Quiet The Chaos And Solve For Peace

30:35Here's what we need is we need a budget. Because right now, just given the numbers that you've told me, you should have lots of money to put towards this. So what I want you to do, we're going to give you every dollar Christian who picked up before is going to pick up again. You're going to get every dollar. And you're going to put every bit of money that you've earned into that budget. And really what I want you to do is go back and look at your bank statement for last month and look at, see, how much did I get paid? Where did the money go? And do an audit on that because I think you have more money than you think.

31:05And it's being spent in ways that you're not realizing. Because from what I hear, you've got a pretty basic life financially. And there should be lots of margin going towards paying back this back rent. So that's going to be first on your list, and then we're going to head into the student loans. But you've got to know the numbers before you can make progress.

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33:06All right, folks, you know this, but I got to say it. We need to be reminded of it. Buying or selling a home is a massive deal. You don't want to just go willy-nilly with that when you want an expert in your corner. The Ramsey Trusted Program is the only way to find a top agent who will make sure that this sale or this purchase is a blessing, not a burden. So you can find a local Ramsey Trusted Real Estate Pro for free. And you can do that at RamseySolutions.com slash agent. at ramsaysolutions.com slash agent. Or because James Childs, our fearless leader, does such a good job with the show notes, you can just go to the show notes.

33:47I call it a cornucopia of goodness. Do you know what that means? A cornucopia. I do know what a cornucopia is. Did I say that properly? I think that it was an extreme way to say it, but I'll go with you. A cornucopia is just full and overflowing of all kinds of goodness. That's the show notes. If there's anything we say, if we have a link, I just want to make it clear, the show notes. Just go right on over there. I'm here for it. Cornucopia. Add it to the literary bank. People won't forget about the show notes today. It's a cornucopia of goodness. Thank you very much. Brittany is joining us now right here in our backyard of Nashville.

34:24Brittany, how can we help? Okay. So I think I'm calling in today to maybe get permission to do something with our money. Well, it's your lucky day because I'm in a permission giving or denying mode. I'm feeling pretty good, Brittany. We have approximately$2 million in cash. That doesn't suck. No, but making decisions does actually suck. Where did the cash come from? So personal savings plus some investments that we cashed out. We have been sitting on some cryptocurrency that we actually planned to use for this purpose, for building a new home. So now we are getting into the nitty gritty. It's coming in at about 1.2 to 1.4 to build this home.

35:21Great. And so, yeah, great. So this would be our forever home. at the school that we want our children to attend, that they already attend. What's bothering you, Brittany? What's bothering you? It's a big number. And I think we're dealing with a little bit of imposter syndrome here. I think when we got married, we had nothing. And in fact, as soon as we got married, I got laid off from my job. About four months later, we have three children. when we own our own business. Once we have this house, we will have the house. We will not have any additional debt. We'll still have a successful business.

36:09But again, I think we're dealing with some imposter syndrome here, or maybe not. Once we build the house and we take care of our tax liability for this year, after taking out one year of living expenses, um well i say living expenses once we take out what we pay ourselves in a year which is about 120 000 we would have about 330 000 left to reinvest why are you taking um i have a question why are you taking taking a year's salary out of that is that for an emergency fund or yes Because you never know. We do own our own business. Understood. If something happened to my husband, you know. I get it.

36:56I get it. I just wanted to be clear on that. I got to jump in. Permission granted. Are you asking for permission to actually pay cash for this dream house? Yes. Yes. Permission granted. I feel so powerful. No, but can I address something? I don't think you guys are suffering from imposter syndrome. First of all, imposter syndrome is a fancy way of saying doubt. Would you agree with me, Brittany? I'm not sure if we deserve this. That's my point. So imposter syndrome is I doubt that I belong. I doubt that we, but you actually are dealing with shame. There's some level of shame, not because you did something.

37:39Many times people hear shame and they go, oh, no, no, no. I think it's because what you guys come from. You said it. We come from nothing. I think you said something to that effect. Is that right? Yes. Okay, great. That's what it is. You guys aren't suffering from imposter syndrome. You're suffering from fear. You actually are afraid that if you spend this kind of money, all this huge money, which$2 million is a lot of money. If we spend it, we're going to somehow screw up. And that's not the safe thing or the smart thing to do. And I would actually tell you that this is absolutely incredibly smart.

38:18This is a huge real estate investment that you could get the money back. You know it, and I know it. There's zero risk on this. I mean, in the real – we're talking about, you know, the world coming to an end, sure. But outside of that, you guys, this is not a risk. And I'm just curious. I want to walk you through a super fast exercise. How many years did it take you to amass the$2 million?

38:50about three years. We started with small investments. Great. And we've been sitting on this cryptocurrency for about two years. Okay, great. And then the next question is, how long has the business been alive and well? 13 years. 13 years. There's no imposter syndrome here. You guys didn't just fall off of a potato truck and into this. I mean, you guys worked at it. You took some calculated risk and it paid off for you. So I hope I'm just trying to get inside your head to say this is fear, not doubt. You guys are afraid that if you spend this money, it's somehow wasteful because you come from so little.

39:33Did I just hear a yes? Yes. That's what I said. Yeah. I know. I've talked to so many people like you. it's just so unbelievable based on where you guys came from, as opposed to flip that to, wow, how blessed are we? How grateful should we be? This is awesome. As opposed to, this is crazy that we're going to cut a check for that. Jade, I want you to come in on this because I know you have perspective on this and emotions around money. What are you hearing? You hear anything different? I 100 % agree. When you first started talking, Brittany, I thought, man, this is exactly what I talk about in the book when I talk about fear of success and fear of failure, and they tend to coexist.

40:19And it's just that feeling of, man, what if I blow it? What if I have this great thing and I blow it? People are going to be able to, and it's broadcast for everybody to see because it's my home. It's all of that. So I agree with Ken wholeheartedly. and I'll tell you what came to my head. My pastor used to say all the time, if you got it and it's good, it's from God and just be so grateful. It doesn't have to do with whatever you deserve because nobody does, who deserves, right? Like, come on, let's be honest. And so if you have it, think of it as something that you're supposed to steward well and look after and be just such a good, take such great care with.

40:57And I believe that you're going to do it. The fact that you're here on, you called us in and you're in tears about this. You're going to manage this well. You're going to look after this. Like Ken said, you're not new to the game. You guys have been working for a long time. You understand the value of a dollar. You understand hard work. I have no qualms about saying to enjoy this home that you have gotten as a wonderful blessing because of your hard work and effort. Yeah, yeah. Jade and I will come by and dedicate it. She'll sing. I'll say a few words. It'll be great. Yeah, we'll cheers. Don't forget about us.

41:32Don't forget about us little people, Brittany. You know, here's the key on this, Brittany, because this is going to come back up. So that's why you heard both of us kind of go into mindset stuff for you, because this is going to pop back up. This little demon is going to pop back on the shoulder. And here's the thing you've got to remember. Forget all the rah-rah we just did. You guys are going to be paying cash for a dream home, and you still have a full year you're going to set aside of your expenses, plus a very healthy company. You're not broke. You're not spending every nickel in your life.

42:04We didn't even ask you what your retirement portfolio is and everything else. This is a very dedicated expense that is the best expense one could have, which is a dream home that you pay cash for and you still got some left over. So when the demon pops up on the shoulder, say, shut up, we got plenty. And enjoy this and bless people with it. Yeah. And keep talking to people like Ken and I who will celebrate with you. That's what you need. You don't want to be around people who make you feel like you got to shrink back.

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44:16welcome back to the ramsey show in the fair winds credit union studio alongside the newly minted best-selling author of what no one tells you about money the fabulous jade warshaw i am just Ken. Thank you, my friend. You're never just Ken. Isn't that a song in the Barbie movie? I'm just Ken or something like that. I could be wrong. It's bothering me that you've seen the Barbie movie and I have not. I haven't. I haven't. My daughter has. Oh, okay. Told me about it. And how do you know? Oh. Because there's lots of songs around Ken. The famous just asking for a friend. My friend saw the Barbie movie.

44:50Oh, this is a true story. No chance. I paid for my daughter to go with her friends, but no chance I was going to try to sleep through that because I would have slept through that. Do you know what I mean? I can't watch any kids movies or anything that's not interesting. If you say so, kid. 20 minutes in, you're out. Catching flies. That's what happens when I try to watch Star Wars. Out like a light. We have to spend more time off air on that statement. I don't know what's wrong with you. I'm going to let that one pass. Flush. Mike is up in Jacksonville, Florida. Mike, how can we help? Hey, well, my My dad committed suicide a few years ago.

45:31Oh, my gosh. And when that happened, I flew there and handled everything. And my grandma decided that she would take what would have been my father's inheritance and give it to us kids, his portion of it. she asked me if it should be me and my siblings or just me since she doesn't have a relationship with them and I said just put me for now my there's a bit more nuance than that but my concern is what what do I do I feel like they are entitled to something but every time they get any type of lump sum or they make any type of advancement in their life, they do things to sink themselves even further.

46:20They both have kids. And I'm scared that if they just get a lump sum, it's going to do a lot more harm than good. Okay. Can we rewind a bit? Yeah. Well, first off, I'm so sorry. So, so very sorry for your loss. But the first question, Ken, that I have is, is grandma still with us or has she passed? Okay. Not yet, but she is, I've been in contact with my, my family and she's, she's closing in on that time. Okay. It's becoming more and more of a reality. And how much money are we talking about? Um, it depends on exactly how long she remains. Um, but it could be anywhere from a hundred to about 120 K total.

47:02And was she the sole beneficiary of your dad's will? Um, So my dad didn't have anything. So when my dad died, there was nothing anywhere. We were just left with debt. So no one got anything from my dad. But I thought that's how you started off the call. Forgive me. No, this is. Sorry. It's her inheritance. It's what she wants to leave that she was going to leave to their dad. But now that he's. I apologize. I thought I was listening. I was trying to listen. I apologize. Okay. Okay, so grandmother, has it been written in the will that you're the only beneficiary, or are we still chatting about this to write it down?

47:44It is just, well, so it's just, it's me and then my dad's siblings, my aunts and uncles, and there's four of them and then me in my dad's place. Oh, so this is already split five ways. The 120. The 120 would be my portion. understood okay so after the aunts and uncles there's 120 000 and you're deciding do i split this with my siblings how many siblings do you have two okay so there's three of you guys and your other two siblings you're like hey they can't have a lump sum of money they'll do this this and that are we talking about i'm trying to understand the level of immaturity are we talking about they'll do drugs and drink it and gamble it away?

48:26Or are we talking about, hey, you know, they have a car payment. I don't believe in car payments. Tell me, tell me what level we're talking about. So my, my middle brother, he has five kids total, only has custody of one. his wife has five kids has custody of two one of them being shared between the two of them they live in an apartment um my brother went through um bankruptcy a few years ago and the second he was finished with bankruptcy took i bought a two thousand dollar dog and was making payments on it um then he got a new job was making good money and immediately bought a brand new car off the lot and it has these giant payments okay i'm getting a picture let me ask you this um and this is an attempt to give you an answer through the lens of what would i do if i understood correctly did grandmother contact you and say should i will some of my money to your brothers?

49:38The exact conversation was, I'm going to put you guys as the, uh, to take over what Mike would have gotten. Do you want me to put you or your brothers? She reached out to me because she doesn't have a relationship with them. They haven't spoken in years. All right. So that's a nuance the way you just said that you said you or your brother, she said, do I give your dad's portion, which we're saying is 100 to 120 ,000, somewhere in that range. Do I, do I give it to you or your brothers that's what you just said now that's a very different question versus just you or your brothers yeah i'm sorry i meant just me or just me and my brothers in terms of name on so well so here's grandma has come to you and she's putting it in your lap or she's asking your opinion yes and you haven't gotten back to her i i did i told her to put just my name okay so you're having second thoughts.

50:33No, I get it. Did you tell her why? It's, it's, uh, I did not tell her why she didn't ask. All right. Are you having second thoughts? I'm not necessarily having second thoughts about my name on it. I think that's appropriate. I'm more concerned about what do I do for them? I feel like they do deserve something. It was their dad that passed to not just mine. So let's stay right there. I just, I'm with you. We got a little limited time and I'm trying to walk you to where you can feel good about your decision. This is your decision, not Jade or mine. All right. So I understand what you just said.

51:06So before you called us, I know that you thought through an amount. Let's just play with 100 ,000 as an easy round number. What were you thinking about giving each of them? Well, I've kicked two things around. I've kicked around giving them each 10 because that's not quite enough to do too much damage. And I've also thought about just paying something off for them rather than handing them cash. I have a quick follow-up. Do they know that Grandmama has asked you any of this or that they might get any money or are they clueless? They're clueless. Okay. Let me jump in. I think the middle option when you said I could just pay something off for them, I would not do that.

51:51I think you're trying to control the situation too much. they're who they are and they're grown and they're adults and they're going to make their decisions. I think if you try to get too controlling in that area, it's only going to lead to heartache for both parties. I'm ready to rule. Go ahead. I'll give you the last word. I'm just going to quickly say, I think you pick the number. I don't care if it's 10, the original thought, you pick a number that you can sleep good at night. They don't know. So this is going to be found money for them. And you don't, I think you pick a number and the number that lets you sleep well at night.

52:25Jade, that's my take. It's what I would do if I were. I'm inclined to split it equally. Three ways. As long as nobody's doing drugs. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't hate that. I don't have any kind of pushback. I'm just trusting your gut. I'm coaching you. It's your call based on what your instinct was. But I like that. You got two options. Thanks for the call.

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54:08All right, now we go to Daniel who's joining us in Dallas, Texas. Daniel, how can we help today? How's it going? Daniel, you there? Hello. Yes, can you hear me? Yes, sir. Can you hear us? I am. Yes, sir. I can hear you as well. All right. How can we help? Good. So I have a question. So I think it was about two years ago. It'll be two years in March. March 2024, I bought a brand-new car right off the lot. At the time, I was like 23, zero miles. It's about$515 a month, and with insurance, it's also another$300 a month. that's about like I don't know it's close to$900 a month about$800 paying just on my car loan I'm thinking should I because like recently like I got laid off back then I was working and I was living in my parents house so it wasn't necessarily like the worst for me to go into I mean looking back at it now I wish I didn't but I was wondering do you guys think I should like sell my car I owe about$22 ,000 left on there yeah i think kelly blue book yeah so what do y 'all think i should do i think i'm thinking yes i want to get more information but i'm i'm i'm starting with the yes how much do you earn uh well right now i'm unemployed i'm back in school so i'm living off unemployment right now uh it's about 500 a week yeah then definitely there's i mean if you really think about it there is no other option you can't afford this car you don't have a job and so for that reason I 100 % would get out of this now you owe 22 what's it worth 20 that's only problem no it's not it feels like a problem but it's not as big a problem as you think um if I were you I would try are you still at your parents house or no yeah I am okay what I would do is I would scrounge up 2 ,000 bucks a month out of that 500 that you're getting.

56:05And I'd close the gap and get rid of this thing immediately. And then your next move, while you're doing that, you're picking up a job, any job, any, literally any job for now. And then you're going to scrounge up that money and you're going to turn around and take another two or$3 ,000 and you're going to buy a used car in cash. And I'm just saying this in the comments because I know people are like, you can't buy a$1 ,500. You can't buy a $2 ,000 car? Yes, you can. Ken, the car that I drive, my Cadillac, it's a 2013 SRX. It's worth about$1 ,500. Now, I didn't pay that for it, but I've driven it.

56:45Seriously, the car that's out there? It's got 168 ,000 miles on it. It looks like it's worth more than that. It has no problems. I could sell it to you today and you would be like, wow, I can't believe I got this. So they're out there is all I'm saying. You might should sell it to him. He needs a car. Where do you think I can find a car for that affordable that's, you know what I mean? Because like my last car I had, it was breaking down a lot. That's the reason why I ended up buying like a new car after a lot. And it's a new, it's a Honda too, so I know it's gonna, like my car that I have right now, it's pretty reliable.

57:15You just need to make sure that you're doing a little bit of research and buy brands, number one, buy cars that you still see on the road. Like you can't go wrong with a Camry. You can't go wrong with some of these cars that are still out there. You're just looking for something that's got a bunch of miles on it. It's older. and try to just get the report on it. Try to find out, has it been in 10 wrecks? Has it been? And spend a little bit of money to have a mechanic look at it and get the car facts on it. That's really all you need to do. Matter of fact, you can, I don't know where you live, but here we have Christian Brothers Automotive and that's where I take my car, my husband's car.

57:49Both of us drive very used cars and we take them in there and they'll look at it. If I was going to buy a new used car, a new to me or a used car today, I'd bring it over there and they'll do the report on it and it's totally worth it. So that's what I would tell you to do. Once you have your eye on a car, say, Hey, can I, can I bring it over to my mechanic mechanic, take it to Christian brothers. And then they'll give you the full workup on it. Yeah. And, and just a little specifics. I mean, you're looking at Facebook marketplace, you're looking at, I don't know what all the websites, but you're looking not so much for dealers, just everyday people who are looking to unload a car and if you're patient enough and listen, you're going to have to, you know, assume some hardship, but you're living with your mom and dad.

58:32So there are options. So this idea that I got to have a nice car and all this kind of stuff, it's really not, not true. But you know, if, if you are looking and you find somebody that's got a car in one of these Hondas and, you know, or a Toyota, you know, that kind of thing. And again, you take it to Christian brothers, they're going to give it a, give it a once over and you may have to put five, $500,$600 into it. But they're honest. Yeah. And they're going to tell you, this is a drivable car. Does it look pretty? Does it smell great? Is the carpet nice? None of those things are true when we're talking about the kind of car we're talking about here.

59:05But it gets you from A to Z. I want to pivot for a second. What is the purpose of school for you? What are you doing? Is this community college? No, I'm in trade school. I'm enrolled at an aviation mechanic school. So I have about like a year. Wow, that's great. Daniel, I got to tell you. Yeah, appreciate that. I am so excited for you. I appreciate that. What is it costing you? It's like about$40 ,000. I took a loan. I'm thinking about enrolling, because I was talking to somebody in my class today about it, about enrolling in the reserves, because I think they can cover. I'm not mad at that idea.

59:48I don't dislike that either. I don't want you spending$40 ,000 on this trade school. So if you can get out of that and not do that, that's great. But I love the trade school option for you because you're going to make some really good money, my friend. Yeah, I love it. I love it. I just tried my final today. How old are you? I'm 25. I'm about to be 26. Yeah, I like that. I'm going to tell you what I like about what you're doing. I like that you were reflective enough to look at this car and say, this is not good. A lot of people would have tried to ride it out, kept it. I like that you're thinking about your future.

1:00:28You made a couple of mistakes. That's all right. You're on the right track. And Ken and I just want to really encourage you that you're on the right track. So do you believe... Thank you. So talking to this guy, do you believe that you can get out of the commitment if you were to pull stakes and go to the reserves?

1:00:48in other words are you on the hook i want to make sure you're not on the hook for forty thousand well yeah i am on the hook that's the problem like i'm like i already took the loan everything you've already paid for the full thing yeah it's like it's already like paid for you know what i mean like i see so you've already got the loan and the school gets their money up front and then a year from now? Is that when you're done and then you start paying on the loan? Yes. I'm starting to make interest payment. I'm paying, I decided to pay $50 a month on the interest from now. How many hours a week could you work?

1:01:27If Jayden and I just handed you an awesome paying job, knowing your commitment to trade school, how many hours a week could you work? I'd probably do about 20 to 30. Is there any Is there any kind of mechanical or apprenticing type work where you're getting a really nice chunk per hour? Fixing something? I was just talking to somebody in my school today. She helps find people to get jobs. Her role is to do that and help you find a job. So after you graduate, you can help get an A &P, but also while you're in school. Great. Trying to find an airport. So she was telling me about some jobs that I pay about like$22,$23 an hour that are basically like being a mechanic without the actual license.

1:02:11I'm so proud of you for asking. But, Daniel, the answer is yes. Yes. Sign me up. I'll take whatever you can find me. This woman you're telling me about is your new best friend. Yeah, I'm not picky with the job. I really want an airport job just so I can get the flight benefits, but I'm not. I know right now at the end of the day I just need a job. Yes, you do. It's a pretty sustainable day. Because we've got to get out of this car mess. Action A is what Jade told you. You sell the car. You borrow mom, dad's. They drive you. Whatever. We scrape. We do whatever we've got to do. We claw. And then we get to a point where we can buy a beater car.

1:02:48We talked about that. We told you to go see Christian Brothers if there's one in your area. Okay. Now, okay, and then it's just whatever you're making in this$23,$24 an hour job is going to pay off this debt so that you can knock as big a chunk of that out as possible so that when you hit the streets. Now, again, if you go to the reserves, it's not a bad idea. But I like the options you're considering. Lay them all out on the table. Seek the counsel of wise people in your life. Make the best decision for you. And just avoid debt, my man. I love that you're aware of this. But you can make really good money.

1:03:24And you've got a bright future ahead of you, Daniel. Bright future. I appreciate that. Get rid of the debt. Stay away from it. Thank you.

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1:05:28All right, let's go to Madison, Wisconsin, where Alexis is joining us. Alexis, how can we help? Hi, guys. Hi. So my boyfriend and I are newly devoted and intentional with our money individually. All right. We talk about marriage. We talk about our incomes, our debts, and all those goals. And so with that being said, when we get married, I'm intrigued to the idea of having one joint checking account and savings account with our incomes being deposited and budgeted from that we share versus if we were to have separate checkings and then just like one joint account. How would those operate in the idea of unity?

1:06:12I mean, I like the first way you said that. That's the way my husband and I do it. I'm guessing, Ken, that's the way you and Stacey do it because there's full transparency there. The question that I'd be asking with the other way, having two separate checking accounts, and then you take your monies and put whatever amount you deem necessary into the joint account, it's kind of like, well, what's the purpose there? So I'd have a lot of questions around that. What's the purpose? Why wouldn't we both have access to the full amount of funds? Why wouldn't we both be planning what's done with that full amount of funds?

1:06:47Do you see you what I'm saying? Yeah. And that's what I was wondering. And just between the two, I'm more intrigued to the just one joint or yeah, one joint checking and savings, but we just weren't sure what you guys would say. I would say that I would say for transparency reasons and for the ability to be aligned and everybody to see what's going on and kind of have a, you know, all hands in the center, you know, that kind of thing. um yeah if you guys are both open with that I think that's fabulous and I think you say say less let's do it now the the multiple accounts thing the the only the only reason that I think people go for that is because there's still a bit of like independence that they want and there's still this bit of mine is mine lack of trust I want to keep a little bit over here for myself I don't want anybody to have to say about what I spend money on over here.

1:07:42I don't want to have to answer to, like, quote, answer to anyone for this money. Do you see what I'm saying? So it really does beg many, many questions if you choose to do it that way, which I think you shouldn't. Okay, well, perfect. Because we're both on the same page of being intentional together. Love that. It's great. You're going to have a greater level of trust, greater level of confidence. It's such a good move. It's what we teach. We don't believe that married couples should have separate finances come together as one. So yeah, you guys are doing it great. Congratulations on all of this future dreaming and all this good stuff.

1:08:18We're here for you. As you move along, call us back and we'll walk through that with you. Ken, when you and Stacey got married, was that an automatic or did it take time for you guys to get that? It was automatic. Why? It's what our parents did. Yeah. I mean, we grew up in a house where there were two accounts, a checking account and a savings account. And we're not talking about investment, but just your everyday money. So, I mean, full disclosure, my wife and I are both pastor's kids. So very conservative, Baptist, small churches. So it wasn't just conservative theology. It was just conservative living.

1:09:00Do you know what I mean? They lived on less than they make. So that's all we ever knew. In fact, I wish Stacey you were here because I don't think I'm wrong. I don't think we ever even had a conversation about it, about it at all. It just happened. It was just like, when we get back from the honeymoon, we got to, uh, do we want to stay with my bank or we want to, you know, we were at two different banks when dating. And so she was in North Carolina and she was going to move to Virginia with, you know, so it was like, well, here's who I'm banking with in Virginia. And it was just kind of like, we got to set up a joint.

1:09:32It was just day one. That's so interesting. We never even considered. And I've always kind of done that dog head tilt when people call in to this day, even though I've sat in this hundreds of hours, maybe thousands. And it's like, every time I hear something like that, I go, I just don't understand why you would want to have separate accounts. It's got to be a trust issue. Because I'm even thinking about Sam and I, and it was similar. It was just like you and Stacey. It wasn't even a question. And when I really think about it i go well i had plenty of reason to say uh you know things i've seen and he had plenty of reason to say the things i've seen like yeah our backgrounds did not truly set us up to combine money but i'm guessing we really just had trust in each other because it was like a no-brainer i'm just gonna say and again i i mean everybody has their own foibles and faults and everything.

1:10:30But just as a guy now coming up on 28 years of marriage, I'm so grateful that my phone location is on and she knows where I'm at at all. That's right. Yes. She sees any expenditure. Yes. She has, I'm sure the code, you know, the six digit code to get into your phone. A hundred percent. Yes. We have the same phone password because I mean, you know what I'm saying? Well, let's play devil's advocate. What would happen if you changed your phone code and she said... I shudder at the thought of the idea of removing, not because I'm this bad person. Here's what I don't want. I don't want to be like Ken's fighting demon.

1:11:08No, I'm just saying like, it's nice to live a life where you know there's, I'm going to call it an instinctive accountability. Yes. Like we've both made mistakes with money. Yes. But we've never done something insanely stupid in our almost 20 years of marriage because even if I want to surprise her, I have to say, hey, listen, for the next 72 hours, I need you to not look at the account. Don't look at the account. That's my life. Uh-huh. And she knows, why are you doing something squirrely? No, she knows, oh, you want to surprise me. Uh-huh. My surprises are like... You got to reveal a little of the surprise.

1:11:52But I'm not griping about it. No, it's great. I just think human nature left to its own devices. None of us are above doing something dumb, immoral, whatever, whatever, whatever. And I just think that when we talk about combining finances. It's accountability. And I like that we're going down the rabbit hole on this. I'm spending a little time on this because sometimes I want people to understand why we have a principle. And the principle that we teach here at Ramsey about joint finances isn't just about being responsible. It's also to keep you from wrecking your life. You need somebody to go, wait, what?

1:12:29What were you thinking about doing? You just spent what on what? Take it back. Yeah, 100%. Because when you have the separate accounts, what doesn't change is that you do have a shared life. but a shared life of separate accounts to me it's not like a recipe for tension it's not fully shared i agree with you i agree there's just something about it because if sam had his own account i would have quite i would just wonder what are you i would wonder what are you spending your money on not that he's a great guy i have no reason to assume he's spending money on bad things but to not know and you know what and to not be told it's like why are you why would you withhold information that is easily shared is basically what i'm saying so that it creates something that may not even be there yes but just by the very nature of well i've got my thing all this kind of stuff one of my favorite stories uh sam just told me recently so you guys in your budget sam and i i've told you this i'm not gonna i'm not gonna know where this is going well i'm not going to share that part unless you want to share it but sam and i were having cigars recently and he was telling me that you guys like a lot of couples you guys have your budget and it's his money yeah like you have do you call it hers money his and hers his and hers fun money yeah it's fun money and he said i'll go months and months and months without spending it uh-huh and he goes i'll just hold it aside hold it aside hold it aside not use it at all and then go buy something really big yeah and i like that yes and it reminded me of how there's the individuality because you guys have decided ahead of time this is my money this is your money and he may not spend it for months and months and months and he told me this story because he went out and did something and even then he was telling me and he was like do you think that's crazy and I go not at all no I said I think that's a massive flex yeah and when he told me he goes I thought that you were going to think this is the dumbest thing anybody could spend their money on I said I don't think that at all yeah and I I said it's not dumb I said you know why because this thing you're doing is going going to be a memory that your entire family will talk about 50 years from now.

1:14:36He bought an original Ninja Turtles suit from the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles back in the day. For family Halloween comes downstairs. Kids haven't seen it. He looks like he walked off a movie set. Yeah and my kids they'll never forget it. It was a great memory. And it was expensive. Yes it was. But he saved it up in his sock drawer for months and that's how it works. Good on Sam right? Good for him. I love it.

1:15:29All right, folks. If you're wondering where all your money went in 2025, that's pretty normal. And normal's broke, but this year can be different. We want you to get a head start by downloading EveryDollar. EveryDollar builds your personalized plan and coaches you to find extra money. You can answer a few questions that we prompt you with, and you'll find thousands of dollars on average to be able to save in just the first 15 minutes. and of course it still has the great budgeting features to tell your money where to go so don't go another year feeling broke and stressed start every dollar for free in the app store or google play all right 888-825-5225 is the phone number michael is up next in knoxville tennessee michael how can we help hey guys appreciate you having me on big fan of the show thank you how can we help?

1:16:23All right, so I'm going to try to kind of wrap this up. It's a lot as quick as I can. I'm a football coach, high school football coach and teacher. A couple years ago, I took a job at a really prestigious school football-wise. It was a football move, but also more importantly for my family, it was a financial move. I've been making more money as an assistant coach honestly that I thought I ever would unless I became a head coach, which is a goal of mine one day. Fast forward to now, you know, two years ago, we played for a state championship, made it to the Final Four in another year. So football's been great, money's been great.

1:17:06But I've come to kind of realize that it's not a place where I want my kids to be at one day as far as when they start getting up in their school years And looking ahead at that, that's kind of been an issue for me and it's been weighing on me. So since this season ended, I've had actually two different places reach out to me with some offers to go to coach and teach, obviously. Both are kind of pulling at me in two different directions. I feel like I'm at a roundabout, not a four-way. So it's like, you know, do I stay where I'm at making really good money knowing that it's going to kind of keep me away from my family more than I want.

1:17:49And then one job, okay, is at another prestigious place, really great place. The pay is really good, not quite as good as what I'm making now. But, I mean, it's just top of the line as far as family atmosphere and having my kids. What do you mean by that? Can I ask a question? when you said keeping you away from first you described it as you didn't want your kids to grow up in that school system was that what it is and then you said keeping uh keeping away from my family so is it your schedule or is it the community which one is it or is it a combination of both well it's some of both you know it's a demanding schedule but it's more so you know I've been blessed throughout my career um you know my daughter is nine now and she since she was a baby she's just kind of been able to come with me so much so much throughout the off season you know for meetings and practices and you know and I've had this dream of my boys you know when my daughter's cheering one day like she wants to do my boys kind of being water boys and on the sideline just being around me yeah but you don't want them in this current school exactly I don't absolutely not.

1:19:03Okay. So that's, okay. So because of time, I want to get, I feel like I heard we got a good grip on what you are doing now. So you gave us another option. Is there another, so we got where we are and then we have option A and B. Am I understanding that correct? That's right. All right. So option A is fabulous school. How much less money? About seven grand a year less. The downside of that Ken is it's three and a half hours away um so it's selling a house we built on my wife's family's land that she kind of that deeded to us which they we've talked to them about it they're okay with it but there's that stress of you know because it's kind of a quick turnaround you know getting ready for next season so if I take this job you know then we have that stress of finding another home which I don't think is going to be an issue but selling hours in a short amount of time, you know, or do we rent it?

1:19:59There's that whole thing that's really just stressing me out. I get it. And let me ask a quick question on that one. Is your wife open to moving from this current place where it's your family's land or her family's land? She is. And just great. I told you. Yeah. And I'll tell you this, this is a lot. And so we've got three children and we actually have one on the way. Come on. All right. Well, Coach, I ain't worried about you. You can handle it. I understand this is stressful, but I'm okay. Now let's look at option B real quick. Talk us through option B. Option B is actually my hometown, my alma mater.

1:20:38I've worked for the guy who's there now before. He's like a father to me. Great guy. I love the guys on staff. I played there. Wants me to come back. Also, both of these position offers are for coordinator positions, so it's a move up there. it's a significant pay cut so it would be a you know 20 25 000 pay cut but yeah and are you are you the sole income i am my wife stays at home i am okay before i weigh in on this i want to know the truth coach where's your heart if no one else is involved jade and i aren't weighing in your wife's not weighing in nobody's weighing in on it in the quiet of night what's your heart telling you about these three stay a or b um don't option a i mean i want to go i want to go to this i want to move up north i want you know come on go to the mountains come on have my family with me come on it's just that fear of the home you know i'm not worried about that all right let's walk through that but before we walk through that i want jade to walk through any of these logistics she's great at this kind of stuff here's what i want to say okay as a guy who's completely objective sitting here listening to this, I want to go with your hard answer unless your hard answer is stupid.

1:21:54And your hard answer ain't stupid. Now, it's a coordinator job. So it sets you up to be a head coach one day. So this is obviously this meets the ladder box. I'm always looking at when I give advice to people, does this get me further up the ladder or position me to move up the ladder and it puts you further up the ladder? The$7 ,000 hit, I'm going to absorb that because if I amortize that over 12 months, I can tighten the belt and I can absorb a$7 ,000 hit. $25 is too much. And I think if you play your cards right with your old coach on that, maybe you replace him one day. Who knows? Who knows?

1:22:34So I like option A. It's now just about handling that stress. Jade, you've moved recently with younger kids. Walk him through what he needs to do. if his wife's on board, sounds like she is, he's stressed out about a move three and a half hours away to get there, get on board, and get ready to go for the season. What has he got to walk through? I mean, both of you have to agree, number one. I hope that her gut instinct is the same as your gut instinct or else you guys have many conversations to have. That's fair. That's number one. Does she think A is the best move? She does. It's important to her for that family atmosphere, for sure.

1:23:11Fantastic. That's good. And then after with that i'm just gonna say how so i know that the the location on screen is not accurate and probably the location that you're telling us you're going is not accurate but is it a couple of states over are you moving no no same state i'm in south state i'm in a southern part of the state okay uh three and a half hours up you're you know in the mountain okay got it that's right you did say three hours away um the biggest thing is just to plan for and save up as much as you can in this interim because moving is expensive. It takes time to get settled. There's a lot of eating out during that time.

1:23:48There's a lot of like, oh gosh, we just realized we don't have this. And you run over to Walmart and get it right. There's just a lot of expenditures that come up. So I would just be going through the budget with a fine tooth comb right now, figuring out what we can, you know, save money on so we can stack up as much cash as possible, get as much information ahead of time. How are you going to move? Are you going to do the U-Haul thing? Are you going to, you know, have somebody card it over for you. What are you going to do? And just make a plan and stick to the plan. That's the best thing that you could possibly do on this.

1:24:19And then what I would also do probably tonight or this weekend, because we're coming up on the weekend, I would set a date night with your wife and say, let's make a budget with this$25 ,000 pay cut. No, no, no. Seven. Seven. Option A is a $7 ,000 hit. Okay. I wrote it. Let's make a budget with that$7 ,000 hit and see how this is going to affect things. Just again, so that there's no surprises or so at least you're mitigating the surprises. There's always going to be a few. You know what I wish, coach? I wish in the background we had the theme song from the greatest television show of all time, Friday Night Lights.

1:24:53Did you ever watch it, the TV show? Absolutely. All right, coach, finish it up for me. I feel like there's only one thing to say for you. Clear eyes, full hearts. Full hearts. Can't lose. Can't lose. Go get them, coach.

1:25:27Welcome back to The Ramsey Show in the Fairwinds Credit Union studio. I'm Ken Coleman, bestselling author of What No One Tells You About Money, brand new national bestseller, topping the charts. But we shared the news earlier today. If you didn't know, super excited to be sitting next to her. She is Jade Warshaw. So fun. Congratulations again, my friend. That's always a fun, fun and very, very rare air. So congratulations to you. Thank you. McKenzie is up next in Orlando, Florida. McKenzie, how can we help you? Hey, thanks for having me. I was calling to get your thoughts on an idea I have around possibly selling a rental property.

1:26:07it might be good for me to give you some background. Yes, sir. So I currently make$400 ,000 a year, and my wife's in school. She's going to be working when she finishes her grad school. She'll probably make about$150 ,000. But we don't have any credit card debt. We don't have any card notes. The debt we do have is$850 ,000 on our current house, and we have combined about$300 ,000 in student loan debt. okay um and and then my first house that i had before our marriage has a mortgage of about 450 on it so all in about 1.6 okay yeah okay go ahead so the the rental property that has 450 on it it cash flows about 1200 a month which is good it's been phenomenal it's in like the best part of the city, great schools.

1:27:03It's just, it's great location. It'll probably appreciate it really fast. But my question to you is that house has about 300 ,000 in equity. Okay. Is it worth holding on to the house, continuing to rent it and having it as a cash flowing asset once I get into retirement inch or is it better to sell it now take the three hundred thousand dollars in equity and pay off student loans for my wife and myself i personally i i'm gonna i'm gonna give you two two options here there's part of me that i would sell this house immediately to clear the student loans um then i look at your income and i go well heck i want to know how quickly she's going to be making 150 she graduates in may and she'll start working in august interesting now i want to know this because this is a lot of times we step into real estate and it's just like by default i just had this house and i decided not to sell it and so now it became this is this if you were looking to buy a real estate rental would you have picked this house because it just so happens no you said no okay that's all i need to know that's all i needed to know can i can i add some context i don't know i don't think so because if you had said you started by saying it's in a great neighborhood it cash flows so well and every once in a while here when people have stepped into real estate even if they've done it the wrong way if it seems like it could benefit them i'm not as quick to sell it off right but in this case all i needed to know is is this a good enough property that you would have bought this looking and you said no.

1:28:48That's all I needed to know, Ken. What about you? The context, the context. McKenzie's in the corner. You painted him in the corner and now he's trying to get out. Okay, get out, get out. I want to give him a shot. The answer you provided probably, it might be right, but the reason why I said no is not because it's not in a gray area. It's that if I was investing in real estate, I wouldn't look at a$500 ,000 house, which is what this was. Exactly. I would be looking. Exactly. It has, but it has worked out that it is rented well and cash flowed and it's in the best area and it has the best schools.

1:29:23And so I do think if I look down the road 20 years and I look back, I'd be like, man, I'm glad I have this house and, you know, thankful. But then there's also the looming$300 ,000. Right. And I see what you're saying. I totally understand it. What I was trying to get to was, could there be some intentionality around this that you could look back and go, I didn't mean to do this, but I'm so glad this dropped in my lap because if I was, I would have picked this. I just didn't know I was looking, right? That would have been a little bit different for me. I think for you, I don't think that the opportunity, I think that it's, I think that it's a fair trade-off for you to say, well, I can pay off the$300 ,000 of student loans if I clear out this property.

1:30:08And then by the time, you know, the house is up on the market, it sells, by then my wife's going to be making$150 ,000. How quickly could we then pay off our current home? and then how quickly could we say, you know what, let's get back into real estate and now let's purchase a thing that we think we would have bought, which like you said, is not a$500 ,000 house. It's probably something half that price. And you could do that so very quickly and do it from a position of stability because there's no debt, your personal residence is covered, that sort of thing. That's what I'm thinking. Yeah, that's great.

1:30:41And I really appreciate that insight. One of the things that I did look at is like, if I kept the house, How fast could I pay off the rental house and my primary house? I had that thought too. What's the answer? If I double down on it, the answer is 18 years. Oh. However, if I sell the rental property now and then put everything into the primary house, I could pay it off in 10. I like that. Plus pay off the loan?

1:31:13If I sell the house, I could pay off the loan and have my primary paid off in 10 years. That's what I'm saying. Let me ask you a question, McKenzie. I feel like we've talked around this enough. I thought Jade's answer is fantastic. I have a question for you. When you dialed us up today, which way were you leaning? What were you going to do? What were you thinking you were going to do, but you wanted to get our take?

1:31:37I've been noodling on this for about a month. I have been torn until about two days ago when I was leaning towards selling it. Then can I just tell you something? It's probably$55.45. Okay. So the reason I asked that question is because you've already gotten great advice. There's nothing I could add to what Jade said. I thought she said it beautifully. I agree with Jade. But I want to know what you were thinking before you called. And when I asked that and the answer, Jade, is the same thing that you say? Yeah. Then I say, I know Jade's right. No offense, Mackenzie. You're emotionally involved.

1:32:12She's not. She's got experience. We've got principles. but I guess I'm trying to help you see that your gut your head were aligned and they were right and I'm just gonna tell you you just got coached to the same position you were even though you're gonna say 55 45 the 45 is some type of doubt it's a fear type of fear some type of influence from some other thing. The 55 is McKenzie. So that's all I'm going to say. And I really appreciate that because I probably do get in my head about it a little too much. We all do. Welcome to the club. Yeah, I think the thing that I overthink, which I probably should have included this earlier on too, is the money that I make is relatively new for me, but I think it's very sustainable for the next 20 years.

1:33:04But I say that to say I haven't put away as much for retirement as I would have liked. And even though I'm going to work for 20 more years, I see myself like if I'm able to keep this house, it's going to give me good income to supplement 401k and other investments. What's going to give you more income? What's going to give you more ability to put away is your actual income. That's right. You having that at your disposal, not having the stress of$300 ,000 of debt, because the thing you have to remember, McKenzie, is debt changes the way you make decisions. It changes the choices you make. It changes everything.

1:33:41When you have$300 ,000 of debt and$850 ,000 of a home loan and another$500 ,000, it changes all the decisions that you make and you need clarity. And so the way you get clarity is you clear out the debt. Then you can see, okay, now I can see very clearly there's not this negative fear influence and it really does open the path up for you

1:34:15all 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.

1:35:02All right. Our Ramsey Show question of the day is sponsored by Why Refi. If defaulted private student loans have taken over your life, Why Refi can help you breathe again with a low fixed rate plan that fits your budget. Visit whyrefi.com slash Ramsey. That's the letter Y-R-E-F-Y.com slash Ramsey. Not available in all states. Okay. Today's question comes from Trevor in Utah. He says, I recently spent a total of$6 ,000 on two luxury watches, which I paid for in cash. The purchase hasn't impacted our finances in any way. My wife and I are in our 30s and earn over $200 ,000 a year. We contribute 15 % of our income to retirement.

1:35:47We pay extra towards our mortgage every month and carry no other debt. I haven't told my wife about the watches yet. How do I bring this up to her? I hope they're his and hers. Listen, Ken. Okay. So I've got like major acid reflux on behalf of this guy. I need some Pepto. Let me frame it up. Let me frame it up first. Okay. First off, money wise, like dollars wise, fine. No biggie, right? You check every box on the financial responsible adult checklist that I can see. I'm sure you're generous. I'm sure you're on some sort of a budget. Those are the only two you didn't mention outright. I wonder, I don't know.

1:36:33Ken and I talked in an earlier segment about Sam and I having separate fund money. And I don't know if this is a case where you're like, hey, I just saved up my fund money for a while, or this was money that was kind of budgeted over to me and I just stacked it up and bought these watches. is fine if that's what you did uh my biggest question is if that wasn't the case and you just strolled through the you know through the checking account you just took it out and she never noticed that's kind of weird or else he wouldn't have written in saying how do i bring this up this is was it a secret yeah 100 anybody's going how do i bring this up it's like uh so your wife didn't know that you were going to go buy two watches i mean it's for him not even one for her well i I don't know what he's doing.

1:37:18I don't know if he's reselling them. I don't know either. We just don't know. We need more. Okay, let's role play it. You know what? Okay. Role play it. So if I flush the Pepto-Bismol out of my brain and I go, okay, what would I do? You went to Las Vegas. You got caught up in the moment. Bought two watches? Not with winnings. Or maybe it was winnings. Oh, no. It's a non-conversation if it's winnings. Okay. So let's say you got caught up. But if I'm spending$3 ,000 out of our account for two watches and I didn't tell Stacey ahead of time. And it's been a little while. You know I'm having a problem with this because there's just no scenario under the sun by which that happens.

1:38:01No, me neither. But I guess I'm going to say, hey, listen, I did something spontaneous, pretty impulsive. I feel great about it or I feel whatever. He's got to be honest. He doesn't include any of this. I think you just got to be really, really honest and say, hey, how do you feel about this? Because here's what I do know about luxury watches. He can resell those. He's not stuck with it. Well... Oh, no. Trust me. I have a friend in Atlanta who made a nice living buying nice watches. But he has two for$6 ,000. It's not that nice. I'm thinking of a nice watch. well but i'm just saying like uh those are nice watches he can he can move those he can move those 100 i'm just i'm thinking about the nice ones yes but it's not a car that's true it's not a car you drive off the lot there's no depreciation in luxury watches yeah so um he hasn't said that he plans to resell them i'm just saying no i'm saying when he goes to her he's got to go hey here's what i did i should have told you i'm telling you now here's why i did it he's got to explain he needs to know why he did it that's the advice your first piece is tell her why figure out why did you do this and not tell her so that that way when you bring the conversation up you can speak from an honest place that's all i got ken i this is so foreign to me it's like someone asking me how do you solve a trigonometry problem the answer is i don't know no idea i couldn't do it if my life depended on it.

1:39:32So there's no scenario by which I, I'm just trying to think. Okay. I'll tell you what. I did make a purchase almost the exact amount of money. Okay. Tell us more. And I didn't tell Stacey, but it was a surprise. Was it for her? For the family. Oh, okay. So this is not like two nice watches. It was a, it was a - Oh, I know what it was. I know what it is. I don't want to share it. You can share it. Come on. I don't, you know, Stacey's very private. So I'm not. I would be like, ah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, so point is. How'd she react? Well, it's back to the previous couple where I said, hey, I'm doing something.

1:40:14Because I had to ask her where the checkbook was. Understood. Wow. Well, because I don't write checks. Yeah. So you're like, I'm going to do this thing. It's going to, did you tell her how much it would cost? No. I just said, trust me. And she does. like she knows I'm not gonna go do something stupid with money so I said I'm gonna make a you know pretty substantial purchase and you just gotta trust me and I need a check for it and I need you to stay out of the you know like do your little recon a couple days from now at which point it will allow me to reveal it and it's really something fun and exciting for the family and you agree yes by the way my family loves it great it wasn't for me yeah and how How'd she react when she saw what you spent and what you spent it on?

1:41:00She absolutely loved it. Great. But true story. Had I gone to her ahead of time and said, I want to spend this on that. She would have tried to talk me out. Yeah. Cause she has a few times before. That makes sense. So. But, but that's not this, is it? Wait, he didn't tell us enough. He should have. Okay. Trevor, wherever you are, call in and tell us more, please. But, but here's why I told my story on this thing that I bought. Had Stacey walked out and seen it when I showed it to her, and had she been like, uh-uh, what are you doing? What did you spend on this? You would have taken it back. A hundred percent I would have.

1:41:39So Trevor needs to be prepared to take back these watches if it doesn't sit right with his wife. I almost didn't land the plane. You landed it. Right? But does that make sense? I was doing this with the air traffic controls. But my point is, as long as you're willing to backtrack it and you can backtrack it, then all is well. All is well. Agree. By the way, you and the Warshaw family will very much enjoy this. How is that? Trust me. They're going to love it when they come over. All right, cool. They're just going to absolutely love it. Okay, great. I was like, are you going to? I'll tell you on the commercial.

1:42:13Great. Thank you. Let's go to Danny and Minnie and Apple. Let's see. Do we have time for Danny? Yes, we can do this. Yeah, we can do that. Danny, how can we help? Hi, Jade. Hi, Ken. How are we doing today? Well, we're having a blast. What's going on with you? Awesome. I'm 21 years old. I turn 22 next month. And I live at my parents' house. I rent from them for$500 a month. I've been trying to move out for probably like a year and a half or so. What stopped you? Okay.

1:42:50Well, in order to get into what you guys would recommend of 25 % of your take-home pay, that's a little bit hard. Now, I think my income can support rent, but it's still pretty steep where I live. So, um, 2025, it was 50 ,000 after taxes. So I have, I have a bunch of different income sources, um, cause I'm self-employed. Okay. Um, is that steady for you? 50 ,000? Sorry, what was that? Is that steady for you? 50 ,000? Yeah. So, yeah. So I'm, I'm only expecting it to go up. Um, there's no reason it shouldn't. Um, but it's not steady month to month. So it's very like, um, like in the winter it slows down cause I have a detailing company.

1:43:44So in, in the spring it's super busy. Um, and then I have, I have other sources. So here's what you gotta do. You know, those winter months when it slows down and you have a good idea how much time you will have, start finding some supplementary, supplementary work so that we don't have a dip in income. Or if it is, it's, it's negligible and you can budget for that yeah whenever you have irregular income having a fund set aside of what you know that gap is going to be and keeping that replenished all the time is is so good to have um yeah i like that you're trying to keep it at the 25 percent rule just make sure that when you make the jump you're ready you're going to have first and last month's rent and all of that other stuff and budget to make sure that you can truly afford it before you make the leap

1:44:49Hey guys, what's up? It's Jade and I'm pumped for the new year and I hope you are too. But the problem is most people start the new year with a lot of promises and no real plan. You know how it is. I'm gonna save money or I'm gonna get my financial act together. But without a plan, you just wing it and hope it works out. Listen, don't play yourself. I want you to win, and our EveryDollar app is the game changer you need. In 15 minutes, EveryDollar helps you build a plan based on where you're at with money right now. And every day, the app coaches you with ways to find extra money so you can beat debt and build wealth faster.

1:45:27It's like having me in your pocket, helping you stay on track all year long. So don't just wish your money works out. You can be the one to actually make it happen this year. Download the EveryDollarBudget app and get started right now for free.

1:45:58Everybody. Yes, you. Yes. And you, everybody needs insurance, but it can be hard trying to find pros who aren't just looking to make a buck and sell you some product you don't need. Ramsey trusted insurance pros are vetted and coached to make sure that they're not only market experts, but they also have your best interest at heart. Ramseysolutions.com slash coverage is where you go to find the type of insurance you actually need. Ramseysolutions.com slash coverage. Ryan is up in Ottawa, Ontario. Ryan, how can we help? Hey, how are you? Good. How are you today? Good, thank you. Just kind of had a question and trying to get different, you know, just if I can get some navigation through it.

1:46:47Doing a cohabitation agreement with a partner there. Just, you know, between the finances. Ah, interesting. So just to make sure I understand, your girlfriend, you're thinking of having her move into where you live? Well, she has been already, right? Okay. But also it's like, you know, it's something that I personally feel should be put in place. Okay. In writing. Yes. What does that entail? I've not, interestingly enough, not heard of one of these. Well, that's what I'm trying to understand. So is it just a contract that she'll pay X amount of rent? No, not even that. But just in case, you know, we break up or something, just to make sure that I'm protected from my assets and everything like that, especially if she'll be living with me.

1:47:30Why would your assets be in trouble or under threat if she's living with you? Is it different in Canada? Yes, a little bit different in Canada, yeah. Oh, well, enlighten us. Well, you know, if somebody does live with you for an extended period of time, they might be able to take some of your assets, right? Okay. What kind of assets? Like your house. Oh, like split it? Or divide up, something like that. How long? Like after 10 years? Is it like a common law thing? Not even that. Yeah, it basically becomes common law. Yeah, but how long? After like three, four years, I do believe. Wow, okay. There's a possibility of it, right?

1:48:09Yeah, sure. Even still, I don't know. People have different opinions on it, right? Just don't want to make sure that it's not. I wouldn't do it. I'm just going to tell you my opinion. I would not live with somebody for three years or whatever, like whatever the Canadian law is. Like if I wasn't interested in marrying them, I sure as heck would not live with them in that period of time. And then you're just, it's just like you're on the high wire without a safety net. So relationally, I need to make my decision prior to that. How long have you been together? uh both the time about that time about three or four years and she's been living with you that entire time yes oh so you're feeling it creep up you're like wait a minute let me get my stuff in writing just in case well i got it yeah do you want to be a concern well wait a second but even even still right no hold on wrong this is all so foreign to me forgive my american brain but also i'm a bit old-fashioned so do you want to marry this girl yes or no yes yes then put a ring on it now what's stopping what are we waiting on yeah because can i say this really quick you sound like a guy who's not sure he wants to marry me because the phone call was hey guys uh should I get a cohabitation agreement with this woman who's been living with me because Canadian law says if she lives with me, as long as she has right now, if we break up, she gets some of my assets and I want to protect my assets.

1:49:49Nowhere in there did I hear a guy who wants to, to, to spend the rest of his life with this woman. Well, hold on this. We're getting somewhere. What does that mean? Oh, just, just listening to the opinion, right? Do you not see my, do you not see how it comes across? Yes, sir. I have something I want to add, though. What do you do for a living? I'm in construction. Interesting. So I'm trying to find out if you're just a guy who's interested in details and not really emotion. I'm like, if this guy's an accountant, I get it, because he's just calculating, just thinking all, you know what I'm saying?

1:50:28I think if I do that, I don't think it's a reflection of what I do. I think 9 out of 10 women. I wish I could pull a bunch of women on this very call. There's women out in the audience. Okay, ladies in the lobby, does this guy, if you were his girlfriend and you heard that set up, would that make you feel like running to the altar? No. They all shook their head no. All of them said no. So here's my point. I'm going to shake my head too. So here's my point. I'm actually trying to save you. I don't think you want to marry this girl. Okay. And if you do, just go ahead and marry her. We might be totally wrong, Ryan.

1:51:09I could be wrong. I'm just saying your question was about a cohabitation agreement. Yeah. Not should we have separate finances when we marry? You didn't ask us about that. Has she asked about marriage? Oh, yes. We talked about it. What'd she say? Oh, 100%. Right. It is the plan. When? Do you guys have kind of a horizon? Not yet. Okay, but she definitely wants to marry you and you definitely want to marry her. Yes. What do you think is stopping you? Is it like a money thing? Is it we want to pay off debt or we want to do this? Honestly, there's some days that I can't give that answer. Maybe I should have thought about that a little bit more before calling in.

1:51:55Maybe. I mean, it's something. It's food for thought. We're not, hey, we're not judging you. We're not upset at you about it. It's just, it really is. it's something, I think we uncovered something that does require a little bit more thought. You thought you were calling for one thing and you got another. Yes. Let me say this. In the meantime, you should do some sort of agreement if that's what you feel like is going to cover you. Yeah. We should circle back. That is the goofiest law I've ever heard. Don't mind saying it, but it is the law of the land. So yeah, I would get something to protect your assets pretty quickly although given the what i've heard today i don't know that that's not going to create a bunch of tension it might it has oh ryan it keeps getting i felt like maybe i was the crazy one and you're not crazy ryan but i'm sitting there going now you've got to bring up a cohabitation agreement with her to protect your assets after having talked marriage how are you at least engaged It's always been a thing that I've wanted, though.

1:52:55Not to say, but I've worked hard for what I have, I believe. But have you at least proposed? It's one thing to get married, but have you even proposed? Oh, Ryan. That's the only thing he's been certain about on this entire call. Did you hear that answer? He's like, no. I could understand. I'm not ready to actually do the ceremony, but what's kept you from proposing? He doesn't know. Just the timing of everything, I feel. I know you can't put anything like it's never the perfect time, so it could always be the perfect time. Yeah, how about tonight? 7 o 'clock on the dot in your drop top. Did you hear that answer?

1:53:36He's laughing. Somebody get him a brown bag on the other end of that call. I know, I know. You're very nervous. He is hyperventilating. You want to know what I would do if I were in your shoes, Ryan? I'm going to tell you. If I turned into you today, I would call up my counselor, Vanessa, and I would say, help me out. I just talked to these folks, and they really are making me think, why am I not proposing? Why am I not getting married? What's going on? I thought it was a money thing. I think maybe, I just don't know. Help me unpack this. That's what I do. Ryan, it's the best thing you've heard this entire call.

1:54:09I'm having a lot of fun. But listen, I am concerned. If I could play older brother, if you were my younger brother, I'd go, hey, man, I don't want you committing yet, like on anything, cohabitation agreement or anything, because there's something that's catching you. And it doesn't mean it's bad, doesn't mean there's something wrong with you. But I think the advice Jay just gave you, I'm going to endorse that 100%. Let's get with a therapist and just straight up lay it out in a safe environment and see if they and you can figure out what is holding you up. Okay. Nothing wrong with you. Thank you very much.

1:54:45Yeah, yeah. Listen, no shame, no shade coming at you. But, my man, I know you didn't call for this, but I don't want you to be in any kind of agreement, marriage or cohabitation, and be regretting it. Okay? and worried about my money and all these things. We're rooting for you. Call us back and tell us what happens. Yeah, I'd love to hear the other side of the story. Wow. Man. Hey. It'd be like that sometimes, Ken. And it's okay. I would rather have someone press pause on a relationship like this. Absolutely. Absolutely. Woo!

1:55:30Thank you.

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1:56:31our scripture of the day Hebrews 12 11 no discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful later on however it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it our quote of the day Bonnie Pruden you can't turn back the clock but you can wind it up again Renee is up in Columbia, South Carolina. Renee, how can we help? Hey there, how are you guys? Thanks for taking my call. You bet. What's going on with you? So I'm 57 and I was just let go from my sales job right before Christmas. I'm so sorry. I've only been there five months. Oh, I know. I've never been fired before.

1:57:11Oh, man. Well, welcome to the club. I've done it twice and, you know, it's no fun, but there is life on the other side. Well, that's where I am. I'm trying to decide what to do. You know, I'm not sure I want to remain in sales, and I'm looking, do I look for a job full-time? Do I look for a job and work part-time? Or do I invest in my side hustle and grow that because then no one can ever fire me again? Well, actually, customers can fire you. It's amazing how many calls we take. So I do want to set the record straight on that because it's a healthy mindset. But because here's the answer, Renee, I want you running to something, not away from something.

1:57:53So a couple of quick questions I want Jay to weigh in, too. So rapid fire for a moment here. What is the side hustle? So we own a photo booth company. We've only been in this area for a year and we haven't started it, but it was a side hustle we did in our previous state that we lived in. Okay, and based on that track record, what do you think revenue could be that you could generate once you get it up and going? I mean, it just depends. It would probably start small. I mean, we did very little with it, and we made about$20 ,000. I mean, we didn't even try. And it would be very little at first, but as we got up, we could invest in more equipment, have more booths, and go from there and just see how big we can get it.

1:58:38All right. To our best here, let's try to do apples to apples. I know it was a different state, different place. How many hours, I mean, would you be able to put in more hours of your time than you did previously that generated the 20 ,000? Oh, yeah. It was, I mean, I didn't put hardly anything into it. I'd be able to work it full time. Okay. All right. Next question. You said we. Are you in a double income family? Yeah, that's one of the things. We are financially stable. You know, we did the baby steps a long time ago. No debt except for the house. But I grew up with financial insecurity, and I can't get that scared person out of my head.

1:59:18I feel like I have to make money right now. Okay, then let's just sit there for a second. So are we talking about your husband here, who's at the other income? Okay, what does he make? Somewhere between, depending on bonus,$230 to$275 a year. And you have no debt? Just a house. Oh, good heavens, Renee. You really did grow up in a tough situation. I don't even need to ask. Your husband makes$230 ,000, and you're worried about a sales job, and you have no debt? I'm guessing, what's your retirement situation? We've got about$900 in a 401k, another$100 in investments, and$50-something in a money market.

1:59:59Hey, set yourself free and go try the photo booth thing. Have some fun with that for crying out loud. It is a fun business. It is a very fun business. Then go have fun at 57 years young. You don't need income. You don't need your income. True or false? No, it was gravy. So we may have to go out to dinner less or maybe not take a big vacation or, you know, because we enjoy hunting. I'm sitting next to the budget queen. on$230 ,000 and no debt, Jade, are we worried about vacations? Not really. No. Of course we're not. I think you'll be fine. How do I get that girl out of my head, though? How do I tell her the truth?

2:00:40You need to tell her the truth a lot. Don't ignore her. Just remind her all the time. That's a good question. Remind her all the time. Yeah. Because truthfully, that's where my heart lies, and I feel like there's a lot of things pointing into building up this business. but I just for something about that guaranteed salary that just, which it wasn't a ton but you know, it's just making that decision. How much in those five months did that job suck the soul right out of your body? Oh quite a bit. I had a feeling I had a feeling, Renee so I think Jay just said something so incredibly wise, so I'm actually, can I piggyback off what you said?

2:01:22I feel like I'm getting an assist here. Okay. You're assisting me. You have to tell yourself the truth often. And I feel like in this call a minute ago when I walked you through some questions and then we got to the truth of$230 ,000 and no debt. And when I and Jade kind of tag team reminded you of your financial situation, you didn't have any anxiety about money in those moments, did you? No. So it might be as simple as some fun like journal or legal pad or something on your phone, a note on your phone. And when you start to feel that old voice of insecurity around money, you just go back and you look at your numbers, pull up your investment dashboard.

2:02:10Well, we got 900 and some thousand here. We got 100 ,000 here in seven years. That's going to be 1.8. and just do a refresh. That's what I heard from you. I love that advice. Can I tell you a true story, Renee? Oh, I love it. Sure. I had gone through a period where I was dissatisfied and for reasons that it doesn't matter, but I was complaining a lot. And I made a deal with myself. I said, for as much as I complain, I have to say just as much that I'm grateful for and thankful for. And when I did that, it made me realize how much I was complaining because I had to say the same thing right back.

2:02:55I think if you make a deal with yourself and you say for each time mentally that I catch myself replaying whatever the story is that you replay about, you know, not having enough or whatever that fear thought that you have, if you make a deal with yourself that say, every time I do this, I'm also going to come back and say, we have$900 ,000 in our account. My husband makes$275 ,000. We paid off all of our debt. Our mortgage is almost gone, right? And combat it. Don't let it win. Thoughts and emotions, they're like waves. We can't stop them from coming in, but we get to choose which one we serve, right?

2:03:30You've heard that. It's the same thing. You get to choose and awareness is key. You know that it's happening. So now it's about capturing it in the moment and go, all right, that came, I can't stop it from happening. But what I can remind myself is what's true and replace it and dwell on that for a while and spend just as much time, if not more dwelling on that than the thought that initially came in and tried to, you know, I got an idea, Jade. All right, Renee, round figures aren't going to hold you to this. This is a fun exercise. You ready? Based on how many times you and the hubs go out to dinner in 12 months and a nice vacation.

2:04:09What is that number all in?

2:04:14Maybe 20 ,000. And can you recall what you told me you made on the photo booth business that you did nothing with in a previous season of your life? Could you tell me what the number was? About 20 ,000. Bingo! So what if we launch, we relaunch with new energy uh lessons learned and we say to hubs i'm gonna launch the photo booth business and every penny above and beyond just the expenses of the business goes to vacation and debtors love it i love it i love that i love that i'm pretty excited about that idea i'll be honest that's motivating that came to me while you were talking i'm like wait a second and i didn't know by the way that it was going to match up to 20 and 20 but i thought i thought that the photo booth revenue will easily cover your dinners and your nice vacation you're so worried about.

2:05:10Yeah. See, that's why I called you guys because I knew you could help me work through this. I'm literally sitting here with my budget in front of me, and I literally have asked him probably four times a week, how much do we have? What's in our accounts? Leave that man alone. Would you leave him alone, please? And just get yourself your own dashboard and your own exercise like Jay just gave you and go launch that business. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to do that. Thank you. I mean, I really appreciate it. I feel so much lighter now. Good. Definitely. That's what we like. We like it. We like people to call in heavy and float off the floor.

2:05:44Float away. I love it. Good job, Ken. Well, I didn't, listen, you, that was all you. You just threw me a really nice lob pass. But how funny that the numbers matched up. I know. I know. That made me feel really happy. That's a nice trip. I should probably take the rest of the day off after that. I'm never going to be that lucky again. Remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus.