, and utilities. Okay? Do you pay rent?

25:54Jade Warshaw:I do, and I live in the smallest, cheapest apartment I could find here in Phoenix. Perfect. So you pay the rent.

26:02Dave Ramsey:So you pay the rent, and you go to the grocery store. Stop. You pay the rent. You go to the grocery store. You get the car current. Before you do anything, all the other debts can wait until you pay rent, get the car current, get food on the table. Okay? Before you do anything, you've got to build a basic foundation in your life, and that's food, shelter, clothing, transportation, and utilities. Okay? Now, once you're current on the car, then you can decide, let's reach out to the student loan people, let them know you need a hardship deferral, and send them some of the paperwork on some of the mental illness issues you've had, and just to let the bureaucrats have something to chew on for a little while while they wait around.

26:46Dave Ramsey:You do nothing. You quit paying them for right now. And then you get this book of business at the swim lessons full as fast as you can. And Jade's right. But in the meantime and even after, I want you to work all the time. Because what you need to fix your whole life right now is$16 ,000. Yeah. If you had$16 ,000 and this car payment was gone, we could really get after some of those other debts, couldn't we?

27:17Jade Warshaw:Yeah, it feels like that car loan is a big wall between me and basically the rest of my life. Agreed. Agreed.

27:25Dave Ramsey:So we need to go find an extra$2 ,000 a month for eight months. And smack this thing in the head. Okay. But that means like all you do is work, girl. You just work all of it. And it's not Uber. Freaking Uber is making the car worse. Okay. You're putting so many miles on it. You've destroyed the value of the car. So. Yeah. But if you can work 80 hours a week with swim lessons, Just put your fins on and go. Right? Yeah. I mean, if you can't get a bunch of hours down there, then let's find something else that you can do that's the thing where you make the most possible money that's moral and legal.

28:11Okay?

28:12Dave Ramsey:And I want you to go cray-cray for a while. Because the way you bust this is you throw dynamite in the middle of it, and the dynamite is dollar bills.

28:21Jade Warshaw:Okay. I like that.

28:23Dave Ramsey:And you just say food, shelter, lights and water, and pay off the stinking car. And that's all I am breathing to do right now. I breathe in and out every morning. I'm tired because I work all the time. But by God, I'm making progress for the first time in five years.

28:44Jade Warshaw:Yes.

28:44Dave Ramsey:You can do this. You can do it. What was the nature of your mental illness stuff?

28:50Jade Warshaw:uh i have a uh level one high functioning autism and that has made it hard for me to hold a regular full-time job yeah um and then i also have because of that stem so like some anxiety and depression yeah um i have over the last few months gotten on the right meds got into the stable housing and finally i'm starting to get my finances stable i'm trying to do baby step one right now and

29:14Dave Ramsey:here's the thing here's what i've worked with them in 35 years of doing this i've worked with a whole bunch of people that both had high level functioning autism and I've worked with a whole bunch of people that had depression. And the thing I know is the depression is made worse when you feel trapped and when you're not in action mode, when you get in action mode and get in warrior mode and get in attack mode, it helps because it releases the dopamine and other things. And it helps to melt away the depression and the autism can, the high functioning autism can actually work in your favor in those situations because you have the ability to do extreme amounts of focus, don't you?

29:55Jade Warshaw:Yeah, I am really good at teaching people to swim. And actually, the gym I'm working at is called Ability360, and it's actually an adaptive gym, and most of their employees have some kind of disability.

30:06Dave Ramsey:Okay. And anything you can do to help people work out, if you can do a personal trainer thing going like that. I was going to say, you need to go to the school system all of this situation to your advantage to that that's the thing that has been a blocker for you but because as you start melting away these debts first and foremost you get this car off your back off your mother's back your brain is going to clear up the fog that you've been walking in the stress related anxiety of feeling trapped in 16 and feeling honestly shame about signing up for 16 % too. That was dumb. So you're not dumb, but that was dumb.

30:43Dave Ramsey:So what you do is you get in attack mode, warrior girl. You put on your warrior stuff and you get after it. Complete focus. I don't want you to pay anybody else. Just let them all go bad. I don't really give a crap about your credit. You already don't have credit. We know that because you had a 16.8 % car payment. So we know your credit's trash already. So I'm not worried about that at all. I'm worried about you. I want you to be free so you hang on and we'll get you signed up for every dollar and that'll help you walk through this stuff as well

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33:21Dave Ramsey:Rochelle is with us in Reno, Nevada. Hey, Rochelle, how are you?

33:27Jade Warshaw:I'm well, thank you. How are you?

33:28Dave Ramsey:Better than I deserve. What's up?

33:31Jade Warshaw:Hey, so, okay, my husband and I are in baby step two, and I feel like we've kind of tripped ourselves up because we don't know. He gets paid weekly, and we're trying to decide if we should do snowball, like, weekly or wait till the end of the month to pay off, like, a lump sum. so when you go through and you do the paycheck planner on every dollar do you know for sure at the end of the week that you can pay the money off and it won't come back to bite you in the butt later um i we have done it we have about four hundred dollars so i uh we have about four hundred dollars like extra at the end of the week to have in order to have all of our bills paid at the end of the month.

34:19Jade Warshaw:Yeah. I mean, I don't have a problem with that. That's the way Sam and I used to do it, but we got paid weekly. And so it just made it easier. And I made a schedule of making sure everything was covered, everything was good to go. And then yeah, that freed us up to be able to do it that way. So I don't have a problem with that. I think that's great. Okay. Because it just feels like we're not getting anywhere right now because, and I think we're, we're motivated by that. Like, oh, look, we paid this or we paid this. Yes. And it feels like we're not getting anywhere. And I have one more question.

34:49Jade Warshaw:We are getting anywhere.

34:50Dave Ramsey:It's just a whole bunch of it at the end of the month, right?

34:54Jade Warshaw:Yes. Yes. You're just trying to create.

34:56Dave Ramsey:For the first two weeks, you just buy groceries.

34:59Jade Warshaw:Groceries, yes.

35:00Dave Ramsey:Yeah. Yeah. And rent and whatever. Yeah.

35:02Jade Warshaw:You're just trying to build in some momentum so that you feel like something's happening every week to keep you going. Am I right? Correct. Okay.

35:11Dave Ramsey:If there's any of the stuff you're paying in that first segment, look at your paycheck. Are you using Paycheck Planner on every dollar?

35:17Jade Warshaw:We are.

35:18Dave Ramsey:Okay. If you look at that Paycheck Planner and say, I could roll this item from the first segment to the second segment and use some of that first segment money to get out of debt, and that would keep me that momentum. And so if there's a bill that you're paying in the first set that can wait until the second set without being late or getting late fees or dinging your credit or something like that, anything you could push off into that other segment, use that money in the first segment for debt, right?

35:42Jade Warshaw:Mm-hmm. Yeah, because right now you're doing$400 extra a week, right? No, just in the first segment. That's what we have.

35:51Dave Ramsey:Wait a minute. I'm sorry. Are you doing this weekly or biweekly?

35:55Jade Warshaw:We were trying to do it weekly.

35:57Dave Ramsey:So you get paid weekly. I think she gets paid.

36:00Jade Warshaw:We get paid weekly, yes.

36:01Dave Ramsey:Good. Okay. So each week, figure out anything that doesn't have to be in that week that could be in the next week to allow you to pay more debt in that week, that will give you that emotional being that each time we're paying some necessities and we're paying some debt. We're paying some necessities. We're paying some debt. That will give you that sense of momentum. But the math is basically the same. If you said, okay, the first two weeks we're paying only necessities, no debt, and the last two weeks we're paying all debt, it's the same math basically. But the problem is just the emotion of it, right?

36:39Jade Warshaw:Yes.

36:40Dave Ramsey:Yeah.

36:40Jade Warshaw:Yes.

36:41Dave Ramsey:And you are working at smallest to largest, right?

36:44Jade Warshaw:We are.

36:45Dave Ramsey:And what is your smallest debt currently? Smallest debt currently is$735. Oh, good. That should be done at the end of the month. And what's your household income?

36:57Jade Warshaw:We bring home$7 ,600 a month.

36:59Dave Ramsey:And how much are you putting on debt a month?

37:03Jade Warshaw:The goal is to put$1 ,400 a month.

37:06Dave Ramsey:Okay, so that one's gone in one month, right? And another one.

37:10Jade Warshaw:yes now you told me i just want to check that because you told me you had 400 margin at the end of every month i'm sorry at the end of every week so where's the other 200 i want to say it's about 430 okay oh yeah so that should be even more going towards the debt yeah so just double check that i like the idea of doing it weekly the other thing is you just started didn't you

37:33Dave Ramsey:we did just start yeah that's okay nothing wrong with that but the way you're describing all of this is what gave me a hint to that fact fact what will happen and jade can testify to this too is the longer you do this uh the more intense you're going to get because you're going to start to see this stuff melt away and you're going to crunch some other stuff out of there you're probably going to end up with more margin than just 14 or 1500 okay yeah yes now you're as you get further into this and you get used to the rhythm of it and you start to see it work you're going to say I'm cutting that and I'm cutting that and I'm cutting that and you're going to work extra and I'm cutting that.

38:08Jade Warshaw:Yeah. And if you don't have side hustles, you need to lock those in today because all of that, all of that is going to go towards this. And all of that is going to give you that momentum that you want to feel.

38:17Dave Ramsey:Bobby's in Nashville. Hey, Bobby, what's up? Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. How can we help? Absolutely. So I am, you know, started to make some decent money.

38:30Jade Warshaw:My wife and I are about$80 ,000 in debt,

38:34Dave Ramsey:and it feels like we're not quite month to month, but we're pretty drained. What's decent money? I make about$150 ,000. My wife makes about$25 ,000. Okay, so we have$175 ,000 income. How much debt have you got? That's right,$80 ,000. Not counting the house? Not counting the house. Break the$80 ,000 down for me. How much of that's cars? I got$22 ,000 in the car. Okay. Only one car debt. Okay. What's the other$58 ,000? So$20 ,000 in personal loan and the rest in consumer debt, credit cards. Okay. So you got$40 ,000 in credit cards. About. That's right. Yeah. Okay.

39:18Jade Warshaw:What caused that$40 ,000 in credit card debt?

39:22Dave Ramsey:Say that again.

39:23Jade Warshaw:I'm sorry. What caused the$40 ,000 in credit card debt? um we moved actually to the nashville area about five years ago so there was some of that and

39:32Dave Ramsey:moving costs and there was some medical bills stuff like that okay yeah and some overspending and stuff like that 100 agree yes correct okay all right cool so it sounds like you recently got a

39:50Jade Warshaw:raise yes recently did get a raise uh started a new job that gives you a wake-up call okay we

39:56Dave Ramsey:got to clean this crap up now right absolutely okay good that's a good place to be that's a good place to be emotionally all right so what we teach is a process called the baby steps you may have heard of it where we list your debts where we say first get a thousand dollars set aside second one is list your debts smallest to largest live on beans and rice rice and beans scorched lifestyle, no going out to eat, no vacations, no whining, work all the time and pay off the stinking debt as fast as you can. Oh, by the way, y 'all need to have a plastic surgery party tonight and cut up those credit cards, light a candle, have a ceremony and chop those things up.

40:31Dave Ramsey:They're destroying your freaking life. They're half of your debt. Yeah. And the next time we get ready to buy something, we're going to pay for it or we're not buying it. We also have, you know, I have three kids.

40:43Jade Warshaw:They're all in their activity. So there's, you know, travel baseball and competitive dance, and we're paying a healthy portion.

40:50Dave Ramsey:Well, maybe there is or maybe there isn't. You make$175 ,000 a year. Can you afford to continue to do that? You ask, you and your wife ask yourselves, and get this debt paid off. Because, you know, I'm telling you, I'm not putting the family in debt for travel baseball.

41:07Jade Warshaw:Yeah, something's going to happen. You're going to feel the sacrifice of this somewhere. I don't know if you can do it or not.

41:13Dave Ramsey:You guys got to look at it. But the two of you need to – don't start this conversation with a reason you can't do this. Because you can do it. It's just a matter of who's crying.

41:25Jade Warshaw:Right, yeah. We definitely need to get better about our budget. We haven't really tightened that up as well.

41:32Dave Ramsey:You don't even have one. You don't have to get better about it. You're going to have to do one, and then you're going to have to be sacrificial about it. And the more – so here's the deal. You make$175. if you lived on 95 freaking thousand dollars not counting taxes you'd be debt free in a year right but that's going to require a way different lifestyle than you guys have been living because y 'all been buying everything in sight like you're in congress and nobody in your house has heard the word no in a long time kids you your wife anybody so y 'all are going to start looking at each other and go no because it's stealing your future you make too much money now for this to continue to be the way to do things.

42:11Dave Ramsey:Too many people get a raise and the way they celebrate it is a new car payment. You got to stop that. This has to be broken. This is a cycle that breaks. So you sit down with your wife tonight and go, okay, time for us to be grownups. And we're going to have to reintroduce the ancient word to our household. The word is new. Period. It's a complete sentence.

42:32Jade Warshaw:Yeah, it is.

42:34Dave Ramsey:Everybody practice it with me. You press your tongue towards the roof of your mouth, make a kissing motion with your lips, it sounds like this. No. It's illegal to say that to any group or person in America today. No. But it's a healthy word. It sets you free. No.

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44:30Dave Ramsey:Welcome back to the Ramsey Show in the Fairwinds Credit Union Studio. Jade Walshaw, Ramsey personality. Number one bestselling author is my co-host today. Nicole is in Detroit. Hi, Nicole. How are you?

44:43Jade Warshaw:Hi, Dave. I'm good. How are you? Better than I deserve.

44:47Dave Ramsey:Better than we deserve. How can we help?

44:49Jade Warshaw:Yeah. So I was calling. So basically, my husband has refused to give me financial visibility into his life. He has put his foot down, like, you know, literally like, no, you cannot see anything that I have going on financially. I can tell you about it. but you can't know anything that's going on. And the reason why it happened is we were in a position to buy a home, and the housing counselor and the lender that we were working with asked about our finances, and I found myself saying, well, I don't know. Let me hold on. Let me ask my husband. And then after our call was done, I told my husband, I said, you know, I shouldn't have to say hold on to anyone.

45:42Jade Warshaw:and let me ask my husband. I should know what's going on, you know, in that part of your life. It's like we're roommates. It's like you're over here. How did that go? He said, I'm a grown man. I do not have to show you anything financially in my life. I said, but you're a deacon. You're a deacon, and you're my husband. I said, we're supposed to be one. You saying that makes us not be one. And what he said. Me showing you my money has nothing to do with us being born. My husband is a deacon. Yeah, but this is...

46:19Dave Ramsey:Wait a minute, where are we now?

46:22Jade Warshaw:So I moved out. We were in a rental. When we came together eight years ago, it was his house. So I moved in with him. We've been there for eight years. We were trying to work on getting our own house. And because all this, I mean, it's so bad days. It's so bad. But what else is going on? Because this was explosive. So what else is going on? I have a feeling that it wasn't this has not been the only issue is what I'm gathering. yeah no so he has a 21 year old son um and his son is very disrespectful um he basically it's basically like he runs the house and if i try to say anything to him about his son what his son does if i try to tell him stuff that goes on when he's not around he never believes me Uh-huh.

47:16Jade Warshaw:So it's just bubbling over. Yeah.

47:18Dave Ramsey:How can we help you today, hon?

47:21Jade Warshaw:So I just want to know. So we've separated. He has filed divorce papers, but I haven't signed them yet. I'm trying to talk to him, but he is not talk to a boat. Gotcha. That's not a word. Have you suggested some sort of counsel? Have you suggested, hey, this is really bad. We need to get in counseling. What did he say? Yes. I said that and he said no because that person is not going to tell me that I have to allow you to see my money see here's the thing and I'm just going to go ahead and say this this is based off of just what you've told me so take it with a grain of salt this based on what you're saying there's something going on he doesn't want you to see and maybe it does have to do with his stature or how people view him he doesn't want you to have any parts of what he's doing with his money maybe that's a blessing He's the one that's filed for divorce.

48:15Jade Warshaw:Maybe this is you dodging a bullet. I don't know. I don't know. But this sounds like somebody who doesn't. It sounds like somebody who's got extremely high pride that they cannot be told nor learn anything about a better way to exist in a relationship. That's what you've told me.

48:30Dave Ramsey:Yeah. And the weird thing is that all of his finances are now going to get exposed.

48:38Jade Warshaw:In the divorce. Right.

48:40Dave Ramsey:That's ironic. The judge is not going to go along with his plan.

48:44Jade Warshaw:It's very ironic.

48:45Dave Ramsey:100 % of his finances have to be exposed, or he's going to have to lie to the court, which will get him put in jail. So you don't lie to the court, not even divorce court. So, you know, he has to come, he has to show all the stuff to the lawyers, and it has to all come before the judge, and he's going to find out that half of it's yours. That's going to be very weird for him.

49:10Jade Warshaw:yeah well we only been married two years yeah that doesn't matter oh i thought it was eight so you've been in the house for six years we've been together eight years married two okay yeah uh what are you concerned about are you concerned that there's debt that your name might be on that you don't know about actually so before we separated um i had to find out the hard way that he had a garnishment on my account. And so I had to ask him several times to get it taken care of. He got them to remove it and put it on his bank account, but he was not happy about it. And, you know, so I was just like, for you to be so angry with me and telling me, no, you won't allow me to see you financially, but you got a garnishment on my account.

50:01Jade Warshaw:How is that fair? There's probably some shame going on that you don't know about. There's probably a lot here going on that you don't know about. And it's now, granted, I don't know what parts you've contributed to whatever mess is here. I'm sure there is two sides to everything. But my guess is there's some things going on that might be causing him some shame. Or, you know, it might be just the way he views those gender roles that you guys never aligned on that. Money is the man's thing and it's not. Who knows? But it's never going to come out because he won't go to counseling with you.

50:35Dave Ramsey:It's going to come out in the divorce. You're going to find out everything about his money in the divorce, which is the irony of him filing for divorce because you wanted to find out what was going on with the money. So it's kind of ironic. And he's just dumb enough he doesn't know that. So this is going to be a real surprise to him. It's going to be this awesome wake-up call for him because the judge doesn't really care about his theories. He's just going to tell him what to do. And if you don't do it, you're in contempt of court. And it's really nasty. You don't want to screw around with the judge.

51:05Dave Ramsey:So this is where he's going. The question you asked, I have a sad, horrible answer for. What can I say to him to make him want to do this? And the answer is nothing. There's not anything you can say to him. I wish there was one phrase, one way of doing it. But this is a very entrenched position that he has taken to the point he's willing to give up his marriage over this. And so there's not a single phrase. If he was coming to the table and saying, hey, I want to work on this, let's go to counseling, I could give you some things to say to do all that. But in this situation, you're just going to be just throwing water against the wall.

51:50Dave Ramsey:There's nothing happening here. So I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you chose poorly in a husband. This guy's bad news.

52:00Jade Warshaw:It's too bad, yeah.

52:02Dave Ramsey:No one listening that has a daughter would want their daughter to marry this guy. Not a person out there. Regardless of how much Nicole contributed or whatever else was going on in the house, all that kind of thing. But this is a guy that is not in a good place, and he's not helpful, and he's not a good husband.

52:22Jade Warshaw:That's sad.

52:22Dave Ramsey:You know, there's not a single phrase that's going to make him not be a jerk. I don't have the not be a jerk phrase. I don't have one of those. And I'm sorry. I wish it was. I wish it was something we could just do. But unless he just decides that he wants to be together, unified, work together in full visibility and in order to save his marriage and start with a marriage counselor, then you're not going to make it, kiddo. I'm sorry. I wish you were.

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54:02Dave Ramsey:Maria is in Arkansas. Hi, Maria. How are you?

54:06Jade Warshaw:Hi. Thank you, guys, for taking my call. I'm a little nervous. That's okay. But I guess I'm trying to get advice from my husband and I. We're trying to start building our forever home. And sometimes we're like, yeah, let's go ahead and, you know, get in bed, you know, take a loan out. And then there's times where we usually be like, well, what if we just cash flow everything and call it a day? We are debt free. We won't have any car payments and anything like that. That's good. And we have been saving for the past couple of years. Both of us got a raise, a pretty big raise. So how much have you saved?

54:45Jade Warshaw:Right now, it's a little bit over$180 ,000.

54:50Dave Ramsey:$180 ,000.

54:52Jade Warshaw:$180 ,000.

54:53Dave Ramsey:$180 ,000. $180 ,000. $180 ,000. Wow. And what is the house going to cost?

54:59Jade Warshaw:The quote that we got is around between$380 ,000 and$390 ,000.

55:05Dave Ramsey:Okay. did you save 180 in two years?

55:11Jade Warshaw:Yes.

55:12Dave Ramsey:Wow.

55:13Jade Warshaw:Excellent. Yes. So, you know, like I said, we're trying to figure out if it's okay for us to stop investing right now just for a couple of years.

55:22Dave Ramsey:Yeah.

55:23Jade Warshaw:Or, you know, to put all that money into cash flow in the house or if it's okay for us to take out a HELOC. Did you save 180 while investing? 15 %? Yes, but no, we were not investing 50%. We were only investing between 5 % and 8%. Okay, okay.

55:40Dave Ramsey:Okay, good. I would stop investing completely. I'm with you. And I would cash flow this thing. And here's the thing you need to remember. It'll take you a year to build it.

55:51Jade Warshaw:Correct.

55:52Dave Ramsey:So you can start in one year. Because you need two years worth of savings, you'll have the whole amount, right?

56:00Jade Warshaw:Yes, that's what we're hoping for. or if everything works out the way we kind of plan it.

56:06Dave Ramsey:I would start the house in one year. I'd get all my plans done. Have you got the lot already?

56:12Jade Warshaw:Yes.

56:13Dave Ramsey:And it's already paid for?

56:17Jade Warshaw:Yes. Is it paid for?

56:19Dave Ramsey:I'm sorry?

56:21Jade Warshaw:Yes, it's paid for.

56:22Dave Ramsey:Okay, good. So all we got to do is just cover the bricks and mortar. Do you have your plans done?

56:28Jade Warshaw:Yes.

56:29Dave Ramsey:Do you have your builders selected?

56:31Jade Warshaw:Yes.

56:32Dave Ramsey:Awesomeness. Okay. Well, what we do, what I've done a couple times, including the building we're sitting in, as a matter of fact, I did not have 100 % of the money in the bank when we broke ground, but I knew it would be here by the time I needed it. Meaning that if it takes you a year to build and it takes you two years to save the money, then you'd be safe to start building in one year. Does that make sense to you?

56:59Jade Warshaw:Yes. Yes, definitely.

57:01Dave Ramsey:Yeah, and if you can do this in two years and stop everything, and you'll have a paid-for$380 ,000 plus the lot, a$400 ,000,$450 ,000 house. Sweet. How old are you guys?

57:15Jade Warshaw:I'm 32 when he's 37. That's amazing. What's your incomes? It's around$150 ,000. How'd you save this money so fast?

57:26Dave Ramsey:You guys live on nothing, don't you?

57:30Jade Warshaw:Well, I think we're pretty good sailors. I think you're above average.

57:36Dave Ramsey:It's very impressive.

57:38Jade Warshaw:So here's the thing. Our kids are small, so we don't have them much.

57:41Dave Ramsey:If you moved in two years from today, would you be okay with that?

57:48Jade Warshaw:I think I just want to go ahead and get started. I don't mind getting alone just because I guess I'm more on the emotional side. You don't really want alone.

57:58Dave Ramsey:You just want a house.

58:01Jade Warshaw:Yes. I guess you can say that.

58:04Dave Ramsey:Okay.

58:06Jade Warshaw:But like I said, we've been working hard for it.

58:08Dave Ramsey:What we teach is best is pay in cash. Next best is a house you can pay off in 15 years. In your case, you can pay it off in one year. If you started today and it was finished in one year, you would need to borrow one year's worth of savings rate or about$100 ,000, and you pay that off in one year.

58:29Jade Warshaw:Yes, I agree.

58:31Dave Ramsey:My fear is that you'll let your foot off the gas and not pay it off in one year. That's my fear. So I would love to talk you into waiting just one extra year, which will go pretty fast. I mean, to me it feels like COVID was like last month and it was five almost six years ago.

58:54Jade Warshaw:I agree. Yeah.

58:55Dave Ramsey:And so my point is this thing goes fast. So if you start, you know, I don't know, you guys keep talking about it, but anywhere in there is fine with me. If you want to start now, you're not doing anything stupid. It's not, it's a good, better, best. Okay. And what you guys are talking about cashflow and a hundred percent is the best. I love that. There's no hiccups in that. you know better than but but you know and still in the good range is paid it off in one year which is if you took a loan out today and you don't need to take out a loan today you'd need to take out a loan somewhere in the building process because you won't quite have enough to finish it correct but i mean you could get started today put 180 into it

59:42Jade Warshaw:if you slow walk the project i was gonna say and it takes 18 months you'll be there you can make it

59:48Dave Ramsey:you know, you'll make it out. So just, you know, but just be looking at that and thinking about this. I like the plan of taking debt off the table and we have to push this through because it makes you do a whole bunch of stuff. Keeps you from having scale creep in the kitchen. You know, you select a different dishwasher, you select a different whatever. And I'll add one other thing to this on the emotions. Okay, you can justify a lot of things emotionally when you say it's my forever house And I've been doing this for a long time and I grew up with parents in the real estate business There is no such thing as a forever house You will not be there forever Statistically the chances of you dying in this house are very close to zero Very close So this idea of a forever house there's only one it's heaven.

1:00:41Dave Ramsey:That's it You don't have a forever house here. You're going to move stuff's going to happen things are going to change that you can't see good and bad that are going to give you an opportunity to move up move out move somewhere and this is a great house and it's a great plan and all of that but take the pressure off of a forever house because it's like because then everything has to be perfect and i've built a bunch of houses that i live in and they're never perfect it's never a perfect process it's a very messy uh combative combustive process and if you put the pressure on it that it has to be perfect because we're going to be here forever um it's just too much you can't breathe in that yeah plus you're going to look at it in

1:01:24Jade Warshaw:five years and and want things to look a little different anyway oh i don't even want to talk about it just saying sounds like you have a little experience with that man i yeah yeah i mean i i

1:01:39Dave Ramsey:but and i i sold i was actually when i was 22 i was in we're selling houses in a subdivision where we built custom homes and the people in there that were the hardest to deal with were the ones that had had uh they thought this was the going to be their last home right or their only home ever and and that puts the pressure on the process to be perfect can't be they're over there every day driving the subs crazy you know let them do their work it's it's a dry it's a piece of drywall let them do their job. Okay. Good. For God's sakes. You know, and it's just, it, and it changes their pressure on how fast we get this done and how much money we take and how much money we spend and all that.

1:02:20Dave Ramsey:So anyway, all that to say, Maria, I think you guys have done an extraordinary job. Way to go. We're proud of you. And if you start this month and you take on a little debt and you pay it off fast, that's not the dumbest thing in the world, but one step smarter would be to cash flow it. So, and anywhere in between there, like we start in six months and we go 18 months to build it. Oh, now we made it. You know, that kind of thing.

1:02:44Jade Warshaw:Yeah. I think that's what's going to end up happening anyway.

1:02:46Dave Ramsey:Yeah. Takes a minute, takes a hot minute to get all this stuff done. But yeah, that's a great, great way to go. And when you're paying cash like this, you're going to watch every dollar in the budget with the builder, make sure everything's dialed in and you push all those buttons. It makes a big deal. I don't get that call very often.

1:03:03Jade Warshaw:oh I love a call like that she has options and she has time which is and she's got money and

1:03:08Dave Ramsey:money saved it all they live on nothing yeah pretty impressive

1:03:33Thank you.

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1:05:14Dave Ramsey:One of our favorite things is when people share their stories about how they're winning. Fan quote, we love this app. It makes our, every dollar makes our life super easy to budget with my husband. We've implemented this practice since our wedding day, and we've had zero money fights because there's full transparency. We're on the same page. See, that's amazing. You can do this too, folks. You can take control of your money. You can change your family tree. You can live like no one else. Go download the Every Dollar Budget app for free in the App Store or Google Play. John is with us. John's in Atlanta.

1:05:49Dave Ramsey:Hi, John. How are you? I'm good. How are you, Dave? better than I deserve. What's up? Well, I'm 22 years old.

1:05:58Jade Warshaw:I'm graduating college in May and I want to buy a car, but I'm not sure if I can afford it. Okay. All right. Well, how much money do you have and how much do you want to spend on the car? So the car is about$13 ,000 and I have about$11 ,000 in cash. But I do have some savings, some investments, about$40 ,000, as well as$9 ,000 in a Roth IRA. What do you make? So I'm going to be graduating in three months, and when I graduate, I'll make about$65 ,000 a year. Doing what? Going into the wholesale insurance industry. Okay. And you've already secured that job? Yes. Okay, cool, cool, cool. I mean, if you're going to be making 65, you're under our rule and you're paying cash for it.

1:06:50Jade Warshaw:I don't necessarily have an issue with that. What's going to be your living situation? I'm just going to keep living with my parents and maybe help them pay off the mortgage. Now, that's the part that I have an issue with. Tell me about why you would continue to live there. I'm assuming you don't have any other debt. Am I wrong? is because they only live about 30 minutes from where I'll be working. And I'd rather start saving up money before getting a place of my own. You may have cut out when I asked you about the debt. Do you have any other debt?

1:07:25Dave Ramsey:I have no debt.

1:07:26Jade Warshaw:You have no debt.

1:07:28Dave Ramsey:You have$40 ,000 in savings.

1:07:30Jade Warshaw:$65 ,000 income and a brand new car. Why do you got to live at home? This is your time to strike out.

1:07:37Dave Ramsey:Really? Right after I graduate? Oh, absolutely.

1:07:39Jade Warshaw:Yes, it's the best time. The most exciting time.

1:07:45Dave Ramsey:It'll help your dating life, too.

1:07:47Jade Warshaw:Yeah.

1:07:49Dave Ramsey:Oh, wow, I'll bet. Yeah, girls are not as exactly attracted to guys who live in their mother's basement. Wow.

1:07:58Jade Warshaw:It's true, you know. It's okay to pull money out of my investments, even though about half of it,$20 ,000, is capital gains.

1:08:06Dave Ramsey:What do you need to pull? Go back, go back, go back. $2 ,000. right what is the car you're wanting to buy so it is a 1999 mercedes sl 500 no i would not buy that car oh come on no and here's why the car is absolutely stone cold fabulous i love the car the maintenance on that car for a guy in your situation is absurd maintaining that old mercedes is going to cost you a freaking arm and one of your legs it's gonna it's gonna destroy you man you're gonna wish you had never seen that car let me tell you it's serious eye candy though i'm with you it is an absolutely beautiful automobile and it's a classic i love what you're looking at but dude it's gonna cost you five six thousand bucks a year to keep this stinking thing rolling.

1:09:04Dave Ramsey:Can you tell I've owned a Mercedes or two? Or six? Or 20? I mean, I've had a bunch of them, and there's a lot of cost to keep the thing rolling. Get you something that doesn't cost anything to maintain that is going to be just as much fun, and that would be a newer model, similar price range of something that doesn't require constant stinking maintenance. okay that's that's an old man joke man but it's the truth so we've just told you to do the two

1:09:35Jade Warshaw:things not to do the two things that you called on here wanting to do which is buy the mercedes and live at your parents house what are the what are the odds you do either one

1:09:45Dave Ramsey:of them john i will i will don't worry okay all right so yeah i i think if you had a uh a fun car that was very highly reliable and requires almost no maintenance that is$10 ,000 to$15 ,000, and you pay cash for it, and you make a 90-day plan to move out for mom and dad after you get started in your job and you're actually making the 65K, I think that's a great plan, and that's what I would tell my own son to do, okay? Buy something that doesn't require maintenance. Man, I tell you, that's a great car, though.

1:10:21Jade Warshaw:I don't know anything about the car. I just googled it to see what it looks like yeah you like it it was classic it's a yeah i think it's

1:10:27Dave Ramsey:a beauty yeah it's a good old looking good looking old mercedes and yeah it's great but they just it doesn't matter every time i take the thing to shop it's just a dad god man it's unbelievable and so they are not easy to maintain well they're not cheap to maintain and and the fact you buy a cheap car but then you're having a high maintenance bill right if you're gonna buy a cheap car then get something that doesn't have a hefty work on all the time.

1:10:54Jade Warshaw:Yeah. Let's talk about real quick, this living at home business, because he was the stark opposite of Alvaro who did his debt-free scream on Friday. So Alvaro graduated from college, similar age and lived at home, made his parents a deal and said, can I live at home debt-free for me to pay off? I think it was 70 or$90 ,000 of student loans because he'd done the math and said, if I pay interest, if I do this, it's going to take too long. And he said, and after a year, if I'm not working hard enough, you can charge me double rent. And so a year passed, they saw he was working very hard. He ended up paying off all the student loans, did his debt-free screen.

1:11:33Jade Warshaw:Perfect example of saying, I'm going to graduate, I'm going to live at home for a short period of time in order to win. To clean up the mess. Very clean. What my guy, John, wanted to do is pile up cash. And I personally wouldn't do that unless you have debt to pay off, but just to sit at home and just stack up money at such a key point in life when it's time for you to go out and be your own person, I just wouldn't do it. I think it's more detriment than good at that point.

1:12:03Dave Ramsey:That's just my personal opinion. You're trying to look at this only through the lens of money, and there's social development, there's career development, there's confidence, there's everything else involved. So each one of our kids we love them dearly and they were more than welcome to stay in our home forever except it wasn't good for them yeah and so uh we helped them make arrangements within a month or two of graduation to be on their own and when you pay your own light bill you make your own bed you buy your own milk now you're an adult your mommy's not cleaning your underwear i mean it's time you know and honestly you're more attractive to employers because you walk different you're more attractive to the opposite sex because you walk different you have the shoulders thrown back a little confidence a little swagger like i got this thing yes and i'm you know and i'm actually doing it and there's a confidence that comes from having the dignity of being on your own and we've got a large percentage of you parents out there who are encouraging your children to not develop into adults because you got a whole bunch of 26 year olds living in mommy's basement and they've all got an opinion about capitalism with your$1 ,100 Apple phone which is more than just humorously stupid as well so the uh you know it changes everything it changes everything when you start it's on me there's no bread in the cabinet because i didn't buy bread it's on me and it changes everything i think so and i i we're we're hurting this generation by

1:13:45Jade Warshaw:not allowing them to do some hard things yeah yeah and i mean no shade on john like he's done a great job he you know came out of college with no debt he's got money saved all of those good things but that's also understanding you're in a great position to be on your own it's okay

1:13:59Dave Ramsey:This is why you do this. This is good. I left with$1.12 in my checking account. That's how hillbillies do it. I'm just saying. Get out.

1:14:09Jade Warshaw:When I moved out of my parents' house, I moved into a friend's apartment that already had two roommates. So I had a futon in the living room. And that's all I had. But I wanted to get out. I was ready.

1:14:20Dave Ramsey:Hello, net worth. When your net worth is a futon.

1:14:24Jade Warshaw:That's all I had. It was not comfortable. 10 out of 10 wouldn't recommend. Thank you.

1:15:17Dave Ramsey:Today's question of the day is brought to you by Y-Refi. If defaulted private student loans are wrecking your budget, it's time to deal with them. Y-Refi helps you refinance defaulted private student loans with a low fixed rate payment based on your ability to pay. So you can stick to the budget, work a plan, get out of debt. Go to Y-Refi.com slash Ramsey. That's the letter Y-R-E-F-Y dot com slash Ramsey. Might not be in all states.

1:15:45Jade Warshaw:All right. Today's question comes from Mason in New Hampshire. He says, I bought a house about five years ago. my name is on the deed and my dad co-signed so I could get a lower interest rate. Now my dad is pressuring me to refinance to get his name off the loan. I'm not behind on payments. Am I legally obligated to do this? I don't think I should have to refinance because he made the choice to sign for me. I like this question. Are you legally obligated? No, you're not legally obligated. My guess is your dad is trying to do something else financially. Maybe he's, I don't know, who knows, Maybe he's trying to buy a house, but he's got a lot of this debt tied to his name.

1:16:23Jade Warshaw:Or maybe he realized co-signing is really a stupid, stupid act, and he's trying to make that right. I don't know what you guys' conversations have been like, but if I were in your shoes, Mason, my guess is one of two things that's taking place. Number one, if you've looked at refinancing to get his name off and you've realized you cannot afford the loan on your own, that might be something that's keeping you from doing this. um and if that's the case i you know paid the bill for five years and you paid it on time refinancing should not be a problem it shouldn't be the call the cost to refinance maybe your dad wants to chip in some of that to get them get his name off the line and um so my guess is it's an

1:17:07Dave Ramsey:interest rate thing uh no my guess is he just didn't want to fool with it and he thought this was a forever deal so here's the bottom line mason what you all did was stupid he should not have done this because at the moment he was trying to help his kid get a house but there was no end to the deal in your mind in his mind he wants to get off of it now and you're just like well he could stay on there forever and screw up his life forever because he can't buy nothing else as long as his name is on this it's a liability in his name so he's gonna have trouble getting a mortgage himself is the problem or refinancing his mortgage is a problem anything like that he can't do anything he's stuck so it's a stupid idea and now you guys are tied at the hip and it's not bothering you at all so yeah yes you should refinance this on a moral basis not on a legal basis if at all possible i'd figure out a way to refinance it and if i was your dad and i wanted off this loan i'd pay the closing costs so to get to get rid of the thing yeah and i help you guys get it done and get the deal done so here's the thing folks if someone can't afford to buy the property or buy the item without a cosigner it's going to be a pinch later the banks they love to loan money more than they love to breathe and if they won't loan you money without a cosigner, it's because you're not eligible.

1:18:39Dave Ramsey:Hello. They would love to give you money and rip you off in any possible way they can. And then parents come along and go, oh, I'll help you get screwed. You know, that's just dumb. And dads and moms, you're not a blessing to your child when you do this. You're helping them step into a bear trap going, step right here, son. This is how it's done. Well, that's dumb. Okay. Don't do this. And because you get in these situations is what happens worse than this situation is where the guy's not paying the bill. We get that one all the time. Exactly. My grandmother, my grandmother's co-signed for my car and it's 42 percent interest.

1:19:20Dave Ramsey:And now my granny's about to get screwed because I'm going to get repoed. 100 percent of these deals go bad. Of course it goes bad. So please, please, please do not co-sign. It's in the Bible. Proverbs 17, 18. one lacking in sense cosigns for another it's what the bible says so you're lacking in sense when you do this i have cosigned back in my other earlier days and i got to pay the bill almost every time one fool cosigned for me and then i went broke and he ended up paying the bill oh man had to go back and pay him back later his wife still not happy with me 30 years later because we were fools signing up for a bunch of crap that we thought was going to work out that everybody else knew wasn't going to work out.

1:20:06Dave Ramsey:Carson is in Cincinnati. Hey, Carson, how are you? Good. Hey, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up? Okay.

1:20:16Jade Warshaw:So my wife and my stepson, they live separate from me. They're German citizens, and they're waiting to get their visas approved so they can live here with me. But that is expected to take anywhere between one to two years from now. Are they in Germany? They are, yes, sir.

1:20:37Dave Ramsey:Okay.

1:20:38Jade Warshaw:So my question is, how should I be prioritizing my time alone, and what debts should I be focusing on to make sure that my family is set up for success when they get here?

1:20:52Dave Ramsey:And how long have you been married?

1:20:56Jade Warshaw:September.

1:20:57Dave Ramsey:Cool. And how'd you meet?

1:21:00Jade Warshaw:I was stationed over there in the Army.

1:21:02Dave Ramsey:Thank you for your service. Thank you. So if you get married, I don't know how this stuff works. I'm ignorant about it. It takes two years to get a foreign citizen wife on site?

1:21:15Jade Warshaw:Well, if we had gotten married while I was still in the Army, it would have been a lot quicker. But we decided to get married after I got out, and the current administration has been very fluid with immigration. So that was the update I received was 12 to 24 months.

1:21:34Dave Ramsey:shoot. Okay. I'm going to keep getting updates and I'm going to keep learning if I'm you, because that's an unacceptable answer as far as I'm concerned. But the, because the current administration has not got a war going with people coming here legally. It's the ones coming here illegally. And so they're not trying to put a block on immigration in general. That's not, that's not the spirit of what's happening out there right now. I was with some customs guys yesterday. So anyway, I don't know anything about the law on that or the regulations today, but I'm going to keep pushing if I mute. Answer to your question is, well, get out of debt as fast as you can, as much as you can, and stack as much cash as you can, right?

1:22:15Jade Warshaw:Right. Okay. So I got the numbers and I'll share them with you. Okay. Tell us. Okay. So my net income, I receive$5 ,200 a month for my job. And I receive compensation from the VA for injuries, that is$2 ,300 a month. On top of the 52? Yes, for a total of$7 ,500 net per month. Good. Okay. The debts that I have, I have a mortgage for a house that I bought for$153 ,000. I have$140 ,000 remaining on the mortgage. I have$26 ,000 in home renovations on a loan that I've got and$13 ,000 in student loans and$4 ,300 in credit card debt.

1:23:13Dave Ramsey:Okay. Cut up the credit cards. Let's get on a tight budget. Pay them off as fast as you can, then pay off the student loan. You ought to be able to do that pretty quick if it's just you. Are you sending money to Germany?

1:23:24Jade Warshaw:I am. A portion of my check is going over there to her to support her while we wait. Does she work?

1:23:31Dave Ramsey:How was she being supported before you got married?

1:23:33Jade Warshaw:So she still works a job right now. She has just moved out of her apartment to her mother's house to get ready for when we do get the green light for the visa to move over here. Does she have any debt or anything that we need to take note of? She has a$6 ,000 loan on the car remaining. I've offered to pay that off for her, but she has elected not to. She has a sense of duty to pay it off. She feels it was her loan. She wants to pay it off herself. Well, here's the thing. I know that you guys are living separately, but you are married. So there's really no reason to not attack this together and work on this together.

1:24:19Jade Warshaw:So, I mean, if the$6 ,000 car loan is the only thing, even if it wasn't, I would still stack this into a debt snowball. Yep. And I would still combine you guys' margin together and all of your monies together. And whatever the margin you both have together goes at the smallest debt, which in this case still is the credit cards.

1:24:36Dave Ramsey:If she's still working and she went from an apartment to mother, she shouldn't be needing money.

1:24:40Jade Warshaw:That's true. There should be more margin.

1:24:42Dave Ramsey:She was making it before. Yeah. Now she should be easily making it. And so you shouldn't be having to send money and use it to clean up debt. What I would do. But, hey, it sounds like you got it on the run, though. Well, list your debts, smallest to largest, attack them in that order, dude.

1:25:20Dave Ramsey:Welcome back to the Ramsey Show in the Fairwinds Credit Union studios. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Jade Walshaw, Ramsey personality, is my co-host. Number one best-selling author, Carrie, is in Detroit. Hey, Carrie, what's up?

1:25:35Jade Warshaw:Hi, long-time listener, big fan. I'd like to thank you very much because I'm finally to baby step four. Yay! Way to go! Way to go! I am 51 years old. Oh, going to be 51 years old this year. I have not invested anything. I was widowed very young. I just spent the last 17 years trying to survive and raise my two kids. Like I said, I just got to baby step four. I have about$20 ,000 put away into savings. Good. I have nothing left but my house, which I have about$90 ,000 on, and I am about six years into a 15-year mortgage on that.

1:26:13Dave Ramsey:Phenomenal. What do you make?

1:26:16Jade Warshaw:I make roughly around$64 ,000 a year. It is a little bit variable because I'm in business for myself. So I'm a housekeeper. So there are times that people cancel on me. But for the most part, my income is right around$5 ,500 a month.

1:26:34Dave Ramsey:Good for you. Well done.

1:26:37Jade Warshaw:My question is, is never investing, never having any type of retirement or anything. where do I start to invest, especially with the market being volatile and having no financial education on how to invest money at this point?

1:26:54Dave Ramsey:Okay. That's a really, really good question. I love your question.

1:26:59Jade Warshaw:Also, do I invest more than 15 % at this point because I have a little bit of cash fluidity?

1:27:06Dave Ramsey:Nope. You put it on the house. Let's get the house paid off above 15%. 15%. Baby steps four, five, and six work together. Sit down with a SmartVestor Pro. Click SmartVestor Pro at RamseySolutions.com. Their job is not to do it for you. Their job is to teach you and say, here's how a mutual fund works. Here's what it is. Here's how stable this type of fund is. Here's how volatile this other type of fund is. And here's what we can do with a Roth IRA for you. And probably a, you got employees?

1:27:46Jade Warshaw:No, I am sole proprietor and worker.

1:27:49Dave Ramsey:Okay. Then you can look at a simple IRA as well, or a simplified pinching plan, either one. We can do Roth and all of them. So you can easily get to 15 % of your income going in. You'll be just easy to do that in your situation. Start with just a Roth, and then if you have to do a little bit more, in an SEPP, a Simplified Employee Pension Plan, it's easy to do. They're very easy to set up. They're very inexpensive to set up. Not a lot of fees. And then just start putting a systematically 15 % of your income away. If you never get a raise and you do that for the next 15 years, you're going to retire with dignity.

1:28:27Jade Warshaw:Thank you, because that has been a huge worry of mine.

1:28:30Dave Ramsey:not anymore not when you learn the math okay so one of the things you do when you sit down with them you say okay what's 15 of 65 000 all right so quickly we're going to figure out that that is ten thousand dollars okay it's about 850 bucks a month and you start doing that and you do that for 15 years you're going to have a bazillion freaking dollars hundreds of thousands of dollars I can't do it in my head right now, but you're going to have plenty. Okay. And you can actually look at the calculator on the Ramsey website and it'll help you figure that out too. But you just steadily invest and we're not going to wring our hands and worry about the market being volatile because the market is up.

1:29:13Dave Ramsey:The market is down, but you don't lose all your money. It just makes a little more. It makes a little less. That's all it is. It's like some years houses go up more in value and some years they don't. Right? Right. But they're still a good investment. They're volatile, but there's a good investment. Not very volatile, but they're volatile. They do go up and down. There's not a guarantee, but you're counting on the track record of real estate. It's always going up. Some years more than others. Some years may be down a little, but most of the time it goes up. A good mutual fund or series of mutual funds in your Roth IRA will do the same thing, and you'll have plenty.

1:29:50Dave Ramsey:You're going to be okay. But you need to learn about all of that because what happens is your anxiety about the markets, your anxiety about investing and not knowing goes away the more you do know.

1:30:04Jade Warshaw:Absolutely, because right now I am completely bound by fear because I don't know anything. And it's taken me so far just to get to this point. And what that fear should do is drive you to learn, not drive you to not do it.

1:30:20Dave Ramsey:right and that's where i've been yeah exactly so that's normal there's two kinds of there's two kinds of fear for me there's two kinds of fear fear that helps us avoid touching a hot stove good fear fear that keeps us that's false evidence appearing real it's just something we don't know about it we're teaching our child to ride a bicycle they're afraid but you and i know they're going to be okay they may fall over scratch their little knee but they're going to be okay and they're They're going to have hours and hours and hours and years of enjoyment of riding a bicycle. So we put them to push them through the false evidence appearing real.

1:30:53Dave Ramsey:They're not going to die. They're going to fall over. Oops. Okay? And so you learn that that's what this is. You're learning to ride a bike. You're not going to have any scratched knees, by the way, but you are going to have the fear of the unknown, which is different than the fear of the hot stove.

1:31:16Okay.

1:31:17Jade Warshaw:You can do this. If I were in your shoes, I would start with reading. And Ramsey Solutions has wonderful articles that are very easy to read and comprehend and understand. And I would start there. And if a word pops up that you're like, what do they mean by that? I would look up the definition. And I would just go down that rabbit trail and learn more and more and more and do that regularly. And after a while, the words that used to sound scary and big, and you don't know what that means, that goes away. And you start to understand it more. And that way, when you do go, to meet with your smart investor, you're going to understand what they're talking about, and it's not going to feel like they're up here and you're down here.

1:31:52Dave Ramsey:But their job is to put the cookies on a shelf where you can reach them. That's their job, is to make this easy, make it easy to understand. And if it's not easy to understand, get you a different person. Don't use that person.

1:32:05Jade Warshaw:Correct. Are there any books that you would also recommend? Baby Steps Millionaires. Okay.

1:32:13Dave Ramsey:Matter of fact, we'll give it to you, okay? Hang on. and we'll sign you up for that. Yeah, just check SmartVestorPro at RamseySolutions.com and sit down. You're looking for financial people with the heart of a teacher. Too many people around numbers think they need to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. I have no idea what the freak they said, right? So, no. You want somebody that talks in a language that you can understand and they teach you, this is how this works, and here's a mutual fund that's been open 100 years. Here's a mutual fund that's been open 90 years.

1:32:46Dave Ramsey:It's had four down years in the last 27 years. Yeah. And you can look at the chart and go, oh, look at that. The stinking thing made money 24 out of 27 years. Okay. That gives me a comfort level. That's an actual fund, by the way. Okay. So you can look at these things and get a handle on that. And then you go, oh, okay. Well, then maybe it's not as scary. Ooh, the markets and everybody lost all their money. No, they didn't. They lose some because they buy high and sell low because they freak out and don't watch what's going on. So that's the difference. So you're going to do really, really good.

1:33:20Dave Ramsey:You're going to end up wealthy, and you deserve to be. You've worked hard. You've been a warrior single mom.

1:33:25Jade Warshaw:Very good.

1:33:26Dave Ramsey:A warrior princess cleaning houses to raise those kids, and now you're going to retire with dignity. I'm so proud of you.

1:34:05Dave Ramsey:Hey, guys. Dave Ramsey here. Every day on this show, we help people work through real money problems and figure out what to do next. Now, you can get that same kind of help anytime with Ask Ramsey. Ask your money question and get answers built on Ramsey principles we use on the show. Whether you're making a decision or just want something explained, Ask Ramsey is here to help. It's fast, simple, and free to use. Go to RamseySolutions.com and try Ask Ramsey today. That's RamseySolutions.com.

1:34:54Dave Ramsey:Greg is in Nashville. Hey, Greg, how are you?

1:34:58Jade Warshaw:I'm good. How are you?

1:34:59Dave Ramsey:Better than I deserve. What's up?

1:35:02Jade Warshaw:so um i have some whole life policies that me and my wife got like once we were like 20 i'm 50 i'll be 55 this year i'm sorry and i i know i know i've heard i've been listening to you for the last year or so but my question is on it should we cash surrender those uh there's each about$100 ,000 cash surrender. I don't think we have to pay on anymore. I think we've had them since we were so young that I think they pay for themselves each year now. And I don't know if it's worth. I don't necessarily need. I mean, I could always use extra money, but I don't know if it's worth doing the cash surrender on those policies or just leaving them.

1:35:50Jade Warshaw:They're small. I think they're$150 ,000 policies or something like that when we got them originally.

1:35:56Dave Ramsey:Okay, so you have a$150 ,000 policy with a$100 ,000 cash value. Is that right? Yes. And you have two of them.

1:36:04Jade Warshaw:It totally grows. Like they sold you on that stuff when you're young. No, I'm going to make sure I understand what you've got.

1:36:09Dave Ramsey:Stop a second. Do you have two$150 ,000 policies and each of them have a$100 ,000 cash value in them? Yes, if we were to surrender them now. That's what I'm asking. Okay, good. Okay. And so if you die, you know they keep the$100 ,000, right? So you have$50 ,000 worth of insurance in essence. Do you follow me?

1:36:33Jade Warshaw:Yeah, I kind of heard that the other day on one of your shows, and that I didn't understand.

1:36:37Dave Ramsey:I don't understand it either because it's the biggest screw drop of the middle class in my life I've ever seen. But it happens all the time. So that's how a whole life policy works.

1:36:45Jade Warshaw:I do have a$2 million term policy that we got a few years ago.

1:36:49Dave Ramsey:Okay, so you're covered if you die, right? You don't need them.

1:36:52Jade Warshaw:Yeah.

1:36:53Dave Ramsey:No.

1:36:53Jade Warshaw:And my question is even about the term, too, is, like, do I need to keep that up if my value or, like, my personal value or me and my wife's value is over that amount? Should I, like, do I need that life insurance or is it just worth keeping even after that?

1:37:13Dave Ramsey:What life insurance is for is to take care of her if something happens to you. If you have$5 million in mutual funds, you don't need life insurance. She's taken care of. Okay. Does that make sense? Yes. What life insurance is for is to take care of you if something happens to her. And if you have a big pile of money and you're okay without her income, then she doesn't need it. You're self-insured on all of it. Okay? Sure. Then back to the whole life, the whole life is paying an average of about 2 % in growth on that$100 ,000. Had that$100 ,000 been in mutual funds last year, it would have made 24%.

1:37:56Dave Ramsey:On average, it would have made more like 12%. So you're losing somewhere around$10 ,000 to$20 ,000 a year in growth because that's so poorly invested. Oh, and by the way, when you die, they're going to pay$150 ,000 out. Okay. Not plus$100 ,000.

1:38:20Jade Warshaw:If we do the cash surrender, do we have to pay tax on that?

1:38:24Dave Ramsey:Your tax basis in a whole life policy is what you have paid into it over all these years. I suspect you've paid$100 ,000 into this over all these years.

1:38:35Jade Warshaw:I would assume. So your basis is probably higher.

1:38:38Dave Ramsey:It almost always is. If it's not, it won't be by much. So if you have taxes, it'll be very, very, very small. But if you just say, here's what my premiums were over this number of years and number of months or whatever it is, you know, the 25 or 30 years you've been getting ripped off, then easily you probably paid in$100K. You're going to get your money back out. And, yes, I would cash it in. And what do you think your net worth is?

1:39:09Jade Warshaw:I mean, I think it's close to$6 million, maybe. $6 million? I mean, if I were to sell everything.

1:39:14Dave Ramsey:Yeah, if I were to sell everything. So do you think the current asset base would generate enough income for your wife to be okay if you died today?

1:39:22Jade Warshaw:I mean, I think so. I hope so. I hope so, too. I think so.

1:39:25Dave Ramsey:Yeah, I think pretty easily.

1:39:27Jade Warshaw:I mean, that was kind of one of my other questions is I got some industrial property that I don't necessarily need anymore that I have that I still owe about, I mean, if I were to sell it, I could cash that out for about$2 million maybe after taxes, but I do make income on that. It's up to you.

1:39:52Dave Ramsey:What do you want your money invested in? That's an investment, and then you look at it and say, is this an investment that's giving me enough yield on my money? I mean, long-term investments you ought to be making 10-plus percent on, whatever it is, real estate, mutual funds, whatever. There's not really anything else that you should – that's a fairly low-risk portfolio that will do that. Mine make a lot more than that, and I don't take a lot of risk. But you've got to look at that piece of industrial property. Is it making you a good return? And then dump that. But, folks, the whole life cash value policy is the biggest ripoff in the financial planning world.

1:40:33Dave Ramsey:I mean, it's like the payday lender to the middle class. You know, payday lender screws poor people, right? And these people screw you. And it's a horrible rate of return. When you die, they keep your money because you've been paying extra for this savings account that you don't get. They only pay the face value when you die. It's that simple. And so get some inexpensive term insurance while you need insurance. This guy doesn't even need that anymore, probably. and put your money, your investment money, in good investments that go up and they don't keep it when you die. And then you're not building a building in the skyline for somebody else.

1:41:14Dave Ramsey:Where do you think those life insurance buildings came from? They didn't come from Santa Claus. I know that. Same place those banks came from. They didn't come from Santa Claus. It came from them screwing you with credit cards all these years and you're just smiling and going, I got airline miles. And you're just getting screwed over and over and over again. And it's just, you know, that's how this stuff happens. It's called a transfer of wealth from you to them because they're screwing you. And so you just learn about these things and you go never again. It changes everything. James is in Columbus, Ohio.

1:41:48Dave Ramsey:Hi, James. How are you? Doing well. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up?

1:41:55Jade Warshaw:Okay. I have my youngest sister. she and her ex-boyfriend inherited a quarter million dollars about three to four years ago he has since passed from cancer and he at the time I was going through a messy divorce and he gave me$6 ,000 to pay for my lawyer so I can take care of my divorce I was going through a rough time as a gift and since then, you know, he's passed out, like I said, and she has blown through all that money in the meantime and is back to square one again. Wow. And, yeah, and she has not come out and said directly to me, but I heard it through my other sister, and she keeps asking, you know, saying, hey, he needs to pay me back that$6 ,000.

1:42:55Jade Warshaw:You know, that was my money. and so she's saying that he the boyfriend got the money from her and lent it to you no no no it was his his parents it was his inheritance from his parents oh okay yeah and and i can afford to pay it back now i'm in a good spot um in my life and i can afford to pay it back i just don't feel like yeah i have to i've helped her out with bills and stuff now that she's usually have a lot of money like the occasional electric bill, things like that, where she's called me up and said, hey, I've done stuff like that for her. Y 'all are a hot mess, aren't you? Yeah. Yeah, right?

1:43:35Jade Warshaw:Are you afraid that she's going to do – you're like, why do I give her another$6 ,000 to be irresponsible with, is what you're saying? That – she has three kids with them. They're a little older. They're 17, 18, in that range.

1:43:50Dave Ramsey:Well, I mean, James, there's two options. Okay. The third option is not keep whining about it. Okay. I would either call her and say, your boyfriend gave me this money. It's a gift. I'm not going to pay it back. Or I'd write her a check. But third option, I'm going to keep whining about this. And y 'all keep this family drama going on, on, on. And who said what? And who told George this? And good Lord. For$6 ,000? Straighten it up, man.

1:44:45Dave Ramsey:All right, let's cut to the chase. It's easy to get discouraged about crazy house prices and interest rates. But when you have the right real estate agent to help you buy and sell the right way, you'll have confidence to make smart decisions. Ramsey Trusted Agents aren't just experts who guide you through buying or selling. They're people you can trust to have your back from the first call to closing day. Find a Ramsey Trusted Agent near you at RamseySolutions.com slash agent. That's RamseySolutions.com slash agent.

1:45:25Dave Ramsey:On the debt-free stage in the lobby of Ramsey Solutions, Chevy and Caitlin are with us. Hey, guys, how are you?

1:45:33Jade Warshaw:Great, how are you?

1:45:34Dave Ramsey:Better than I deserve. Welcome. Where do you all live? Corden, Indiana. Okay, cool. And what's that near? Louisville, Kentucky. Okay, all right. That works. Works for me. Perfect. How much debt have you all paid off? We've paid off$95 ,000 in 34 months. Good for you. Way to go. And your range of income during that three years? Started at$113 ,000 and ended about$156 ,000. Good for you. What do you all do for a living?

1:45:59Jade Warshaw:I'm an assistant nurse manager in a NICU in Louisville, Kentucky.

1:46:03Dave Ramsey:Fine. Good for you. I'm an executive director of a maintenance facility at a trucking company. There you go. Good, good, good. What kind of debt was the$95 ,000? Our mortgage. You paid off your house. You did. Looking at weird people. I love it. Way to go, you guys. What's the house worth?

1:46:19Jade Warshaw:Just under$500 ,000. Nice.

1:46:21Dave Ramsey:Very cool. Very cool. And you all been investing in retirement, I assume? Yes. How much are your nest eggs?

1:46:28Jade Warshaw:We're up to$130 ,000 between the three, like$130 ,000 per account for three accounts. That's awesome.

1:46:37Dave Ramsey:Okay. So you're getting close to a million dollar net worth. Yeah, net worth. We figured it up on the drive down just a hair over$900 ,000. Almost. I blink and you're going to be millionaires. How old are you two? 34. And 36. Wow! Way to go! I'm so proud of y 'all. Boom, boom, boom! Baby Steps millionaires almost in a paid-for house and not even 35 years old. Way to go! Excellent. Excellent, excellent, excellent. Okay, so what started this whole journey doing this crazy Ramsey stuff that made you millionaires?

1:47:05Jade Warshaw:So Chevy did actually, right around the time that we got engaged, he came home and said, I think I want to do this program, and I kind of looked at him like he had six heads. I was like, I don't know what you're talking about right now. So we used it as a premarital counseling kind of thing. Started our individual snowballs back in 2017. And then when we got married, we combined our debt. So we actually entered Baby Step 7 for the first time in 2020, right around the time that COVID was shutting everything down. After that, we started a family and decided to upgrade our house. So we was able to take 100 % of that house we had paid off and kind of move forward to the current house we have now.

1:47:45So we only had$95 ,000 in the mortgage when we bought our house in December of 22.

1:47:51Jade Warshaw:Okay.

1:47:51Dave Ramsey:So a huge down payment from the other one. Yes. And then had to knock that out quickly.

1:47:55Jade Warshaw:Right. Yeah. That's exciting.

1:47:57Dave Ramsey:Good for you. Way to go, y 'all.

1:47:59Jade Warshaw:Thank you.

1:47:59Dave Ramsey:Thank you. How does it feel to be this free at this age?

1:48:03Jade Warshaw:Pretty great.

1:48:04Dave Ramsey:It's awesome. You know, the grass definitely feels different underneath your feet when you step outside after the last house payment. Absolutely. Will you ever do it again? Go back in debt? No, that's it.

1:48:13Jade Warshaw:No.

1:48:13Dave Ramsey:Not worth it next time? We'll save up to move up.

1:48:16Jade Warshaw:Yeah. We're pretty happy with our house right now.

1:48:18Dave Ramsey:I love it.

1:48:18Jade Warshaw:I got to believe that it played a big part in what house you selected to, kind of knowing the feeling of dead and not wanting to experience too much of that. Yeah, definitely did. And it really worked out. I mean, when we hit Baby Step 7 in 2020, when we paid off our house, it was shortly

1:48:36Dave Ramsey:after that we lost our child, our first born at 18 months. Oh.

1:48:41Jade Warshaw:18 weeks. We lost a little girl, Ellison, at 18 weeks. and because we were in baby step seven, I was able to really step back from work and take some time off to get myself right before we moved forward in our lives and that's kind of when we decided like we're going to do things a little different from here on out and we're so incredibly thankful we started FPU when we did or else I really don't know what we would have ended up in that situation. I wouldn't have been able to take that time off of work and really heal ourselves before moving forward. You just never really know what life's going to throw at you And I think FBU really sets you up to be able to handle anything like that.

1:49:14Dave Ramsey:Wow. Wow. Such a heartbreak. And to have built a life that allows you the luxury to step back and have a moment to heal from the most devastating possible thing that can happen. Wow. Amazing. Wow. Very cool. And you got kiddos, too.

1:49:31Jade Warshaw:We do. We have three. Two boys and a little girl. They're four, two, and eight months. How beautiful.

1:49:37Dave Ramsey:Oh, handful. Okay. We were hoping to get through the$95 ,000 a little quicker, but having three kids born in that timeline, it slowed us down a little bit.

1:49:47Jade Warshaw:I bet. Just a little. Just a little. But it was awesome being able to cash flow, saving up for each child on top of paying the mortgage down, too.

1:49:58Dave Ramsey:So you guys have been through this in a sense a couple of times.

1:50:02Jade Warshaw:Yeah.

1:50:03Dave Ramsey:And so what do you tell people the secret to getting out of debt and be almost millionaires by the time you're 35?

1:50:09Jade Warshaw:Definitely communication. We still have budget meetings at the first of every month. We kind of walk through what we're going to do that month, if there's any big adjustments coming up. But there's definitely months that I've struggled staying on task a little more and months he's struggled staying on task a little more. So communication and definitely just lifting each other up when the other person's struggling. What are you going to do to celebrate? We got a few little projects around the house we want to do and then definitely travel some more. We definitely like getting the kids out and showing them all the different things the world has to offer.

1:50:38Dave Ramsey:Yeah, we just got back from New York City last weekend. We got caught in the blizzard up there.

1:50:42Jade Warshaw:Oh, gosh. Yeah.

1:50:43Dave Ramsey:That was a blast, yeah. Yeah, it was crazy. Man, get caught up there with babies, that'd be great.

1:50:48Jade Warshaw:No, it was just a mommy-daddy trip that time. Oh, that's good. First trip out of the house without all three of them and got stuck in a blizzard.

1:50:55Dave Ramsey:Still takes the edge off of it. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Wow. Wow. Well, good for you guys. Congratulations. Thank you. We're very, very proud of you. Did you have people encouraging you along the way or thought you were crazy?

1:51:05Jade Warshaw:A little bit of both. Yes. Yeah, our families are definitely encouraged us along the way, kind of side-eyeing us the whole time. Like, you guys are still a little crazy, but we're going to support you in what you're going to do. So we definitely couldn't have done it without our family support. They were definitely after us because I was selling everything I could find in the house, left and right, on eBay and Facebook. Well, I was going to say, did you tell them you were doing it or did they start noticing, you know, crazy behaviors? A little bit of both. Yeah, it got to the point they were afraid to gift us something if we didn't actually want it or need it because it would probably be up on eBay or Facebook.

1:51:35Dave Ramsey:wow i would have given you something for christmas but you'd have sold it yeah pretty much we actually heard that several times that's funny well way to go y 'all did you bring the kiddos with you yeah they're here all right let's bring them up and introduce them for the debt free scream oh man i thought i heard them in the background oh man this is nash this is a reason to change

1:52:01Jade Warshaw:your family tree right here this is finn and this is townsend all right well you guys have got mom

1:52:06Dave Ramsey:and dads that are heroes they've taken care of you they set you up for an incredible life yeah you guys are in great great shape well so proud of you guys congratulations thank you chevy and caitlin from indiana 95 000 paid off in 34 months making 113 to 156 house and everything we're looking at weird people. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream.

1:52:31Jade Warshaw:Ready, boys? Three, two, one. We're debt-free.

1:52:40Dave Ramsey:I like it. That's great. I love it. I love it. I love it.

1:52:47And then I read the articles of the millennials and the Gen Zs that can't get ahead and can't

1:52:54Dave Ramsey:afford a house but these guys figured out on a hundred and fifty six thousand dollar income to not only have a paid for home have three children yeah and have a net worth approaching a million dollars very quickly not even 35 years old so um i don't know it just it confuses me that it can't be done and yet it's done every day here sounds like a combination of will and location will location and income yeah and and those are all tied together you're all tied together you can choose your location and you can choose your will and you can choose to affect your income in a lot of ways that's right so yeah but um we talk to people that make twice that and think they can't afford a house that's absolutely true the housing prices are just out of reach for american couples today you can't house affordability issues we have affordability issues i wish the president would wave a wand and make it all go away.

1:53:49Dave Ramsey:I wish mommy and daddy would make me, not make me be an adult. But yeah, the math still is there and these people just did it.

1:53:57Jade Warshaw:Well, earlier we talked to the folks that made$150 ,000 a year and they were saving up, they were almost there to buy it in cash. $400 ,000 house.

1:54:05Dave Ramsey:Yeah, they were in Arkansas. Yeah, I remember. Yeah, they were, I don't know how they were doing that. They were living on. That was even beyond, wow.

1:54:14Jade Warshaw:They were living on nothing.

1:54:15Dave Ramsey:It was crazy. but it absolutely works. So Chevy and Caitlin have become heroes for Finn, Nash, and Townsend. Those little babies, they're beautiful. Their lives have been changed and they don't even know it yet. Pretty crazy. And they go through a tragedy to boot in the middle of the thing. So just absolutely amazing. Yeah, it's never a straight line, but there's a line. There's a line. Way to go, you guys.

1:54:46Thank you.

1:55:15you

1:55:20Jade Warshaw:When people hear my story of paying off debt, they say things like, dang, that must have been so hard. I can never do that. And I tell them, sure you can. It's a short-term sacrifice for a long-term gain. But do you know what's really hard? Working your whole life and never having anything to show for it. Never having the long-term gain. Just feeling broke and stressed and maxed all the time. And sadly, that's the hard that most people choose. Listen, you're capable of transforming your situation and living a life of freedom, but you need the right tools to do it, like our EveryDollar Budget app.

1:55:54Jade Warshaw:In minutes, it'll build you a step-by-step plan that's tailored to your money situation. And every day, it finds ways you can free up extra money in your budget so you can get rid of your debt and actually build wealth. So make the choice today. Short-term sacrifice, long-term gain. Choose the tool to help you get it done fast. Download the EveryDollar app and start for free. today.

1:56:24Dave Ramsey:Our scripture of the day, Nahum 1-7, the Lord is good, refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him. Simon Sinek said, it is a luxury to put our interests first. It is an honor to put the interests of others before our own. Buying or selling your home is a big deal, and with all the clickbait headlines and conflicting data out there, it's hard to know what to do next. We're here to make the latest trends easy to understand. Median home prices dipped a little below 400 ,000 last month, which is typical for this time of year. Mortgage rates are sitting at about 5.44 in January, down from 6.27 last January, giving buyers some breathing room.

1:57:11Dave Ramsey:We're starting to see some movement in the market. To learn more about the housing market trends and get free tools to help you buy or sell with confidence, go to RamseySolutions.com slash market or click the link in the show notes if you're listening on the podcast or YouTube. Joshua is in Los Angeles. Hey, Joshua, how are you?

1:57:28Jade Warshaw:Hey, Dave. I'm doing good. I'm doing good. It has been, let me say, about two or three years since I've been trying to get on the radio, and I am truly glad that it is you and Jade. Obviously, everybody else on the show is amazing, but I needed some tough love from Dave today.

1:57:51Jade Warshaw:So, I've made some mistakes financially. Actually, I've, let's see, at the beginning of 2025, I purchased a Toyota Corolla. I purchased it out. I went to a creating, and the total amount was about$30 ,000. And then at the end of this previous year, I got a truck. I know not smart. So I'm in a hole that I am regretting digging. And so I've been trying to dig myself out, but I keep on running into roadblocks.

1:58:31Dave Ramsey:No, you keep jumping from hole to hole as part of it, right? Yeah. Okay. So what do you owe on the truck? So I owe on the truck$46 ,000.

1:58:43Jade Warshaw:Oh, boy. And then I, let's see, I have a personal loan for$8 ,000. And then I have probably about a couple thousand worth of credit cards. And then I want to pursue higher education, and that's going to cost about$40 ,000 at Grand Canyon University for pursuing my LPC license.

1:59:15Dave Ramsey:Yeah, that's off the table. You get this mess cleaned up. You got a$40 ,000 problem. We don't need to create another one.

1:59:22Jade Warshaw:Exactly. Yeah, I know. Okay, so what do you make? So I make currently about$56 a year. Okay. I've been working very diligently to find more income. And so I have an opportunity to work for a previous employer and make about an extra, like,$12 to$15 extra a year. Good. And so I'm thinking that that would solve this issue of the debt.

1:59:59Dave Ramsey:Well, that and get rid of the truck. What's the truck worth? The truck is worth$42 ,000.

2:00:06Jade Warshaw:Well, that's not too bad.

2:00:06Dave Ramsey:Okay, so you need$4 ,000 and you can sell the truck, right? Right. Well, let's get rid of that thing.

2:00:13Jade Warshaw:Instantly, yeah. How quickly could you save up the difference?

2:00:22Jade Warshaw:$4 ,000. I would probably say, like, realistically, if I just make the minimum payment to my credit cards, it'd probably be, like, maybe, like, three months. No. I want you going hard in the paint, working every hour you get to do this.

2:00:42Dave Ramsey:Take the new job, get the income up, and you need to get rid of this truck in a month or so.

2:00:46Jade Warshaw:Where do you live? What's your living situation? I currently live with my parents Okay, so you don't even have rent to pay No, I don't Then this should go If all you have is minimum payments You have no rent Yeah, if you make your$4 ,000 From your current job and you go out and side hustle And kill it, that'd be my goal

2:01:08Dave Ramsey:What are you spending money on? Car gas Insurance and credit card minimums

2:01:14Jade Warshaw:Yeah Okay, so

2:01:16Dave Ramsey:Yeah, so yesterday, let's get rid of this truck. Right. The thing is, you've got to decide if this truck is really as stupid as we have. And once you decide that, because I'm really, if I'm in your shoes, I'm really pissed about this truck. Because it's standing between you and a good future. And so that means you've got to bust it and get rid of the stupid thing as fast as possible. It's a curse. It's not a blessing.

2:01:43Jade Warshaw:Okay. And do you have any recommendations on how to, like, obviously, like, private sell? Yes. And then on top of that, I've tried, oh, no, never mind, that's a credit union. But I tried purchasing it outright, but that didn't work. What do you mean? Meaning I was going to go from a lease to a purchase.

2:02:10Dave Ramsey:Okay. Oh, it's a lease. It's a lease.

2:02:14Jade Warshaw:So what's the payoff amount?

2:02:16Dave Ramsey:42. Or 46. 46 is worth 42.

2:02:21Jade Warshaw:So you're saying that you can't buy it out and then turn around and sell the car?

2:02:30Dave Ramsey:Yeah, you can. Okay. And so what you have to do is find someone, a dealer or a person, that will write you a check for 42. You have to add four to that check and buy out the lease. They hand you the title. you hand the buyer the title. And that's how the process goes down. You may need some help with that with a friend that's around car dealers. But, you know, with how to actually mechanically do the transaction in Los Angeles, California. But that's how the method works. You have to have all the money to pay off the lease to get the title. And then they hand you the title and you hand the title.

2:03:04Dave Ramsey:In the meantime, the car, the new buyer is driving it off a bill of sale. And that's how all transactions work. But there's a few little nuances to how they'll go down in different states and how the process works. And I'm not positive about California, but that's a concept that you're working off of, Joshua. The big deal is you've got to decide this thing has to go. Yes. Suzanne is in Albany, Georgia. Hey, Suzanne, what's up?

2:03:29Jade Warshaw:Hi, I'm so glad I got through to y 'all.

2:03:31Dave Ramsey:I'm glad you did, too.

2:03:32Jade Warshaw:How are y 'all doing today? We deserve. Well, we have a question. My husband and I are both retired school teachers. We bring in net about$9 ,500 a month between our pensions, that's security, and we both have part-time jobs. Great. Our house is paid for. It's worth about$425 ,000. Great. We have about$300 ,000 in 401Ks and$15 ,000 in our Roth. Now, this is the question. But we have a car that we still owe$10 ,000 on. And we also have a lot that we bought about three years ago for us to build our retirement home on, which we want to pay cash for because we want to sell the current house we're in.

2:04:20Jade Warshaw:All right. And we build this house. And we owe about$60 ,000 on that lot we have. And so we have that. That's our only debt. It's$60 ,000 on the lot. We're paying 7.25 % interest. and then the car, which is about 3.25 % interest.

2:04:36Dave Ramsey:When are you going to build the retirement home?

2:04:39Jade Warshaw:We want to start maybe this fall.

2:04:43Dave Ramsey:Okay. The lot debt will roll up into the construction loan because the construction loan won't take a second mortgage position. They're going to want a first mortgage position. So your construction loan is going to be plus the lot debt.

2:04:57Jade Warshaw:Yes.

2:04:58Dave Ramsey:So that's going away and going to roll up into your new mortgage. Okay.

2:05:04Jade Warshaw:Well, our question was, so in other words, I see what you're saying, but this is what we were wondering. Should we take out, you know, we can take out, I want to leave at least five in that Roth, but could we take out$10 ,000 in the Roth? We wouldn't pay any penalties. Pay off the car with that. And then my husband was thinking about taking the$60 ,000 out of his 401. No. We wouldn't have to pay 25 % tax. You can pay it off so fast with just your income.

2:05:31Dave Ramsey:You make$9 ,000 a month, pay off the stinking car.

2:05:34Jade Warshaw:That was the question. Yeah, that's the answer. That was my third.

2:05:37Dave Ramsey:Yeah, pay off the car and then roll the other thing up into the thing. And then when your house sells, it pays off the retirement house, right?

2:05:47Jade Warshaw:Yes.

2:05:48Dave Ramsey:Okay, so you'll be debt-free with never having touched your retirement. And that's exactly what I would do.

2:05:54Jade Warshaw:Yeah, just be careful not to overspend on the retirement house. House, yeah.

2:05:58Dave Ramsey:Keep that down under the value of yours. that puts us out of the Ramsey show in the books we'll be back with you before you know it in the meantime remember there's ultimately only one way to financial peace and that's to walk daily with the prince of peace Christ Jesus