Transcript

Don't Get Pulled Into the Gravitational Pull of Drama | February 24, 2026

From The Ramsey Show · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 2 h 8 min · 23,564 words · 506 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Don't Get Pulled Into the Gravitational Pull of Drama | February 24, 2026", an episode of The Ramsey Show published February 24, 2026 (2 h 8 min, about 23,564 words). It mentions 42 people, works and ideas, including Dave Ramsey, Debt, Retirement, Baby Steps, Income.

What this episode is about

A stressed individual contemplates taking over a failing family business worth about $10 million, weighing the burden of debt, a problematic leadership ideology, and a potential 10–15 year horizon before inheritance amidst family dynamics. The discussion centers on managing financial and emotional leverage as the business teeters toward collapse.

Key takeaways

  • Debt-as-family-identity traps: emotional ties can eclipse financial logic; separating values from business avoids lifetime misery.
  • Walking away is not cowardice; it's strategic self-preservation when debt culture outpaces personal ethics.
  • Shared ideology overruled by endless leverage: if they double down on debt, your best move may be distance.
  • Legacy vs. liquidity: choosing to disengage protects future assets from inherited mismanagement and conflict.
  • One clear boundary beats ten years of misery: negotiate a debt-free path or gracefully exit before the trap snaps.

Who speaks in this episode?

  • Dave Ramsey (Host) · 36 min speaking
  • Jade Wagar (Host) · 15 min speaking
  • Sean (Guest) · 8 min speaking
  • Nicole (Guest) · 5 min speaking
  • Dustin (Guest) · 5 min speaking
  • Neil (Guest) · 5 min speaking
  • TJ (Guest) · 4 min speaking
  • Alice (Guest) · 4 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 15:00: IGGY Nicole, Budgeting, Positive Sean, Heavy Equipment Operation
  2. – 30:00: Retirement, Income, Dustin, Social Security
  3. – 45:00: Retirement, Income, Leona, Cattle Operation
  4. – 1:00:00: Franchise, gambling, Credit Card Debt, Diane
  5. – 1:15:00: mortgage, Debt-Free, Income, Dave Ramsey
  6. – 1:30:00: Income, Baby Steps, Retirement, Jade Waw
  7. – 1:45:00: Income, Debt-Free
  8. – 2:00:00: Every Dollar, Retirement, Budgeting, Debt-Free
  9. – 2:07:38: Income

Notable quotes from "Don't Get Pulled Into the Gravitational Pull of Drama | February 24, 2026"

  • Transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fair Winds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsey Show. I'm Dave Ramsey. Jade Waw is my co-host today. Ramsay personality, number one bestselling author. Our phone number here is88255225.
    about Dave Ramsey · at
  • 2-year-old baby girl. So, last year we were able to pay off our vehicle, but we had $62,000 worth of student loan debt left. and we were going to use we've been using mostly…
    about Debt · at
  • They don't know the difference. You know the difference, but they don't know the difference. And I, for one, would try to stay in that position as long as possible and save as…
    about Jade Waw · at
  • He has no retirement. His only income is social security. he now has dementia and my brother and I are left kind of trying to manage this for him. he's currently being sued on one credit card for 8,000 and he owes.
    about Income · at
  • Quite a bit of money in the bank, I feel. and I am thinking about my retirement and I'd like to know how best I should invest it in order to make it last through retirement.
    about Retirement · at
  • Now, make sure Yeah. Make sure you cut up the stupid credit cards and get on a budget so you don't spend more than you make again. Yeah, that's really what you need to do.
    about Budgeting · at
  • Okay, so we are in baby steps four, five, and six. We've been on the Ramsey plan for a solid like seven years. We have $60,000 saved for the vehicle in a high yield savings account. But then.
    about Baby Steps · at
  • We paid off $155,000 in just under five years.
    about Debt-Free · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Dave Ramsey — Person · Host · 4 mentions · first at
    Primary voice guiding callers through debt payoff, investing, and life decisions using the Ramsey plan.
  • Jade Waw — Person · Co-host · 3 mentions · first at
    Supports Dave Ramsey with commentary, empathy, and reinforcement of the Baby Steps and budgeting discipline.
  • Diane — Person · Caller · 3 mentions · first at
    Has $600k cash and $250k retirement, plans a franchise, and reveals husband’s gambling debt; drives discussion on risk, boundaries, and investing.
    Knows that I'm opening up this franchise, which will be approximately $125,000 to open the franchise on my own.
  • Hugh Logan — Person · Caller · 20 mentions
    Wants to borrow $150k to start a cattle operation; Dave argues against debt-financed business risk and recommends organic growth.
    That would be like buying it from an owner and the owner gets the pro the former owner gets the profit until not borrowing $150,000 to buy cows from the bank. That's different. Okay.
  • Chloe — Person · Caller · 18 mentions
    Engaged couple with large savings but significant car and credit card debt; hosts advise paying off debt before combining finances post-honeymoon.
    All right. All right. And then his truck is about 35,000 and he has a credit card of 34,000 100. Sorry. 100. Okay.
  • IGGY Nicole — Person · Caller · 4 mentions · first at
    Asks whether to increase rent for more space while still carrying student loan debt; hosts push aggressive budgeting and faster payoff.
    And so I'm going to put you on the beans and rice plan if I'm you.
  • Positive Sean — Person · Caller · 2 mentions · first at
    Calls about inheriting a heavily indebted family business and whether to intervene or walk away.
    Sean is in Fargo, North Dakota. Hey Sean, what's up in your world?
  • Dustin — Person · Caller · 2 mentions · first at
    Seeks guidance on a father with dementia, no assets, and credit card lawsuits; Dave advises not paying and notes Social Security protections.
    He has no retirement. His only income is social security. he now has dementia and my brother and I are left kind of trying to manage this for him. he's currently being sued.
  • Leona — Person · Caller · 2 mentions · first at
    Lease dispute after moving out due to poor conditions; Dave criticizes LegalShield advice and warns of likely lawsuit/collections.
    The town home and they said they'll fix things. Months went by, they weren't fixing anything. So we decided to just break our lease because I have legal shield through my job.…
  • Andrew Neil — Person · Caller · 1 mention · first at
    Discusses Baby Steps 4 and 6, anxiety about retirement, and how to work with a financial advisor; Dave recommends SmartVestor Pros.
    Neil is in Birmingham. Hi, Neil. How are you?
  • Beth Mike — Person · Caller · 1 mention · first at
    Asks about an executor withholding inheritance from a sibling; Dave explains fiduciary duty to execute the will.
    The people on the other side of it are going to sue your butt and they're going to win because you violated your fiduciary responsibility.
  • Steve King — Person · Question-of-the-day submitter · 1 mention · first at
    Provides a scenario about paying off credit card debt and mortgage in retirement to reduce withdrawals from retirement accounts.
    Might not be in all states. All right, today's question comes from Steve in West Virginia. He says, I'm 66 years old and have been retired for 5 years. I have 500,000 in retirement funds, but I have two debts, 40,000 in credit card.

Companies & orgs

  • Smart Vest Pro — Organization · Recommended advisor network · 1 mention · first at
    Dave directs callers to use SmartVestor Pros to find local advisors aligned with Ramsey teachings and a 'teacher' mindset.
    So anyway, that's what you're facing. So yeah, I would take the 600,000 and I'd take the 250,000 and I would sit down with a smart investor pro and begin to invest it in good…
  • Ramsey Network — Organization · Publisher / production network · 1 mention · first at
    The show is produced under the Ramsey Network brand and referenced in the studio intro.
    Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So, we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fair Winds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsey…
  • Xander Insurance — Company · Advertised provider · 2 mentions · first at
    Dave promotes Xander’s identity theft protection plan as the only one he recommends.
    I've been telling people for almost 20 years they need an ID theft protection plan. And the only one I've ever recommended is from Xander Insurance.
  • Guardian Litigation Group LLP — Company · Advertised provider · 1 mention · first at
    Promoted as a debt settlement legal service to respond to creditor lawsuits and reduce collection pressure.
    Living. You're surviving. You don't need more noise or more stress. You need help you can trust. That's why I recommend Guardian Litigation Group. Guardian isn't a call center…

Products & tech

  • Every Dollar — Product · Sponsored product / recommended tool · 10 mentions · first at
    Budgeting app promoted at the start and later as a tool to find margin and follow the plan.
    Tired, sick and tired of working and have nothing to show for it. Well, you don't have to live that way. Our Every Dollar Budget app helps you find extra money every month and…

Concepts & topics

  • Debt — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at
    Central problem across callers: family business leverage, student loans, credit cards, mortgage payoff, and business startup borrowing.
  • Retirement — Concept · Core topic · 9 mentions · first at
    Multiple callers worry about retiring poor, managing retirement funds, and investing cash for retirement security.
  • Baby Steps — Concept · Core framework · 5 mentions · first at
    Ramsey’s step-by-step plan is referenced to place callers (e.g., steps 2, 4, 5, 6) and guide decisions like investing and mortgage payoff.
  • Income — Concept · Supporting topic · 18 mentions · first at
    Household income levels drive feasibility of debt payoff, housing upgrades, and business decisions throughout the calls.
  • mortgage — Concept · Core topic · 7 mentions · first at
    Discussed as debt to eliminate (Steve’s question; Nora’s payoff decision; debt-free scream segment focused on paying off mortgage).
    Our mortgage is approximately $83,000 left.
  • Debt-Free — Concept · Core outcome · 5 mentions · first at
    Goal state emphasized in advice and celebrated in the debt-free scream segment (mortgage payoff).
  • Budgeting — Concept · Core topic · 4 mentions · first at
    Hosts repeatedly attribute debt persistence to weak budgeting and recommend tightening spending and using EveryDollar.
  • Credit Card Debt — Concept · Core topic · 4 mentions · first at
    Appears in multiple calls (Dustin’s father, Chloe’s and fiancé’s balances, Steve’s question) as a symptom of overspending and a payoff target.
    Has dementia and my brother and I are left kind of trying to manage this for him. he's currently being sued on one credit card for 8,000 and he owes 13,000 on another credit…
  • Financial Planning — Concept · Core topic · 2 mentions · first at
    Covers investing strategy, advisor selection, retirement projections, and risk management (franchise, gambling, business debt).
    Yeah, I would take the 600,000 and I'd take the 250,000 and I would sit down with a smart investor pro and begin to invest it in good mutual funds. If it averages 10% or more…
  • Franchise — Concept · Caller-specific topic · 7 mentions · first at
    Diane plans to invest ~$125k to open a franchise; hosts warn about small-business risk and recommend limiting exposure.
    Knows that I'm opening up this franchise, which will be approximately $125,000 to open the franchise on my own.
  • gambling — Concept · Caller-specific core issue · 5 mentions · first at
    Diane reveals her husband’s gambling debt and ongoing spending, shaping Dave’s advice to protect assets and set boundaries.
    Okay. So, at this point, you're okay with losing $40,000 a year with your husband?
  • emergency fund — Concept · Supporting topic · 4 mentions · first at
    Referenced in housing and payoff decisions (Nora’s scenario) and in sponsor messaging about growing emergency funds via savings accounts.
    For people who don't want gimmicks or games. Their smart bundle includes a high yield savings account to help your emergency fund grow. And their spend smart checking account…
  • Social Security — Concept · Supporting topic · 4 mentions · first at
    Appears as protected income source in debt collection context (Dustin’s father) and as retirement income (Steve; Diane’s husband).
    The end of the year for $350,000 if he exercises that right. and then he also gets social security $1,100 a month.
  • financial freedom — Concept · Core outcome · 2 mentions · first at
    Underlying goal across calls: reduce stress, eliminate debt, invest for retirement, and avoid risky behaviors (gambling, over-leverage).
    Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So, we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fair Winds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsey…
  • Financial Advisor — Concept · Supporting topic · 2 mentions · first at
    Neil’s call centers on selecting and working with an advisor; Dave stresses advisor as teacher and client control.
    Over. All it is you're setting the stuff under their management, but they're not going to do anything without you telling them what to do.
  • Cattle Operation — Concept · Caller-specific topic · 2 mentions · first at
    Logan’s proposed business venture; used to illustrate why borrowing increases business risk and why organic growth is preferred.
    Well, I'm trying to get some advice on my wife and I going into debt to start a cattle operation.
  • High Yield Savings Account — Concept · Supporting topic · 2 mentions · first at
    Mentioned in sponsor ad (Fair Winds) and by Nora as the place holding car savings.
    Winds Credit Union. They've built tools for people who don't want gimmicks or games. Their smart bundle includes a high yield savings account to help your emergency fund grow.…
  • Brokerage Account — Concept · Supporting topic · 2 mentions · first at
    Nora considers liquidating a brokerage account to pay off the mortgage; hosts discuss tradeoffs with emergency reserves.
    So, if we liquidate that brokerage account, we could pay off the home and be done and still have an emergency fund. Yeah, we do have $10,000 set aside for an.
  • Weird — Concept · Show theme / branding concept · 3 mentions · first at
    Used as a motivational framing: 'common sense is weird' and 'be weird' to reject normal debt behavior.
    Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So, we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fair Winds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsey Show. I'm.
  • Debt Settlement — Concept · Supporting topic · 2 mentions · first at
    Raised implicitly in Dustin’s question about settling and explicitly in the Guardian Litigation Group ad as a last-resort alternative to bankruptcy.
    On one credit card for 8,000 and he owes 13,000 on another credit card. And I guess my question is, should we try and settle this with them? Does he own anything? My brother and I would have no assets.
  • Rental Income — Concept · Supporting topic · 1 mention · first at
    Diane describes $2,500/month rental income funding her husband’s discretionary spending and their cashflow.
    We have $2,500 coming in from a rental that person bought the business and he has the option to buy the end of the year for $350,000 if he exercises that right. and then.
  • Heavy Equipment Operation — Concept · Caller context · 2 mentions · first at
    Sean’s occupation and a suggested path to financial success independent of the family business.
    Into joining something I completely disagree with. No, walk away from it, son. It ain't worth it. You can make a lot of money running your own heavy equipment operation without any debt.

Sponsors

  • Fair Winds Credit Union — Company · Sponsor / studio partner · 5 mentions · first at
    Episode is recorded in the Fair Winds Credit Union studio and includes an ad for their accounts and 'Smart Bundle'.
    Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So, we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fair Winds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsey…
  • Christian Brothers Automotive — Company · Sponsor · 2 mentions · first at
    Promoted as the official auto repair partner of the show, tied to car maintenance and staying on the Baby Steps.
    We're excited to recognize Christian Brothers as the official auto repair partner of the Ramsay Show. Christian Brothers keeps things simple, honest, and transparent. Every repair is backed by their nationwide nice difference.
  • Identity Theft Protection — Concept · Sponsor topic · 1 mention · first at
    Discussed in an ad segment emphasizing data breaches and recommending a protection plan (Xander).
    They monitor your personal and financial info, even your home title, and take over all the work if you become a victim. It's the most thorough and affordable plan out there. I even have.

Full transcript with timestamps

Brought to you by the Every Dollar app. Start budgeting for free today. Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So, we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fair Winds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsey Show. I'm Dave Ramsey. Jade Waw is my co-host today. Ramsay personality, number one bestselling author. Our phone number here is88255225. The call is free and some say the advice is worth exactly what you pay for it. Sean is in Fargo, North Dakota. Hey Sean, what's up in your world?

Oh, not much Dave. Just enjoying my life. Good. How can we help? So I am kind of stressed out right now. In a little it's kind of in a pickle it feels like with my family. They are give or take5 to6 million dollars in their family business debt. And I am struggling to um struggling like to cope with like my dad is in failing health and he owns a family business and he is not worried about the major debt that his business has.

Okay. Do you work there? Uh, part time. Okay. Cuz I can't I can't handle full-time there.

Can't handle it. What do you mean him? You can't handle him? No, just the ideology he has and the business feelings.

Okay. So, why is it bringing you stress? You have a part-time job with a business that's in trouble

and with a guy whose ideology you don't agree with. Why would that be cause you to be stressful?

I will be most likely be inheriting it with my three brothers, the business, which is probably worth around $10 million.

Mhm. And so I'm kind of in talks right now to take over the books and all the like the business side of it to pretty much be full-time.

When are you supposed to do that? And uh um probably within the next 10 to 15 years.

I'm so confused. Okay. Um Yeah. Yeah. I mean, so you're going to be part-time with a guy you disagree with while he runs a business in the ground for the next 10 years, and you're going to stand there and watch it happen, and then they're going to hand it to you and call that a blessing.

Why don't you just say, "I don't want it." Yeah. I don't I don't want it cuz So like I mean it's a good Oh, actually I shouldn't say it's a good business, but is it really worth cuz he tries to get me to go fulltime like almost weekly on a weekly basis.

Well, you tell us the upside because you called in and said all the negative things. So it makesense.

Everything you describe here sounds like something I want to do. Why would you want to do this?

Yeah. So, is it So, I guess I want to ask, should I try to like almost intervene and be like, you know, we should start taking out this debt or because they're thinking about adding another

Who's they $1.5 million debt? My my family. Your brothers? Yeah, my brother. Who are your future partners?

Another million dollars in the debt. Who are your future brother? Who are your future partners?

I my brothers. Yeah, but you said that you're say your brothers are as dumb as your dad.

You said it before yourself. Uh Sean, you said their ideology is completely different than yours. And I think you need to accept that that that's the case. And you haven't said anything that shows any sign of them changing that ideology.

And so if they continue down this path for the next however many years, they're just entrenching themselves further in that. And you're part-time.

What do you do for a living? Uh, I operate heavy equipment. All right. Are you a Are you the baby of the family?

Uh, no. I'm not. Second old. No. Third oldest. Middle. Okay. All right. Yeah. Um, well, here here's the thing. I don't think that these people are going to change. Do you?

No, I don't. I Okay. So, you either got to walk away from them or you got to enjoy their bull crap.

Yeah. It's one way to put it. I mean, you really do. You're gonna have to decide which one you're gonna be. If it's me, I'm gonna let them have it. I'm gonna walk away.

Uhhuh. This sounds like a bear trap. Sounds like it's gonna tear your freaking leg off.

It's going to The next 10 years of your life are going to be pure freaking misery till the old man dies. And then when he dies, now you got partners that were trained by him called your brothers. No, thank you. I don't want in this.

For sure. For sure. Yeah. I just I I there's nothing here that aligns with who you are or who you want to be. This all sounds like misery and there's not enough money there to fool with. Let them have it. They're going to screw it up. It's going to be worth nothing.

Yeah. And you don't believe that. You still you think your wife thinks you're walking away from a million dollars and you're not. You're walking away from a million dollars worth of debt. That's what you're walking away from. So, 15 years,

I would sit down if you want to have one final conversation with the boys and with the dad and say, "Guys, I don't I'm I'm uncomfortable with this much debt, and I'm not going to join the business as long as you guys continue to run it further up into debt and have no desire to get out of debt because it makes me uncomfortable. I don't agree with this." And I love you. And if you want to go over there and do something that I don't agree with, we can still be dad and son. We can still be brothers. I can still love you.

Yeah. But I do not want to personally be involved in this. It brings me great stress just thinking about it. And so if you guys want to commit to a path that gets us out of debt and keeps us out of debt as a permanent way of doing business, I would love to join and be part of this thing. I think it's got a future, but I am not going to get on this horse when you have this many bricks in the saddle bags.

Listen, I agree with that 100%. Clearly easier said than done. Sure. Because you're gonna have basically your whole family on this side and you're the lone ranger over here. That's not easy. But I I agree 100%.

Well, the thing is you put everybody on notice and 100% chance they're not going to do it.

No. And so you're basically saying here's why I'm going to go on and have my great life over here and I'm going to love you. I've got family members. Most of my family members don't do the stuff I teach.

But I'm not in I'm not in a deal with them either. And I still love them. Some of them even vote wrong and I still love them. But that doesn't mean I have to go around and be in business with them and it doesn't mean I have to sit around be stressed and I'm like somehow guilted into joining something I completely disagree with. No, walk away from it, son. It ain't worth it. You can make a lot of money running your own heavy equipment operation

without any debt. That's probably the other part of it is there's a a lure that maybe there's like that bit maybe just possibly one day it could be good. And then you look back and you're like, man, I I should have stayed part of it, right? He's probably thinking about that little one one or two%.

Yeah. It's like, I'm going to pet an alligator and hope it doesn't bite. What do they do? They bite. You know, it's dumb. You're just asking for it.

Don't think they're going to change. They don't they only know how to do one thing, and it's bite. So, don't don't be shocked when they bite. I mean, it's just your dad. This is what he does. It's is a predictable environment. Yeah.

And he he didn't hide it. He's not sure. He just said, "That's who I am." Yeah. That's right.

And he kind of said, "Like it or lump it." So, I'd love it. That's what I do. I mean, you know, it it's just it's hard to walk away from something like that, especially

when all the family ties. It feels like you're being drawn in by a tractor beam. You know, like

gravitational pull. Yes. Drama has a gravitational pull. I've noticed that drama. Drama. Family drama will suck you in

and eat your life. Yeah. And then we connect a little $5 million debt to it just for the fun of it. Yeah. I Heat. Heat. Everyone is at risk of identity theft. I don't care if you're a hermit living off the grid listening to the show on a battery powered radio. All of your data collected by every company you've ever done business with lives online. Your bank, your doctor's office, retailers, the apps on your phone, the gas station where you have loyalty rewards, they all store your info online, making them ripe for a cyber attack or data breach. And no matter how careful we are, once thieves hack a company, they've got that data forever, meaning you could be victimized at any moment. That's why I've been telling people for almost 20 years they need an ID theft protection plan. And the only one I've ever recommended is from Xander Insurance.

They monitor your personal and financial info, even your home title, and take over all the work if you become a victim. It's the most thorough and affordable plan out there. I even have it for my family and our entire team at Ramsey. Visit xander.com or call 8003564282.

Nicole is in Atlanta. Hi, Nicole. How are you? Hi, I'm good. How are you? Good. What's up? Um, so me and my husband live in an apartment and we're trying to decide if we should move to a bigger space because we do have two three kids. So, two or five yearear-old twins and then a 2-year-old baby girl. So, um, last year we were able to pay off our vehicle, but we had $62,000 worth of student loan debt left. Um, and we were going to use we've been using mostly like our overage, which is about $1,100 um that we have a month to put towards our debt. And then we also pretty much use like our tax break or whenever that comes in to throw a lot at it just in and out. So, we're trying to see we want them to, you know, have a space to have a yard and like just more space is a little bit cramped up um with all five of us here. So, we were just wondering if we should stay or if we should kind of go like our budget would be tighter,

but was trying to see what we should prioritize. What are you guys earning between the two of you right now?

Um, gross would be 103,000. Okay. The hard part with this is what you said. If you were to move from this apartment to a house, it's going to close the gap on how much margin you have to throw out this debt, which means there's going to be a longer period of time that you're going to be in debt, which longterm that's going to affect your ability to build wealth. For that reason,

I like the idea of home ownership, but I think the first step in that process needs to be eliminating the debt so that you can actually go wholeheartedly into the home buying process and actually do it the right way so that it's a blessing for you.

You're not even talking about home ownership. You're talking about renting a nicer place, aren't you?

Yeah. Yeah. We were actually like looking to our rent is 2,200 and so we were wanting to rent like thinking about 25 as our max 2500 but that doesn't include like gas and utility. I'm sorry. You know

Yeah. So we just don't know if that's going to be leaving us with 400 instead of,000.

How much how much debt have you paid off so far? Uh 36,000 was the vehicle. And how long did that take?

Uh that took us two years. Okay. Making $130,000. Uh $103,000. Yeah. So, you guys suck at this so far, Nicole.

We suck. Yeah. $18,000 making a h 100red grand per year is not enough debt reduction.

You guys are you're still out you're still going out to eat. You're still going on vacation. You're still spending money. You're still not on a tight budget. And and so you made a little progress, but you should have made a lot more progress. So, if you told me you paid off 36,000 in 6 months, see, then I can take that number and go, "Oh, wait a minute. You could clear up the rest of this in a year if you'd suck it up and get it done. But at the rate you're going, it's going to take you 10 years."

Yeah. That ain't cool. That's true. That ain't cool, right? That's how we feel.

Yeah. We got to we got to not get stuck in that. And if you feel like you're never going to get out, then you just say, "Well, the heck with it. I'll just take a big old rent and go ahead and enjoy my life now and get the kids a yard." And you know, you give up. You're giving up is what you're doing because you're not making fast enough progress.

And so I'm going to put you on the beans and rice plan if I'm you. I'm going to sit down with my husband and go, "Look, we did a little bit here and we didn't do a bad thing, but we really weren't. It wasn't like we were spectacular. We kind of got the flu here and we need to really light this thing up instead of putting $1,500 a month on it. We need to take extra jobs. We need to sell stuff. We need to not go out to eat. We need to tight tight tight tight tighten down this budget, not go the other way. A and let's get this thing to 3,000 or $4,000 a month going at this 6,000 60,000 that's left and then we can get out in about 14 or 15 months. Then we can talk about building an emergency fund and then we talk about buying a house, not renting one.

Yeah, I I But what you're talking about is a five or a six-year plan and you won't even make it.

I agree. I I if you can have these kids, they're young right now, right? They're five years old, three years old. Now's the time that they can be squished and they don't know the difference. You know the difference, but they don't know the difference. And I, for one, would try to stay in that position as long as possible and save as much money as possible so that you can pay off. If they're squished and their life is miserable for one year,

they'll be fine. That's better than them being not squished and having a mediocre to average life for the rest of their life.

You want to know what though? I I think back a lot of times on the house that I grew up in and I think back on the house that my parents grew up in with six kids.

Yeah. Nobody told us we were tiny. Nobody told us we were squished. No, we were but nobody told us we were. It was a thousand square foot brick ranch. Hello. And so I mean we went out in the backyard and played. They'd say go play in the traffic and they go

outside. Like Yeah. To play outside all the time. You tell your kids to go play in the traffic. You don't tell your kids.

I don't tell them to play in traffic. I JUST TELL THEM TO My mother would say that all the time. Go play in the traffic. Get out of my Get off under my feet.

Yes. That's what caused me to be the way I am. Dustin is in Celane, Idaho. Hey, Dustin. What's up?

Hi. Um, so I'll get right into it. Uh, my dad incurred about $30,000 in debt. Uh, he has no retirement. His only income is social security. Uh, he now has dementia and my brother and I are left uh, kind of trying to manage this for him. Um, he's currently being sued on one credit card for 8,000 and he owes 13,000 on another credit card. And I guess my question is, should we try and settle this with them? Does he own anything? My brother and I would have

no no assets. Well, how would he settle it? Uh, essentially my brother and I would have to help him out. And

why why would you do that? Just tell them tell the credit card company to bite me.

He has no money. He has nothing to give. They can't get anything. He doesn't have anything right?

Uh yeah, he has nothing. It's only social security and I don't believe they can touch that.

They can't touch that. Does he own a home? No. No, he doesn't have any money in his bank account except the social security.

Yeah, it would it would just be for me and my brother to have one less thing to uh to have to deal with.

I wouldn't deal with it at all. I got one less thing. I'm just going to show them the smallest finger on my left hand and say that's all you get. Nothing.

Are they calling you? Uh no. No, I just tell him to, you know, tell him to jump in a creek. You shouldn't load loan money to a guy who had dementia and no money.

Okay. And should I uh should I offer to have them sign a stipulated judgment to avoid additional attorney fees or

I wouldn't tell. Who cares? They're not going to get any of it. What I would do is call them up and say, if you want to talk to him, call him up and just say this. Say, I want you to make a note in the file. He has advanced dementia and zero assets. We're not going to have any conversations with you. You might as well write this off because you're not getting a dime.

Okay? And I just real simple. I mean, let's pretend he had passed away. Okay? I just sent him a copy of the death certificate as a courtesy to let him know and and let him know that there's not a uh that there's no estate. And then then after that, I'm not having any more discussions with these people. They're morons.

Yeah. None of this can pass to you if you're worried about that. Uh, no. Yeah, I'm not worried about that. I mean, it's his debt and I I'm not responsible for this. So,

it's just sad and it's it's one of the part it's a sad uh subchapter sub paragraph in this overall sad story that you're dealing with. But what I would do is just say, I'm not going to worry about it at all. And if you want to have one conversation just as a courtesy, you could. But I'm not going to have lengthy conversations. I'm not going to have multiple conversations. and I'm not gonna give him a dime. There's no point in it. They shouldn't have loaned him the money.

Yeah, I agree. And it's it's just sad. I'm sorry for your having to face that. And um you know, I've run into situations like that in my life, Dustin. How old are you?

Uh 44. Yeah. I've run into situations like that. And what I do is I say, "Okay, I got to help my dad out." Uh in your case, this is what you're saying. I got to help my dad out. And this is a sad situation. And so what I'm going to get from this is a lesson to never end up like this,

right? I'm going to do whatever it takes in my life to not end up this way. It's like, you know, I was working for a guy one time. He goes, I might be working in McDonald's at my retirement, but it'll be the one I own in St. Thomas.

Come on now. So, I'm going to learn a lesson from those old people standing there working in McDonald's cuz they don't have any money. I don't want to be one of them. That's right.

And so you look at this and you go, he's got no assets. He's got dementia. And the only positive thing in his life is he's got two sons that love him and are going to care for him.

Other than that, this guy's a palper. We would use old language, but it's very sad. And so take it as a lesson to go, I'm never, you know, and then you teach your kids. Your grandpa ended up that way. Your grandpa was not a bad person, but this is how you ended up. And this is how we're not at from this point forward, the family tree changes.

We're shifting it. I know. It's over. That's right. So take a lesson from it. At least at least get that out of it. But no, I wouldn't give those guys any money. Not a dime. I used to be that guy who bragged about running on no sleep. And then I realized being tired all the time is not a flex. To show up as the best George Camel I can be, I need real rest. And that's why I got Casper mattresses in my home. The experts at Casper designed their mattresses to help you sleep deeper, cooler, and more comfortably. And they've been top ranked in both the foam and inner spring mattress categories by Consumer Reports. You and your entire family deserve great sleep. So go to casper.com/ramsey and use code ramsey for 25% off mattresses and 10% off everything else.

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Neil is in Birmingham. Hi, Neil. How are you? Hey, I'm very blessed to be speaking with you and uh Jay Dave.

Thank you. How can we help? Uh yes sir. So my wife and I are working on baby step four and six. We are both nervous about a retirement and working with a financial planner advisor. We've never worked with one before but we both grew up in households with pensions but no nest egg to fall back on

and so we're really nervous about the future. Neither one of us want to retire poor.

Good for you. Well, the what you don't want from an adviser, I'm not sure why you're nervous. I want to hear that in a minute. But what you don't want is from an adviser is arrogance or looking dropping their glasses on the end of their nose and shaming or telling you what you need to do. These are all warning signs that you run from that you should be nervous about. When you sit down with a good advisor, they should be teaching you and saying, "This is how this thing works and this is why I personally use it and this is why Dave Ramsey recommends this and here's how it works." And you say, "Well, I don't understand." Okay. Well, let me try let me teach you another way. Well, I still don't understand. Okay, then your your job is to teach me and then I will decide. I kind of think of it this way.

I think about sometimes I go into a nice restaurant and we ask the waiter, you know, what what's the best thing in here? You ever done that?

Mhm. Yes, sir. And I don't always get what they suggest cuz sometimes what they suggest I don't like.

Yeah. We we I don't turn my choices over to them. I just listen to them and then I make my choice.

Yes, sir. So, we we've been doing it on our own for for several years. We we basically started putting in 15% I guess about five or six years ago after we finally were able to. Good.

And so we we're trying to uh we're playing catch-up because we are we are in our 50s now. And so we're trying to play catchup. And so but we our our 401k is not doing not not kicking out the percentages that we hear on the show that like the that the S&P did last year and everything. And so when but we have talked to a couple of financial people. Some of them are out of state. We don't know the ins and outs of working with somebody out of state.

I would work with somebody in your neighborhood. Okay. See, that's what me and my wife thought. But we were basically told by somebody we were old school. That that's the old way of thinking that

somebody's always got an opinion about your money. Have you noticed that? Yes, sir.

Oh, yes, sir. Yeah. So, what I did, listen, if you just go to Ramsey Solutions, you click on Smart Vest Pro, you'll find several people in Birmingham that we recommend. and we don't recommend them if they don't have the heart of a teacher and they don't agree with the stuff we teach here on the air. And so that's a baseline. And then you sit down and interview them and say, would I hire this person as my tutor, as my teacher?

Okay. So, so we're kind of nervous when when we work with a smart pro. Should we be willing to turn over our money to them? I don't I don't know. We don't know how that works. A lot of it

your 401k you can't turn over. you have to leave it at your workplace. They can look at it for you and say, "Go back over to work and that's a choice you could make right there that'd make you more. That one, that particular fund outperform the S&P. The three you got didn't." They can help you look at that, but they can't manage it by turning it over. All it is is you're setting the stuff under their management, but they're not going to do anything without you telling them what to do.

I got you. It's not like It's not like um It's not like you sign them onto your checking account. They're not authorized to do trades. They're not authorized to do anything unless you tell them to do it.

Okay. Okay. They see that's something we didn't know. We didn't know when we do it. Do we just have to turn everything over to them?

I would I would put everything on the table and let them look at the whole picture.

Yes, sir. But I'm not going to lose control of it. I don't lose control of anything. See, when I hire a lawyer, some lawyers get confused. They think they get to tell you what to do. And I'm like, "No, you work for me. He worked for me. You tell you tell me what the situation is and then I will decide based on the information you teach me about this particular law about this particular situation what I am going to do and then I'm going to tell you what to do

exactly. You don't you just don't want you want to keep in control as to who's in charge here. You know what I'm saying?

Oh yes sir. I completely understand. We're we're in our, like I said, I'm I'm 52, so we're going down the track here, getting closer to

Well, all you're doing is saying I probably can make my money work harder with someone who plays with money all day long teaching me.

Yes, sir. That's all it is. And that's okay. That's all it is. Well, that's what Yes, sir. That's what we will do then. That's We're just We don't want to retire poor. That's the biggest thing we're nervous about.

You're not You're not going to retire poor. You're going to retire rich. I can tell just by talking to you because you're freaking paying attention. People that retire poor don't bother to look at it. Well,

unfortunately, I think we look at it every day. Well, see, yeah, you're getting all twisted up, man. You need get you a plan, ride the plan, and have a little peace in your finances. But yeah, that that's it. It does. It takes um I think not knowing is what kills you

100%. The fact that I can already tell that guy's quite frugal just by listening. uh they they're doing the right thing. And it's okay. Everybody um everybody has their moment at different times in life where they they wake up and they go, "Oh crap, I got to get my money together." And for some of us, it's a little later down the line. But once, to your point, once you start paying attention, there is time uh to make things right. Especially if you're doing the Ramsey plan.

Khloe's in Orlando. Hi, Chlor. Chloe, how are you? Hi, I'm great. Hi, Dave and Jade. Thanks for taking my call.

Sure. What's up? All right. So, my fiance and I are getting married at the end of this year in October.

Great. He he has quite a bit of money saved. Um, but we also have debt and we're also trying to save for a wedding. So, we kind of need some help um figuring out how to go about this.

Cool. How much does he have saved? In total liquid saved, we have 123,000. Awesome. Who's we? Wait a minute. How much does he have? How much do you have? He has um Okay, let me start with me. I have um only about 2,000. Him and I together created a savings account that is about 22,000 and he has the rest which would probably be that 100,000.

Okay. Okay. And and and the 22,000 I'm guessing is I hope you're saving for the wedding.

That's correct. Okay. And what are you planning to spend on the wedding? 45,000. Are there any family members helping out?

Yes, we have um my parents are giving us 10,000 and then he has an uncle that has given him 10,000 as well.

Okay, that's 42. So that's 42. So you're there. And what is your what is your household what is your income and what is his income?

Um his income is a takehome around 96 a little bit more with bonuses and then mine's I just put myself on salary. I do have um my own business, but on salary I take

I don't care what your salary is. What's your income? What is the business profit going to be this year?

Oh, um probably 80,000. Okay. All right. So, you got a a $200,000 income between you if you were to be married today. You have 22,000 plus you have pledges to get you up to 45,000

for your wedding budget. So, the wedding budget's done. Can we agree on that? Yes.

Okay, good. And then how much debt do you have and how much debt does he have? Um without the home I have around um 14,000 in um credit card and my car

and he has 14 is the credit card and car. Um I owe about 4,200 on my car and then I have 8,000 in credit cards.

Okay. Okay. All right. All right. And then um his um truck is about 35,000 and he has a credit card of 34,000

100. Sorry. 100. Okay. All right. Cool. Very easy. Then you do not need to combine finances until after the honeymoon.

Okay. So he should pay off his truck and his credit card today out of his hundred.

Okay. and you need to start working to pay off your 13 as fast as possible and the wedding is already done.

Okay. Now, my question is he's going to be worried about paying his truck off because that dwindles down his savings account when

you guys are going to have you guys are going to have to really quickly have a talk about how you view debt and how you're going to manage debt and finances in your in your marriage going forward.

Yeah. He doesn't really have a h 100red,000. He already spent 34 of it. He just hadn't admitted it. Well, Dave, you know, on the show all the time, we get calls about cars, used cars. What's one thing you want folks to know?

Well, really a couple things. Number one is always buy used, unless you got a million dollars. We don't buy new cars. And if you're going to buy used, number two, you want it to last, and that means regular, proper maintenance.

Yeah, that's a big deal. I know when Sam and I moved from South Florida up to Tennessee, that's the first thing you're looking for. You need somebody who can take care of your car. So, when we found Christian Brothers Automotive, it was a no-brainer, and they've been absolutely great.

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Yeah, that's CBAC.com/rammyc store for details. Logan's in Indiana. Hey, Logan. What's up? Wait a minute. Let me try again. Hey, Logan. What's up?

Hey, sir. How we doing? Thanks for taking my call. Sure. How can I help? Well, I'm trying to get some advice on my wife and I going into um debt to start a cattle operation.

Okay. All right. How long you been listening to the show, Logan? uh about six months or so.

Okay. And so you know that about 95% of what we talk about is telling people to not go in debt and and how to get out of debt right?

Yeah, it is. I feel like I've heard a little bit of information with businesses that sometimes like buying a business or something that can depend on the profit that it brings and how quickly it can be paid off. So I wanted to yeah

see if that would work in this case. No, that would be like buying it from an owner and the owner gets the pro the former owner gets the profit until not borrowing $150,000 to buy cows from the bank. That's different. Um

Okay. So, I don't borrow money, Logan. And uh I've done that for 40 years and I run a business and I've grown the business with the profits in the business without borrowing money to do it. And because the simple fact is this, business has risk. When you borrow money to start a business or run a business, you increase the risk a hundfold. A lot more chance that you're going to go bankrupt. And so, um, what what's your household income, sir?

About 120 to 130,000 credit depending on overtime. Good for you. So, if you took out $150,000 loan, how fast could you pay it back? um running the numbers that we ran given the market now, you know, and obviously as long as it doesn't just completely tank out within about two years um to three at the most by your third your third third round of Cavs um everything should be completely paid off and it would be profit after that minus operational cost.

Yeah. So, what would be wrong with starting a little bit smaller and taking four years and making the thing cash flow its way to the exact same position? Buy by buy a third of what you're talking about buying with cash.

Okay? And make that third buy the next third and buy the next third. You don't need any money out of this cattle operation. You could pour every single dollar of profit into growing it. Agreed.

Correct. Yeah, that would be the plan because you have a good income at home already. And so, um, I think you it's what we call in business organically growing the business with your cash, your own cash. And that's what we've done here. Although we weren't able to do it as fast as you're going to be able to do it. And that's assuming cattle prices don't do what they have done in the past, which is they're all over the freaking place, as you know.

I'm sure you've looked at the trend lines on that. It's scary. So there's times the market has tanked and uh it's an agricultural product and so it's it's a lot more unpredictable than some other types of businesses. So you've got to be very very careful. But if I were in your shoes, I would get I I would scratch the itch, but I would save up 50 $75,000 in cash by living on nothing and I'd dump every bit of that in there and then I'd take every dime of profit and use it to grow the business. And I think you'll be there one year later than you would have been there if you borrowed the money and everything went perfect, which by the way, nothing ever goes perfect.

That that is that's true. Yeah. I mean, you get the cows get sick. There's all kinds of problems. There's, you know, the Brazilians decide they're going to come in and, you know, upset the beef market. I don't know. I mean, I don't know how the list works, but there's always something, right?

Correct. So, um yeah, it I I would rather you do that and and be tired and um stretched on your cash and then no one's going to take it away from you. You're not going to lose everything because you rolled the dice on this particular horse race. I just crossed metaphors, but yeah,

you did. That's all right. That No, that that makes sense. Um, a followup to that would be is if you were to cash flow this,

what's your opinion on um, you know, like leasing pasture and stuff, do you look at that as debt or is that looked at a little bit different like that's just over land?

That's just like le that's like leasing a building to run your business in instead instead of buying the building. That's there's no problem. I would rent the pasture for sure.

Okay. Because now we've got two businesses. If you if you buy the pasture, you got two businesses. You got the real estate business and the farming business. Yeah.

I mean, it's like it's like me. I've got this building here that's 650,000 square feet, like, you know, 600 thou $600 million property, right? So, I've got this piece of real estate. I'm in the real estate business. And I've got a business that's inside the real estate. But I've got two things going on here, very substantial things. Ramsay and a big old piece of real estate, big campus here, right? I mean, I'm in the office building business, period. No, no matter how you cut it and and you can sep you can mix those two together and act like, well, they're all one thing. No, they're really not. It's I've got a big old office building and I could have leased it. There's six of them right down the road down here. I could have leased another one and not put, you know, not put not put half a billion dollars into this thing, right? So, that that's that's the thing. So, just you you no need to get in the real estate business.

I just lease it. If you're going to start a restaurant, for God's sakes, don't buy the building.

Oh gosh, please no. Just just rent the building and get started. you know, you start a daycare, rent a building, and and just don't don't get in the real estate business until you've been in business a long time and you've got a predictable environment, but you don't have that there until then. So, Wow. Cool. I think we won that one.

Yeah. I think I think he's going to take your advice. I think he's going to do it.

I believe in him. I like it. I like Logan. All right. That's kind of nice. Um I like getting one occasionally. Leona's in Cincinnati. Hi, Leona. How are you? Hi Dave. Hi Jade. I'm good. How are you?

Better than I deserve. What's up? Um, so I have a quick question. So my husband and I, we have a one-year-old and we recently moved, well, not recently, last year we had switched from our apartment because of noisy neighbors and went to a town home. Um, the town home when we moved in there, it was not great. And we sent several emails to the leasing office about the issues that we were having and you know mold and spiders everywhere and centipedes and all these things happening in there. Um we told them that we are not happy with the town home and they said they'll fix things. Months went by, they weren't fixing anything. So we decided to just break our lease because I have legal shield through my job. And I reached out to an attorney through there and they said, "Well, they failed to provide suitable living conditions. So, I have pictures of everything.

Mhm. And you don't owe anything. So, you can break your lease and you'll be fine.

Oh, boy. That that was not good advice. Oh. Oh, wow. Yeah. You got what you paid for with that lawyer.

Did you send them Did you send I mean, did you get any Did you send them anything in writing? Did you do any Did you do your due diligence other than just making a phone call?

Uh, no. So, we definitely sent pictures u You mean to the leasing office or to the legal field? Uh, both. Did you send them Did you let them know that you were seeking legal legal counsel on behalf? Like, did you go through the due diligence of making sure that they understand what's going on?

I Yeah. So, I called the leasing office. My husband went up there cuz they weren't responding to my emails. My husband went up there up there. Um, he talked to them. They said, "Okay, we'll take care of things." Um, a couple months went by. Nothing was happening. The most they did was change the tray in the dishwasher office.

Just stop. I mean, it's You just moved out when you got mad cuz you called Legal Shield and they said uh you could.

Yeah. Well, we weren't we weren't planning to break our lease cuz we did that before to move to where we are now and that was not fun. So, we said we're not going to break a lease unless we get some kind of advice that we can. So after we called the head office, the property management company or whoever um we talked to the district manager, they said, "Okay, definitely send us emails and everything, all the pictures that you've been reaching out to them about and everything." Did that no response. Called again, left a voice message, not getting any response. So, the Legal Shield attorney said um they sent them a letter to the leasing office and the property management company and saying that they failed to provide whatever suitable living conditions for us and our child. So, we don't owe them anything. So, because of that, we decided to just break our lease because they weren't fixing anything. We asked

them multiple times, are you going to send Well, then this is on Legal Shield. Legal Shield needs to defend you for free.

Mhm. Yeah. They told me you're going to you're going to get you're going to get sued. I can promise you. I promise you 100% this landlord's coming after you. You don't have the option of just walking away because I got some bugs. Even if you send them pictures and even if they don't answer you, even if they're jerks, even if they have horrible service, it's not how it works. I mean, so now Legal Shields bit this off. They need to pick it up and close the deal. And and they're not going to be able to. This is going to be horrible for you.

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Welcome back to the Ramsey Show in the Fair Winds Credit Union studio. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Jade Waw Ramsey personality, number one bestselling author is my co-host. Diane is in Chicago. Hey Diane, how are you?

Hi. I'm doing well. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Oh, yeah. Same here. Well, I thank you for taking my call. Um, I currently have um uh quite a bit of money in the bank, I feel. Um, and I am thinking about my retirement and I'd like to know how best I should invest it in order to make it last through retirement.

How much is it? Um, I So, I have 600,000 in the bank. Wow. Um I'm debt debtree. Um I have two just 250,000 in retirement. Um which I don't know what to do with cuz it's been with a payroll service since um we had owned our own business. Um and it's just been sitting there. I don't know what to do with it. I know nothing about it. I wasn't actively involved in our business. Um I stayed home and took care of our kids uh raised them and um have decided to go into my own franchise. And so I know that I will be using some of that money for the franchise, but I don't know that just sitting in a bank is the best place for it.

Yeah. How old are you? Uh 57. Okay. And uh you you said you were not involved in the business and now you're opening a franchise with the business money.

Yes. Uhhuh. Okay. Um so your husband was running the business. Yes. Uhhuh. Where is he? Um he's he's at home. Um he is supporting me on my business. He's hoping at some point he'll be able to branch out and do something on his own. Um but everything's been in my name. Um the the bank accounts, the houses, the business. We sold the business last year and then um

that where the 600 grand came from? Yeah, we sold it for 1.2 2 million, but we were given a large lump sum. Um, and we paid off some unexpected unknown bets.

Like, um, okay. Unknown. You're being cryptic. I didn't I I didn't know about it.

You're going to have to tell You're going to tell us what's going on because you're not just not making sense.

My My husband has a gambling debt. Oh. I don't know what he he gets. He gets a set amount every month that comes in that he collects and he uses that for extracurricular activities. I have no idea what he uses as well.

You don't know how much he Oh, no. I know how much he gets. He gets $3,600 a month and that's his play money.

I get So, he's basically got a gambling problem that ran you guys deeply in debt and that's why everything's in your name.

Yes. Okay. All right. That makes sense. So, who's supplying the $3,600 a month for him to continue gambling?

Um, we have $2,500 coming in from a rental that um that person bought the business and he has the option to buy the end of the year for $350,000 if he exercises that right. Um, and then he also gets social security $1,100 a month.

Okay. So, at this point, you're okay with losing $40,000 a year with your husband?

No, I'm not, but I have no control over that. What's the What's the plan moving forward? Does he know that? Does he know that?

You apparently have a lot of control. You got everything in your name, right? Everything's in my name. Um he knows that I'm opening up this franchise, which will be um approximately $125,000 to open the franchise on my own.

Um he he's just kind of like leaving letting me leave the money in the bank, but I I feel like it's not getting the best return. So, I'm looking for ways that I can invest it.

Yeah. I mean, we could tell you to get with a Smart Veester Pro and and invest that money, but I really don't feel like that's the issue of the conversation.

Yeah, there's a lot there's so much going Here's the problem. It it's hard to fill up a hole while somebody's digging out the bottom,

right? And that that's kind of what we're hearing here. But you you feel like you've got him his his gambling addiction under control. And I question that because I've seen I've seen so many Well, I mean,

but but uh and so as long as you keep this stuff in your name, uh I guess you have the option of divorce at some point. If he runs up, you know, let's say he runs up a million dollar gambling debt and you don't want to pay it with the money that's in your name, then you've only got one option at that point.

So anyway, that's what you're facing. So yeah, I would take the 600,000 and I'd take the 250,000 and I would sit down with a smart investor pro and begin to invest it in good mutual funds. If it averages 10% or more, it will double every seven years. So you basically got a million dollars in seven years. At 50 at 64 years old, you'd have $2 million. At seven more years, at 71 years old, you'd have $4 million. So you're going to be fine if you do that and you don't piss it away with this uh franchise. if this franchise doesn't go belly up on you. And um so uh and it sounds like you've never run a business before. He ran the business before and now you're buying a franchise. So that's a little concerning.

Is the franchise in the same like field of expertise or is it something totally different?

No, it's something that I'm passionate about, something that is for me, not for him. Yeah. Yeah,

I don't expect his involvement in it, but I'm very confident and very passionate about this and I'm expecting for it to be very successful and I have a family that is willing to stand behind me and support me. So, that's not even a question whether or not that's going to be successful. I'm confident that it will be.

No, I I got to tell you that that's um not true in the small business world. So, there there is risk that you're not perceiving apparently. So yeah, you're going to buy it and you're going to do it. But I want to insulate you from you

and this bad decision if it's a bad decision. And I want to insulate you from him and his continuous bad decisions with $600 or more,000 going over in a regular lowrisk investment in comparison to gambling and in comparison to franchise purchasing.

Uh and so let's put some money over there. So, if these other two things go sideways and this plan doesn't work, um then uh uh you know, you you've at least got that money working for you. So, yeah, you need to sit down and do that. And you need to put a real limit on the amount of dollars you're going to pour into the franchise before it starts giving you money back instead of you putting money into it.

Absolutely. And because if you don't with the level of unrealistic optimism that you're coming at this with and you're positive uh how positive you are about it, then you're going to end up going 300 grand in the hole on this thing. And if you want to put 125 in it and you believe in it, go do it. Go live your dream. I ain't got a problem with that. Uh what I've got a problem with is these absolute statements. And I've been in business my whole life and there is no absolute 100%. People are behind me. I feel positive. It's an area I'm passionate about. None of that may matter. You may still lose all that money. So, don't don't go into this 300 grand with all your positivity. If you want to put 125 in it, do it. And then I'd put the rest of it over and with a Smart Investor Pro and some good mutual funds and but to where it's protected from this business risk and the gambling risk and and separate these things.

Yeah. I'm I'm just I'm going to call it like I heard it. It almost sounded like this business for you is some sort of retaliatory thing against him to kind of prove that you're doing your thing over here. And my thing I would just say draw a line in the sand and set some boundaries about how long you're going to endure this and to what point before you go and do the things that you need to do and make that separation um so that he can get the help that he needs because allowing this to persist doesn't feel like the answer. It feels like it's breeding resentment from you.

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Start every dollar for free in the App Store or Google Play. The Ramsey Show question of the day is brought to you by Why Refi? When your private student loans are in default, your progress stalls out. Why refi helps you restart refund by refinancing defaulted private student loans into low fixed rate payment that fits your budget and you can stop spinning your wheels. Go to yrefi.com/ramsey. That's the letter yfy.com/ramsey. Might not be in all states. All right, today's question comes from Steve in West Virginia. He says, "I'm 66 years old and have been retired for 5 years. I have 500,000 in retirement funds, but I have two debts, 40,000 in credit card debt and 150,000 on my mortgage. I have social security and pension income of 6,000 per month. Should I pay off my debt to reduce my withdrawal each month from my 401k?"

Um, I wish I had a little bit more information, but off the top I would say yes because to have your mortgage paid for, that's money that you're not going to have uh to take a draw on. And my guess, I don't know what your expenses are every month. But my guess is you probably are living okay on the $6,000 per month if you don't have a single debt in the world.

Now, make sure Yeah. Make sure you cut up the stupid credit cards and get on a budget so you don't spend more than you make again. Yeah, that's really what you need to do.

Credit card debt is not the problem. It's the symptom of you overspending. Yeah. And if it's it's if it's old debt and you're like, I am not I'm not on that lifestyle anymore. I just still have it laying around. Absolutely paid off. But if it's current debt, then Dave is absolutely right about that.

Mike's in Virginia Beach. Hey, Mike. How are you? Good. How you guys doing? Better than we deserve. What's up?

Um my wife and her siblings inherited some money from their dad when he passed away several years back. and one of the siblings is the executive and they said they're not going to tell one of the other siblings about it because they don't feel that they're financially responsible and they're just going to hold their money back from them.

Oh, and I say that's not uh that ain't their call. You're exactly right. Okay. Well, I'm smarter than I look sometimes.

The the executive the literal me the reason they're called an executive is they're to execute,

right? They're execute the what the will said. It didn't it didn't say you're a trust officer and you get to decide what's best. It said you execute what the will says. It's your only option.

Even if you don't like it, even if you don't agree with it, you have one option when you're the executive, and that's to execute what the will says. Otherwise, the people on the other side of it are going to sue your butt

and they're going to win because you violated your fiduciary responsibility. What's your wife think? Uh, she agrees with me.

Okay. Yeah, you guys got your part, right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, I would tell the executive that they're being stupid and they're going to get sued.

Well, I kind of did that. Yeah. Well, then that you've done your job and leave it alone. It's not your problem anymore.

How much is it? Yeah. Uh, you know, I think it was like eight or $10,000 each. Oh, it's not enough to mess with. But here's the thing. The person finds out that they were not given the money they're supposed to be given. the person that is the executive is in deep kimchi legally.

Well, that's that's what I kind of figured. Yep. For sure. For sure. But there's nothing you can do about it. I mean, it's just these are people doing whatever they want to do, and that's what people do all the time. That's the problem when you pick the executive of your will, folks. You need to pick someone who's going to have the integrity to execute your will.

Yeah. And what is it you will to happen? That's right. That's what that means. They need to be Switzerland.

Yeah. Did you say deep kimchi? I just did. Okay, just check in. Just make sure things come up in the rolodex. Nora is in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Hi, Nora. What's up?

Hi Dave and Jade. Excited to talk to you today. I have an exciting question for you. I want to know, should we buy a new car with cash or pay off our house?

Oo, my favorite type of question. Tell us more. Okay, so we are in baby steps four, five, and six. We've been on the Ramsey plan for a solid like seven years. We have $60,000 saved for the vehicle in a high yield savings account. But then when we were doing our annual budget meeting, we're also looking at our brokerage account, which is sitting at $35,000.

Our mortgage is approximately $83,000 left. Okay. So, if we liquidate that brokerage account, we could pay off the home and be done

and still have an emergency fund. Yeah, we do have $10,000 set aside for an emergency fund beyond a little small amount.

That's a bit small. Is Yeah. Is that what it would be if the house were gone? Yeah. Well, we use like the brokerage account as like a backup emergency.

Yeah. You don't have that anymore in this scenario. We have we have $10,000 in our bank account right now as a

I know. But if you use the brokerage account and you use the 60,000 from the car and you pay off the house, you're down to $10,000, which isn't much. Well, we want to spend approximately 50,000 on a car.

He's saying he's saying if you pay the house off I say if you pay the house off, you got nothing but 10 grand left,

right? We als Well, we also have a $10,000 savings account that is just a side emergency fund.

Oh, so you have $20,000. So, we would have Yeah, we would have 20 if the house is paid off. Okay, that's what I didn't understand. All right. Are you are is your net worth over a million dollars?

It is, sir. And this is a brand new car. Um, new to us. Oh, it's not a brand new car.

It might be a year old. Okay. That's not a brand new car. It either is or it isn't. Okay.

All right. Now, um, so Wow. I mean, how long would it take you? You could do either. I don't think there's a wrong answer here. How long would it take you if you were to pay off the house? How quickly could you save back up 60,000 and buy the car you want?

We think by probably August. Oh, crap. I man I I got to be honest. I there's not a wrong answer. I'd probably pay the house off.

Yeah, there is a wrong answer. Don't buy the car. Pay the house off and then go buy the car. You would

I would never buy that car. I I mean I wouldn't buy I wouldn't buy the car. I would pay the house off. But I'm just saying. Do you think she'd be dead wrong?

Yeah, cuz in 8 months you can go get the car anyway. THAT'S WHAT I SAY. So get the house paid off.

What are your priorities here? Your priorities are get the house paid off, not buy a stupid car. Stupid cars you can get. I got a stupid car today. I don't mind getting a stupid car. Cars are fine. But they go down in value in value. Yeah.

But do you think that lightning would strike her down had she done the other way?

Lightning doesn't strike you down on anything on this show. Hardly. But that No, I'm I'm definitely paying the house off 100%. Today,

I'd pay it off today and then I'd save like crazy and go buy the car that you want and

you might even get a nicer car. Parking it in the driveway of a paid for house. Hello. No question that that's the order things ought to go down. Definitely definitely definitely. Definitely. So, here's the thing. And And I'm a car guy. I you know, I I've got own a bunch of different vehicles here and there. And um they all go down in value.

Yeah. And so you you know, you can't put appreciating assets in the same sentence with the largest depreciating asset that we buy, even if you've got a high net worth. But what sent you over the edge was the fact that they owed so little on the mortgage.

Yeah. It's simple. Yeah. I mean, if she owed 500,000 on the mortgage, then we could have a different discussion.

Yeah. Or even 100. Well, let's see. My tipping point probably would have been like 250.

Yeah. I mean, I just The point is that this is very doable very quickly and so it doesn't matter.

So, do it the right way. Yes, I'm with you. and and let your actions reflect that you've got um an understanding of how these assets work,

right? Because 5 years from from today, that $50,000 car is worth 15. Yes. And that's going to be painful. Hopefully, you keep it for a very long time.

5 years from today, that house will have doubled twice. Yes. You know, so I mean, there's no question where I'm going with this. And it doesn't mean you never buy a car. I bought one today. Or literally,

you bought a car today. Bought a car today. Yeah. What'd you get? I got the new Bronco Raptor.

Look at you. Yeah. So, I just wanted one. But I'm not I'm not mad about cars. That's not the point. That's not the point. The point is they go down in value and they need to be a minor part of your overall life.

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That's netswuite.comy in the lobby of Ramsay Solutions on the debtree stage. Nathan and Megan are with us. Hey guys, how are you?

Hi. Doing great. Hi Dave. Doing well. Great to be here. Good to have you. Where do y'all live?

We live in Woodstock, Georgia. Oh yeah, just down the road. Well, welcome to Nashville.

Thank you. Good to have you guys. And how much debt have you paid off? We paid off $155,000 in just under five years.

Good for you. And your range of income during that time? Starting income was $100,000 and ending income was $145,000.

Very cool. What do you do for a living? So, I work in technology. I manage a whole tech team in the convenience industry.

Oh, yeah. Yep. and I worked part-time in a credit department at a staffing company during that time.

Okay, good. What kind of debt was it? It was our mortgage. I actually hope so. Looking at weird people.

I know. That's right. Very cool. How much is this house worth? About 450 now. Good for you guys.

That's awesome. And uh you've been putting money in your retirement all along. So, how much is in that?

About 300. All right. Very good. Almost millionaires now. That's right. Look at you guys.

Wow. And uh well, how old are you, too? I'm 28. And I'm 29. So, you got started this in your early 20s.

Yes. Our goal was to get it paid off before Nathan turned 30 in March. And you did.

Paid it off on Christmas Day, 2025. Wow. That's awesome. So, you must tell us the story. How do you guys be smart enough to do this at 22 years old?

Um, well, honestly, he listened to you since he was Oh, 12 years old. I grew up and we didn't we didn't have TV. So, as a teenager, I couldn't go to bed early. So, I'd turn on my clock radio to Dave Ramsey and I didn't quite get everything at the time of what you were saying, but I started picking up picking it up. And then, I mean, it really just comes from my parents instilling, hey, if you're going to accomplish anything, you got to work for it. So, then following your steps along the way, we did Financial Peace University right after we were married and

just I mean, worked as a team together. Wow. Very cool. Yep. So your mom and dad were uh doing this stuff and then you're hearing the stuff on talk radio back in the day.

Yes. Yeah. And they were it was really just instilling if you want anything in life, you have to work for it. So that was what my parents gave me and then you gave me the tools to, you know, us the tools to work together and accomplish this.

Yeah. We also bought a fixer upper that needed a lot of equity or a lot of sweat equity. Um

Oh my gosh, I see the picture. So that's what it used to look like and we worked really hard on it and it's in Woodstock which is where we wanted to grow up

wanted the kids to grow up and um doesn't even look like the same house. Yeah. So that's where we live.

Yeah, that was the dream. Uh just putting putting our hard work into it and not just

expecting things to come to us and working for what we wanted. Looks like it started with a chainsaw.

Yeah, that's right. Wow. And lots of poison ivy. Yeah. So the moment you bought it, you knew you were going to pay it off fast. like you already.

Yes, that was the whole idea. Yes, definitely. We wanted to attack it, you know.

So, Megan, I mean, when you're dating a guy that at 12 years old is listening to a financial show on talk on talk radio before he goes to bed, you might be dating a nerd.

I know. I I learned this a lot from him and then he got me on to YouTube. Um, and I truly He is a little bit of a nerd. I

It sounds like It sounds like he was an attractive nerd. He was tall, dark, and handsome. I I was very, you know, it the didn't take much financial. Yes.

So, and I truly I mean once I learned it too, once we did financial peace, I was all in as well. We were just trying to do it together. And I think that's one of the keys too is just doing it together. Well,

you guys throw those pictures up again on YouTube in case someone is 23 years old and thinks it's impossible to buy a house. Um, you can buy that house. Looks like a jungle. Put it back up there. Looks like a dad gum jungle.

Yeah. I mean that's the Yeah. And you say it's worth 400 now. 450 now. Woodstock. Sweet. It's a great area.

Dave always says it's important to dream together. So it was actually took us two years to convince this lady who was vacant to sell us the home. And we would drive by and she would get annoyed at me and I go, "That's our home. See our home." And we we didn't even have it under contract yet. But we'd dream and we'd stay and, you know, follow the principles of going, "Hey, we wanted it to we wanted a 15-year mortgage, not more than 20% of our take down pay."

How did you get her to to sell it? Uh, well, honestly, I was I was her friend for 2 years. She didn't know anyone else, and I I honestly didn't think we were going to get it most of the time, but I said I just told her if whenever she wants to sell, she'll think of us first. And one day after 2 years, she said, "All right, I'm ready to sell." Yeah, we wrote her letters, drove to her house at a different residence. And

she wasn't it was vacant. It was vacant. She lived in a different place and we drove there

and got her phone number and they talked on the phone every month until she's decided to say

until she relented. We're ready. Yeah. Wow. I love this guy. This is incredible.

And of course, you cash flowed all the all the upgrades. You did the inside and the outside.

We did. We went down to the studs and it was, you know, I had some family help, but it was all us just working through it. We did gas, electrical, plumbing, we did the septic system and we did everything.

So, you pay I I just need America to hear this. You cash flowed all of that and paid off5, right?

Yeah. So, you 26 year olds that are whining, I can't buy a house right now the world. Oh, kiss my butt. These guys right here, hold their beer. Look at this. It's unbelievable.

Yeah. Tell them what they need to know because there's a lot of naysayers out there. tell them what they need to know.

Absolutely. Dave, you preach it. I I actually saw the bumper stick over there and I I love it. And it was pray like everything depends on God and work like everything depends on you. And that was us going into this. I tell everyone that'll listen. I'm annoying. I'll get passionate about it, but I'm But you're the problem. You're the solution. Work hard. There is I can't stand anyone that says anything different, but there's more opportunity in America than there has ever been in any country for all of history. So work for it. It's easy to look at all the obstacles and say, "Hey, I can't do this." But roll up your sleeves and get to work. Work is underestimated. And working together as a team, this has just helped us in our marriage. And you know, now we have a home for our kids and we're just going to continue building the dream.

Drop. You can pull that headset off and slam it on the floor. No, don't don't don't do that.

It looks expensive. Yes. I I say too like just um you know eat at home and practical things like being content with what you have, not comparing yourself to the people around you and also just working side hustles. We both worked during this whole process. I was stay-at-home mom but also trying to help provide some income during that time. And Nathan worked really hard at his job just to wake work his way up but also worked side hustles. So do the things that are required to get to that point, but also just enjoy your life and be content with what you have um already. Wow.

Well, I mean, you're not even 30 years old. You have a paid $4.5 million house. You've got you're well on your way to being millionaires within the next probably 36 months or so. The way the markets are moving and everything's happening, you guys are in really, really good shape.

Congratulations. I'm very proud of you. I know your parents are proud of you. Uh your children, you you're heroes. You have changed your family tree. So your secret is work at it and stick together.

Yeah. And just don't take no for an answer. You know, if someone tells you no, just figure another way to do it.

Yeah. There's always another way. Another way to get it done. Wow. That's amazing. I have one more question. When you went to buy this house, uh, how did you set your expectations? Because a lot of people would have seen that before you renovated and said, "That's not that's a shack. I'm not going to spend my money on that." How how did you know to do that?

Well, great question. And I mean my whole life it's been uh what do people we're so wealthy as a country people throw away great things that we can work hard and and make beautiful. So going into it was horrible looking on the inside. But we were just looking and we had talked about it. What are the bones? What can't we change? Let's make sure that's good.

We can work hard on everything else and change that. Change some paint colors. Change the flooring. Just kind of see past that stuff on the outside and

just look at the beauty on the inside. And we there were no mold issues, no um like flooring foundation issues. Like we were very blessed. God

blessed us with this home, too. Like we were put in all the right situations where we were like this is not just coincidental. Awesome. Mhm. So good, guys.

Well, well done. All right, bring the kiddos up. Let's get their names and ages.

Oh, boy are they cute. They are cute, cute, cute. Oh, there's more of them than I thought.

They just keep coming. Yes. We paid it off when he was 10 days old. So, what a guy.

Yes. Baby James. So, what's his name? This is James. He's two months now. All right. And the girls,

this is Emmy. She's five. And then Lily is two. All right. You guys are Your parents are heroes. You don't even know it yet. You're too young. But someday you'll know. They're the ones that changed the family tree. Way to go.

All right, Nathan and Megan, count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. 155,000 paid off in 5 years making 140 almost baby steps millionaires already at 30 years old. Let's hear it.

3 2 1 WOW. I love it. I love it. Wow. Those kids are cute. They are. I love it. That's amazing, Dave.

Wow. Amazing. Oh, it can't be done. We're all going to die. Not No, not if you're Nathan and Megan. They got it figured out baby. Finally, mortgage rates have dropped. And you know what that means? People who've been sitting on the sidelines are about to jump back in to the housing market. So, if you've been waiting to buy, this could be your window. But you've got to be prepared and do it the Ramsay way. you need to contact Churchill Mortgage. Their home buyer edge program gives you peace of mind in a wild market. You can cap your rate for 90 days. So, if rates go up, you're protected. If rates go down, Church Hill will drop yours automatically. And get this, Church Hill will even back your offer with a $10,000 seller guarantee.

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Mark is in Mobile, Alabama. Hey Mark, how are you doing? Good. How about you, Mr. Ramsey?

Better than I deserve. What's up? So, I work offshore and I make about $90,000 a year and I'm gone 20 days out of the month and I'm home for 10. and my wife would like me home and I'd also like to be home too cuz later we'd also like to maybe start having kids and starting having a family. We are on baby step two and just wondering what y'all would think about that if I need to stay on the boat till we get baby step two paid off or would it still be okay to come home?

I mean gosh that's a what's it mean when how long you going to be gone? I mean, how much debt do you how much debt do you have? And how you how quick will you get paid off?

So, we have $23,000 in consumer debt beside our house. Uh, I bring home $5,800. Our bills is $3,600 roughly, and then we have $2,100 left over that we could put towards debt.

Okay. So, you'd be debtree in like 10 months except your house. Yes, sir. Okay. Yes, sir. So, um, and you make 90 and you're only coming home with 5,800. There's something wrong with that. Where's all that money going? That's a lot of

90 90 is before taxes and uh I do have uh insuranceances through work and I also have the life insurance policy through work that I took out a little bit extra. I'm in the process of getting rid of that life insurance policy and going to term life.

Go ahead. Okay. Okay. And that'll cut that'll increase your take-home pay as well.

What about your wife? What's she doing? Uh she is not doing anything right now. Um she is in the process of going to the post office. So about March or April, she will be working at the post office.

And what will that bring monthly and yearly? Uh roughly $3,000 to $3,500 a month.

Okay. So, you're going to cut your pay by 30 or 40,000 and she's going to increase hers by 30 or 40,000 by you coming off the boat. Is that right?

Yes, sir. You got a job lined up if you did that? Um, I don't have a job lined up right now. I have been looking at different jobs. I just wanted to get someone's opinion on what they would do if they would finish paying that off her. I mean, if you can line something up that that's in line with when she starts working, I would do that in two seconds.

Yeah. Your your household is going to have the same money coming in. Agreed. Yes, sir.

Okay. I mean, you're going to get something that's going to not going to pay as much as the boat, but you're going to get something. I mean, you need to go search out the job market and figure out what you can land. You might land something almost as much as you're getting paid offshore. I don't think so, but you might.

Um, yes, sir. Well, the job I'm looking at now, it uh starts out at 40,000 a year and then within two years you can be bumped up to 70 to 80,000

doing what? So there is margin uh being a steel mill worker in Mobile. Okay. All right. Um well, here's the thing. We're not really cutting your income from 90 to 40. where really your household income is going to be the same because she's going to go to work and make up the difference. Is that a correct statement?

Yes, sir. Yeah. Based on that, I'm coming home. Yes, sir. And take the steel mill job and let's get started because you're going to be out of debt in the same time as if she didn't work and you stayed on the boat. See?

Yes, sir. You still you still ought to be able to get out of debt in eight or 10 months and not eat no eating out. Both of you take extra jobs. Do everything you can and you're still going to be home more doing that than you would have been on the on the rig

and offshore. And yeah, I think I am coming home based on all of this. But if the only part of the equation was I'm just simply going to cut my income in half,

then I might stay 10 more months and knock it out for the 10 months. Yeah. I might stay another six months and knock it out. Whatever. But, you know, the fact that she's going to be making up some of the difference, you're taking a job that's going to escalate in income over the next couple of years a lot and you can pick up extra jobs and you can get on the every dollar budget and tighten up and put all of that in there. Yeah. I'd want to come home. I don't I mean I I have traveled a lot with what I do over the years, but I've never done I mean I'm never very seldom have I done one month or 20 day stretches. Most of the time it's a fiveday thing or a two-day thing or something like that.

I'm back out and back and that's not nearly as strenuous as being gone from the family like an over the road truck driver or military being deployed or working offshore like this.

That's right. Um and so but you you know you can make some money and and you know when uh uh when the Iraqi war for instance was wrapping up there was a lot of civilian positions where people could go over there for 6 months or eight months and make two or 30 hundred grand.

Wow. doing stuff and uh people were doing that for a short period of time to you know to leapfrog forward and that I might be willing to do something like that if I was paying a price to win but I got to see the end to it

and uh so yeah I think I would do that. I think I would do that. Yeah. She really is the key to this equation. Yes. Her working is the key to all of this.

Exactly. Exactly. And so if you guys start having kids, she doesn't get to quit unless your income has come up.

Yeah. That's right. Yeah. You're going to have to you're going have to manage that and keep all that stuff tied in there together. Sarah is with us in Columbia, South Carolina. Hi Sarah. How are you?

Good. Thanks Dave and Jade for taking my call. Sure. What's up? I recently became guardian of my dad. He has dementia.

Sorry. And we have moved him into a senior apartment. Mhm. My question is about his finances. I'm not sure what to do with everything that he has. Trying to honor what he has done and saved and worked for, but also what to do moving forward with all of his finances. We're going to sell his house.

Mhm. So, I'm not sure what to do with those funds. Mhm. Well, we would just manage it for his good. Agreed.

Yes. Yeah. Does he have bills that need to be paid? Yes. How much debt does he have?

No debt. Oh, that's good. So, the only bills are this assisted living situation.

Yeah, it's it's not a problem of not enough money. It's I'm not sure what to do with all of his money.

Okay. What will happen when you sell the house? How much will you have? About 400,000.

And how much do you have now in other accounts? He's got 355,000 in an IRA. Mhm. 369,000 in a Roth,

177,000 in a non-retirement. And those are all three with the same financial um institution.

Okay. And then in a bank, he's got $315,000, which I know I should move some of that, but I don't know what to do with it.

So, he's got like he's got like a million and a half dollars, so he's in really good shape. Way to go, Dad.

Yes. Yeah. Good. and uh and you have full power of attorney um guardianship which is above power of attorney,

right? But I mean you've got the ability to do with this as you will for his benefit.

Yes. Yeah. Correct. So I would get on ramiesolutions.com and click on Smart Vtor Pro and sit and talk to one of the Smartves Veester Pro financial advisors that we have endorsed. They don't work for us, but they have the heart of a teacher and say, "I've got this. I've got this million half dollars. I want to put it in a place that will care for him and that it will grow without much risk. And so I think you can pick out a series of low-risk, not volatile mutual funds, something like some S&P type stuff and let the money sit there and grow and the growth will easily care for him. And um you can put it in a situation where it's very easy to manage and um without taking a big huge boatload of risk and just sit there and talk to them and let their job is to teach you how to make these decisions on behalf of your dad.

Is it smarter to separate some of those funds and put them in two different financial places or is it better to keep it all

I would I would have it in one. Okay. Yeah. And just because and and but you're making the decision of where it goes.

So you could have it in several different mutual funds with one financial advisor.

Okay. But you don't need two advisors. that's you're going to get you're going to get crossed up and um get you know you need to get someone but you're not doing what they say to do. They are teaching you and they do what you say to do.

Okay? That's how we're going to approach this. It's your job and they're there to help you do your job. We're not we're not looking for a babysitter, a nanny. This is not a boarding school for money. You're still the parent. Very good.

be happy. Hey Welcome back to the Ramsey Show in the Fair Winds Credit Union studios. Jade Washaw Ramsey personality is my co-host today. Tina is with us in Minneapolis. Hi Tina. How are you?

I'm good. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Well, I kind of got myself in a tickle. Uh

oh. Um, I'm going to try and get through it as but it's it's so fresh that it's really hard. Um, my husband passed away about four years ago. He was in a nursing home for about four years before that. That ate up any money that we had saved. Um, it was like $10,000 a month to have him there. Um, and then the, um, he was on what's called Medicaid in Iowa. And now they're trying to sue me for $200,000 for his uh, nursing home care. They want reimbursed.

Why? So, the only thing I have that they That's just how is it because they didn't think you qualified? It turned out you didn't qualify.

No. Um, no. That's just part of how to Medicaid. It's a state insurance and they want their money back. They don't tell you that when you sign up for it. Um,

no. Well, that's not how Medicaid works, honey. You're confused. Well, that's what the state has.

No, Medicaid is not Medicaid is administered by the state. It's a federal program and it's welfare for poor people. And if you go to a nursing home and you qualify based on your assets and your income, Medicaid pays for it

and they don't get the money and they don't get the money back. Yeah. Well, they keep sending a bill saying I owe $200,000. So when I he

Why do they think you owe $200,000 for his his nursing home care? No, honey. If he qualified for Medicaid, he doesn't owe the $200,000. They're wanting it back cuz they think he didn't qualify. They think you have too much in income or assets.

Well, he was on disability and I was on disability. So then you need to get an attorney to look at this and negotiate with Medicaid because Medicaid's gotten some bad information. It sounds like, but you don't automatically, they don't just automatically sue everybody that goes into nursing home with Medicaid. That's not how it works.

Well, it was about a month after he passed away. I got this bill in the mail for $200,000.

You need to you need to talk to an attorney about that. Now, what's the other thing that we can help you with? Well, um, I sold the house because I just wasn't going to let them take that away from me because, you know, when I what they said is they can't come after me until I'm gone and passed away and they were going to take whatever I owned as payment and the house was too much for me anyway. Um, I'm almost 60. So, I sold it and I got, you know, it was paid for. So, the money was mine and I put it away in a in a trust account. Um, and I had my daughter as trustee. and just trusted her completely. She never did anything wrong with it. But unfortunately, um, when people realized I had the money, then all of the handouts came. Um, can you help me? Can you help me? Can you help me? And unfortunately, I have a giving heart.

And so I helped them all expecting to get paid back. They all promised to get it paid back. Um, and now all I get is excuses to get it paid back when I'm financially struggling. So, you gave away how much money?

$69,000. Um, with uh So, what are you living on now? You're living on disability.

And yeah, disability and uh widow pay. What's the nature of your disability? Um I have anxiety and panic attacks. So,

um like stroke level panic attacks. Um um they they they look like I'm having a heart attack, but

are you being treated for all of that? Um, yeah, I just can't work. Um, yeah, I I'm even I went back to school to do billing and coding. I've done medical for 20 plus years and somebody else paid for me to go back to school. So, I'm taking that advantage so I can try to get a job working from home.

But unfortunately, the catch 22 is they want you to have three years experience before they'll hire you to work remotely.

Yeah. So, um, what what are you able to live on your disability income? Um, well, I was until, um, I mean, I got found a cheaper apartment. I was an apartment that was like875 a month plus utilities and I found another one that's half of that.

So, are you able to live on your disability now? Well, I am except for the debt that I've accumulated by living in that more expensive

Oh, how much debt did you run up? Um, well, I was working and I bought a car because I needed a rentable vehicle. So, I owed 20 grand on it and then I bought two credit cards.

Mhm. Um, where's the car? It's the car's in my garage right now. I I can't even sell it. It's not worth what I owe on it.

Yeah, but it is worth something. And you could get rid of it and cut most of that debt away cuz you're living on you're living on nothing. You can't afford a $21,000 car in your garage. Hun,

right? That's got to be. I was planning on getting another job, but it just seems like I'm just running into brick walls.

Yeah. And I've got 20. Well, the first thing we've got to do is is quit digging the hole. Okay. Right.

So, yeah, you need an attorney to represent you and keep Medicaid off of you. Um,

you need to start talking to your relatives about trying to get some of your money back. I don't think you'll ever see any of it again. I think that's gone.

Um, that was a obviously a huge mistake. You were not in a position to be generous regardless of what your heart was telling you.

And um, you you were in a situation that you needed generosity, not the other way around. Right. Right. And so, um, yeah, I I think, um, and then you got to start talking about how we can get a $5,000 car and get rid of this $21,000 car because you can't afford it. And so, start making some moves in that regard. You haven't hit a brick wall. U, you just keep having these same these different things occur. Um, and then you step into something. You step into I give away 51,000 or I buy a $21,000 car I can't afford. And see, there's a $70,000 swing right there.

Yes. just in this story. And if we had that $70,000 back, you'd be in a completely different scenario. Um, and you know, you you give an attorney five grand and they'll make the uh the Medicaid thing go away. I hope I hope you I hope he was qualified to go into a Medicaid nursing home.

It looks like unless somebody else was supposed to be responsible for it. So, if you received any type of settlement, they can come back. if he was injured in any kind of accident and somebody else's insurance should have paid, they can pay for it upfront and then want that money back. So, I would do due diligence on that. We don't know any of the nature surrounding him going into uh that facility, but you should look into that and find out and make sure there is nothing on your end that might have uh triggered that.

Yeah. But most of the time, Medicaid is a welfare program that provides nursing home for free

and you don't have to pay it back for people that are certifiably poor. That's right.

It's a it's a welfare program and there's no they don't automatically come and want the money back. So, uh the fact that they've done that tells me that they believe something that's not true or or he didn't qualify.

Yeah. and you guys took care from the welfare system that you shouldn't have. And then if that's the case, you got a mess. But hopefully that's not the case. Hopefully there's just some confusion about the way the paperwork was filled out and this thing can be made to go away. And that's most of the time what it is when you're dealing with these bureaucrats. That's how the deal works. So just keep chipping away at the different parts of this, Tina, and I think you can make your way through it. Heat.

Heat. If you've been working the plan, paying off debt, saving, and changing your family tree, I'm proud of you. And if you're in Baby Step 4 or beyond, it's time to celebrate. The Live Like No One Else Cruise is back. March 14 through 21, 2027. Join the Ramsay personalities and me as we sail to Half Moon Key, Cosml, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman on the ultimate debt-free vacation. Cabins will sell out just like last time. Lock in yours with a $600 deposit at ramseyolutions.com/events.

Well, we wish we could get to every call and every question here on the show. If you have a money question and you want an answer for your situation, you can head over to the website and use Ask Ramsey. Ask Ramsey is our free AI tool that's built and trained on proven Ramsy principles. You'll get an answer the same way we'd answer it right here on the show. Might be a little nicer. Ask your question today at ramseyolutions.com or just click the link in the description if you're listening on a podcast or on YouTube. Folks, if you're debtree, the live like no one else cruise is your chance to celebrate. hang out with us. I'm going to be there. All the Ramsay solution, all the Ramsey personalities are going to be there.

Sharon will be with us. We've got new sessions on building wealth, live episodes of our shows, and the world largest world's largest debtfree scream on the live like no one else cruise. This is premium cruise line, the best of the best. We're going to be doing the Western Caribbean this time, which means Jamaica. Yeah. Secure your cabin with a $600 deposit. We're going to be going one year from March on March 2027.

Wow. This thing is getting close to being sold out a year away. So, you want to go and get your cabin reserved now. Ramseyolutions.com/events. Book your cabin today, man. All right, here we go. Salt Lake City is with us. Tiffany's calling. Hey, Tiffany.

Hey, Dave. Hi, Jade. How are you guys? Better than we deserve. What's up? Oh, first of all, I'm so nervous. So, um, bear with me. Um, I can feel my heart pounding in my ear.

Okay. Doing good. We've never lost a patient. You're going to make it. Um, I hope I'm not going to be the first. Um, well, first of all, thank you. I'm so honored to talk to you guys. Um, you are part of my I don't know, you became part of my life. I listen to you guys. You're kind of the dad that, you know, I wish I would have. And And Jade, you're like such a badass sister. Um, I just I You guys are amazing.

Thank you, friend. Um, we're glad you're here. Okay, so here's my little dilemma. How do I get strategically strategically Sorry, English is my second language. I'm actually from a different country, Europe. Um, um, how do I get strategically? Strategically, oh lord, you guys know what I mean.

Strategically. Thank you. Hey, it's just the whole world is listening. That's fine. Um, my family have loaned me so far two $2.1 million. Um, my husband and I, we own two companies. We have a framing company, steel framing company where we do regular framings for um, residential, new construction and the roof trusses. And we do have um a construction company where we actually build the spec homes.

Do you make money at the point? Not. Um we finally started making some money or at least it looks better um on paper, I guess. Um it took us about 2 years to to everything started in 2022. Um we got $1.2 $2 million from a family member to in to start a company where we got the machines to do those framings. They come and steel coils and you basically just, you know, form and and build whatever you need. Um 2023, we got another $200,000 and in 2024 we got another $500,000. Um our family are new developers as well. So they bought bunch of land um over 750 acres and started developing or just finished their first development. Um and we're going to be able to build 30 homes out of 50.

And that's kind of why we risk it to get in that whole dilemma. My issue here is um besides that we keep getting loans. I got another $200,000 from another family member and right now we're in the process of applying for an first official loan from the bank because we just keep running out of money. We self finance I would say self finance the spec homes. So every penny that we make, we put it into the homes, we sell it, and then that profit we immediately take into the next um house.

Okay. So this is not working. Even if you sold even if you did 50 of the 50 homes, would this make you right side up?

No. At some point that's the hope. No. Um but I have another You can't just keep borrowing money because you can't seem to make money.

Well, and here comes another big issue. Um, I I do the books for our company and um I just found out that in 2025 my husband started day trading without my knowledge

and so he tanked over $113,000. I spoke to him last week about it and he said yeah he he effed up. He was hoping to make fast money because nothing really worked out last year

and um and now there's $80 left. Oh boy. So um h how how the hell do how do I I need I need help to know how do we get out of the mess? And besides that we have a two and a fouryear-old of course on top of that. So, first thing is is that if he ever comes close to day trading again, you can tell him that he's no longer your husband. There's too much stress here. And that is a breach of trust. He lied to you and he stole the money.

Yep. I told him that, too. I I told him that. This is not okay. This is not okay. This is really crooked, bad stuff for anybody to do to their spouse. Number one. Number two, you guys need to sit down and look at this business model and figure out when you're going to start making money. And it needs to be tomorrow. You guys need to sell some stuff off. You need to quit trying to do so gum much. Y'all y'all haven't made anything yet. All you've done is borrow money and waste it.

Yeah. I mean, at least not enough. Like on on papers, for example, there's no such thing as on paper. If on paper you made money, you would have some money

like in 2024 we made um $850,000 crows. Where did it go? In the other homes and then again the other homes and then

So you're buying these home. You're building these homes and you're financing them and carrying the paper.

Oh no. No, we're building them. I know. If you build them and don't you sell them?

Yes, we do. So, if you put $850,000 in homes and build them, don't you get a million and a half out when you sell them?

Well, you those are like smaller homes. So, we're like doing usually between 400.

Okay. But, I mean, aren't you getting the money back out? Don't you turn around and sell the house? If you build a house, don't you turn around and sell it, make money? It's how most builders do it.

Yep. And I mean, so you should be making money. Where's all the stinking money going? You didn't put it in the house and then it disappeared. You put it in the house, then you turn around, sold the house.

You said before that it was broken into two businesses. I wonder if the construction business is the problem and you need to just focus on the steel framing

or the other way around cost and the overhead costs are just ridiculous. We pay over $25,000 um almost a month.

Yeah. I don't know if you know what profit is. Do you know what profit is? I love when you ask that. You need to have your income minus your outgo equals your profits. And and you haven't made money because all you've done is borrow $2 million and you have no money. So you don't have any profits on paper or otherwise. Cuz if you have profit on paper, honey, you have the money in the bank. There's no on paper profit. There's no such thing. it. You either if if my paper says I have a profit, I need to look over in the checking account and see the stinking money there. That's how this works. So, if you put $400,000 into a house and you sell it for $500,000, you should not only get your 400 back, you should get an extra hundred back.

So, there should be 500 laying over there after that house sells. That's how this works. And so, y'all suck at this. You need to get in there and get somebody to come alongside you and figure out how to run these businesses or you need to sell them and pay your family back and go get some jobs. And if he ever goes near a day trading keyboard again, dad gum, man, that's the end of that. That's the dumbest thing I ever heard. But y'all been running this without making a profit for four years and that's just dumb. You got to figure this out.

You got to get you got to turn this thing around or get out of the business. You cannot borrow your way into profitability. That's an impossibility. How many times have you started January saying, "This is the year I'm finally going to get my money under control." But then months go by and you still feel broke. You work too hard to keep living like that. Look, there's only one way to move the needle on your finances this year. You've got to have a plan. So start by downloading Every Dollar. Every Dollar is way more than our worldclass budgeting app. In 15 minutes, we'll build you a personalized plan to free up extra margin in your budget and use it to beat debt and build wealth. You'll find thousands of dollars on average just the first day. And you'll get new steps and new lessons every day that help you stay on track and create unstoppable momentum. Don't waste one more day feeling broke and stressed. Get

your plan in just 15 minutes by downloading Every Dollar for free today. Well, we love debtfree screams. We love them in the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on our debtfree stage. We super love them when it's one of our Ramsay team members. TJ is with us here with his wife Alice. He's a project manager on the Every Dollar team. Been with us about a year. And uh they get to come in here and do their debtree scream. Welcome guys.

Thank you. Thank you. Good to have you. How nerve-wracking is this? It's We're here

and it's finally real. Uh I love it. How much have you paid off? $165,000. I love it. How long did that take?

15 months. Awesome. Wow. Okay. And you've been here about a year. So you started on it before. How long y'all been married?

One year and eight months. Oh wow. So moving here, getting married, starting the debtfree journey, all in the last two years.

Yep. Yes. Wow. Where'd you move from? Central Illinois, but we're originally from the Chicago land.

Okay. All right. So, you got married and uh did you come to Nashville to take the Ramsay job?

Yep. Okay. The project manager at Every Dollar. Well, that's awesome. So, you people out there that are using Every Dollar to get out of debt, it's all TJ's fault.

All the things that are awesome about it, it's all TJ's fault. He's one of the many uh talented folks we got on that team really, really working on this. So, what kind of debt was the 65,000.

Yeah, it was 107 in student loans and then 58 in new cars. This was before learning about Ramsey.

Right. Gotcha. Okay. Very cool. How's it feel to be free? Liberating. Liberating. Peaceful. It was the best sleep we've ever got. Well, I've gotten the past two years, but

uh October 30th when we made our final payment. Uh filled in the rest of that. I saw the thermometer that we had up there. uh filling that in, calling those that supported us all along the way and just being able to cheer it.

So, how did the order of events go about learning about doing the Ramsay stuff, coming to work here, getting married, all that? How's that all that line up?

So, we got the Total Money Makeover as a wedding gift. Okay. It was not on our registry. We were not familiar.

It seldom is. So TJ read the book about three times and then he started on this journey to try to coersse me into reading it. Um he was saying that it's Bible based which really resonated with me and then he was like Dave's really funny which I was like hm let me see for myself and I loved it. We had a conversation where we had combined our finances after getting married and realized that we had $2,800 of minimum payments and we didn't feel like we were able to really live even though we had two pretty good incomes.

Mhm. Very cool. What do you do? I'm a nurse. Awesome. Very cool. Good. Yeah, that is two good incomes. Excellent. Well done, y'all. Yeah.

Okay, so you're you get married, you get the book, and you get on the same page, and then how does he end up with this job? That's weird.

Well, it all came down to we were Daveish. Uh around Thanksgiving, I got to talk to my uncle Matt and Gina who were the ones that gifted us total money makeover and we're like, "We're doing it. We're doing it." And they were like, "Are you really doing it?"

Oh. And we were like, "Well, we have 20,000 in savings while we're trying to pay down the debts. We, you know, we paid for our uh wedding and anything that was a gift we just threw at debt." And I'm like, "That felt good. Let's keep going." and they were like, "Hey, check out their website for additional resources." And I was like, "Okay, cool." So, I started looking around. I saw there's a careers page. I'm like, "All right, let's see what this is all about." Saw some jobs. I was like, "I could probably do that." I applied previous role I applied for hundreds of jobs and then eventually got my one. I was like, "All right, Lord, if you open up open up the doors for me, I'm going to continue to walk through them." And

however, was it 12 steps to get here? Yeah. The hiring process. Um, but you know, it really felt like God called me here. Uh, able to serve, be able to be here and help spread hope to other people.

That's really awesome. So, what are you going to do to celebrate? We did. We did. We bought a king-size bed. Best sleep of my life.

Yeah. Oh, I love that. That's exactly right. I thought he was sleeping better because he got out of bed.

I did, too. But they got a new mattress. Cuz he got a new mattress is what it was. That's great. That's excellent.

Very cool. All right. So, what advice do you have? What do you tell people when they say, "How did you do that? How do you pay off 165,000 newly married in 15 months?" That's over $10,000 a month.

Yeah. Uh God's blessings for sure. Um everything kind of had to come right together. We wrote down uh October of uh 2025 and when I first when we were writing that, I'm like, "Everything is going to have to come out right in order for this to happen." And God's blessings allowed us to be there. Uh new opportunity. She was travel nursing. good money,

which is where a lot of all of that came from. That's good money. And uh it took a lot of sacrifice. I mean, I moved I had to move down here and I was here for about a month and a half before she got to come down after a big sacrifice.

So, she was doing some roles that were about an hour and a half away. So, a lot long commute

and uh I appreciate all the sacrifices that we were able to make. Both of us taking up multiple jobs to be able to get there. Uh and just want to be an inspiration to others. So,

yeah. So, uh, working here can be a mixed blessing because everybody's like, "Everybody's doing this, you know, it's like the positive peer pressure, but it's also pressure."

I mean, was it helpful to have your team, you know, all up in your business or, uh, you know, your buddies cheering you on or, uh, was that a back I mean, they're all standing out there. You better be nice. But, um, I mean, was is it helpful to be in this kind of environment when you're doing it or not? It can I think it could work against you.

Yeah. Um, at least I can tell my side. It's been extremely it's a support system. Um if we didn't believe in it, then yes, I I think it'd be a whole lot of different pressure that we're like, "Oh, I don't really want to do it." But we believed in it. We know that was going to be good for us. Changing our family tree, going through Financial Peace University, really seeing the whole scope of where your life can change and being able to use every dollar to keep us on track and on budget. Um for that,

it was a blessing for us because as far as our friends and family, it's still kind of a mixed bag. um as far as you know their thoughts on our journey. So we committed to it. It was amazing for TJ to be working in an environment where we got that support. Um so it ultimately was such a blessing.

Yeah. Cool. Very cool. Any setbacks on the way right after we got out of it? Um I had two uh we had some I had some health stuff that came up. So, we got debtree and then we were able to cash flow 10K in medical expenses and uh

now we're tackling on taxes, but we were able to cash flow it all. Um, car repairs and all that. We were able to cash flow it as we went. So,

well, it's about time to celebrate with some of it. Oh my gosh, that's enough. Enough already. So, you're working on an every dollar. You're project manager on every dollar. the journey and now the freedom has to affect how you look at all those projects.

Yeah. Um just I mean you're not agnostic anymore. You're in it. You're able to just focus. It's it's being able to say, "Okay, this I I'm I'm a product of this, you know, I believed in it."

Yeah. And it makes it that much more motivating to be able to come in every single day,

come into work knowing that I made a difference, not only for myself, but for everyone outside of these walls, which I know we preach very dearly here. M

um it's truly inspiring. It's just so nice to be a part of it. Something that you believe in and you're able to say, "I'm I'm affecting this. I'm changing this. I'm trying to make this better. I'm trying to make it easier to work the Ramsay plan."

Yeah. And that's all the motivation you need. Amen. Amen. I'm proud of y'all. Yeah. Excellent job.

Well done. And the team's out here gathered and none of them are working. They're all here to cheer you on. And uh this is great. I'm glad they're here to cheer you on. It's very, very cool. Congratulations, you two. Thank you.

Very well done. All right. We don't ask when team members on. We don't ask their household income because all their friends are standing around and that's not fair. But uh they did pay off $165,000 in 15 months. Count it down. Let's hear a debtree scream.

3 2 1. We're debtree. Yeah. So good. So good. This is how you do it, ladies and gentlemen.

Love it, man. You know, I can't imagine coming to work in a place like this right after I got married. The place I went to work right after I got married was bad.

I mean, lucky for them, it's great because now you're submerged by everything you need to get off on the right foot financially.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's like you don't have a choice around here. Yeah. I mean, well, you're on stage this morning. Staff meeting doing walk the talk. Oh, yeah. We have a whole system here where we're not being hypocrites. The people that work here need to be doing the stuff we teach, you know. Hello.

100%. The non-hypocrite system. Walk the talk. Right. On your honor. That's right. The honor.

Yeah. And these guys, they they did it. I'm so proud of them. $165,000. Smoking it. 15 months,

man. Let's get it done. Get her done. Hey good folks, Dr. John Deloney here. Don't you think life is too short to hate Mondays? Listen, you're worth loving the work you do and where you do it. So, guess what? Ramsay Solutions is hiring. If you're ready to join an amazing team that's all about changing lives, and spreading hope, we want to see your application. Right now, we're hiring for technology, sales, marketing, writing, copy editing, and creative roles. Check out all our job postings at ramiesolutions.com/careers.

That's ramseyolutions.com/careers. Our scripture today is 1 Corinthians 15:58. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Thomas Soul said, "There are people who go through the motions and people who get the job done." It's amazing how much work you can accomplish just by hiring the latter and firing the former. Amen. Charlie is with us in Cleveland, Ohio. Hey Charlie, how are you?

better than I deserve. How are you, Dave? Just the same. What's up? Yeah. So, uh, my wife and I, uh, we have two young kids and this mom we, uh, just got debt free, so we pay off the mortgage.

Good for you. There you go. Thank you. Thank you. So, the question is, uh, so I I have a pretty good job. Uh, my wife, she stays home. My dad, uh, he is in his, uh, 70s. He's still working uh probably because maybe a series of uh poor financial decisions. So he cannot retire because he he has to continue to financially support uh other family members, adult family members in the family.

Why overseas? Um and uh so I'm a bit torn uh because I I I don't have any that I can help. Uh, but I also don't want to continue to encourage bad behaviors. Um, so I'm kind of torn apart and and seeking some advice.

So, so what do you make? 600,000. Wow. Good for you. And what is it you're being torn about? What What is it they're being asked to do or that you're doing?

Um, I want my dad to be able to enjoy uh retirement life. Yeah. But he chose to give all his money to somebody overseas. Uh well he he lives overseas so he doesn't live here in the states. Yeah we are immigrants.

Okay. From which country? Korea. Okay. All right. And so he lives overseas and he's 70 years old and he doesn't he has the money to support himself but he doesn't because he gives it to other family members.

Correct. Okay. All right. What's the situation with the other family members? Are they ill? Are they unable to work? Can he stop doing that today or is the damage completely done?

Well, I say it's a multiffold, right? So, you know, some of the family member he support them uh just to help them with their lifestyle choices and some of the family members they chose uh not to work uh because uh

you know some of the the the poor choices they made in the past. So that makes them makes it very difficult for them to find jobs. So basically my dad has been paying for everything, you know, for as long

What would happen if he couldn't? That's the big question. So uh we don't know. Uh he he makes

So do you give your dad money? Huh? Are you being asked to give your father money so that he can work and give them money? I mean, he he makes good money, but I I'm worried he probably doesn't have enough save for his

What's the equivalent? Give us an equivalent in US dollars of what he makes over there.

Oh, he makes $250,000 and he's 70 years old. 300. Okay, so let me stop. What's the problem?

The problem is he gives all of his money away and he's going to retire with nothing and ask you to get to help him. Is that the problem? The the problem is, you know, I don't know if that's going to make the problem worse because I'm I'm worried that if I give him the the money, the money just go to other family members.

No, I I wouldn't give him anything. I'm just asking you today, you're not giving him anything. So, there's not a problem other than you're observing that in the future there's getting ready to be something happening, right?

Correct. I'm anticipating. Yeah, that that's what I'm trying to figure out. Okay. All right. So, what you're anticipating is is that he's going to run out of the ability to work and not have any money because he's given all of his away.

Yes. Yeah. At that point, you can decide how much you want to help him. I mean, and you you'll have the money to you make 600,000. Uh but we're not going to help him to the tune that he has enough to help everybody else. Only to the tune that he has enough to help himself. I'm guessing because I I I'm a redneck hillbilly and I don't know these things, but I'm guessing that part of this might be cultural.

It is very cultural. Yeah. Because I mean in um you know in the Latino world for instance uh it's very normal to have a a more of a family obligation to support parents than we would have in uh a typical gringo culture, right? My hillbilly culture, you know, you're not required to do that. Puritan ethic, so to speak, you're not required to do that, right? But in an Asian culture where you're talking about or the Latino culture, it's more normalized to be asked to expected to and you've grown up with it your whole life. It's integrated into your DNA that that this is how things are done. Is that correct?

Yeah, I that's 100% correct. Yeah. And I'm thinking that may lend itself to why he's giving all of his money away as well, even though someone in my seat would look at that and go, "Why are you doing that?" But but and the answer is it's a cultural difference um to do that. It doesn't make it smart, doesn't make it dumb. It's just an explanation, right? So mathematically we can all agree it's dumb, but there's a reason that he's doing it. It's not just straight up irresponsibility. Uh although it is intertwined into this cultural icon. So um yeah, I I you know, I think I'd talk to him about it if he'll listen, but I bet he doesn't. and just say, "Dad, you know, you need to be aware that when you are broke, I will be helping you only with food and shelter, not with enough to uh uh for you to further on your giving of these other people." So, these other people when you run out of gas and aren't able to work

are going to be on their own, and they should know that now because I'm not going to be held uh to this standard. I think it's okay to go ahead and communicate that, but I don't think it's going to change what's going to occur. What's going to occur is what you expect. I think that's exactly what's going to happen. Do you, Jade?

I do. I think he's 70 years old and he's been making this decision for a long time. And it would be a miracle if he stopped today.

Yeah. And he's old school within that culture. Yes. And he's he's duty bound. Yep. Yep. and gonna follow through on his duty to take care of them. No matter how irresponsible or, you know, uh, bad decisions they've been making, he's going to do it anyway. I think. Aren't you, Charlie? You agree with that?

I agree. I agree 100%. I tried to have a conversation 10 years ago, didn't really go anywhere. So, I decided to focus on my own and

try to get that free and protect the family. You know, the hard part for you, Charlie, is hold going to be to hold that boundary when the time comes because you're likely going to feel guilty and all these other things, but it wasn't your you didn't make the choice, right? He did. And that's the thing that you'll have to remind yourself of many, many times.

And you'll be able to help him to a reasonable degree. Absolutely. But not an unreasonable degree. And the And it's not going to be it's not going to make everybody happy. No one in the end of the story is going to be thrilled with the outcome. But you great news is you make a huge income and you're going to be in a wonderful position financially. And if you want to reach over and do a uh you know help somebody a little bit every month, you can do that and you won't even notice mathematically.

And so that's the thing. So yeah, not accounting for cultural differences and and you have to account for that. So it's it's not fair to say that. But

you just folks, you need to plan to not be a burden on your children. Yeah, you do. And you're you said it exactly right. You know, it might be a reason for a behavior, but it doesn't make it right or good.

That's true. And the same way that Charlie was able to look at that and go, "That doesn't make sense."

Yeah. Yeah. And he comes he comes from Right. Yeah. Comes right straight out of that. So So

yeah, you just got to go um No. Yeah. You can't don't park your We're not going to participate in that. It doesn't make sense. And uh I've learned a better way.

Yes. And that can happen. You could learn that. I could learn that from his culture. He could learn that from my culture. It doesn't matter. You're gonna learn a better way.

That's right. But the hard part is he's going to have to do that at the expense of um

hurt feelings. Hurt feelings and family meals and all that stuff is going to be very different when you when you draw boundaries like that. People don't like it and they push up against them and all that stuff. So,

count on it. Good luck to you. That puts this hour of the Ramsey Show in the books. We'll be back with you before you know it. But in the meantime, remember there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Don't Get Pulled Into the Gravitational Pull of Drama | February 24, 2026"?

Dave Ramsey (Host), Jade Wagar (Host), Sean (Guest), Nicole (Guest), Dustin (Guest), Neil (Guest), TJ (Guest), Alice (Guest).

What is "Don't Get Pulled Into the Gravitational Pull of Drama | February 24, 2026" about?

A stressed individual contemplates taking over a failing family business worth about $10 million, weighing the burden of debt, a problematic leadership ideology, and a potential 10–15 year horizon before inheritance amidst family dynamics. The discussion centers on managing financial and emotional leverage as the business teeters toward collapse.

What is mentioned in this The Ramsey Show episode?

42 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Dave Ramsey, Debt, Retirement, Baby Steps, Income, mortgage. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Don't Get Pulled Into the Gravitational Pull of Drama | February 24, 2026"?

The episode runs 2 h 8 min; the transcript is about 23,564 words in 506 timestamped sections.

More from The Ramsey Show

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated October 29, 2026.