You Can Rebuild No Matter Where You Are

24:27She lives in a 1973 manufactured double-wide mobile home online. It said you can't get a reverse mortgage if the mobile home was built before 1976 because that's when HUD started. That's fine. I don't want you to do that anyway, so we can go to the next one. So then I thought, well, maybe a home equity loan, but I called a couple of places. But, you know, when you take her income of$2 ,200 against maybe$1 ,800 monthly expenses, but then add in$2 ,400 of caregiving. So now you're over$4 ,000 expenses against$2 ,200 income. So nobody's probably going to even loan money on her house when the debt ends.

25:02So I can't think really of any other options that she's going to run out of money in the next several months. How much is the house worth if you were to sell it? um it's just a total estimate and again it's a manufactured house i'm gonna say it does have about one and a half acres of land within it down the country i'm gonna just estimate maybe 60 or 70 000 okay and then what about with the land is that including the land with it yeah that's just a total guess in my part we haven't had any appraisal but and you said it's 2400 for care and have you priced out, what if she had just like a single bedroom apartment in West Virginia?

25:42What would that cost? I'm going to say, I mean, it's going to depend on the area. I'm going to guess you could probably get something for a thousand. A thousand. Okay. There might be a situation where you've got to move her and invest this nest egg and kind of draw off of it what you can. Is it just you or do you have siblings that are helping with this? Well, I have a sibling, but I'm pretty much doing it. Yeah, my sibling is not helping me, so not much. Would she qualify for Medicaid that would help cover the cost of caregiving? Well, I had checked into that just very briefly on the Internet.

26:19It just said something about if a single person made, I think, over, I thought it said 900 and something a month, although that sounds kind of low, but she makes more than that. I had also thought about calling in West Virginia. I forget what it's called, but there's a senior services number through the state. I thought about calling to see if there's any other options that I don't know about. My main option that I considered was the reverse mortgage or a home equity loan. Yeah, I would rather you look into the care options than debt options. I think what George is saying is that that's a better avenue for you to look into if there's Medicaid or if there's any sort of state program there in West Virginia that can help.

26:56And then the other thought is, yeah, trying to get your hands on some of this money. What's your health like? um pretty pretty good my uncle which is her brother thinks that she has dementia we don't know for sure and she's taking a test i guess next month that will determine that um but other than that i mean she's had some brain cancer issues but she physically still gets around still walks now she quit driving probably about a year ago but physically she does pretty good for almost 89 years old but well i would have a game plan let's assume that she lives a long life and goes to 99 Well, what's our 10-year plan to take care of this if nothing else changes and the expenses stay?

27:34So I would be kind of planning for that worst-case scenario of covering these expenses for a long time, and that might mean you're pitching in to cover some of the gap. Are you able to do that? Yeah, I would be able to. And I'd actually even consider getting a home equity loan. And then myself, I thought, well, if she ended up going to nurse her home and we lost the house, there'd be no way to repay. We can't do debt. I would just take debt off the table as an option. I would rather you sell her place and invest that$70 ,000 or even put it in a high-yield savings account and utilize all of that money until that runs out, which will get you pretty far.

28:10I mean, that's years of – a few years of covering her expenses. Yeah. Right. I think today, like I said, you chase down and see what Medicaid will do, what the state will do. And there might be something that you can find there. But in the near term, you need money because you said this is going to run out soon. And that$70 ,000 invested, it's not a ton, but it'll give you something. And if you can park it in an index fund and really only draw what you need, and if you and your brother or you and your other sibling can get together and kind of fill those holes, that's really all you've got right now.

28:49And it's one of those things John would say, not by my hand, but in my lap. and this has just got set in your lap to deal with and it sucks. Is there a scenario where she could move in with you or the sibling? I know even my mom and dad had even offered before about her moving in with them. She didn't want to and my uncle, which is her brother, I was thinking he may have even said some of it. She didn't act like she lived in the same house since 1973. Understood, but she doesn't have a choice. Yeah, respectfully, she's between a rock and a hard place here. So she's not going to have the choice when she doesn't have the money to live.

29:26So it's probably going to come down to that because either you pay for her rent or she lives with family. I think those are the only options at this point if her Social Security is not going to cut it and you need to keep paying these caregivers. So I would do my homework and uncover every stone to see what I can find out about getting her care that isn't$2 ,400 a month. Okay. There's no easy answers here. The only easy thing to do would be go into debt. And that's a terrible, terrible solution. Can you tell me, when you said it's$1 ,900 for her bills, what's that$1 ,900 in bills? What is that?

30:02Well, she has three loan payments. So one is$244 a month, one is$200, and then one is$100. And then the rest of them are just her utilities, electrical. Food, electricity, yeah. What are these loan payments? One of them was for several years ago. She'd got one of those outside generators that if your power goes off. And then these were all – most of these are bad. That was to a finance company. Her interest rate on that loan is almost 26%. Oh, Lord. What's the total balance of her debts? Well, it's not too bad now because I've been trying to pay them down as much. I can't say the total of all her debt combined is probably about$5 ,400, a little over$5 ,000.

30:39Okay. Yeah, I would try to clear that and get it out of your life. And if worse comes to worse, I'd cover her four walls before paying these bills. I would, too. And let it go to collections if need be. yeah and i have been trying to pay him down with extra about a year ago those three loans were about 14 000 now they're down to about 5 000 i might i might have a conversation with family and go hey can we all chip in and get rid of this debt because that would really let her breathe a little bit with her current income and expenses yeah that'll buy you guys some time yeah that's man that's the best you're going to be able to do with this i the guys cautionary tale man this This is what it is.

31:16The time does come for all of us where we age and we get to the point where we can no longer work and we get to the point to where we need money coming in. So please, please, please do not put off important things like paying off your debt. Pay off your debt now when you're young and you can work extra and you can do all these things. Take advantage of compounding interest now when you can invest. Invest 15 percent of your income. The day is going to come. Please do not rely on Social Security. This is it. This is what happens. We call it social insecurity for a reason. It's simply not enough to survive.

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33:35All right, everybody. Hip, hip, hooray. The all new EveryDollar is here. And now it's way more than just a world-class budgeting app. It can do everything. There's a ton of advanced features to help make your progress with money even faster, even easier. As a matter of fact, the average person is finding thousands of dollars in just the first 15 minutes. So if you're interested, which you should be, you can start EveryDollar for free today. You can get it in the app store or as always on Google Play. All right. Mary's in Columbus, Ohio. Hey, Mary, what's going on in your world? Hey there. Thanks so much for taking my call.

34:10I, I would love, so I just started really binging all the podcasts and all the things. And yeah, and I am not a math lady at all. So I would, and I've done all my numbers. I have, and I would love for you guys as math people to give me the Ramsey goal for those numbers as far as like a year or two years, however, that I can set to get myself out of debt. Well, you called the right person. You called George Camel because he is ready. I got my calculator. I'm pushing my glasses up. I'm ready to go. Oh, good. Okay. Lay it out for us. How much debt do you have? All right. I have about $60 ,000. Okay.

34:57Break it down. Okay. It's in the Ramsey order. It's about$316 and like a pay in for situation. My bank from Chase. Oh man. That's why now pay later. Yeah. Yeah. That'll reimburse you into your account and you pay them back. Then I have$400 on one credit,$450 on one credit card,$1 ,900 on the other credit card. I do own my car, so no car payment there. And then the rest of it is school debt. Oh my gosh. Wow. So are those all broken out? There's$1 ,000 that I found on my credit report that is in collection. So I was thinking of paying like 10 cents on the dollar or something for that. But anyway, sorry, go ahead.

35:47So$57 ,000 of student loan debt? Yeah, that's about right. Okay. And what do you make? 45. 45. What kind of work is that? What kind of work do you do? I work as a print project manager at my church. Okay. And have done so for many, many years. Is print your focus or is ministry your focus? What's the thing you want to do most? I believe in what my church says. And when I started, I have a history of emotional problems. They never fired me of all the problems that I'm sure I caused. So I have a deep loyalty. It's not really ministry as in I want to do ministry. And no, I don't. I do not have a passion for print.

36:39I just asked so that we can get your, I just asked because we're going to be thinking of ways to get your income up. And I wanted to know where your heart is. If your heart is, I want to do something in helping people, ministry like that related. Or if you're like, I love print and digital work and all that kind of stuff. I heard project manager and I went ding, ding, ding. We can make a lot of money in project management with your skillset. If you're willing to look outside of the church for full-time work. Now you can still be heavily involved in your church. It just may not be full-time employment long-term.

37:11Just because we're doing math. I would personally rather be a full-time volunteer. We're doing math. There's two factors here. George is going to walk you through one. But when we're looking at an equation like this, we say there's two major things we can do. We can lower our expenses, right? And that's lowering our outgo every single month. It's stopping things like investing in our 401k. It's stopping too much withholding coming out of our check, right? So those are all ways that we're kind of lowering our expenses. And then the other side of it, Mary, is we've got to get more money coming in.

37:41And for you,$45 ,000, we're going to get more coming in. So let's talk about two timelines because as it is now, George, I mean. What can you actually put towards the debt per month right now? Can you put$500 ,000 or$1 ,000 ,000? Give us a number of what you can throw with the debt snowball. Right. And actually, the not math part of me has got to back up. Because I do have, I make, I have an, I have acting gigs that I do already and I've started door dashing. Great. So I do have more numbers. So it's just a little bit more, but. But tell us this, after you've paid the minimums on all your bills, all your expenses, how much extra do you put on your smallest debt every month?

38:26About a hundred and. No, wait, wait, wait. Okay. So help me. one is 75 one is 25 one is 35 one is 75 that's how much so you're not you're not doing the snowball in that you're not making minimum payments on everything and then putting all extra money on one debt i because that's what you need to be doing any extra money on on the smallest debt yet because i just started the binge i just started this got it okay but currently with your income you can't put any extra toward it it's just barely covering your bills with your income Yeah, basically. Okay. So all the money from my side hustles would be...

39:06So think about it this way. If you continue at the church full-time and you get a little bit of extra money, you'd be lucky to get out of debt in six, seven years. Is that accurate? I mean, I'm asking you. Yeah, I mean, if you put a thousand a month, it would take you 60 months. That's five years. If you were able to do a thousand months total towards your debts. So think about this. If you did 500, it's going to take double the amount of time. We're talking 10 years. And so based on what you're doing, it's over a decade. And so that's why I want you to have the urgency of, I need to get my income up yesterday, like double my income.

39:41And so that's where you need to get a project management job that pays 60 or 70 and do the side work. And then we can clean this up within a year or two. The good news is you know how to live off of$40 ,000,$45 ,000 a year gross. gross so anything you get if you can double that knowing that you can live on such a fringe like shoestring budget is so good for you and I want to flip that uh so that you feel motivated by that and not kind of like overwhelmed by that if you can double your income uh by finding a higher paying job and adding a side hustle which I believe you can I believe you can get to 80 quickly right um that means all of a sudden I'm doing this in a year and a half I'm doing it in 18 months as opposed to the crazy time frame that you were on before.

40:29Yeah. So here's your nerd napkin math. If you can throw 2000 total at your debts, you're done with this thing in two and a half years. Okay. If you can throw 2 ,500 at it, you're done in two years. And so you can see the math, it's sort of just kind of contracts and expands as you're able to throw more at it. So the more margin we create, the faster you're done and the faster you can get to the more fun parts of life, like building wealth, having breathing room, going on vacation, upgrading the car and cash, all that good stuff. And so I love that you appreciate your church and that they've been very good to you.

41:00But I fear that this also leaves you stressed and broke for a decade.

41:07Well, I have my numbers now and my goals. And I mean, that's going to be my job to work all that out. That's right. project management, that is your buzzword. We did the easy part. We told you, hey, get more money. And so now you have the hard job of actually going to do all that. But I have full confidence you start applying to project management roles and your skills are going to transfer perfectly. And so I would sharpen up that resume. And this is not a knock at your church. I'm sure it's wonderful. But right now you're in a different season. Yeah. And they're probably limited in what they could pay you, you know, and you need to get out there.

41:42And they don't believe in debt either. Okay, there you go. I love it. I mean, they're wonderful, wonderful. It was great to have that opportunity. They turned me on to Dave Ramsey. That's fantastic. That's fantastic. Hey, you know what? I'm going to send you every dollar as our gift to you to help you put all these numbers out. It's like George in your pocket, doing the math, giving recommendations 24-7, encouraging you based on your personal situation. So hang on the line. Can it be Jade in the pocket too? Yeah, but just let me just let me have my fun you're better at math i fit better in pockets that's just the pocket sized yeah i'm a little guy it's one of my only spiritual gifts is fitting in pockets but honestly guys uh let's talk seriously about every dollar if you don't have it or maybe you've tried it before uh you need to get into the all new every dollar it has changed so much george over the past i mean even just six to eight months it's completely new it's got everything you need.

42:37It's not just a budgeting app anymore. It has everything you need to walk the Ramsey plan the Ramsey way. So I know there's plenty of times where you're looking, you're like, what do I do next? I've just paid off my debt. What am I supposed to do? Is it three months or is it six months of expenses? Why is it three versus six? All those questions that you have, all you have to do is load in your information and do that onboarding. And it is going to walk with you step by step so that you can accomplish your goals faster. Get into it.

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44:53All right, welcome back to The Ramsey Show. We're here in the Fair Ones Credit Union studio, continuing to take calls about your life and money. George Campbell is still next to me. Can't stop, won't stop. Can't stop it. I'm Jade Warshaw. Going straight to the phone lines, George, where we have Shelby in Missouri. Hey, Shelby, what's going on today? Hey, I am just, I just had some questions and struggling. But, um, so I've been trying to follow the Baby Steps program. You know, you save thousands and a thousand and then you pay off, you know, the debts you have that is shortest or like the least amount you know um i just turned 18 in august and i've been with my fiance for almost two years um and i have a lot of debt to pay off already and i'm not sure how to do it and how to get my fiance on board um he seems to think he can't save any money until all his debt is paid off.

45:55I think it's just the mindset he's in. You said he can't save any money until all his debt is paid off, so he's not wanting to do baby step one, which is save$1 ,000? Right. Okay. Right. How much debt does he have? He has about$2 ,169. Okay. And how much do you have?

46:20um 26 ,318 what kind of debt is that name of my car um i was getting ready to graduate in may and i had a piece of junk car and it had gotten me through and i was going to travel to um des moines which was like an hour and a half from where we were living, and my car would not make it that far. So my mom, we went to a Nissan dealer, and she signed on a car for me that I am making the payments of, but since I was not 18 at the time, it is in her name. It's completely in her name. So she took all the risk, and you're making Venmo payments to her to then cover the payment. Well, the account, I made the account that it automatically comes out of my checking.

47:10How much do you pay her every month for the car? Or how much do you pay her every month for it? I think it's$417, but I wound up to$420 every month. Okay. So... Since I'm 18, my insurance is out of whack. How much money do you earn? What's your monthly income? Just you. Just me, it was about$1 ,800. Why did you say past tense? We moved closer to my fiance's work. He was spending$250 in gas every two weeks. And we moved. He's now 10 minutes away. But I'm currently unemployed. I'm going stir crazy because I want to work. But we're in such a small town. There's nowhere really around. I've applied at jobs, called to check the status in my application.

48:07Work from home, call service? Yep. I applied for... What is he doing for work? Customer service, Brett. He works at a hog barn. Okay. What does he make? $1 ,950 an hour. What does that amount to every month? What does he take home? Every month for him,$2 ,600. Okay. And then together it was like$4 ,200. So we were doing pretty good. And you guys, have you combined finances? no no okay are you living together yes we are okay um how much is rent department it is um 650 utilities are 225 no matter what okay um um so i you called for one thing but i have to i can't just you know move past something like you didn't say what you just said so you're you're very exposed um right now Shelby you're because you don't work so you're right now depending on someone to take care of you you're essentially you're in a house that another person's paying for you have a car that's not in your name um that at any point somebody could say you know what say again it's just very overwhelming it is and so I want to get you I want you to be in a safer space for you, especially at 18.

49:36I want you to be in a position where you can work. When's the wedding? We were planning on just us two going maybe next year, just going to Vegas or Hawaii or whatever. You can't afford to go to Vegas or Hawaii. I'm hitting you with a lot of questions. what would be the point in waiting so long versus getting going to the courthouse if you if you've been this has been your fiance for two years everything has been a rush i'm gonna rush to move to my fiance i rush to move across the country with this guy and now we're gonna take our sweet time with the wedding what's your family say what's your family saying um i know my stepdad make it made a joke is like go to the courthouse it's free on thursdays i'm like I'm okay with that.

50:28Okay. But I think my fiance wants to do something, like experience something new for the both of us. In all your family. He's about to experience living in the hog barn if you guys don't take care of business here. I mean, you're still like children. But we're living like adults too fast, too soon. And you have a$26 ,000 car that is not in your name and you can't even make the payment. So I would have a lot of urgency, number one, to get rid of this car. You do not need a$26 ,000 car in a town that doesn't even have a stoplight. You can't keep the car. And my biggest thing, I asked about your family because I want to know, is everybody on board with you getting married?

51:08If they are, the people that love you and that you trust, if they're saying, hey, we like this guy, we're wondering when you're getting married, then I am too. And I would say get it done sooner than later so that you can protect yourself. because what happens here, Shelby, if this goes bad, George and I get the calls all the time. So, and it leaves you on the line to dry because there's no legality protecting you in any way. So if this guy loves you, let's go ahead and get married. And then in a year from now, you guys can have a great trip in Hawaii or Las Vegas if you can afford it, pay cash.

51:42But today, let's start the building blocks of getting this foundation a lot more firm than it is right now. And that starts with you guys solidifying a union there, getting married that way legally. It's cool for you guys to go ahead and combine your finances. Everybody's way more protected that way. Then the next thing, thing two, is now I can go get a job and I can feel good about bringing this check home and us together paying off our debt and walking through those steps. So that's the two things that you need to sit down and talk with, I don't know your fiance's name, talk with Trent tonight about that, okay?

52:23Okay. And the other piece of this is he's saying he can't afford to cover his$2 ,000 in debt. Is that right? No, we're kind of tackling it together. You said your finances are separate. Together with what money? You don't have a job. Right. So I had some money in my checking account and he had a credit card payment that was coming up. Why would you pay someone else's debt when you're not married to them? He was paying the car payment. So you guys are just debt swapping? No, I don't know. I find another problem is when we were bringing income, like the$4 ,200 every month, is when stuff comes out during the month.

53:10It's not a money problem. Shelby, you're right. It's not a money problem. The problem is you guys love each other. I get it. But you both have it twisted. You're getting everything out of order and it's getting real tangled up and really confused. Do the two things I said. You need to get married and you need to get a job.

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55:21welcome back to the ramsey show and back to daniel who's in rhode island what's up daniel how can we help today. Hi, guys. How are you doing? We're great. That's awesome. So the short version of my question is, how do I know if making a huge career change is the best thing for mine and my family's future? Yeah. And then I'll go ahead and give you the backstory. So I am in the final stages of the hiring process for what is essentially my dream job. It's something that I've always felt like I wanted to do. Pay-wise, it would be basically paying me the same as what I'm currently making starting off, but there is definitely a huge potential for raises and growth within the first few years.

56:15However, the big question mark for me and my wife is that it would also require us to relocate to a major city in the Northeast, probably either New York or Boston. I like my current job. I'm not positive, though, that it's something that I will be passionate about in the long term. However, my boss and I have developed a really, really good relationship and she's basically told me um that should i choose to remain working with them that she would like to groom me to take over her position within the next few years is that your dream job to take hers no it is not then i think it's the wrong next move it's cool i mean it's nice to be i mean it feels good you're flattered like there's room for growth here.

57:15I like it. They're treating me well. But at the end of the day, there's a soul tax to be paid knowing there's this other thing over here that you want to experience. And so I don't think either of them are bad, but I think you're not going to regret taking this new leap. And here's the good news. Nothing is fatal. Let's say you move to Boston, you take the next gig, you do it for a year or two, and you realize, well, I guess my dream job, this ain't it either. Or I want to do this job, but it's somewhere else. You have the freedom to make that jump too. Let me add another layer into it. I'll probably be devil's advocate here.

57:46So tell us about your family. How old are your kids? Tell us about your community. Tell us that side of things. Yeah. So that is kind of like the thing that makes it complicated for me because I know myself and I know that like if I was single and everything, like I already know the choice that I would make, but you'd be gone? I am recently married. My wife and I are wanting to have kids within the next few years, and we have a really, really good support system where we currently live. My wife is also really well-established in her job right now and is probably going to get promoted within the next year if she stays there as well.

58:29So that's really where the big question mark comes into play for me is like and her job won't transition she can't stick with the company and she can't find something related in the new city that pays you can find something related but i think that it would it would be a lot more of a headache and i think that it would just like set her back more in her career than where she currently wants where where she's currently projecting to go to i guess what does she say when you tell her about the opportunity is she like honey you have to take it or is she like, oh man, I mean, I want this for you, but it really is tough.

59:04What's her demeanor? More so the latter. She has said that she will support me and commit it to me if it is what I decide to do. But for the sake of her own preference, she has expressed that she would prefer to stay where we are. What about financially? How are you guys doing? Do you need the money? Tell us about that. Are you in debt? And this would really, you know, push you forward. Tell us more about that part. Yeah, so it's really hard to say, truthfully. I think that it would increase our cost of living, definitely, were we to relocate. But I do think that this new job also brings the opportunity to earn additional income because there are pay raises that are basically guaranteed over the first couple of years.

59:53And it also gives me the opportunity to earn overtime as well in this new field. And is this like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? Is this dream job still going to be there two years from now? Really hard to say. So it's a government job. I'll say that now. So it really is kind of dependent on what the political atmosphere is and everything, whether or not it sticks around. Interesting. You know, I will tell you, as a person who's moved across the country for a job, Um, it, it is all these things weigh heavily on your decision. And what I can tell you as your friend is both you and your wife need to have peace about it.

1:00:35That's thing. Number one, like money and all that stuff aside, once you do feel like you've landed on something, both people need to feel like, okay, like peace about it. And I mean, I don't know. I'm just talking to you like a friend right now. I'm the type of person I would pray the prayer. I'm like, God, make it so clear, Make it like 90. I want a 90-10 decision. I don't want a 50-50, right? 50-50 is like, well, I kind of feel like we could stay where we could go. I want to feel so overwhelmingly like this is what we're supposed to do. And so that would be my prayer for you guys. And that would be what I, if I were you, I'd sit down with your wife and say, this is what we need to be praying about, that we feel so overwhelmingly peaceful about whatever direction we choose and that we both feel it and we both have that peace about it.

1:01:20But money-wise, just from a money thing, since that's what you called about, at first I was more like, oh yeah, this dream job feels it. But then what you were saying about the political climate did kind of, I had a little pause there. I also wondered about, you said the pay was going to be the same, but you're moving to a major city. So I do wonder about lifestyle for you and with kids. I wonder what that looks like. Is this a job where you would be kind of like in the city or would you be far on the outskirts? Those are some questions that I have. And what does that look like with the values that you have that you think you'll have with kids in a family?

1:01:56That's something to play into the mix as well. yeah um i believe that the requirement is that we just have to live within the general area of where i'll be located where my office and everything was located so we wouldn't have to live like necessarily in the city exactly but you know sort of regardless it would definitely be like a more expensive area for us um yeah that's something to think about yeah your your income has to go a lot further in cities like you know dc or where you know philly wherever you're going to be um would they cover moving costs relocation costs they would yes that's a nice bonus i will say this it's going to be easier while you guys don't have kids than once you do have kids to make a dream job type move to a different city yeah so i'm still in the boat and i'm not mr you know like let's do it adventure time but this just feels like we'll figure it out we'll Figure out her job.

1:02:52If this really is the job for you that you really want and it does have room to grow, I'm going to say let's say yes to this adventure. And later on, if we're like, hey, this is not an environment we can raise kids. We need to move further out. We need to switch careers. You can do that a few years from now. And hopefully your incomes have gone up by then as well. So I don't think we can just tell you. I mean, I think the flags are there for you to go make the move or to stay. So it's not like we're swayed one way or the other. It's such a personal decision. like Jade said, that you guys both need to have peace about.

1:03:23So I would continue to, I don't know if you guys are people of faith, I'd be praying about it. I'd make sure that my wife was in agreement on whatever we decide to do. And then let's just do it and not look back and say, what if, what if we had stayed? Don't be a pillar of salt. Don't do that. Because either way, you're going to have the like, what if scenario? Well, what if I didn't take it? And what if I did take it? And so that's the part you have to just let go of and go, this is where I'm at. I'm going to do my best to make this a great season. Yeah. Yeah. And I would say, you know, for your wife, part of part of change, I think that makes it so difficult is we're not we're just looking at the negative side of it.

1:04:00But if she can start to get excited, that makes change a lot more fun. So she starts looking at jobs in that area or if she can start to see opportunity in that area and start to generate some excitement. That also can help if you are trying to sway her over to your direction. Excitement is the name of the game. That's what we told our kids when we came to Tennessee. It was like an adventure. Like we're going on an adventure. So anyway. Good luck. Good luck to you. Whatever you do, you're going to be okay. That's how I feel. You'll be all right. You can always go back.

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1:06:35all righty back to the phone lines we go we got Elle who's in Idaho what's going on Elle how can we help today um well I'm just trying to navigate what the right next step is um I guess my main question would be what do I do about a vehicle that's worth about four thousand dollars that I owe nine on it needs a five thousand dollar repair and that's just the trick of the iceberg I'm like I can't begin to explain how how far underwater I am I'm sorry all right I hope you took a deep breath there with me um I know anything else besides the car that's eaten your lunch? Oh, sure. I'm about$19 ,000 in credit card debt.

1:07:25And I have a house that's tied up in a divorce. And it's, I can't get it to sell because it needs repairs and it's not in great shape. And we can't seem to communicate. So everything's through lawyers at this point, which makes everything super complicated. So the total debt with everything is$212 ,000. $441,$212 ,041. And when I'm looking for things to cut out, because I'm like, well, I've got to figure it out. Because if I pay all the minimums of everything, I'm$605 in the negative. And that's no groceries, no gas, that's mortgage, a car payment that I'm paying on that That doesn't run. I'm borrowing a vehicle.

1:08:19I mean, I have multiple credit cards. My income is$4 ,133, and that's a job that I work 35 hours a week at and child support. So my next step was... How much of the$4 ,000 is child support? $1 ,333. Okay. What type of work do you do? I'm a dental assistant. A dental assistant? Okay. what you're making. So you said you're working 35 hours. Could you do the same work at an office where you can pull more hours and do maybe overtime hours? No, not where I'm located. There's not a whole lot of overtime hours. And actually, the office in my area actually pays higher hourly wages than any other office in this area.

1:09:08I've definitely looked. Okay, okay. Okay. If you guys end up selling the house, does that help you clean up this debt and fix a lot of these problems? Oh, man. Yeah, in theory, it definitely would. Does he have the money to fix it up or is he broke? No, he's broke and disabled. So, I know, it's just a mess. Are you working with a real estate agent? Yeah. I was, but our contract ended, and because of, like, the turmoil and the drama, she didn't want to renew her contract with us. Okay. So now I'm searching for a new one. What type of work does the house need? Like, tell us about it. Is it a fixer-upper, or is it like no one would buy this house?

1:09:52It's got major problems. Tell us about it. I mean, I begged him not to buy this house. That's the type of house it is. It needs major work. I mean. Like foundation repairs or the kitchen's ugly? There's a huge difference. Like it can be old. It can be old. We're not talking about like paint and aesthetics. We're talking about like the foundation and the core of it. We moved in and my two daughters who are 17 and 15 now, when we moved into the house two years ago, we discovered that the 1930 house didn't have proper wiring or insulation. It was cinder blocks on the other side of the paneling. So we ripped them to the studs and redid everything.

1:10:34The basement, like if you go into the basement, the floor above you, you can see how it's like planted. So like the basement, you need to lift the like main floor from the basement. We're talking like major. Like whoever buys it is just going to destroy it and rebuild a new house on top. They're just getting the lot, yeah. So what could you sell it for as is?

1:11:01I don't know. Somebody offered us$225 ,000, which is technically more than we owe on the loan. But because of the way the divorce decree is stated, we didn't have to accept that offer, so he denied it. So I guess my question is, all that was in place before you bought the house, and did you know that going in? So I guess what I'm asking is, did you buy the house for a fair price when you bought it? i bought the house for like 100 and yeah i mean like i don't i feel like it was a fair price based on sure like the value but like did i know going into it the amount of repairs it was going to need yes and no but at the time i mean you should look up the housing market in sun valley idaho it'll well your mind so we're just outside of that we're an hour outside of that so the house would be considered reasonable based on that.

1:12:00But just the amount of repairs and what needs to happen to the house is just like astronomical. Well, there's part of this where I go, hey, you bought the house, so somebody's going to buy it. And it's not like all that was hidden from you. And I'm not suggesting that you hide it from anybody else. But my point is, somebody's going to look at this and go, I'm willing to do the repairs. I want the property. I want to be close to Sun Valley, whatever that is. So I think it is worth getting with a realtor who's willing to take this on and can find the right buyer for you. I think that's going to help at least clear some of the confusion out of all this.

1:12:34You might not take away much money from it is what it sounds. Yeah. Why didn't he take that offer? Being a knucklehead. Did he want to drag this out? Like, was it out of spite? Like, I don't really, I feel like that is the nicest way to say it. Like, he just, he had to, he just wants to, I don't know, he just wants to control the situation. And it's, it's kind of messed up because 30 days prior to that, the house had been listed at a lower value. And again, if that offer had been given to us 30 days prior, we would have had to take the offer no matter what, because it was within 95 % of the listing price, which is what the divorce decree says.

1:13:14So 30 days later, he and the realtor decided to increase the price. And I just went along with it because I don't care. I don't care what we sell the house for as long as we pay off the loan. I literally don't care if I'm making even a dime on it. We don't have the luxury of trying to get the money. We just need to get out of this so that you guys can both have some closure and stabilize your financial lives. So I don't know if that means going back to the decree and getting a judge to go, hey, if you get an offer above this, you have to take it. Yeah. So I'm working on that too. I have a lawyer who I'm not having to pay because I went through a special program.

1:13:49So I have a lawyer that I'm working with that I'm meeting with on Monday that I already met with on Wednesday. Okay. So you're on the path to doing that before the time runs out. You are saying I'm trying. Let's talk about the car. Let's talk about it. Okay. Whose car are you borrowing now? You said you were borrowing someone's car. Who, who, who, who's helping you and how long are they going to help you for? I'm borrowing a car from a friend and I can't have access to that car at all times. Okay. Is your credit completely shot? If you went down to your credit union for a loan for the difference, would they give it to you?

1:14:20um i think my credit's probably shot it's probably like low sixes at this point i would at least try and explain to the credit union hey i'm underwater on this car i need the difference i'm underwater on plus a little bit to get a different car and then you let go of that car you might get five hundred dollars for it for parts at that point but you do not need to be hanging on to this car because if you put five thousand in repairs you're still underwater on it and it's probably not worth $5 ,000 at that point. It definitely is not. It's not worth it. Your goal is to just get the amount you're underwater on to clean the title and then get rid of it.

1:14:55Yep,$5 ,000, that's what you need. And that gets you some breathing room. So the credit means how I have the vehicle. So do I go to the same credit? Yeah, tell them you have bad collateral here. I am way underwater on this loan. I'm not going to be able to pay you back unless you give me a different loan to clear the title and get out of this underwater situation. yeah that's that's that's first on the list and then number two is yeah you got to get i think if you can get out of that car that's going to give you some breathing room obviously now you're tasked with saving up some money you know it's great that you have a friend loaning you a car and i understand that it's inconvenient but for the most part it's a blessing more than it is inconvenient yeah so get with her and say here's my plan because you know she's doing you a solid.

1:15:39So here's my plan. I'm going to try to get this other car paid off. I'm going to need a little bit more time because I got to stack up like four or$5 ,000 so I can get myself a beater and try to get out of this because I don't know if the credit union is going to lend me money for that. Right. And then selling the house, you can clear the credit card debt with the proceeds. And since the girls are older, you got to get side jobs at night just to try to float the difference that you're, you said 600 bucks. Yeah. Try to do something that you can work from home and do so you don't need the car. I would suggest customer service.

1:16:37All right, all right. So buying or selling your house is a very, very big deal. Okay. There's a lot of clickbait headlines out there. There's a lot of conflicting data out there. And it really is hard to know what's actually going on in the housing market. But don't worry. We're here to help you. We've always got the latest trends and we make it very easy for you to understand. Okay. So for instance, meeting home prices dropped a bit last month. Now they're around 426 ,000, a typical season shift, a typical season shift as we head into the fall. So that's normal. Also, buyers have more options and negotiating power while sellers face more competition.

1:17:12So if you want to learn more about the housing market trends and get free tools to help you buy and sell with confidence, we've got you covered. Just go to RamseySolutions.com slash market or click the link in the show notes if you're listening on podcast or YouTube. So important. All right, George, let's keep it rolling with Bree in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Hey, Bree. Hi, how are you? How are you doing? We're doing great. How can George and I help? so basically yesterday i had a talk with my husband and he thinks that he want to change his job he's right now assistant manager in a truck company so it's a big load of work and stressful work talking with the truck drivers and mechanics uh towing trucks and everything like that.

1:18:01And he thinks that we need to take a car on credit and preferably on mine because my credit score is better than his. And it will be like Toyota sedan so he can do Uber. Oh, he wants to quit his salary job to do Uber and take out a car loan to fund this quote unquote business. Yeah. Did I just sum that up? Basically, he's making right now a week$1 ,800. And his friend at work told him that on Uber, they can make like$2 ,000 and more a week. Oh, boy. So that's why he's thinking about it. No, I would not listen to this friend. Especially, especially if you're thinking about going into debt for this.

1:18:52Yeah, here's what's going to happen. He's going to drive that car into ground, and the depreciation is going to hit it so hard that you guys are going to be underwater on this car. within the first week. Do you guys have any debt now? Yeah, we have like$40 ,000. Oh, perfect. Well, let's just add to the pile then and pretend it doesn't exist. Okay, that's what I'm thinking, to be honest. But like, I don't know how to tell him that he doesn't even know that I'm calling right now. What do you do for work, Bree? I'm a stay-at-home mom. I'm having a baby one year and nine months. and also be having a baby on the way.

1:19:29Wow, congrats. Okay. Thank you. So now is definitely not the time to put our income in flux and rely on people who need rides downtown. I was thinking that he needs to stick to it, like maybe at work he can do less work. Here's an idea. Riddle me this. Why doesn't he, on the side, after work, go out and drive with the car he has if he wants to try it out? he cannot because we have 20 year old uh lexus that doesn't have major issues with the engine okay so he cannot do it then i i think that's a great indicator that this is not the job for you there's a lot of jobs um brie and this might be the way you frame it to him i don't know what kind of guy he is but there's a lot of jobs that have prerequisites to be able to do it like if you want to be in the nba you got to be like seven foot tall or you got to be able to shoot like Steph Curry.

1:20:22And if you don't have that, you can't do the job. And in this case, if you need a brand new, you know, Lexus truck that you don't have, you can't do the job. And I think it's just as simple as that. You could go out and, you know, pull all these strings and pull all that set to try to force this in, but that there's no guarantee there. Okay. And so I think that if he doesn't enjoy his job currently, that's fine. I'm all, I'm all for him looking for different jobs that he enjoys more. But if I were in your shoes, I would say, honey, I want you to do work that you love, but here's my boundaries.

1:20:59We can't go into debt for it. And if possible, I'd like to wait until this baby is born so that we can have some solidity going through that. And then once the baby is born, you know, go do your thing. Do you think he would listen? I think he will. Like I was trying to think like logically is it a good idea even to get a new car because like we were planning after giving birth of course we need more space especially with a car i don't have a car but yeah you definitely need a new to you car but that doesn't mean we're going to go into debt about the car yeah you and you should be you need a different car but what you don't need is another$25 ,000 loan on top of your$40 ,000 in debt.

1:21:47And so what I would do if I was in your shoes is go, all right, we need to save up to get a reliable car, and then we're going to clean up this$40 ,000 of debt. And he's not going to be switching jobs. He's going to be working extra. Yeah. Because you guys make$7 ,000 a month right now? Yeah. You guys have a fine income. And so how quickly can we pay$40 ,000? Yeah, we have a fine income, I think, but still we're barely managing to cover everything. Do you guys have a budget? Kind of. That's a no. I'm trying to keep up, but to be honest, I don't know what is going on in his credit card because basically all that we put on his credit card.

1:22:26So this is mine, all of them. This is a very, Bri, you're helping. So thank you for calling in because you're helping so many people right now. You're right. When you're on credit cards and, you know, the spouse has a credit card in their wallet, that's different from what the other spouse has in their wallet. It does. It makes it very hard to stick to a budget because unless that person is going to bank connect all their credit cards to the budget so you can see every transaction coming through, you're right. You have no idea what you're spending. And it's very easy to overspend on credit cards so that at the end of the month, if you plan on paying it off, yeah, you're spending up every bit of extra margin that you had to pay down this credit card.

1:23:04So I... That's what I found out. For September, we overspent for$1 ,000. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you have some big conversations that you need to have, Brie. And I'll give you three takeaways that I think the first one I already gave you, which is you need to tell him that your boundaries for him switching jobs cannot include debt. And the second thing is it needs to happen after this baby is born. And then the third thing is you want to talk about a more transparent way of handling finances that doesn't include credit cards. Like I want a one checking account. We both have a debit card. We both spend the money that we have on the debit card because I am freaking out because of our debt.

1:23:50So those are the three things you have to tackle, write them down. And you can, I mean, you know him better than we do. So you know the best way to kind of be tactical about that. But those are your non-negotiables. Do you guys come from the same cultural background? uh no like similar okay where where's what's his background he's from uzbekistan and i'm from ukraine okay and are you guys immigrants or were you born stateside here we are immigrants everything clear great my parents were immigrants as well and here's what i want to remind you you guys came here for a better life i assume Whether you chose to or your parents chose to, right?

1:24:33We chose both. And so here's what I want to remind you. The American dream is now going to as much debt as possible to fund a fake lifestyle so that hopefully we can impress people. And I don't want you guys to fall into that trap. That's what we figure out in our young 20s. Yeah, they say, hey, come get a credit card. It's the American way. You'll love it over here. Get your credit score up. We'll give you more line of credit. Hey, we can get you into a brand new car. Wouldn't that be nice? Do you see how insane this is? It is. And so that's what you need to convince him of. Remind him of what he's doing on this earth.

1:25:03He's got a little baby, a little baby on the way. We need to take care of our family first. And that means getting out of debt and staying out of debt. That's what's going to cause some actual peace. That's going to cause a real American dream to happen. Not trying to do Uber full time with a car loan that's supposedly going to put yourself in a better financial position. I can guarantee you it's not. He's going to be calling the show a year from now saying, how do I get out of this? I'm$20 ,000 upside down on my car loan. So I hope that helps you with the conversation. Again, like Jade said, you know how to convince him better than anyone.

1:25:36And I think your feelings and emotions around this should be the first thing you lead with. And if he doesn't respect that, you have a marriage problem. Yeah, and that's so true. This is a good indicator. When you bring this to him, if he starts flipping out or does it anyway, if he does this Uber thing anyway, your next step is we need to get into some counseling and spend some money on that. that's the tough part oh my goodness oh boy oh boy oh boy so sorry you're going through this break me too and he needs to find better friends who aren't like dude you gotta do Uber man I'm making great money over here they don't live your life they don't know your stress I know that's right stick around we'll be back

1:26:27Hey, what's up guys? It's Jade. You know that moment when you check your bank account and think, wait a minute, how is my paycheck gone already? Yeah, not cool. You work way too hard to feel broke like that. And the truth is you deserve better than just not feeling broke. You need more margin, more breathing room. And that's what our Every Dollar Budget app helps you find. Most people free up an average of$3 ,015 in just the first 15 minutes in the app. Just imagine how much you could find to pay off debt, stack savings, and just breathe easier with that money stress gone. Things might seem tight, I get it, but I promise you, you've got way more margin than you think.

1:27:04And with every dollar, you'll find it. Download it for free today in the App Store or Google Play today.

1:27:22Welcome back to the Ramsey show. We're here in the Fair Ones Credit Union studio, continuing on with your calls, your life, your money. That's what we're talking about. We do it through live calls on the phone lines. These are not rehearsed. We don't know these people ahead of time. They don't give us a script. This is just, we're flying by the seat of our pants, George. Life is improv, baby. That's right. Let's go. Elijah's in California of the United States. What's going on, Elijah? That's what it says on the screen. What's going on, buddy? How's it going? Thanks for taking the call. You're welcome.

1:27:56How can we help? So ultimately, my question is trying to figure out how to separate from my parents. About two years ago, we found out my grandpa was going to lose his home. We grew up in that house for 15 years. We ended up trying to help. During that process, there was a lot of speed bumps along the way. uh my parents had to pay off some debt of theirs to get qualified i had to get a loan from my boss to get it and we ended up we ended up getting it done um but it's been two years and what was the game plan here um really it was to have my grandpa honestly just live the rest of his life in his home comfortably that he's lived in for about 15 20 years um that was that was there you You know, what we were trying to do, I found it as an opportunity for me.

1:28:53I told my parents this, you know, it seems like a good opportunity for me later in the future if we end up selling the house to, you know, come up with some cash and just get my future started. But there's been, you know, some pushback, some discrepancies about who owns the house, how the money is getting split. And it's just been a real headache. Well, whose name is on the deed? All three of ours. So my stepmom, my dad, and me are all on loan and title. Okay. Wow. Okay. And is it a third each? I mean, we never really discussed that. I would assume it's a third each. Like if you sold today and you got the profits, you'd split it three ways, right?

1:29:35You all put in equal amounts? No. So I put in$14 ,000. I got a loan from my boss for$14 ,000. dollars um that feels awkward in and of itself gosh a loan from your boss yeah kind of awkward ask for a raise after that yeah man yeah he's uh he's been really good to us uh he really helped us out with that process it was definitely awkward um we did some things along the way that i you know wish we didn't i didn't know about you guys before that so we took some money out of the equity um consolidated debt um how much did your dad put in and then how much did your step mom put in? Not put in anything.

1:30:16According to them, if you ask them, they're going to tell you that they put in$28 ,000. But in my interpretation of that, they put in$28 ,000 toward their debt to get qualified for the house. Okay, it's not a dance routine. There's no interpretation. It's how much was actually down when the house was purchased. It doesn't matter what they did to qualify for whatever. So they paid down their own debt just to qualify for the loan. Correct. But they put no money into it. No money. Here's my thing. If you put 14 in, you should get a third of the profits plus the 14 you put in. Is that fair? Yeah. The way we've done it from then is because, you know, they want to claim some of the taxes.

1:30:58They want to do these things. I kind of push back on it. Like, you guys haven't really put any money into the house. Why should you guys get, you know, all the profits from it? um that that thinking's probably wrong but I ended up splitting the 14 ,000 to make it fair to feel like hey we've all put in to the house so you know we split it three ways and now it made me feel a little better like oh you guys put the same amount in um as I did when you said we ended up what do you mean you ended up saying what do you mean by that um there was just some discussions about the house being sold and they wanted to claim, you know, my stepmom and my dad wanted to claim their portion and I was going to get the smaller portion.

1:31:49I felt like I slightly deserved a little bit more because I put most of the money in. And there's no written agreement for any of this? Unfortunately, there is not. Okay. And I'm saying, I guess it doesn't really matter when does when are you guys putting the house up for sale so the thing is is one of my questions is it is it worth fighting for i've given them options like hey dad would how about you guys claim the house for the for 20 years and that'll be like my way of buying you guys out you guys claim the property taxes i just call bs on this was all for grandpa this was just a nightmare for the entire family and now it's turned into financial transactions of who gets what what's the house even worth if it were to sell today?

1:32:36I looked on Zillow and it says about 900, but I don't think we're going to get that because it's just not in the condition. It needs a new roof. The air conditioning doesn't work. I've got quotes on all these things. What's the mortgage? The mortgage left is$551 ,000. Okay. So let's say you guys get$800 for it. Is that fair? That could be fair, yeah. Pay off the mortgage, pay some fees. $200 ,000 is what you guys net. Divide it by three. Everyone gets$66 ,000, and you call it a day. Or you get a little bit more because of your$14 ,000. I don't know if you can convince them of that. You can create an agreement.

1:33:14I don't know if they'll sign it. This is on all of you for having no written agreement. So you must know there's a stupid tax here to be paid that might lose you$14 ,000. And that's if you can convince them to sell it. Yeah, and there was also equity we took out, so that would also have to. Oh, gosh. Who took the equity out? It was supposed to be taking out for property taxes that we couldn't pay one year. We ended up taking out$115 ,000. Hold on. All three of you together couldn't afford the property taxes on this home? I mean, at that time, no. I could afford a couple thousand, but I don't want to speak down on them.

1:33:55But my parents at the time, just financially, they weren't in the position to come up with$3 ,000,$4 ,000,$5 ,000. Then none of you should be in the home ownership game, let alone together as some sort of weird business partnership. I would try to get a quick claim deed and get your portion and they buy you out. And if they can't afford to, we force the sale. The numbers you quoted, was that before or after the$150? So are we... Are we deeper in debt than we thought? Are you only going to earn$50 ,000 off this sale or are you going to... Um, probably, but that's, you know, that's just another discussion in itself that I have kind of heard coming from them that I shouldn't get more than them.

1:34:36I shouldn't get more than them. They should get a bigger portion. And, um. Well, if we do what you said, which is if there's another loan out there for another 150, what, you know, you don't stand to make much on this. Yeah. So it's, I mean, that, then we're really talking about like, how much do you really want to fight on this? Because you said it's worth 551. Maybe you sold it for 800. But if we subtract that 150 out of this, that 200 ,000 that we thought we would net suddenly goes down to like 50 or 60 split three ways. So now you guys are, you're quibbling over$20 ,000 a piece, which don't get me wrong.

1:35:13$20 ,000 is a lot of money, but you have to decide. Here's the problem. They probably can't afford to refinance this thing and get you out of it, right? Uh-huh. No, they can't. Well, I mean, I can try. I've already talked to people about refinancing. I just don't think they want to take their name off. Everybody wants out, then just force the sale. Yeah. That's what you're going to need to do. You guys all should have come together to cover the mortgage for grandpa, not buy it off of him and create this family drama. This is destroying a legacy, not helping keep it up.

1:36:10Hey guys, it's Rachel Cruz, and I've got great news for you. The Ramsey Christmas Cash Giveaway is here. We are giving away$500 every week, plus a grand prize of$5 ,000 in cash. Listen, you can enter daily to boost your chances of winning, and there's no purchase necessary. Just go to RamseySolutions.com slash giveaway. That's RamseySolutions.com slash giveaway. Good luck, you guys.

1:36:55All right, George. We talk about some very important things on the show, possibly none more important than the will itself because you amass all this debt, you've done well financially, but one of these days you're going to leave the earth. And so you need to make sure that your family and your loved ones know what to do, but we get a lot of questions surrounding will. So let's do a round robin. I'll ask the question, you say the answer. All right. How do you know, George, how do I know if I need a trust or if my estate is too complicated for an online will? Okay. In general, if your estate is worth less than a million, a will online is a great option for now.

1:37:29Love that. Okay. Well, what do I need to start my will online? It's answering some hard questions like who do you want to get your stuff? Who's going to take care of the minor kids? Who do you want to make decisions if you're incapacitated? That's where it gets real. But you've got to know those answers. You do, you do, you do. Okay, so number three, is an online will legally valid? Yes, it's valid in your state. So it's got to be state specific and match those laws. So if you move, you need a new will. That's right. Same thing happened to us. All right. Why would I want an online will versus doing a traditional one with a lawyer?

1:38:01I mean, it's like saying, why would I want to get my license renewed online when I can go into the DMV and pay triple? That's kind of what it's like do you want to work with a lawyer and pay you know three four times more be my guest but if you can do it online it's cheaper more convenient so knock it out there you go that's that's that's it in a nutshell so if you have more questions or if you want to know if an online will is right for you go to ramsey solutions.com slash will's quiz to find out if an online will is right for you it was right for me oh well you know i used our mama bear legal forms and it was super It is.

1:38:36It is. All right. Let's go to Isabel. She's in San Antonio, Texas. What's going on, Isabel? Hi. Thank you for taking my call. I just had a question. I have been at my job for a little over a decade. We were recently acquired by a bigger facility. So I have a pretty substantial amount in my 401k with my previous employer. My question is, the new company that we were acquired by does offer a 401k as well. I'm on the fence on whether I should move it. My husband thinks that we should move it to the new 401k. I just don't know if a direct 401k rollover into the new one is the best option since they're both 401k.

1:39:23So I was just looking for some guidance. Are they doing sort of automatic rollovers with this merger where they're saying, hey, we're going to take all these old 401ks and just move them into the new 401k? What are they saying? They're saying that we are given the option for a 401k. It's not going to be a direct rollover. Unfortunately, we're still going to be getting the option to have it, but no, it's not going to go directly to that. Oh, so you can't do a direct rollover. You have to go to an IRA? Yeah, you just do a direct rollover to an IRA that you would control. Okay. Yeah, because they said everything that I moved to it is not going to get, you know, if I have a substantial amount in there, it's not going to get like – I don't know why the amount would matter.

1:40:10Is there like some sort of limit to where they won't roll it over if it's over a certain amount? No, no. I just never really dealt with it before. I would get in touch with HR and see, hey, what's going on with the old 401ks? What's the plan? And if you have great options and low fees in that new 401k and they can do a direct rollover, that's fine. Or if you want to do a direct rollover to an IRA that you control, that's also fine. The key here is you don't want to actually take out the money. You never want to see this money because then you're going to get hit with penalties and fees. So that's the simplest way to do it is just those are the key words, direct rollover.

1:40:43Great call. Great question. All right. We've got Monica who's in Chicago, Illinois. Hey, Monica, you're on the line. Hi. Thank you for taking the call. You bet. My question is centered around my home. You know, my husband and I, we bought a home in 2020 when the mortgage rates were really low. So we have a great rate of 2.5. But we, you know, the last couple of years, we just outgrown the home. The layout of the home just doesn't fit our needs anymore. And we are looking either to take out a home equity loan to remodel, extend our current home because we have that great mortgage rate, or potentially purchasing a new home.

1:41:24But every home that we've been looking that would fit our needs is much, much higher than our current mortgage at a higher interest rate. So we're just trying to, what makes sense, what's the best case for us. Well, what I'm hearing, I'm hearing two sides of an equation. It's like, hey, if we keep the current home, we'd like to remodel it, but we don't have the money to do that, so we'd have to take debt to do it. And then I see another side over here, which says, well, what if we just took debt and got a bigger house? And then you realize, but if we did that, we couldn't afford it. So the second option is shining light on what's really true, which is you can't afford it.

1:42:04Does that make sense? Well, we don't have any other debt. We make a fairly stable, good income. were under the equation that they recommend of like how much of your monthly income, how much are you allocating towards your mortgage? We're way under that. I understand that. But if you were to add that debt, if you were to take that same amount, let's say, how much do you think you'll spend on a remodel? Another$150 ,000. Okay. So if you went out in the market and bought another house for$150 ,000 more, you'd suddenly realize, oh my gosh, I can't afford that, which is what happened. So you're kidding.

1:42:43Especially when that HELOC is at, you know, 8 % interest and now it's variable. So you're not really winning by keeping the two and a half. Right. Do you see what we're saying? I was looking at options between, like, not a HELOC because I've seen that that has, like, a variable interest rate. So I was thinking, like, either a home equity or a personal loan. I mean, even a home equity loan, it'll be a fixed rate on that, but it's still going to be much higher than your two and a half. So I just wouldn't hang on to these golden handcuffs of the low rate. But the math of it is you guys can't afford to move to a bigger house with the current numbers, and you can't afford to do the renovation.

1:43:18So we need to find out a compromise here, which might be we're going to save up in cash flow these renovations over the next year or two. So how much money can you guys save up right now per month? We can probably save about$4 ,000. $4 ,000 a month? That's not bad. Yeah. So that's$50 ,000 a year, and you have$150 ,000 of renovations you want to do? Is that really what it's going to cost? Approximately, we've had a couple of quotes here and there, and they vary between$80 ,000 to, you know, depending. It could be up to$200 ,000. Oh, gosh. So it's multiple rooms. You're doing multiple rooms of the house?

1:43:57It would be an extension, and it's an older home, so you're already going to knock down one. My other fear is that you overbuild in the neighborhood. That's true. Because what kind of homes are in your neighborhood? What are the going numbers people are selling for? The neighborhood is actually getting better, and we see these type of homes become additions or renovations, like coming up like two per block every couple of months. So the neighborhood is actually moving along the same path of doing this, extending your home. They're all smaller homes, and as the time passes, every other block, every, like, down our street.

1:44:32There's three right now happening. Would you guys want to stay there forever, regardless of the mortgage interest rate? Is this the forever home if you added $100 ,000 of renovations to it? Or at least, you know, a five-year home or something? Yes. Like, if we were to, you know, accommodate it, renovate it, we could see this being our forever home. So that's why we were kind of liking the idea of, like, well, we have a low mortgage rate. We pay a low mortgage. We're able to save a little bit. But if we want to do it soon, we would have to incur in this. What's the exact urgency here? What changed in your situation that the home was good in 2020, but now it's not anymore?

1:45:10Did you have kids? Well, we just got married. We didn't have kids. We didn't have pets. And we weren't thinking that this was going to be the forever home. But as time passed, and now we have a daughter and pets, and we're starting to see things more long term. And, you know, back then it was even so hard to get a home because the prices were so low. Well, if your mortgage is so reasonable right now, couldn't you move up and home? That's what I was going to say. I feel like your money is better spent saving up to close the gap on a down payment of the home that would really suit your needs. Because adding an extension and building on it, that feels like, to George's point, that you could really overbuild.

1:45:53and that you're just uncovering a nightmare of just more and more and more expenses. It's going to be stressful for the next year or two, even doing this with or without debt. So I would encourage you guys to go, okay, if we just keep knocking out this mortgage, we're just building more equity. And when we go to sell, we'll get more profit. We can put that toward the next home. That's what I would encourage you guys to do. That's what I've done in the past. If you guys can knock out that mortgage, well, now we have 100 % equity when we sell. So that would be my goal for you guys is just move up in house and make sure that mortgage is 25 % of take-home pay or less.

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1:47:27All right, it's time for our question of the day, which is brought to you by Y-Refi. If your private student loans are in default and if you feel stuck, I'm telling you, you're not out of options. Y-Refi specializes in helping borrowers just like you find real solutions with low fixed rate refinancing. So go to yrefi.com slash Ramsey. That's the letter Y-R-E-F-Y dot com slash Ramsey. Remember, it's not available in all states. Today's question comes from Declan in California. I'm currently earning more than I ever have, but I find myself struggling to tithe. I haven't stopped, but I'm doing it with a heavy heart.

1:48:03I'm married, we're debt-free, and have a baby. It's not the same to give$10 when you earn$100 as it is giving$10 ,000 when you earn$100 ,000. And what? At this level, you start measuring the opportunity cost, what that money could mean for your family, the experiences it could fund, and the security it could provide. I'm not questioning the principle of tithing, but I am wrestling with the posture of my heart. My concern is that even though I haven't stopped tithing, it might not be pleasing to the Lord if it's not offered joyfully. Do you have any advice for me? What a great question. That's a very thoughtful question from Declan.

1:48:35I appreciate the way he phrased this all. And I relate to it. I can actually see where he's coming from. As the numbers start to get bigger, there's more zeros on the end, even though, because 10%, like he said, of 100, well, yeah, 10 bucks and I got to live on the 90. That's something. Now, 100 ,000 and I'm giving 10 ,000, it definitely puts some pause. I mean, yes, you could say that, but you could also flip the script and be like, listen, if you only had 100 bucks and you had to give 10 of it, you'd be like, shoot, I already couldn't do anything with this money. and now there's a threshold of like i can survive off of this so yeah there's a piece of it where you go well you can can you live can you be grateful that you make a hundred thousand dollars now in california who knows that sure that might not get you very far based on where he's living and i don't know how much he makes he just he's giving us the principle he didn't say how much he's actually making or how much he's giving he said he's not questioning the principle but i i do wonder if there's something missing from what he believes, because I think the heart posture thing, I think, and I don't know, Declan, but I think the biggest reminder is if you can remember it was never yours.

1:49:49Once we start thinking of it as ours is when all bets are off. Yeah, we call that, you know, being a steward is what the Bible says. And it definitely changes it when you go, I'm not managing this for me. I'm managing it for someone else. If it's not my money, then it's not my business. I'm just going to do what's right. I'm going to be faithful and obedient, do the 10 % and learn to live on the rest. It's like we do with taxes. Now, taxes are not fun. I hope you have more enjoyment tithing than you do paying taxes. But you go, all right, I got to pay my 25 % to the government and I'm going to learn to live on the rest.

1:50:24Yeah. And I mean, I would just, it does feel different when it's the government because it's like. That's anger inducing. That's anger inducing. I would encourage you, since you seems like a faith-filled person, I would encourage you to pray about that and ask God, hey, help me out with this. I want to do it, but I don't want to do it based on legalism. I want to do it with the right heart, and I want to be a cheerful giver. Ask for help, and when you ask, usually that door is open. You shall receive. That's right. I like that. It's kind of this like, God, I trust you more than my money. And so it's not about losing 10%.

1:50:59It's just about acknowledging 100 % belongs to God. That's the faith posture. And that takes a place of spiritual maturity that is difficult to get to. And so I appreciate you kind of showing us this journey while you're in it. And a little practicality on it. You know, you're faking it till you make it. But a little practicality would be to remind yourself of all your blessings because you were blessed with now, you know, the$10 ,000 that you now have to tithe from. Or I'm sorry, the$100 ,000 that you're now tithing from. if you can kind of list out, oh my gosh, here's how my life's better. Here's how this has been a breakthrough for me.

1:51:37Like all of those blessings, I think will also give you, put you in a greater spirit of gratitude to be able to do that. So just a thought. And a great resource on this is Dave Ramsey's book, The Legacy Journey. He unpacks this beautifully with scripture and the heart and the motives behind it and all about wealth building as well. So make sure to check out that book. All right. Very good. Back to the phone lines, Becca in Austin, Texas. What's up, Becca? how are you doing good thank you for taking my call absolutely um my question for y 'all is so i'm in the market i need to buy a new car and based off of my savings i'm wondering what you guys think i should spend on a car and if you think that i should take out a loan and if i do take out a loan how much should i put down now becca do you think we're going to tell you to take out a loan on a vehicle.

1:52:26Okay, yeah. We like Becca too much. Scratch that one off the list. We just like you too much to put you into debt. So let's figure out how much car we can get. How much do you have in savings? I have just over$60 ,000. Does that include your emergency fund? Is that everything? That's 401k Roth IRA checking savings. Oh boy. Okay, well, let's take retirement out of this. How much do you have that's non-retirement above your emergency fund? I have just in my checkings I have just over$22 ,000. Okay. Do you have savings like for an emergency fund or is that it? Yes. I have savings on top of that. Okay.

1:53:05So what's your three to six month emergency fund? How much is in there? Honestly, I haven't broken that down. I have a pretty relatively low cost of living. So I know that I could live off of that for quite some time. Well, I want to encourage you to split it because here's what happens. The car becomes the emergency and then it depletes your emergency fund. So I would have a separate, you know, maybe you create another account within a savings account. You can have multiple and one is emergency fund. The other one is car fund. That's what I would do. So take three to six months, set it aside.

1:53:36Whatever's left over in cash becomes your car fund. And if it doesn't get you the car you want right now, keep saving. What's your income? um i'm in college so i make just under 23 an hour um i work four to five days a week so it comes out to about 24 000 a year okay and what how much car are you looking at like tell us the number or the make and model um either a toyota or a honda i was hoping originally to spend about nine thousand dollars but um the car market right now is not great so that's not going to get me quite what I thought. You know, I'm, I want to get something that is worth buying something new.

1:54:17Um, my family lives in a different city, so, you know, I want to be able to drive and see them as well. What if you spent like 12 ,000? Okay. That would be my, that would be my top number. So here's the, here's our parameter. You should never have things that have wheels and motors that add up to more than half of your annual income. So if this is your only car and you make 24 grand a year, 12k would be my out the door number for you and so that's what you're looking for and which definitely changes your search you're not going to the new car dealership you're not just looking at any car because if you look at a 2023 corolla well now the the 2012 looks like i'm not going to drive that right right right and so for especially for a college kid i think you should be driving the worst cars as you're when you're young and it should only get better over time absolutely and i see too many 16 year olds in my neighborhood with nicer cars than me i know that's right That drives me insane.

1:55:06What are your parents doing? I agree. Yeah, thankfully, I'm not used to a luxurious car. Mine is almost as old as me. So as long as it works, I'm happy with that. Well, Becca, you've done a great job. You're young. You don't have any debt. You've saved up money. You're working. I'm proud of you. I think a$12 ,000 car is going to be just the thing you need. George, I love when somebody young calls in and they got a good head on their shoulder. It's fantastic. When she said she wanted to spend$9 ,000, I said yes. Let your budget drive what kind of car you get, not the kind of car you get drive the budget.

1:55:40Because that's where we get it twisted. And we go, well, they upsold me and they said they can work with me on the payment. And then they end up with 20 grand in car loan debt at 23 % interest. It's insane. Oh, my goodness. All right, George, we have time for a question from, let's go with this one from Noel on TikTok. Okay. He says, should I put the$1 ,000 emergency fund in a high-yield savings account so it can grow instead of just sitting there? I mean, sure, but grow is relative. It's about how much I'm going to grow in height at 36 years old. Let me do the math for you. Right now, you would get$35 in a year.

1:56:19So,$3 a month is what you'd make. Hey, if that gets you excited, I'm happy for you. But I would park it. I mean, I would keep it in a high yield savings account just because it's a good place to keep it. But not for growth. But not for the growth. It's not meant to be an investment. This is your insurance policy against life throwing you some ankle biter emergencies while you're trying to knock out the debt. Yeah, it's better there than like in your sock drawer or like, you know, stuffed under your cushion because then you might pull it out if you're just running to 7-Eleven. Well, those socks get eaten up in the laundry, so your money might go with it.

1:56:49Hey, we don't want that. We don't want that. You work too hard for that$1 ,000. High yield savings account is great for it.

1:56:58Thank you.

1:57:30All right, our scripture and quote of the day, Isaiah 55, 8 and 9. my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are my ways your ways declares the lord as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts what a flex i know right come on now albert einstein said two things are infinite the universe and human stupidity and i'm not yet completely sure about the universe man just classic Classic Einstein burn. The shade. Golly, I'll tell you what, man. He's right, though. All right. Lauren is in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Hi, Lauren.

1:58:07How can we help today? Hey, thank you for taking my call. Yes, I am in the final stages of tying up my dad's estate. And the first thing on the list is we're going to be selling possibly one of my dad's cars. and my husband feels that my inheritance is now ours because we are one and that wives are to submit to your husband in all things and he really wants me to sell the Lexus and I'm feeling very conflicted and I'm not at peace because I'm not ready to sell it I'm not sure what I want to do with it but I also don't want to be going against what my husband thinks is best so So I'm hoping for some wisdom on how to handle this because this is just the first item we've got a long ways to go.

1:59:01When did your dad pass? He passed away three years ago. Three years ago. Okay, so you've just been going through, you know, little by little and sorting through everything? Yeah, we ended up in probate. So you know how long that can take to get through things. Okay, so what all did you end up with? that's in um so i have i ended up with an investment account that's worth 390 000 an inherited 401k that's worth 300 000 about a quarter million in gold and then a his house which is worth about 1.1 million and in the car what's the car worth um it's a 2018 lexus ls 400 i'm going to guess it's probably around like 45 ,000.

1:59:54I can't remember how many miles it has on it, but it's pretty low. So it's the smallest asset in the entire estate, and we're already arguing about this. And you want to keep it for yourself and drive it? I don't know if, I mean, I wouldn't, my car's paid for. I drive a 2018 Honda CR-V. So it wouldn't be like I'd be driving this all the time I would feel what's the Russian selling it why can't you just keep it because you like it and it reminds you of your dad you got a bunch of money here I do have an emotional attachment to it so that's what I'm struggling with um and I think his concern is like the upkeep and where are we going to keep it which are all valid concerns okay I see um what are the ultimate goals that you guys had before any of this existed?

2:00:43Our ultimate goals with the estate? With just money, like were you trying to pay off debt, trying to pay off the mortgage? Where are you guys at? So we were just paying off our car loans. We didn't even own a home. We were just renting and we actually bought our home with the life insurance that my dad left us. So we don't have any debt. How much was that? It's our house is worth about$380 ,000. Okay. What's going to happen with his house? Are you selling it and going to invest the cash? I do plan on selling it. Yes, I don't. It's in Atlanta. And I, I won't be able to, you know, keep that up or anything.

2:01:23It's more house than I would ever want. So the true, the true argument around the car, There's only one argument that I see, which is we don't have space for it. So I'm guessing you guys have a two-car garage and it's just sitting in the driveway blocking everything. And it's annoying for your husband. Is that it? Yeah, we actually don't have a garage. But, yeah, we just have our driveway. So it would need to go somewhere. That is a hurdle if I were to keep it. and I don't think he's excited about having to pay to store it somewhere or, you know, he thinks a lot of the responsibility would fall on him.

2:02:04Well, it's kind of almost like, I'd almost, if you did store it somewhere, if you did, I'm not saying you should, but if you did, it's like your grandfather, it's like your dad's paying for it, right? Since all this money came from him. I mean, you still have another$2 million that will, you know, manifest itself here from all the other assets. What's your plan with that? um i really don't have a plan yet i do have like i said i have an investment account and um i i didn't want to get ahead of myself on what to do with it i was just trying to close up the estate um you know before i figured out how to you know diversify it but i really don't have a plan does your husband have ideas of what he would want to do with this two million He does.

2:02:49He wants me to put it in stocks. Single stocks? No, I don't think so. I think they're group stocks. Like mutual funds, index funds. Okay. Yeah, that sounds wise. I don't have any experience with that. I know he does. But, yeah, I guess I'm just – I don't want to go against my husband, But I'm feeling very conflicted because I really am not ready to get rid of it, but I feel like it's going to cause issues. What do you guys make a year? So my husband works for himself. I'm a stay-at-home mom. I homeschool our six-year-old. He, on our last tax return, made about$15 ,000. He just works part-time.

2:03:39$15 ,000? How were you living before you inherited this money? We're using my investment account money to supplement our income. But how were you before you received it? Did you have a trust fund before? I did not. No, he was working full time at that point. He's, since I've received this money, he has cut back a lot. And is the game plan just to live off these investments for the rest of your lives and never work again? I do not think that that's why. No, I do not want to do that. Let me, I'm going to give you some real talk right now. Um, there's, there's something, um, there's a thread in this that, that doesn't sit right with me from hearing you talk.

2:04:23Um, and I, I'm just going by what I'm hearing you say. Um, I feel like this, this money came from a loved one of yours and it is your money. It's both of your money, but it feels like your husband is feeling like this is what I want to do. And so this is what I'm going to do. And it's almost like for him, it's permission to do what he wants to do, which is now I no longer want to work, even though you're saying, hey, I think you still need to work. And this is just here for the family to, you know, for us to live on later. And it will continue to be an inheritance for our children. Right. And don't get me wrong.

2:04:59There's parts of that that you can enjoy. But then over here, when there's something that you would like to enjoy, which is I'd like to keep this car around. And this reminds me of my dad. And if we have to store it, we'll just use some of the millions that my dad left us to pay for it. I'm fine with that. But then over there, for some reason, he's not letting you do that. And I've heard you use a little bit of language that is kind of making me feel like it's being taken out of context. So I just want to tell you, like, you do have a vote in this. And it's OK for you to say, I don't want to do that.

2:05:28And I don't agree with that. And we need to stop. And no one needs to do anything until both of us agree. at the very least. And that's not being disrespectful. That's just you being able to have a say and have a vote in what goes on. And it's okay for you guys to not do anything until there's mutual agreement. And that goes with working or not working. Like I, I think you guys need to have some tough conversations and you need to let them know that you're not feeling heard in this relationship. And the truth is, he just thought about this longer than you have of what he's going to do with this money.

2:06:06He has a little bit more financial literacy. And so your job now is to gain some financial literacy because you just got a whole bunch of wealth to manage. And that might mean you get some pros in your corner. You have a good tax pro, a good real estate pro, a good investment pro to help you figure all this out, to help you understand it, to help you make the right next move. And then you and your husband can get aligned based on all of the advice they give you and what your personal goals are. But right now there's no real vision for this household. And so I don't trust him trying to control you with scripture when he has no vision for the family other than I'm going to make, you know, 10 grand a year for my hobby.

2:06:39And so I think we have a lot of things to figure out before we do anything with this money. The car is just a symptom of a whole bunch of problems underneath. So I hope you guys can get to the root of that. Yeah. What a gift. But allow it to be a gift. Don't turn that blessing into a curse by letting it pull you guys apart. That's for sure. Woo-wee. All right, guys. Well, that does it for this episode. And remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that is to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus.