Everyone Makes Financial Mistakes – Don’t Let Yours Define You
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From the Ramsey Network, it's the Ramsey Show. The only live show where we talk about your life and your money with actual callers calling in, George. I am your host, Jade Warshaw. Next to me, as I just said, George. As in George Camel. The no last name. I'm like Cher. George. The George. Taking calls about your life and money, like I said. You can call in at any point. The number 888-825-5225. If you call in and you have to leave a message, that's a good thing. It means we'll try to get you on the show at a later date.

We're going to go straight to the phone lines where we have Brenda in Dallas, Texas. Brenda, how can we help today? Hi, I'm calling because in October of last year, my husband and I made the dumb, dumb, dumb decision of taking out a bridge loan to purchase a property.

And we it was with the idea that we would sell our previous property and pay off the loan, restructure the loan and everything would be great. But we haven't been able to sell our old property and the loan is due on June 1st. Interest has accrued like nobody's business. What was the interest rate and then what was the amount?

So the total, they combined both properties, came out to $1.437 at $10.99. $10.99? Yeah. So apparently bridge loans, they explained to us, are always high interest like this. They're anywhere between $8 and $12.

They even explained it to you, and you guys said, sign us up. Let's do it. Well, that's how confident we were that we could sell our old house. Why isn't it selling? That's the million-dollar question. We've knocked the price down a couple times now. We are technically under contract, but our buyers cannot seem to lock in a buyer themselves. Okay.

And what they keep telling us is the market is just so weird. It's just such a bad time right now. It's a buyer's market, not a seller's. Yes. So but but shoot straight with like level with this. If you had to say, here's what I really think the problem is, because I have a feeling that, you know, you can usually look at a situation and go, even though I don't like this, this is probably what's going on. What do you think is probably going on, whether you like it or not?

I mean, I think we listed too high. But then again, we were going off of the comparables, you know, the appraisal report. And I don't know. I think the market over here, the people that can afford that price difference,

They're looking for way more square footage. So while that house is very nice because it's remodeled, we've poured a lot of money and so many years into it. It's a two acre property. It's got, you know, that country feel with Starbucks five minutes away, all the amenities. But I think people are looking for more palatial homes in that area because we're surrounded by those types of homes. Got it. Got it. There's an original. There's a lot of new development out here. A lot of incentives.

So what are you hoping it sells for at this point? We have it at $9.95. And like I said, we've been under contract with a contingency offer for 40 days already. I mean, because they're in the same situation. They're making sure their deal goes through, right? So that has the potential to have a major domino effect. And I would not say, and George, chime in,

Just that the fact that it's taking 40 days, I wouldn't necessarily say that, oh, my gosh, this thing's not going to happen. Because the truth is, yeah, your buyers are now waiting for their contingent. You know what I'm saying? Somebody might have made a contingent offer on their home. So this this does have some issues. Now, what you could ask is if your realtor can say, hey, if we go under contract with someone, is there a way to say we're also open to other offers until theirs? And then like put a stop loss on it?

you see what I'm saying? And say, Hey, we can, but most of the time people, we, we have had open houses still, but because a lot of people on many of the apps like Redshin and Zillow and whatnot, it,

It is showing us under contract. It's showing us pending. Right, but you can make a deal. You can still mark it as accepting offers, too. Exactly. You can make a deal to where it's not like that, to where it still looks like it's open for anybody to make an offer, and then ask your realtor to say, okay, now we need to put a stop loss on this. Like, you have 60... If it's a contingency, you have 60 days or you have 90 days, and then after 90 days, we get to go to the next offer. That way, you're always making sure you have people, you know...

priming the pump here and you can make this go faster. The other thing is, have you had the same realtor the whole time? Because I might be thinking about kicking that one to the curb and getting the Ramsey trusted realtor. Well, I actually did contact the Ramsey realtor not too long ago. And he said, at this point, because of your situation, you're better off sticking with the same person because there would be a delay if I switch to a new agent because

What kind of delay? What's that mean? Tell me more. Well, he's at pictures and the listing itself would take a few weeks for it to get going again. Yeah, you'd have to do new pictures. You can't take the old guy's work. But if you really feel like...

I mean, you're the one calling us, right? Saying something's not right. And they are the professional, not you. So they should be getting to the bottom of this a lot faster. Not us, not you having to call into a radio show for us to tell you what a realtor should have been telling you, basically is what I'm saying. Yeah. And my guess is, let's say you guys walk away from this with, I don't know, $900,000 net? Yeah. Or is there still a loan to pay off? There's only...

Yeah, we have to come out of pocket for any difference that may... So you're telling me on June 1st, the entirety of that loan is due? They gave us till June 4th because that was when escrow was supposed to close. But they haven't been able to secure buyers. But how are you going to come up with that amount of money even if you sold this house?

We have a savings. Obviously, we would have rather not 100. Okay. Can you negotiate an extension with the lender? That would be your best bet right now. Yeah. To attempt that. I mean, I've already asked and nobody seems to get back to me on that. Well, otherwise, it's going to go through foreclosure.

Yeah. Because your house is the collateral here. So that's even scarier. So I'm wondering if they would work with you and say, hey, we can give you this much right now. Would you be willing to file an extension buying us another month so that we can close? Especially knowing that you're under contract, I would think. And then put pressure on the buyer to say, hey, we need to close by this date in the contract no matter what. Mm hmm.

Well, my question is also, is it better to just terminate this contract and go back on the market? Why? Why would you take the only fish on the line off the line? What I'm telling you is you can open it up and say still accepting offers.

So it would say like contingent, still accepting offers. You can still get more offers. And if a buyer can close fast, that's your ticket out of this thing. But nobody is offering anything. Well, they won't offer anything if it says it's under contract. Yeah. And you do have an offer. The description says active kickout is what the description on all of those says. The agent added that little piece.

Right. But they need to change it to where it shows as totally open. And that is 100%. My husband and I have done that. It's possible to do that. And I also want to encourage you that 40 days for the contingent offer, if it's taken them 40 days, let's pretend that your contingent offer saw your house, loved it, made an offer, and then the next day put their house on the market. Right? Right.

It's not uncommon. That's essentially what happened. Exactly. And what I want to give you hope for is that the average time for a house to be on a market before it sells is 50 days. Okay, so you're at 40. You've got a fish on the line. Don't throw it back because it's squirming a little bit. Just keep reeling it in.

And while you reel it in, make sure that your house is showing as available on all the different apps out there so that people know. Your realtor should know to do this. And if not, you need to be getting all up in their grill about this. George? You got to fight. Fight and claw your way out of this thing. Don't go through foreclosure. No more hard money loans.

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I'm kind of going through a really bad time right now. I'm at the beginning stages of a divorce. I found out about an affair. And I need to know what to be doing financially right now. Everything's been split up without me knowing. But another curveball is about three weeks ago, I was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Oh, my goodness. Randy. So right now, I just don't know what to be doing right now. I don't know what to do.

I'm at peace. I know where I'm going to go if this happens, but everything the last couple of months has just been completely flipped upside down. Thankfully, my job is pretty flexible. I can make my own schedule. I'm trying to work as much as I can, but some days I just don't feel well enough. Yeah.

Don't have. We've gotten we had gotten about thirty five, forty thousand dollars of debt paid down. But I still have a little bit and I still have about ten thousand medical debt. So I just need to know what to be doing right now during this time. OK, this is a lot. You just found out about this diagnosis. How long ago? About three weeks ago. OK. Have you started treatment or not yet or how?

I just, it's, it's terminal and I'm about to lose the insurance. So, um, uh, that's another curve ball. So when you say they're not even attempting to treat this, is that what you're saying? Um, I won't have insurance and out of pocket it's, uh, I can't afford it. And they tried to get me, uh, into programs. I made too much to get any kind of assistance. So, um,

Even with treatment, the survival time is about nine months. Oh, my goodness. Are you still on your wife's insurance? You're saying that will end when the divorce goes through? Once the divorce goes through, which she's really pushing for, I will no longer be on the insurance. Okay. Do you have kids? No. Okay. Okay.

I think that my debt and my bills is the last thing I'm thinking about. If I found myself in your shoes. I know this is a money show, but... I think what I'm thinking is if I do pass and we are divorced, I don't want my family, like my parents, to have to worry about that debt. I think that's what I'm thinking of right now. They won't. If their name's not on it, they're not going to be liable for your debts. Your estate will pay the debts.

So whatever you have that's of value will be sold to pay your debts, and whatever doesn't get paid is just a washout. Because since we've done it, we don't have a lot saved up. I have a small life insurance policy, but obviously right now my wife's the benefactor, and I've been told I can't switch it as long as we're legally married. That's just what the lawyer told me. When you say small, how much is it?

It's $250,000. Oh, $250,000. Okay. No, it's $250,000. And upon divorce, you can't switch the beneficiary? I can upon divorce, but I don't...

It's just, yeah, I was kind of wanting to switch it beforehand just in case and have my parents be the benefactor just to make sure that, you know, all that's taken care of and that they're taken care of. But I've spoken to two different lawyers. I seem to be getting like different answers. So I'm just really kind of confused right now. At the very least, I'd want to speak to somebody about

designating some of it just for your last, you know, for burial and funeral and all of that. If you can specify maybe even in your will that of that 250 X amount is, is,

even for her to know that way the executor of the will will make sure that she carries that out possibly that might be a loophole I'm not a lawyer so I don't know but that could be a way that you could at least make sure those costs are not put upon your parents and that you're taking care of that through that money

Yeah. Cause they're going to be going through enough. I don't want to burden them with anything else. That's right. Is there a way to. Thankfully they took, thankfully they, I was actually, I, when I, when this happened, I pretty much was kicked out and I was going to live in my car, but thankfully they said no way. And so I've actually been able to live with them to keep costs down. But, you know, so they've been really, my parents have been great through this, but yeah. Yeah.

It's not something that I should have to be doing with this. But I'm just kind of, you know, just really...

overwhelmed by everything that's gone on and just you know a little bit just frustrated that I don't know what to do of course of course you would feel that way like I mean 100% this is a lot this is a curve this is a huge curveball and it's it's yeah I don't have to tell you but yeah it's rough on the camera because I'm only I'm only 37 years old so it's like you know I'm not an old man so it's like yeah I'm trying to think through some creative things you can do here yeah

Could you do a legal separation, and that way you could stay on the insurance for the time being? She doesn't want to do that. She wants the divorce. She doesn't want to do legal separation, anything like that. She wants a divorce. Does she know about your health? Yes. And she just doesn't care? Pretty much. Okay. How long have you guys been married? 30 years.

16 years. Okay. So my guess is in your state, I don't know the laws, you'll need to look into that, but there's probably going to be an equitable distribution of the assets and the liabilities. So likely you guys would just split the debts. And so if that's the case, what is the total debt you guys will have?

Pretty much she's that free. Like I said, I've got about $1,500 on a credit card and about $9,700 in medical. Because I've had a lot of medical issues the last couple of years. So it's that. But pretty much outside of that, like I don't have a car payment. What about a mortgage? No, we didn't have a mortgage. So we were renting. Okay. So there's nothing to split, nothing to sell. You've already moved out? No.

Yeah, I'm at my parents' house and she's already got her own place. Okay. Yeah, Randy, if I'm you, man. If I'm you, I'm... Go ahead. I'm sorry, but I think she's wanting to split this so she can pursue with the other person that she's been with. So that's why she's wanting to get this done so she can...

Marry this other guy. So I'm guessing it's going to be impossible for you to find health insurance with this condition now.

Yeah, it's pre-existing. I've looked, and the only place that would cover me, the premium was like $1,800 a month, and I just can't afford that. And that's the only place they even would take a chance on me. But, I mean, unfortunately, what I have is I have a glioblastoma, which is pretty much about the worst you can get as far as brain cancer. And even if they could do surgery, it's pretty much...

it's pretty much a terminal diagnosis and they say without treatment maybe four to six months but even with treatment it's not a lot of people even last a year so unfortunately as this progresses i won't even be able to work anymore yeah because you know it's going to affect my motor skills and everything so it's uh yeah man dude i am i'm praying for you now and i'm going to keep praying for you i don't think

The Lord is going to let you out of my spirit anytime soon. So just know, man, our thoughts and prayers are with you. This is a tough, tough thing to go through. I admire you for trying to get the financial things in order so that your family is not feeling the burden of it. And, you know, but I would say at this point, man, go, go enjoy life, go live to the fullest, make sure that you're around your loved ones and, and,

Don't spend your days fighting this. Don't spend your... Like, fight the cancer, but don't fight people. You know what I'm saying? Like, this is not the time you want to spend...

tangled up in a divorce war over assets and all these things. Let her go on and be with old boy and you just enjoy your time on this earth. Yeah. And if you, if you do rack up any, any more debt, what's going to happen is your parents would get a bunch of death certificates and they would give it to all of your creditors and lenders and they would just wipe the debts. And so I'm not as concerned with you like racking up a good,

bunch of medical debt and your parents having to cover it they're gonna give them the certificate and they eat the cost of that and write it off and so I'm again I'm with Jade on this one you can do all the things you can to protect your finances but right now man I mean you've got a timeline and you gotta live and so I wouldn't go into crippling debt for fun but I also wouldn't try to like just grind my way out of this $1500 in credit card debt in the meantime you've got a lot going on I would just take care of Randy right now

So sorry. So sorry.

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You're listening to The Ramsey Show. Let's do that Ramsey Show question of the day. It's sponsored by YRefi. Hey, if you're buried in defaulted private student loans, just remember you're not alone. Reach out to YRefi to see if they can build a custom plan to help you dig out. Visit YRefi.com slash Ramsey today. That's Y-R-E-F-Y dot com slash Ramsey. It may not be available in all states. Today's question comes from Lucas in Missouri. What is the most common question that you get when you're buried in defaulted private student loans?

What is one of the biggest financial mistakes you've made? How did you feel in the moment, and how did you work through it to recover? Then Lucas turned it on us. It's getting Maury Povich up in here. It's a dark curiosity from Lucas. People see us at this desk, Jade, in the studio, and they go, wow, these people have never made a mistake in their life. But we have made mistakes with zeros on the end, as Dave would say. I know, that's right. I feel...

When the callers call in, usually I'm like, yep, done that. Been there, paid the stupid tax. So now biggest financial mistake I've made. I'll go first.

I was underinsured. I was on my dad's insurance when I first started here at Ramsey for car insurance. Okay. And I got into a little wreck right outside the office. And the lady was fine. Let me make that very clear. But you had the cops rolling up, the fire trucks, the ambulance, and now every employee at Ramsey is looking out the window. Oh, man. Seeing me sitting on a curb like, oh, my gosh. Walk of shame. Curb of shame. I thought that was the end of it. I thought, all right, this is why you have car insurance. They're going to fix her door.

A few months later, I got served a lawsuit at my doorstep of my house. Oh, thank God it was at home and not at work. Yeah, that would have been way more awkward. And this lady was suing me and my dad for $375,000. Holy moly. Which, you know, 23-year-old George didn't have close to that. He had like $3. Yeah, yeah. And so it turns out we were underinsured. She was suing our insurance company, her insurance company.

And long story short, she was an ambulance chaser and ended up walking away with 50 grand from the insurance companies. You didn't pay. It hit our limit. Oh, man. But they didn't go above that. But if they had gone above the limit, I would have been on the hook. My dad would have been on the hook. Yeah. For however much she could have gotten from this lawsuit. I mean, you're okay. So it took years, by the way.

To settle this. So that's looming in my life, living rent free in my head. And I was so stressed out about this that it was going to decimate not only my life, but my father's. Yes. Because I was on his insurance. And so that very next day we upped the insurance. Is this why you have a heart for insurance to this day? Yes. This is why I'm such an insurance nerd. Because not having it can wreck all the wealth you're trying to build. 100%.

Oh, man. That's the big one. On top of, you know, going into student loan debt and credit card debt. Sure. All the normal fun stuff you do. Listen, George, those are the stories that the people are here for. I've never heard that before. I get heart palpitations just reliving that. Well, I bet. Okay. Speaking of heart palpitations, I'll tell you mine. So...

I thought about this and you guys already know, like if you've been listening, you know, I had full scholarships and I still took out student loans just to live on that. That's probably my dumbest like financial mistake as far as like debt products and things like that. But really I was thinking about this cause I saw the question of the day during the break and I,

This is probably the dumbest thing I've ever done financially, like long term. Well, you know, George, Sam and I used to work on cruise ships and week every week we'd fly somewhere different abroad, not throughout the United States, like abroad, like you go to China and then you go to Japan and then you go to Sri Lanka and then you go to Alaska. Right. You're always going. But we were broke, right?

And I'm talking about broke, broke. You guys know we had the debt. And we would go fly literally with like dollars, like $10 in our account, like dollars. And like we'd be in the airport like splitting a pretzel, like broke, broke. But we were out making money so we could pay off this debt. And we just got – I think you can get used to anything. So I just think we were used to not having – Living on the edge. Living –

Yes. Living on a prayer, it sounds like. Basically. And so one time we'd gone to Argentina and it was our first time and we didn't know. So certain countries, when you come in and then exit, you have to pay a fee that's called a reciprocity fee.

That feels like a scam. Every country is different. And the fee was $25 per person. When I tell you we didn't have it, I'm telling you we didn't have it. And we were like standing there looking at each other like, do you have it? Because I don't have it. Like we were about to spend a night in Argentina. Luckily...

How'd you get out of that? Yo, this is so desperate. I'm just mad that I'm telling you. Were you panhandling for 50 bucks to get through? No. It was one of those points where it's like, okay, I've got like $18 on this card. You can try to run it and I hope it'll go through. I'm okay if it ends up on an overdraft. Just try it. Get me out of this country. Do you know what went through? And I praised the Lord so hard because...

man, it was just one of the, and yeah, we got hit with the overdraw, all that stuff. But, um, that was one of those aha moments that I was like, Oh God, like we're broke. And we almost ended up like locked up abroad. That would have been a much more wild story. Well, let me tell you about being an Argentinian citizen. Let me tell you about being an instant.

Istanbul. Gosh, I can't talk. Istanbul at gunpoint. I'll tell you that story one time. That has nothing to do with money. I think we need an after show. Ramsey After Dark for that. You got kids listening. I know, man. That's scary. So we've all done dumb stuff, whether it's like a one moment kind of thing or like an insurance thing or just long term, just living on the edge like we talked about. So you're not alone. Just don't make the same mistake twice. And if you can, avoid it. That's right. Because now when I go to Argentina...

I got deeper pockets. Yeah. You come back a different woman. You're getting the Argentinian steak now. Okay. All you can eat. I know. That's right. Give me the plant-based variety. Let's go to the phone lines. We got Annie who's in Mobile, Alabama. Annie, how can we help today? Hi. Hi. Hi. Thank you so much for taking my call, guys. You bet. So my husband and I have 40 years of life invested with one another.

but our interests are starting to diverge on how we imagine our retirement. We live in the South, as you said, Mobile, and summers are cruel and they're brutal. My view is that I'd like to relocate to a more moderate climate where there's more senior activities, but this requires us to sell our home and more than likely move to a much higher cost of living. The problem, which is not really a problem, is that we have...

eight in our family. We have four dogs and three cats and a husband. Um, so I can't move. Which one do you like the most out of those? I just pick one and move. Oh, I'd like to do that, but I'll tell you what, that's my husband's favorite too. So, um, so you guys have to take the petting zoo with you wherever you go.

We do. And so a townhome and a condo is out of the question. My dear husband, he wants to age in place. We have a nice home, and he wants to travel maybe the three months out of the year, go and find a nice Airbnb. My concern is how viable each of these will be with our finances. What's your next deck?

Pardon me. Our nest egg is, so we have about $800,000 in investments. We have a military pension of $6,300 per month. We have a VA amount that comes in to $2,400 a month. We have a government pension that comes in at $700 a month. Wow. And without taking our Social Security, if we wait until we're 6770, we'll have about $4,000 to $5,000 per month adding on top of that. Okay.

That's great. So right now you almost have $10,000 coming in? Guaranteed income? A little bit like $11,000 or $12,000. Wonderful. And so you don't need to touch the investments.

No, but we're not yet retired. My husband is still working, and so he's bringing money in that we're setting aside $3,000 every month on top of that. How old are you? I'm 61. How long does he plan to work until you guys choose one of these retirement paths? Work is fulfilling for him, so we're thinking 67. Oh, wow. And do you think that, okay, regardless of which way you go...

Are you okay with waiting till 67 to start living that life? Or do you guys want to start living that life simultaneously? What does that mean? What it means for me is that he's more of a homebody and I'm okay if I can take off maybe a month of the summer and maybe go do a little traveling. That's okay until we're, yes, on my own. I'm used to that. He's not, he was a fly boy at one time and he's traveled all over the place. And so he's not,

necessarily interested in doing too much traveling. I think he wants to find a place and just chill out. Yeah, absolutely. I think that... We do have a little bit of a debt. I have zero debt in the sense... Well, the only... The debt I have is mortgage. Okay. And our mortgage...

How much do you owe? Well, I owe about $225,000. Okay, for the clock, Annie, let me get you at this. So the most important thing that I'd be looking at is getting that house paid off before you guys retire. That's going to give you the freedom to choose one of these paths. The idea of moving somewhere more expensive where you might have to take on a bigger mortgage, I don't like that idea. I want you to be mortgage-free. So whatever you do, make sure it's debt-free. Okay.

Rachel, do you ever get these sketchy text messages that are like, hey, you need to update your address and verify so we can get you the package you didn't order? Yes, I have. George, sketchy and never trust them. And that's why we recommend Delete Me. They help with that. Yeah, they do. Delete Me actually goes in and removes your information from data broker websites. And it is an incredible service that everyone needs.

And there's a lot of shady companies out there that solely exist to sell your personal data to bad guys. And that means your info, like your email address, your home address, your kids' names, your name, everything is just out there for scammers and spammers to find. So much. But Delete Me will delete your data, hence the name. It's gone. They'll wipe it out for you so you can sleep easy. That's right. And then once they remove your information, then they're going to send you a detailed report telling you where they found your information, where they found your information,

when they removed it, how many hours they've saved you. I mean, it is incredible. So detailed and it's beautiful. Get this, so far they've reviewed 27,000 listings on my behalf, removed me from 240 data broker sites and saved me 77 hours of time. It's incredible. Absolutely amazing. And Winston and I now get fewer texts.

Texts, weird emails, spam calls, all of it. I love it. So you got to be sure to check them out. Ramsey fans get 20% off their annual plans. Just go to joindelete me.com slash Ramsey. That comes out to less than nine bucks a month. Super affordable. Again, that's joindelete me.com slash Ramsey. Make sure to check it out, you guys.

Graduation doesn't come with a GPS. I wish it did, but a lot of students are walking into the real world with no clue on what direction they should actually go. So the Get Clear Career Assessment is part of the Find the Work You're Wired to Do Student Edition.

And it's here, it's here for you. It will help your student get clarity and build a real plan that they can be confident in, whether it's choosing a major, choosing a trade or getting their first job. The good news is it's only $34.99. And this assessment will help them identify their strengths,

while the book part of it will help them understand the results and figure out what's next. So again, the get clear assessment, the career part is the career assessment, and then find the work you're wired to do is the book part, okay? And this is really, really, really great. You can get a copy today at ramseysolutions.com slash store, or if you're watching on YouTube or podcast, you can click the link in the description to help you so that you can get started. George, I wish I had that when I was...

I wouldn't have floundered as much. Just sort of soul searching and wasting years at college hoping I'd figure it out once you graduate. And that could have saved me some heartache. Because I took the Get Clearer career assessment and it's spot on. It's like everything I'm doing now. But it took me a decade to figure out. So I could have fast tracked that. Who knows where I'd be now, Jade? I knew people who went to school just to buy themselves time. To go on their eat, pray, love journey at the tune of $200,000. Man!

man they sure did for an art history degree oh all right hopefully Seth didn't do that Seth from Coeur d'Alene is that right Idaho that sounds right all right let's go with Coeur d'Alene did I say it right Seth yeah Coeur d'Alene Idaho all right yes all right social studies for the win how can we help today

So I am about to get married, and I'm trying to get my financials situated before going in there. I have about $31,000 in debt. She knows about that. It's from trying to start a business. It didn't quite work out. But anyways, I'm...

I've done the financial peace course, and I'm on step two trying to get the debt paid off. And I was looking at some debt consolidation programs.

where you stop paying your credit cards and you start paying into this program and then they negotiate for you. And it sounds really good because they're saying less interest and less total dollar amount, but I'm trying to wrap my head around it. It sounds...

Too good to be true? Yeah. Yeah. No, you are spot on, my man. Did you were you just Googling? Like, how did you even find this? Or did they find you with a targeted ad?

I think it was a combination of Google and, you know, Facebook popping up some message or something, but yeah. Okay. Yeah. You're, you're spot on. So what they do is they don't eliminate your debt. They just delay it. They restructure it. There's upfront fees. There's ongoing monthly fees, a percentage of the debt reduced. And then exactly what they'll tell you, Hey, stop paying your payments. Let it, uh,

go into default, let your creditors come after you, and then later on down the road, hopefully maybe we can settle for less and get you out of this mess. And we'll do it for you. Hey, relax. Relief is on the way. Relief is in the name. It sounds amazing, right? Yeah.

But here's the problem. Creditors might refuse to negotiate. It tanks your financial world. So if you go to rent a place or do anything financially, your credit score is shot. Your debt settlement offers might get rejected. They could come after you and sue you. So this is not a fun ride. And you can do all of this yourself by just paying off your debts and negotiating the debts if they are in collections on your own. I got you.

Okay. So you don't need someone else then. You don't need to pay them to do it. You need the debt snowball method that's going to walk you through how to do all of this. So hang on the line. I'm going to send you Financial Peace University. Watch all nine lessons along with your lady and get this stuff dialed in and say, hey, I know I've screwed up. I've made some mistakes. I want to clean it up. Would you go on this journey with me? And I think it's going to help both of you get set up for success. 100%. Hey, thanks for the call. We've got Alicia. She's in Augusta, Georgia. Alicia, how can we help today?

Hey, George. Hey, Jade. So excited to be talking to you guys both. Yeah, glad you're here. So my question is, if I should continue renting out one of my homes in San Antonio, Texas for another year, per my realtor's advice, or if

If I should sell it, I have three homes currently that I have no business owning. I found the Ramsey show, unfortunately, a little bit too late. So I'm active duty military and I bought my first home in 2020 in San Antonio when I was stationed there. And I currently have renters in that house and they pay about seven or sorry, two thousand fifty dollars a month.

And my mortgage is $1,700 on that. And then I have the second home that I bought because my husband and I were expanding our family and we decided to get a second home. And we purchased it for $375,000 in 2023. And we owe $348,000 on that one. Where is it? Our mortgage is also in San Antonio. Okay.

um, our mortgage is 32 50. We got a very high interest rate, um, in the rent. Um, we tried to sell it last year because we got notified, um, of a PCS. Unfortunately, I was three months postpartum and the military, um, ended up moving me unexpectedly to, um, Georgia. Okay. So we tried to sell it and we weren't able to get any buyers. It's

And so our realtor said, let's just go ahead and put it up for rent. The highest we were able to get was $2,600.

So although we're making about $350 off of the first house, we're losing about $600 on the other house. And her advice is that we continue renting it for another year because we're only able to get... Of course, it's her advice. It's not her money. Right. Listen, it doesn't matter what she said. She's not the one who has to sleep in your bed at night, right? It's really easy for other people to tell you to keep burdens that are not their own, right? Yeah.

The problem is, her market analysis is she says that we're only going to be able to sell it currently for about $330,000, even though we purchased it for $375,000. So my husband and I decided we wanted to try and sell it.

And we are aware that we would probably have to come to the table with $40,000 out of pocket. But she seems to think if we hold on to it for another year, let the market go up. That is speculation. I love that. I love just the optimism. Let the market go up until Trump burps and decides to do a tariff and then undo a tariff. And then the housing markets back down. The Fed's not moving rates.

I mean, we all thought that a year ago. Yeah. I mean, what will you make it the first property that that's plus 350? What's that one worth? If you were to sell it today, what would you pocket?

So we have about $71,000 in equity in that. We do plan on selling it next year. We renewed the lease with the current tenant. Okay. And that's for one year. Okay. So for that reason alone, that's the only reason that you might push this a year is because you don't want to break the lease. But the math there is pretty simple. You sell that one, you take the money. And if the other one is still upside down, you clear the balance with that lease.

the money from the previous sale and then whatever is left you put it on to whatever baby step you're on right? Right that's exactly what we were wanting to do but I just wanted to hear it from you guys I guess so do you think it's a good idea to go ahead and move forward with the sale of the home that we're upside down on and just come to the table Do you have $40,000? We do How much do you have total that's liquid?

So we have about $50,000 in a high yield savings and about $24,000 in our checking account at any given time because we have three mortgages that get pulled every month. So we try to keep a decent amount in there. Is any of that your three to six? Like what of that is what tagged as an emergency fund?

The high yield savings is where we would deem our emergency fund. Okay, yeah, I'd 100% liquidate that because you're at, I would 100% that do that because in many ways you're in baby step two, right? We're clearing out this debt. And my guess is you probably have other debt laying around as well.

We don't. So I paid off my car. Once I started listening to the show, I immediately paid off my car. My husband is retired from the military and his truck, his $60,000 truck was just sitting in our driveway. So we sold that. Good. And bought a little $8,000 car for him to cruise around town in. So we have no credit card debt and no...

No other consumer debt. Listen, you're on the right track. I think what George uncovered is great. You've got the money sitting there. Sell that second house today. And as soon as you can, sell the other San Antonio house so that you're not long distance landlords. Simplify your life. That's the key. Yes.

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Thanks for hanging out with us here on the Ramsey Show on the Ramsey Network. This is a live show about your life and your money. You get to call in. You get to be the subject of discussion. We won't make fun of you. You might feel a little bad sometimes afterwards, but I promise you you'll leave with the next step. We just want to tell you the truth, and sometimes the truth... It hurts. It hurts before it will set you free. A little sting there. But if you want to get involved, you can call in.

The number is 888-825-5225. And we will get you on the line. If you didn't know, I'm Jade Warshaw. Next to me is George Camel. Let's get it started. Jeff in Columbia, South Carolina is on the line. Hey, Jeff.

How much did you get in it?

$400,000? Where are you at? Well, actually, well, I run it through all my business expenses. So I have two. I basically have one for my personal business. But I mean, I have about, on average, a little bit more, a little bit less, a million charges a year. So I get about $20,000, $22,000 a year free. Okay. 2% back. And then that goes into the brokerage account.

And, you know, I buy index funds, you know, ETFs. And I've been doing it for 20 years. The first one I got that card is 1%. Now they jumped up 2%. And it's just... Why do you want to cut it up? Well, I don't. I mean, I follow everything that, you know, Dave Ramsey steps up.

you know it has about no debt i don't have any debt um good you know um and good i just can't so i know you guys don't typically recommend uh having credit cards but i can't give that one up this would be the only call you ever call it that would say he got the best of the credit card companies is there a debit card that could do the same thing have you looked into it i have but i've just gotten fell in love with that one fidelity rewards card

And it goes straight to the brokerage account. I don't want airlines. I don't want cash back. I want it to grow. And what do you make a year? Well, after I pay the alimony and child support, it depends on year to year, about $150 to $160. Okay. And what's your net worth? Probably $3.2, $3.1 million. Way to go. And no debt to speak of. No mortgage or anything. Yeah.

Nope. Nope. I just try to pay everything in cash. And you said you run a million dollars worth of expenses through your business? Through my company, yes. Wow. What kind of business are you running?

I design and sell drive-on docks for jet skis and boats. I have been noticing the last few years I get a lot of pushback from my vendors about the credit card. But I'll say, hey, hit me up with the – I try to negotiate. A lot of times they'll give me 2% back if I pay in 10. So if I have a 3% credit card, if they charge me 3%, if I pay in 10 with the credit card, they'll give me 2%.

So basically I'm paying 1%. But the best thing about those reward cards is they're not really taxed. I mean, the money you get from them. Not now. So it's tax-free. But, I mean, again, the net worth I have, I'm more of a saver than spender. So it's more a habit than anything else. You know, if I go on cruise, of course, I'm going to get the cheapest room. I never fly first class. I mean, I'm still driving.

a 10-year-old SUV. And, you know, even my kids, they're older now, so I said, you know, you need to get a new car. It's like, no, why? It still runs. You know. Well, that's how you built your wealth. And that's what I want to encourage you with is...

You have been able to do this not with the help of the credit card companies. You have done it with your own sheer discipline and willpower. And the rewards are nice, but they have not made or destroyed your wealth. And I don't think the way you're living, it's probably not going to hurt you that much in the future. So there's a lot of angles with the credit card argument. And the latest one that is very compelling for people like you is to understand where these rewards are actually coming from.

Have you looked into that? Well, where they're coming from, basically, honestly, all from my business perspective. No, I'm saying the $20,000 the credit card company gives you, what is funding that? And there was a recent Fed study that found there's an annual redistribution of $15 billion from less to more educated, poorer to richer, from high to low minority areas. And all of that is due to the fact that essentially broke people are subsidizing your rewards.

And this is not a moral high horse. Like, I don't think you're a bad person if you get rewards. But I'm saying if you're looking for a reason to cut them up beyond, well, I think I'm winning. Why shouldn't I keep doing this? It's just a predatory gross system and industry. And it's not one that I personally want to take advantage of, even if I wanted to and could.

I understand. I completely understand. So, but are you going to be the target problem calling in saying, hey, I'm at $40,000 in credit card debt and I'm excited about my rewards. I just think you could be more successful and at least as successful without the credit card. So here's a good test. Don't use the cards for 30 days and see if it changes your personal spending. See if it changes the way you run your business. And if it doesn't change anything, you do you.

That's how I feel personally. But yeah, I mean, I mean, the thought is there are I know there are debit cards that will give you cash back. He'd have to be.

instead of floating that cash flow, he'd have to pay the cash flow up front. I don't know if they'd link directly to his investments. He might have to then take the money and invest it. It just sounds like he's doing anyways. Yeah. But I mean, this is the outlier where it's like, okay, he's running a business, running a million dollars of expenses. It's a different situation. There's a lot more cash to be had, I suppose. But even then, there's not a single credit card left.

that is being used to run this company. And so Ramsey is running a whole lot more than a million dollars of expenses. And we are not tempted by the allure of a 2% rewards card. I don't own a credit card. I cut mine up back in 2013. And I'm telling you, something mentally switched in me to where I was excited about my Discover, Cashback, and my American Express, Delta SkyMiles. It changed the way I was thinking and it changed where I was headed.

And so my goals were no longer, let me see how much rewards I can get. It was, what am I doing to take control of my money to build my own wealth, to create my own rewards through budgeting and spending more wisely? Yeah. And because of that, my investing rate and savings rate increased.

My spending decreased. Yeah. And so people don't think about how much more they could make than that 2% just by getting on a budget. And could you cut 2% of your spending this month if you realize I'm only using my own money? Absolutely. Because we found that when you use a credit card, you're going to spend upwards of 12% more, 20% more, 100% more than the person next to you using cash or a debit card. That's right. Especially depending on the purchase. Things like, I've seen the studies where going through the drive-thru, like...

the percentage more that you spend or buying concert tickets or, you know, and those are the things that we tend to put on credit cards, right? It's like, oh, you know, Taylor, Beyonce's in town, you know, she's only going to do, you know, Cowboy Carter one time. So I'm just going to, you know, go ham. And then you end up spending way more. You get tickets that otherwise you would never have considered getting, but because it's on the plastic, you're like, hey, let me on, let me on, on the floor seats. Here's the TLDR. When it hurts less, it costs more.

That's psychology. That's human nature. You can thank the fall of man for that. But that's how it goes. And so the more friction you add to your spending, the better off you're going to be. The more frictionless it is, you use other people's money and you pay it back later, you're going to make very different decisions. I'm going to need you to break down TLDR. Too long, didn't read. That's my version of SparkNotes. Okay. I can't believe I taught Jade Warshaw something. That's pretty cool.

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from the first call all the way to closing day. To find a Ramsey-trusted agent near you, visit ramseysolutions.com slash agent, ramseysolutions.com slash agent. All right, George, it's time to chop it up a little bit. Let's do this. People want to know, they want to know the raw and the real. Am I doing all right? Where should I be for my age is what people want to know. Like, am I doing okay financially? They need kind of a measuring stick. Yeah, how

are other people my age doing? Where do I fall in line? And I make these videos for my YouTube channel, the George Camel YouTube channel, and they're the top videos. People want to know what is the average net worth by age? That's a big one. So I thought we can cover the high level here so that people listening can just figure out where they stand. We want to compare ourselves.

Yes, and let's make it clear, your net worth is not your self-worth. If you are below this, you're above this, you're not worse or better than anyone, okay? You're still a fallen human being, and we still love you. But it's good to just go, how we doing, America? That's what we're going to call this segment. How we doing, America? How you doing? And it's going to get dark real quick, as you'll see. Oh, boy. So net worth by age, we're going to start for the folks in their 20s. Okay. The average net worth...

$113,000, which is impressive. Well, wait, can I roll it back? Before we do this, let me roll it back. Can you explain net worth first? That's a good call. So these folks know what we're... Your net worth is your assets minus your liabilities. So everything you own minus everything you owe. And that's cars, homes, all of it. Yes. Wedding rings. So for someone in their 20s to have an average net worth of $113,000 is...

is impressive. Yeah, it is. Because we're talking, and that means you have probably paid off your debt. You've got equity in a home. Now, we got to talk about average versus median. Yes. This is where it's important. Please talk about it. Average is skewed because you have the crazy high highs and crazy low lows. So this average number is skewed by people who are- Crazy high. Maybe some trust fund babies. Uh-huh, uh-huh. Now we're going to move to the median. So we go from 113 grand to the median net worth for folks in their 20s, $7,600. Okay.

That's more like it. That's more accurate. That feels right. Because this is like I maybe avoided debt or I had time to pay whatever debt I had off. And now I just have my old car and I just started contributing to a 401k. So median is a more accurate measure because it's simply the number in the middle of the list from the smallest to the biggest number. So that's the number two. If you're going to try to use the measuring stick, that's sort of the suck bar.

Yeah, median. I would say the average net worth, that's more like, okay, that's a healthier number to look at. But the median net worth, just go from above that, I'm doing okay. So our goal is to aim for... You said the suck bar. The suck bar. That's what we call it.

Okay. Let's be honest, $7,600? I'm with you. I'm with you. I mean, we can do better than that as you exit your 20s. I thought there would be some negatives on here. I'm surprised I didn't see any minus signs. Well, that's the truth. When you think about the median being $7,600, it's not that far from being in the negative. Yeah. So a goal to aim for in your 20s, I'm just going to throw out kind of a BHAG, a big, hairy, audacious goal. $200 to $250 is like you get an A-plus from George. Wow.

for long-term wealth. That is an A+. So good goals in your 20s, get out of that consumer debt. And if you can get into a home, great, but usually that's going to happen for people as they enter their 30s in today's world with how expensive homes are. George, I'm concerned with where this is going. I'm afraid people are going to be in a deep, dark pit with this.

This is so weird. I know. I know. I'm here to just, I'm just spitting facts. I didn't come up with this research. This is just reality. Just smile when you say it. Yeah. In your 30s, average net worth, 317 grand. Media net worth, 35 grand. Got you. Okay. So that's 30 to 39. Uh-huh.

I think that's good. You know, life's picking up speed. You probably have maybe some, you're married, kids, a mortgage by this point, and you're 30 to 39, but your income is usually higher. True. And so your saving and investing should become priorities. And if you still have lingering debt, you got to get serious. Because you still have compound growth on your side when you're this young. That's true. You got another 30 plus years of a working career to invest. And that's the hope. Take advantage of that. So an A plus goal from my book,

$400,000 to $500,000 by the time you exit your 30s. That's a pretty decent net worth. Think about that. Yeah, it is. You've been investing in your 401k for a period of time. You've got some home equity now. You paid off the debt. This is if you're following the baby steps to a T. And you're 39, not 30. Exactly. There you go. Now, in your 40s, average net worth, $791,000.

Okay, okay, okay. Median net worth, $125,000. Got you. So this is an interesting one. That's a big gap. We found in our millionaire study where we study 10,000 millionaires, the average age was 49 years old. So this isn't far off. The average net worth, $791,000 in your 40s. So to have a million-dollar net worth by age 50, I think personally that's a good goal to reach for because that tells me you're right there in that millionaire study data. Mm-hmm.

Now, in your 50s, it climbs up to average net worth of $1.4 million and a median net worth of $288,000. So $288,000 is the median there, which again, that scares me because if you're heading into retirement and your net worth entirety, home equity, investments, everything is a quarter million.

We got some catching up to do. You got to catch up. Yes. This tells me. You can, but you just don't have, you won't have as much money as you would have had, but you could still have enough. You can still retire with dignity, but you're going to have to work longer than you want to. Yes, that's right. You're not living a super comfy retirement life. You're correct. So target net worth in my book by your 50s, if you had a million by 40s,

I would say let's start climbing up closer to two. So 1.75 to 2 million total net worth, not just investments, but everything, home equity, investments, cars, all that. By the time you're 59, I would say you're going to do just fine. And

And then finally, we get to the 60s. Average net worth, 1.7 million. Median net worth, 439,000. And this is where people are hoping to retire, to be able to. Now, they might work because they want to, but I don't want you to have to work because you have to. That's a very different place to be.

And so median net worth of 400 grand scares me in your 60s. 100%. Yeah. In today's world, yes. That tells me you have put everything else in your life first and you've not put on your own mask. Or you thought Social Security was going to get you. That's a scary one. Or you've been signing up for Parent PLUS loans and trying to pay off your kids' debts, your own debts, keeping up a lifestyle you couldn't afford, not investing into those retirement accounts. And so a good action step in your 60s as you head into retirement, get the house paid off,

Make sure that your investments are strong enough to last you another 20, 30 plus years. And so how do you improve your net worth at any age? It's simple. If your net worth is assets minus liabilities, let's get rid of the liabilities column. Get rid of your consumer debt, which will increase your net worth. Next, get into a home when you can financially afford it. When in the right time. Forced savings, yes. That's a forced savings plan. The home will appreciate in value over time.

and we found that 68% of millionaires have a paid-for house, and that's a wealth-building machine as part of your net worth. It really is. And then your primary home doesn't produce income, and so you need income outside of that, and that's where the investments come into play. So aim to invest 15% of your monthly income, and the earlier you start, the more compound interest has time to build. And here's what we found. In the retirement accounts, 80% to 90%

is all growth. Yeah, that's right. Only 10 to 20% is what you put in. That's right. So when we say, well, Jade, you could have a million dollars. We're not telling you to try to save a million dollars. We're telling you if you save 200,000 over the next 30 years, it will grow to a million. People don't understand the power of compound growth. Yeah, which is why you really did say it. Like in your 30s, if you're in your 30s now, there's so much time to take advantage of this. Like now is not the time to kick the can down the road. Really get serious because

that time is really going to be your best friend when it comes to compound growth. And let me just, let me talk to the people because some people heard this. They're deflated. Yeah, man. They're a sad sack right now. And it, cause it does, you're like, man, why, why did you have to compare me to these other folks who are doing so much? But Oh, a word George on comparison, because I do think that there's like comparison in a bad way. And I think there's comparison in a good way. And the way that I like to think of it, George is you,

be curious not critical right like this is not a time for you to be like so critical on yourself that you feel bad but be very curious about how these people that george is talking about have achieved this and so it really is about instead of being like well it must be nice you know that i mean that is how we all say that explains most of the comment section on the internet yeah let's be let's be curious let's be inquisitive and let's ask the right questions because the truth is

If they did it, you can do it. It's just how did they do it? We're probably going about it the wrong way. So for me, when I saw like I'm in my 20s and 30s with a negative net worth, because at least none of these are negative, I'm like, okay, let me look at someone who's doing this and ask the right questions into Ramsey Solutions. How do I pay off my debt? How do I get in a position where I can build $1,000 of savings?

How do I become a person who makes good habits and follows their budgets? How did you build that business? How did you, you know what I'm saying? So start looking at the people in your life who might be hitting the arrows on some of these medians and average net worths and start asking them the right questions and listening to the show. And folks like George Campbell is a great place to start. I went from negative net worth to millionaire in 10 years. So don't underestimate how much you can accomplish over a long period of time.

you

Hey guys, what's up? It's Jade Warshaw. And look, if there's anybody who knows about student loan debt, it's me. My husband and I had $280,000 of it, but we were able to dig ourselves out and you can too. If your student loan payment and interest rate are burying you, refinancing could be the solution. Now, if you're a student loan payer,

I recommend contacting my friends at Laurel Road today. Through their online application, you can get an initial rate quote in less than five minutes. And if you have a more complex situation, you can schedule 30 minutes to talk to an actual human being. Thank goodness. Laurel Road makes it simple. There are no fees involved and you could save thousands over the life of your loan. Remember, you should only refind

We'll be right back.

Again, that's laurelroad.com slash Ramsey. Hey, what's up? Dr. John Deloney here. The new dates have dropped for the money and marriage getaway over Valentine's Day weekend in 2026. This is your chance to hit pause on everything in your life and reconnect with your spouse over a long weekend in Nashville, Tennessee. Me and my friend Rachel Cruz will be digging into topics like sex, money, communication, and more.

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in a live Q&A format. So it's you asking the question and hearing back in real time. The spots are limited, though. So if you want to sign up, you can do that for free at every dollar dot com slash webinar. Get involved. Let's go to Cassie in San Diego, California. Hi, Cassie. Hi. My question. Thank you for taking my call. My question is, how do I settle a repo? OK, tell us. Tell us the back story.

So my car, in reality, it got me, and I'll be honest, it got me into this position because I had a gambling addiction. I'm in baby step one, which I've saved $1,000. And now with my car getting repo, how do I settle it? So I just want, I mean, that's the only thing I have on my credit. What was the connection? What was the connective tissue from the gambling to the car getting repoed?

So I was, instead of making my payments, I was thinking I can go to the casino and double it to make payments and things like that. Oh my goodness. Yeah. Have you gotten control of the gambling addiction? What are you doing to resolve that? I have.

So keep myself occupied, disconnected completely, everything with any advertisements that used to go to my email, block that. Okay. Have you gone to Gamblers Anonymous? I have not. Okay. I just want to make sure that we've resolved the root problem here before we just fix the repo, which we can help you with that. Are you driving another vehicle now? No, I'm not. Are you working full-time?

I am. Okay. Is that remote or how are you getting transportation? The bus. Okay. I don't have a problem. Luckily, I'm fortunate that I'm able to get transportation that leaves me close to work. Good. And what is your total debt, including the repo deficiency balance? The total debt on the vehicle is, based on the information, is $19,203. That's what you still owe? That's the deficit.

That's what's owed. And when they got repo two weeks later, not only I got that letter, but I also got some letters from, like, when it was sold, they were going through...

And through this place where they have to pay and they weren't paying, so I got that notice. And I started opening all my letters, and I saw that the car was sold for $3,000. And so they hadn't changed, I guess, any information.

For the new owner, and so getting billed as well for the toll road. So I did reach out to Toll Road. They did get confirmation, you know, that the car was sold with my information, the letter that I got.

But the vehicle to the 19,203, I got that letter. I didn't get a letter saying it was going to be sold with dates or any information. It was just sold two weeks after that for 3,500 around there. So now they're charging me. They're asking for that 19,000. So because you owed like 24,000 or whatever it was, 22,000 on it.

Correct. Originally. They sold it for three. You owe the rest. Have you reached out to the company? I have not because I want to make sure of getting that information over the phone. What are my options? I mean, is it something that— I mean, you're going to have to—you can attempt to lump some settlement and see if they would take less. Okay. You know, let's say you come up with, I don't know, $7,000. Okay.

they might be willing to take that as a lump sum settlement as paid in full. And the key is you want to get any, all of this in writing, the full settlement terms, the exact amount due, a statement that the payment will, you know, satisfy the debt in full. And that will allow you to

Make sure that you don't get screwed on this. I mean, they're going to take you for a ride. You're going to have to beat them over the head over and over. And at the end of the day, it's like, listen, guy, I don't have any money. My car got repoed. What you're getting are my last dollars. And this is it. There's no more where that came from. Right? That's the attitude you've got to have. And when they do this, they kind of know there's very little likelihood they're getting their money back. Exactly. Exactly.

And so, but you can at least clear this and move on with your financial life if you can come up with a settlement amount to make this go away. And that's going to take a little bit of time. What are you making right now full time? $67,000. Good. And what are your other debts?

So that's all I have for now. I do rent $1,300 on my rent. That includes electricity and water and everything. So transportation right now, I'm getting just the past, so it's like $75 a month. So, you know, with food and everything, I think I can definitely...

Come up with that. Is it just you or is there kids? No, it's just me. That's why I have reached out because I figured I can do it since now I'm alone to where I don't feel too obligated or my responsibilities with my children. My children are adults now. Got it. Okay, got it. So you clear this repo debt and you're completely debt free? Correct. That's amazing. How quickly could you stack up half of this?

Half of the $19,000? Yeah, $7,000 or $8,000. How quickly could you do that? Oh, $7,000. I can probably do that in the two months because it's take-home. I'm looking at almost $4,000 a month. Okay, good. So you're saying you could put away... I mean, you said your bills are likely, what, $1,500 to $2,000 a month total? Uh-huh. So you could save up about $2,500 a month. Let's say you did that for three or four months.

That's, you know, eight or ten grand. And then call them up and say, hey, listen, this is everything I have. Would you be willing to settle in full for this amount? And then don't give them access to your checking account. Get it all in writing and instead do like a cashier's check or a money order to solve this and then move on. And make sure you've dealt with that underlying gambling problem so this doesn't come back to haunt you in another form of debt. But I hope we're moving forward to the future.

I know that's right. That's tough. Repo? I've seen those videos of cars getting repoed, like at a gas station. They just roll up real quick and just drag that car away. I mean, it's heartbreaking to watch. Yeah. I feel like the emotional toll on that is just as painful as the financial toll, right? Yeah.

Oh my goodness. All right. Let's take another question. This one's going to come straight from the interwebs as Dr. John Deloney would say. Let's go with Morgan from Instagram. She says, when entering baby step five, George, which is saving for kids college, how much do you save for each kid? Oh,

I love this question. One of my favorite questions. And I truly wish there was like a magic, well, I know exactly what college is going to cost, especially for the college your child will get accepted to and go to or want to go to. Because here's what I found. People say, well, Jade, I don't want to save for college because what if they don't go? And I go, what if they do go and now they go $150,000 into student loan debt when you could have saved and had the power of compound growth, the power of this tax-free growth in this 529 plan or whatever college savings plan you choose. Right.

And so how much to save? We're going to ballpark it based on the state school cost in your area plus inflation. And there's calculators. We have one on our website that can help you figure this out. But again, it depends on where your kid goes. They could go to the community college and pay $5,000 a year, or they might go to the out-of-state private college and pay $75,000 a year.

That's true. But the weird thing, and it's not weird, but the difference between Baby Step 5 versus some of our other steps is we tell you, Baby Step 1, it's $1,000. Baby Step 4, we tell you, it's 15%, right? We're giving you all these percentages. And this is the one outlier where we're kind of saying, hey, go out there, pick it for yourself, whatever you have left over. And I will add this caveat, George, you know, some folks, they're like,

I don't really want to cover the bill. Like I'm more focused on retirement right now, or I'm more focused on, you know what I mean? And there, you don't have as much margin as you thought that you would have to spend on that. And I would say that that's also okay too. You know, it's not required that you pay for your kid's college. I would say the only requirement there is to make sure that you have a

Have a conversation. Yes, and set very, very clear expectations for both of you, and it's out in the open so they know, hey, there's no fund here. You've got to get a scholarship or you've got to work. I would rather have too much versus not enough because now with the new Secure 2.0 Act, you can roll $35,000 off.

over to a Roth IRA and you can also change the beneficiary. So you can bless another kid. Maybe you or your spouse want to go back to school. Maybe it's a niece or nephew. The range of who you can make the beneficiary is pretty amazing. And so I want to have six figures personally for each kid. And honestly, if you did overfund it and you were like, there's too much and I want this money, the fee isn't that bad. Yeah, you pay a 10% penalty. It is.

Listen, guys, I've heard just about every excuse for why folks think they can't get ahead with money. So let's go ahead and settle this right now. You get the final say on what happens with your money. That's why you have to start telling your money where to go so you can stop wondering where it went.

So if you're going to start winning with money, you have to get on a budget. The easiest way to get started and stick to it is with the EveryDollar budget app. It'll help you make a plan for every single dollar coming in and every single dollar going out every single month. And guess what? It's free, so no excuses. Download EveryDollar in the App Store or Google Play today. ♪ music playing ♪

We're so glad you're here listening to the show and enjoying the show. And I hope if that's true, you're also sharing the show. You're telling some folks in your life about, you know, the things we talk about here on the show and how they've affected your life. That's really the best thing that you could do for us. If you are considering yourself a fan of

of the Ramsey network. Tell somebody about it. You could, you know, drop a link in a text message and send it to somebody or email them or really just word of mouth. George, that's also caring. Sharing is caring. You know, when you love something, you can't help but tell people about it. Yeah. What do you love right now? What are you listening to watching? Oh, I'm putting folks on the spot. Um, there's a new show called number one, happy family USA. That is about a middle Eastern family post nine 11. It's an animated series. It's hilarious. Very, it,

It's true to me, you know. Okay. My family growing up. Okay. Love that. So it feels very relatable to me. How about you? I've been watching the NBA finals and I'm enjoying that or, you know, playoffs, I should say. But yeah, it's good. It's not a podcast, but I would suggest it and I'm sharing it with you, my friend. Can I share my honest feedback about the NBA? Yeah.

I don't like the squeaks. I have sensory issues and I don't want to hear the squeaks. The shoes on the pavement? Too many squeaks. Okay. Okay. You know? I'm sorry. If they can make shoes that are squeakless, I'll watch. I don't know that there's anything they can do about that. I'm sorry. Come on, guys. Get on it, Nike. I'm sorry. Oh, boy. Let's go to Randy. He's in Greensboro, North Carolina. Come on and raise up. What's up, Randy?

Yes, I just want to know y'all's opinion. Is it morally wrong for me to sell my wife's wedding set? She's been passed three and a half years, and I was going to start cleaning out the house for the first time. Oh, wow. I'm so sorry, Randy. Three years ago she passed? Yeah, yes. How old was she? 59. I'm so sorry.

And so are you needing to sell these rings for financial reasons, or is this just like you want to kind of grieve in your own way and heal and move on through this?

So it's not like this ring would get passed as an heirloom with a lot of sentiment to, you know, a daughter or something?

Right. Wow. I don't think there's anything morally wrong about that. No, I mean, at the end of the day, stuff is stuff. And if it's if, you know, the sentiment can be different for everyone. It might not be in the wedding band. It might be in the memories. It might be in a photo. It might be in a thousand other things. And so if that's something that you feel like will help you get the house paid off and that's your own way of leaving a legacy from the life that you guys built together, I see nothing wrong with that.

Okay. I appreciate y'all taking my call. If you, I would say this, Randy, before you do it, just take a moment as much as you can and imagine how you'll feel if today you let go of that ring and it was gone. How would you feel? That would be my only thought is, does that feel better for you or does that feel like, because if it feels a little bit like, like, I don't think I'd do it just for that reason, not because of anything moral.

Okay, well, it kind of does make me feel bad to think about it being gone, you know.

How much further do you have on the house? I'm just wondering, you know, I know this will help you make some progress, but is this like I'm not going to be able to retire because of this? How much further do you have to go? I got laid off about two years ago, so I'm not working now. And I haven't taken my Social Security yet because I was letting it build up as much as it could. It goes up 8% a year. How are you living? Well, I get a vacation.

And that's enough to cover all your bills? Okay. What's your total nest egg and what's left on the mortgage?

There's $65,000 left on the mortgage, and I have about $300,000 in total, $50,000, everything. Every penny I have, in other words. $350,000 to your name. Does that include the equity in the home, or is that just your nest egg investments? Just the investments. What's the house worth? Around $280,000.

Okay. So your total net worth is about a half a million, give or take? Yeah, yes. Okay. And you are not going to be working? Are you done? No, I'm done. I worked at, well, that's another story. I worked a 60, 70-hour-a-week job my whole life. Okay. I'm just wondering, are you going to have to work? Is this going to be enough to cover your bills with Social Security, the survivor's benefit? Does that run out at a certain point, or is that forever? Forever.

It runs out when I take mine. I haven't taken my Social Security yet. Okay. And what's the difference between the amounts? Will yours be more or will it be less than hers? It'll be more. Okay. January 1st, mine should be $4,000 a month. And will that be enough to cover your lifestyle? Yes, yes. Okay.

Yeah, with this ring, I don't think there's anything on fire. My guess is you could look around. If you really needed the $6,000, you might look around the house and find other things worth value that you could, you know what I'm saying? That you could sell to accumulate that money that's not as dear to your heart as those rings. I mean, at the end of the day, you can do what you feel is best. But yeah, if it was still like heart wrenching for me to part with it, I don't know that I would. It wouldn't be the first thing I did.

And so I can't even imagine, though, walking through that scenario. No, I'd be. Listen, if Sam Warshaw tried to sell my ring, I would haunt him from beyond the grave. I'd be like, not you, Sam. Get that ring back from that pawn shop. Give me the ring. Yeah, for sure. Oh, my goodness. But here's the other thing. It's not going to make a huge debt in the mortgage. You know, 65 left. Yeah. It'll get rid of like 9% of what's left. And so there's still a lot left with no current income happening.

And so I would want to go into retirement with no mortgage. That would be my goal for our friend Randy. I don't know currently how he's going to do that without decimating the nest egg. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. And so that's another problem to solve. Yeah, he might have to pick up some more work here or there, which I feel like he could do. Yeah. He still seemed like a young guy. All right. Let's talk to, you know what, let's go back to these social questions because I really liked these, George.

Okay, so let's take it to you decide Facebook or Instagram. Oh, gosh, I think Facebook. I like I like what the boomers are doing. That tells me a lot about you. Good time. That tells me a lot about you at a core level. All right. Shannon from Facebook asks, I told my teenage daughters they need to get jobs for their spending money this summer. One daughter refuses to work. I was thinking about giving her just $20 a week.

Would that be okay? Or should I just stick to my guns about the whole job thing? Oh, see, this is why I chose Facebook. The juicy stuff is happening on Facebook. It is. Wow. Okay. Teenage daughters, you got to get a job. She says, I refuse to work. And now she's going, well, if I give her 20 bucks a week, dudes, I feel like I'm giving in. Yes. Well, you can have free money anyways for spending. Well, there is a big difference between 13 versus 17. I don't know.

I do think, but either way, I still think I'm making it work. Yeah, I don't know what the age is here. It feels like a lot to make a judgment call, but we're talking about 80 bucks a month for what, two months now with summer? Yeah. It's not that long. So it's 160 bucks total. Yeah.

I would say, here's what I'm willing to do. You can have 20 bucks a week or eight, I'll give you 80 bucks a month for these two months, but nothing above that. You're going to have to work if you want to spend anything above that. Oh, that's a fair compromise. Ooh, I disagree. I think I would say if you work, I will supplement your pay with the $20 a week. How about this? I'll match anything you make. You make. Now, wait a minute. Now we're talking. That feels like a lot. Yeah.

Well, I imagine they also want to save for a car. They probably have some bigger goals. That's true. Maybe I'll match it into a car fund. Here's what I don't like. That could be fun. Here's what I don't like about it. The daughter, she used some pretty strong language when she said, my daughter refuses to work. That's where the hard-headed part of me would come out and be like, oh, you refuse. Okay, I refuse. I feel like I would get very... Yeah, and I'm trying to also put myself in the teenager's shoes because

I don't think I was working every single summer. As soon as school got out, I was working a full-time job all summer. See, I was. I worked... I did work my summers. Was that a forced thing? Was this forced child labor at this point? No, I... Well, my parents just didn't hand out money. My parents have never just handed us money. And so I was like, I got to get a job at Kroger. They would hire me. And so I went there. And then the next summer, I did that two summers and I worked at the YMCA once. Like, we just...

You were hustling. We were hustling, man. I was out there skateboarding, you know, but I was a simple man. A 7-Eleven Slurpee could tide me over for hours. That's all you needed. Just a Nature Valley Granola Bar. Yeah, $1.25. I can get by for the day. Thanks for listening.

Hey, what are you still doing here? You know the rest of the show is happening on the Ramsey Network app, right? So you've got to jump over there to continue watching. You can download it for free. Just go to your app store, type in Ramsey Network. It's completely free, and I'll drop a link in the show notes to make it easy for you. So if you're watching on the app, you're in luck. But if you're watching anywhere else, this show is over for you. So jump onto the app and let the fun continue. All right, go on now. Don't make it weird.

Okay, I got nowhere to go, so you need to go. Okay, bye-bye now. All right, this is getting weird over there, guys. What do we do?