Transcript

Risk Is Always Part of the Equation When Taking On Debt | January 26, 2026

From The Ramsey Show · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 2 h 6 min · 23,692 words · 465 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Risk Is Always Part of the Equation When Taking On Debt | January 26, 2026", an episode of The Ramsey Show published January 26, 2026 (2 h 6 min, about 23,692 words). It mentions 18 people, works and ideas, including Jade Warshaw, George Camel, Dave Ramsey, IRS, HSA.

What this episode is about

The discussion revolves around the complexities and risks associated with debt, particularly in a personal finance context, as a caller navigates a surprising demand from her parents to repay a significant sum related to her education funding. Key points include examining the implications of loans, understanding financial agreements, and the importance of clear communication about financial obligations within families.

Key takeaways

  • When 529s become family battlegrounds, trust issues can outlast college tuition.
  • Signing in good faith as a teen? Expect confusing family contracts and emotional fallout later.
  • Expecting repayment from a 529? You might need to revisit what 'higher education funding' really means.
  • When parents take legal routes over a financial favor, consider: Is the relationship worth the cash?
  • Childhood contracts remind us: Financial literacy should start before the fine print gets involved.

Who speaks in this episode?

  • George Camel (Host) · 1 h 3 min speaking
  • Jade Warshaw (Host) · 1 h 3 min speaking
  • Sarah (Guest) · 25 min speaking
  • JD (Guest) · 19 min speaking
  • Michelle (Guest) · 19 min speaking
  • Ryan (Guest) · 13 min speaking
  • Marie (Guest) · 19 min speaking
  • Austin (Guest) · 19 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 15:00: Jade Warshaw, George Camel, Dave Ramsey, Chicago
  2. – 30:00: Miami, Raleigh, North Carolina
  3. – 45:00: George Camel, Jade Warshaw
  4. – 1:30:00: George Camel, Jade Warshaw, Dave Ramsey, Financial Peace University
  5. – 1:45:00: Dave Ramsey, IRS, Amazon, Hyundai
  6. – 2:00:00: Dave Ramsey, Amazon, Health Information Technology, Subaru
  7. – 2:05:52: Cyber Security

Notable quotes from "Risk Is Always Part of the Equation When Taking On Debt | January 26, 2026"

  • Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So, we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fairwinds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsay…
    about Financial Peace University · at
  • We got the captain's hat, the lay, which tells me we're going somewhere warm. So, join Dave, myself, Jade Warshaw, all the Ramsay personalities, Dr. John Deloney, Ken Coleman…
    about Dave Ramsey · at
  • Hey guys, George here. Listen, just because it's 2026 now doesn't mean 2025's ideas all go away. Some things are timeless. Like if you want to win with money, it's still the same.
    about George Camel · at
  • Well, Jade, we just took a call where the husband bought a house without telling his wife.
    about Jade Warshaw · at
  • Yeah. So the dream was basically to you know retire the wife from the military and you know I went about it completely the wrong way obviously and you know just dug myself into…
    about Amazon · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Jade Warshaw — Person · Co-host · 6 mentions · first at
    Co-host providing relationship-aware financial coaching (e.g., family conflict, financial infidelity, abuse exit planning).
  • George Camel — Person · Host · 4 mentions · first at
    Primary on-air host guiding calls, giving Ramsey-style financial advice, and promoting Ramsey events/sponsors.
  • Dave Ramsey — Person · Referenced figure / brand anchor · 4 mentions · first at
    Referenced as the central Ramsey personality and as a featured participant in the promoted 'Live Like No One Else Cruise.'

Companies & orgs

  • Amazon — Company · Referenced expert · 2 mentions · first at
    Mentioned in passing, possibly in the context of shopping or online services.
  • Hyundai — Company · Referenced expert · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned in passing, possibly in the context of car ownership or loans.
    Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So, we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fairwinds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsay…
  • Subaru — Company · Referenced expert · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned in passing, possibly in the context of car ownership or loans.
    Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So, we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fairwinds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsay…

Products & tech

  • HSA — Product · Case study · 4 mentions
    Mentioned in the context of financial planning and health savings.
    Me when I was young, which I ended up using to pay for the majority of my undergrad and grad schooling. I did take out a couple of federal loans just to cover the remainder of…

Concepts & topics

  • IRS — Concept · Referenced expert · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned in the context of tax discussions and financial advice.
    Me when I was young, which I ended up using to pay for the majority of my undergrad and grad schooling. I did take out a couple of federal loans just to cover the remainder of…
  • Cyber Security — Concept · Key argument · 2 mentions · first at
    Mentioned in passing, likely in the context of digital safety and financial security.
    Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So, we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fairwinds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsay Show. I'm.
  • Health Information Technology — Concept · Key argument · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned in passing, likely in the context of healthcare and technology.
    Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So, we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fairwinds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsay…

Places & events

  • Chicago — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as a location, possibly in the context of a story or example.
    Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So, we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fairwinds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsay…
  • Denver — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as a location, possibly in the context of a story or example.
    Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So, we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fairwinds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsay…
  • Raleigh, North Carolina — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as a location, possibly in the context of a story or example.
    Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So, we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fairwinds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsay…
  • Miami — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as a location, possibly in the context of a story or example.
    Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So, we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fairwinds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsay…
  • Salt Lake City, Utah — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as a location, possibly in the context of a story or example.
    Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So, we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fairwinds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsay…
  • Charleston — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as a location, possibly in the context of a story or example.
    Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So, we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fairwinds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsay…
  • Washington, D.C. — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as a location, possibly in the context of a story or example.
    Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So, we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fairwinds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsay…

Sponsors

  • Financial Peace University — Product · Sponsor · 1 mention · first at
    A financial education program mentioned in the context of budgeting and financial planning.

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 Fairwinds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsay Show. I'm George Camel, joined by best-selling author Jade Warshaw. If you know, you know. Give us a call at88255225 and we will do our best to help you take the right next step for your life and your money. Sarah is going to kick us off in Chicago. What's going on, Sarah?

Hi, thanks for taking my call. Absolutely. How can Jade and I help? Uh uh so I'm 30, my husband's 31. Our household income is about 235. Uh, my parents had set up a 529 plan for me when I was young, which I ended up using to pay for the majority of my undergrad and grad schooling. Um, I did take out a couple of federal loans just to cover the remainder of my grad school, which we still owe about 35,000 on. Uh, recently my parents asked me to pay them back roughly $114,000 for the money that I used from my 2529 plan.

What? Come again now. So, is that the money they put in or was that the balance of the account?

That was the balance of the account. That's This is in They don't even understand math.

Like, they may have put in 30 grand that grew to 114 and now they want you to pay the 114.

The interest, the comp they want you to cover the compound growth that cost them nothing.

Was this ever the plan? Like, had this ever been stated to you ever at any point that you would have to pay this back? I don't remember it that way, but my dad is a lawyer, so naturally he had created a promisory note.

Could you sign it before? Yeah. Before I was Have you read this note now as an adult?

Yes. And what does the fine print say? It says that I promise to pay my parents all sums paid to me for my secondary education

including without limitation tuition, housing and living expenses including interest.

Sums is the interesting part. All sums paid to you. Yes, this is I didn't understand that when I was signing it. I kind of understood it more as like my um requirement.

You know what? Let him let him take you to court. I think this would be a hilarious way to end the relationship with his daughter. What a way to go.

This is wild. That's what I'm worried about. What was your relationship like prior to this with your parents andor just dad?

Um pretty pretty good uh before this. So, it's kind of coming out of left field.

Are they broke? Um they've been placed like what's the underlying reason why now you know over a decade later they're like hey remember that contract you signed when you were a child?

Yeah. Have they brought it up at any other point other than now? No. No really.

And how long have you been out of school? Um I graduated grad school about a year and a half ago.

Okay. So Okay. Um when you brought it up or have you brought it up? Um, I just basically asked them, I told them I wasn't aware it was a loan.

They sent me the contract. They sent me the contract and then they said, "Let's talk about it." And so, we're going to talk about it tomorrow. Which is why I'm

So, you need prep for how to best Yeah. prep the conversation. I I'll tell you right now, um, if I'm going to I believe you when you say I had no idea that that's what I was signing. If you know in your heart of hearts that you did not know what that was and that you had no idea that you were going to pay back this money, if you can say in your heart of hearts that that's the case, then I think that that you go in there and you say, "Hey guys, I had no idea. I was 18 years old. I don't even remember this paper. I know that I'm looking at it that it's signed, but when I tell you I had no understanding that that's what this meant, I am telling you the truth. There is no part of me that understood that I would be paying back this money. If I had, I would not have signed this. And I feel very blindsided by this. And I don't have the money. And I would like to ask if this can be forgiven because

everything that I do know about money tells me that a 529 is there for education. So I am under the impression that that's what this money is for. And I would just say it like that and see what they say. Okay. Yeah. I I don't want to I don't want to come off like as ungrateful or entitled or like I'm trying to take advantage of them. I want to own up to my own debts. But like different financial decisions

if it I'm not going to I'm not saying this was the case, but I'm just telling you as a person who's listening on the other side, there was a imbalance of knowledge. Here you have a grown man who you trust, who is a lawyer, who is giving you a paper to sign, and you just go, "Okay." And I sign it. That Do you see what I'm saying? You're not in an official office. You're not in a space where you're like, "Okay, I'm going to sign for my loan." And you don't even remember doing it. Who knows if he slid that to you one morning while you were eating a waffle, right? Just, "Oh, yeah.

Go ahead and sign this for me real quick." Okay. Like I don't know how it happened. All I'm seeing is I'm sensing that there was a balance of power here. A balance of I'm going to say of knowledge and power. And it feels I'm not saying he was intending to, but it feels like he may have taken advantage of that whether intentionally or on accident. And either way, that's what I would say is I just feel like I didn't know. And I'm asking if there's a way to we've let it go for this long. Can can my 529 just be for my education, which is what it's intended to be for?

Okay. And if they decide to not do that, should I do you think it would be reasonable to offer like some money or mean in the middle?

Maybe. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Because I want to find out what their contributions were,

what they actually put into the account. I did he actually say 114,000 must be repaid

in the last conversation you had? a loan payment schedule based on the final amount that was in that account because I don't think this would ever hold up in court that someone would have to repay compound growth. I think all sums repaid could be interpreted as the money that they advanced you essentially to be invested into this account

which would be a fraction of that 114. Yes. Yeah. Because it's been in there for I don't know 15 years. Either way, we can all agree this relationship just turned into into a transaction and it's not going to be undone.

Like Thanksgiving is forever going to be different now. And so that that part is on him.

You can do what you can if you want to keep the relationship alive. You can never repay this. And again, he can try to come after you. And I don't know what if he has any legal standing to come after you from a dadto, you know, 529 perspective. Uh but I would I would honestly if you want to consult with your own attorney and say, "Hey, what is actually in this? Does this actually hold up? Should I actually be worried? What is actually my obligation based on what I signed? I would at least get that clarity.

And Sarah, here's another thing. Here's another take for you cuz there is a relationship here. What does how does this make you feel? First off, forget the money part.

I'm a little I'm a little hurt by it and blindsided like you said. I kind of my whole life I was like, oh, my parents kind of I was really grateful for them setting me up. I'm in a really good financial spot right now.

I think you need to tell them getting ready to pay off my share that I'm grateful and I didn't understand what I was signing

and also tell them that you how you fear this could affect your relationship. Just I think if you lead with your heart on this and how you're really feeling and the gratefulness, the blindsidedness, how you're afraid for the future of the relationship, keep it less about money, I think you might have a better shot.

Goodness gracious. Diabolical. What are we doing, parents? This is insane. After the holidays, a lot of people start feeling budget pressure, and it's a wakeup call to get intentional. So listen, don't fall for buy now pay later cell phone plans that drag you back into debt. Boost Mobile keeps it simple with no contracts and no nonsense. Keep the phone you already own and pay just 25 bucks a month forever for unlimited data, talk, and text. That's real long-term value, and real peace of mind. So budget like you mean it and go to boostmobile.comy today to make the switch. That's boostmobile.com/ramsey.

Restrictions apply. See boostmobile.com/ramsey for details. Guys, I got to let you in on a little secret. We've been keeping this under wraps for far too long and it's been hard to keep it within. And so I'm going to let Jade give the people a clue.

Here's the clue. Come sail away. Come sail away. Come sail away with me. Booyah. I was going to do the harmony, but I think that's that's simply it was simply too good.

I was waiting for it. I didn't want I want to let you have the spotlight for once. Listen, guys. We sold out last time. People kept asking, and so we're doing it again. The Live Like No One Else Cruise is back. We got the captain's hat, the lay, which tells me we're going somewhere warm. So, join Dave, myself, Jade Warshaw, all the Ramsay personalities, Dr. John Deloney, Ken Coleman, Rachel Cruz. Seven days in the Western Caribbean on the only cruise where we vacation alongside you.

A and this is just Ramsay fans plus the Ramsay team. That's right. That's who's on this ship. And uh let me tell you, the last time we did it, I left just like I was on cloud9. I was like, did that really happen?

It was really fun. It's a fever dream. So you can get lunch with Dave, play pickle ball with Ken, sing karaoke with Jade.

I didn't even make the cut. What do you do with George? I don't know. Play back gamon and drink some espresso. I guess

you could have like a coffee with George, like a nitro brew. I'm going to have a coffee hangout. So, uh, come join us. And here's who this is for. This is not for everyone. This may not be for you in this season. This is for people who are on baby step four or higher. So, you have you've paid off the consumer debt, you have the emergency fund, you're investing for the future, this is your chance to mark the milestone and celebrate big. When is it happening Jade?

February. Oh gosh. Sorry. I was I laid you up, Jade. I know, but I was formulating another thought. I'm sorry. Go ahead and go ahead and do it.

March of 2027, which means you have plenty of time to budget for this trip and you can get the cabin now.

And if you're like right up on it, this should be your goal. Like, I need to pay off. I need to get my baby step three in place so that I can sign up. That's what I was thinking of when you asked me.

Yeah. If you will be in baby step four by the time the cruise is happening. And here's the cool part. It gives you time. All you need to do right now is lock in your spot with a $600 deposit. And cabins are limited. This will sell out again. And here's the really cool part. We want to really uh get people stoked on this. So, right now, you can save up to $300 this week only when you book by February 1st. This is not a gimmick. The price will be going up after February 1st. So, book now. Get 300 bucks off. You can lock in your spot with a deposit. I can't wait. March 2027.

Wow. It's going to be It's going to be the cruise of the year. Sailing takes me away.

Gosh, if I could sing like I would be singing the entire time on this show. Keep doing a medley. Just sit right back and we'll tell Gilligans Island. I can go on the cruise thing forever. So many great cruise songs. All right, Jade's going to make a playlist for us to listen to to get psyched for the cruise. In the meantime, here's where you go to learn more. There's a great trailer video. There's all the info you need, all the different cabins you can book. Go to ramiesolutions.com/events to learn more and lock in your spot or click the link in the show notes. I am I am stoked.

What was your favorite thing last time? My favorite moment from the Okay, John Deloney and I had this hairbrained idea to do standup comedy. Oh, that's right. I almost forgot.

It was 11 p.m. I went, "Who's even showing up for this?" at 11 p.m. over 800 people. It was standing room only.

That's right. In this venue, that I was shook by that. And that was I I peaked early. That was the best standup of my life. The people were having a great time. John Deloney did a killer set. And maybe we'll do it again. We'll see.

I think you should. I think you should. It was awesome. And how about you? Any favorite memories?

I think what stands out to me is Ken and I doing a dance battle. Oh. And I saw the video from that.

He did. I I Let me say this. I didn't know that people were still doing the worm.

Yeah, exactly. I'm not going to I was going to say, don't tell which one of us did it, but now you know. This

So fun. Truly, truly. Come celebrate with us if you're baby step four or higher on the live like no one else cruise. Ramseyolutions.com/events. Click the link in the show notes. Stoked. All right. JD is up next in Denver. JD, thanks for uh you know, allowing us to have a little fun there. What's your question today?

Of course. Uh I've just been through some pretty tough financial times recently and I just don't even know where to start and how to get back up on my feet.

Man, what's what's the thing on your mind right now when it comes to hey, I don't know what to do next? Well, the biggest pressing issue is I was in a car wreck and so um it does not sound like insurance is going to be too kind to me because I did not have full coverage and so

reliable transportation so I can get back to working. Are you okay physically? Uh I I think so like walked away and everything but

honestly that's last things on my mind. How recent was this? Oh, that was on Monday.

Oh, wow. This just happened. It hasn't even been on Tuesday. I got laid off. So, you know, really good start to my week.

I'm sorry. That is just Is there like a JD Voodoo doll out there? Someone like just really that you burned them. Like this is a lot of bad luck in one week, man. I'm so sorry.

That's what I've been asking everyone. Like, hey, did I do something really terrible for me? When Murphy hits, he hits hard. And so it feels like it's all coming at you at once. So we need income and we need a vehicle.

Yes. In that order because it's hard to get a vehicle without the income. Do you have anything in savings?

Uh I've got about 400 or $76. Okay. And are you single? Uh yes. Do you have roommates? Are you living alone?

Well, I was living in my van cuz uh the one that got totaled. Fairly yeah, fairly similar thing happened in September and luckily my family was really kind to me and they said so long as I'm staying productive I can stay their place rent free until I get back up on my feet that was a lifesaver.

So are you still there now? Yeah. Okay. Um what type of work were you doing that you got laid off from?

So I was working uh industrial in conveyor belt repair for like mines and power plants.

Okay. So maintenance repair. Yeah. Like if you were to look for a job in your area today, what kind of job would you be looking for?

Uh luckily my experience is pretty vast, so I can go work for a lot of like material reprocessing sites, a lot of other uh industrial technician jobs. So I'm not too stressed about finding a new job.

Good. When they laid me off, they gave me a recommendation letter. It was just due to them doing layoffs and me being lower on the list due to seniority. They sever

uh they did not, but they gave me recommendation letters and a whole list of places that they're in good standing with that if I apply for like I could probably get a job on the spot.

Okay, great. So, the really it's just a matter of you doing your due diligence and locking in something as quickly as possible. But you and I both know there's just that lull of I get hired, I do all the training, I finally do work, and then I finally get paid, right? The first paycheck is easily six weeks away at the very le at the very uh least. So, the good news is you're you've got a place to stay, right? You've got a place to lay your head. The thing I'd be wondering about coming into this is because you mentioned your insurance, you were under, you know, undercovered.

I want to know, is there a bill coming your way for damages? So far, it does not sound like it. It sounds like um they they I'm so frustrated about the situation. They found 50/50 fault, even though it was not 50/50 fault. And um but it sounds like the coverage that I did have should cover the other driver's damages fully. It's just I don't get anything for my damages cuz I only have liability. Okay.

Have you been in touch with the adjuster? Uh, I tried calling her this morning and we had a phone call, but it was not very productive.

Okay. I would try to move this part along. So, at least we know we have some closure on what the next steps are if you're going to get a check, if you're going to be in the red, if you're going to just be, you know, break even and be flat on this. But either way, we need transportation to get to that job that you will inevitably get.

Can you borrow a car from family or anything like like that right now? No. I wish this had happened. Well, I wish this didn't happen in the first place, but I wish this had happened like a year ago because my uh my family got rid of all their old vehicles. They had like five vehicles and traded them for just two new reliable vehicles and of course they use those to get to work every day.

Cool. JD, I'm also wondering, you seemed like you really were questioning the 50/50 fault. If you really do feel like I know I wasn't at fault on this, you might contact a lawyer and see what they say. Um, I wouldn't spend a lot out of pocket at this point, but just get somebody's opinion. Maybe there's a family member that knows someone that you can run this by.

And in the meantime, it's time for some side hustles. You are signing up for everything you can to get some income in the door to go buy a 2,000, 3,000, $4,000 car off Facebook Marketplace in the next few weeks. Good luck, man.

With interest rates finally dropping, now could be the window you've been waiting for to buy a home or refinance. But don't just rush in blind. Sit down with someone at Church Hill Mortgage who will tell you the truth and walk you through a plan to position you better for long-term success. Listen, markets go up and down. That's nothing new. But the fact remains, building equity through home ownership is still one of the best ways for Americans to create safety and security in their lives. That's why I've recommended Church Hill for decades. Their team of trusted adviserss helps you build a simple, clear plan to buy or refinance a home the smart way. So, don't let the market or headlines or experts on the internet tell you when you're ready to buy or refinance a home. You can decide that with guidance from a team who actually cares about your future. Go to churchillmortgage.com today and start your plan.

This is a paid advertisement. NMLS ID1591 NMLScons consumerac.org equalousing lender. Michelle is up next in Raleigh, North Carolina. Michelle, welcome to the Ramsey Show.

Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be on the phone with you all. We're excited, too. How can we help? Um, so really quick background, my husband and I bought our house in 2020. He deployed last year and we went from at that point 100,000 down to I'll round up to 57,000. We also saved up 10,000 for a porch. And then because of his deployment, we're getting 15 $16,000 back in taxes, which I know what you all say like, you know, try to make it zero. And last year we owed. So I think it's just because of the deployment.

Um, and I, my husband and I are trying to decide, are we allowed to get a driveway or should we keep paying off the house? So, you want to take the 16,000 and put it towards paving your driveway?

Yes. Okay. Um, no other debt? No debt, just the mortgage. Do you have a savings aside from the 16K? Do you have like 3 to 6 months of expenses?

Yeah, we have another 15,000 emergency fund and then we have 10,000 saved up for the porch

and now we're getting 16,000. So, last night I was like, that's that's almost $40,000. Like, we could,

you know, pay a lot on the house. Like, if I whittle down the emergency fund. Yeah.

Or or we could just have fun. And what's going on with the drive? Tired. Uh, it's just gravel. And we will concrete.

Will it cost the whole 16,000 or what will it actually cost? Um, between 10 and 12. We're getting We're still getting quotes. Now, this is not like big chunks of money, but it's just things that I like to be in place before you do other fun things. Do you guys have life insurance?

Yes. Do you are you investing 15% into Yes. Okay. So, you're doing you've done all the things. You've lit You literally have extra money. Yes. Why not?

You are allowed, Michelle. You've been blessed by the Ramsay gods. Congratulations. You get a new driveway. That is what I needed.

You don't need our permission, but I understand. Keep going. Well, that's the thing. It's it's hard to let go of the gazelle intensity that you had. And you know, baby step two, paying off consumer debt. And when you move to 45, five, six, we say you move from intensity to intentionality. And so, it's okay if the mortgage doesn't get get paid off in 5 years. And instead, it's 5 and a half. You are still doing better than 99.999% of America. And so the the key is you have a goal and you're aiming toward it. And so how much longer will it take to pay off the house at this rate?

3 years. Wonderful. Awesome. How old will you be then? Uh I just turned 32. So 35. Do you know how weird that is

to be 35 years old with a paid for house? Amazing. No debt. Very nice. You're doing great.

There's a point, Michelle, and I I'll be honest. I I struggle with this from time to time, but especially when you're doing a plan that's very intense like the Ramsey plan and the way the first few steps are, you do have to be intentional about flipping the switch in your brain where you're not just building your life, you're actually living your life. And I have had moments where I'm like, man, I need to I need to actually enjoy the thing that I've created instead of just like, let me just put this other brick in place, you know? Like there's a point where you do have to stop and go, I'm just on the outside of this thing creating it. I need to get on the inside and start enjoying it and start living it and start being a part of it and just, you know, have enjoy the fruit of my labor a little bit. And I think that's where you're at. And it's a great place to be.

There's a time and a place for the intense and, you know, balls to the wall feeling. And then there's a time to put your feet up and go, "Life is good. We we done.

Let's get that porch done. Let's get some concrete down. Congrats, Michelle. And uh please tell your husband thank you for his sacrifice and service.

I will. Thank you. You guys are awesome. Living the plan. That's what it looks like right there.

All right. Ryan is up next in Miami. What's going on, Ryan? How can we help today?

Uh hi. Thank you so much for having me. Sure. Um I have a quick question. I got a decision I'm trying to make and I can't decide what to do. Um, I have some debt that I want to pay off. Um, but I'm in kind of a unique situation, so I I I don't know what to do. Um, I have about $97,000 in student loans uh from law school. Um, shortly after I graduated, I fell backwards into some money uh by sheer luck. And I was told, you know,

what spot did you fall? I just just out of curiosity, I'd like to visit that spot.

Um, what do you what do you mean you fell backwards? Like, was it an inheritance that you didn't know about?

I got a personal injury settlement. I'm just short of a million dollars. Oh, wow.

Holy moly. Are you okay? That's That's a serious payout. Yeah, I'm I'm I'm fine now. I got some some uh some arthritis in my knee. I got some some injuries that are kind of unique for a young man to have, but you know, all in all, I'm I'm whole.

Wow. Um I consider myself a very fortunate person. Um so where's your where's your quandry?

Um well, I didn't know what to do with the money, you see. So um the advice I got was to invest it. Don't pay off the debt and you know, use the growth or the return on the investment to pay off the debt over time. And um you know I I was in some kind of investment with a financial adviser. It didn't perform well. I didn't like it. I actually pulled the money out of that and ended up buying three single family homes that I now lease to people. So my current plan has been uh to use the rental profit, you know, live off my base pay from my day job. Uh use the rental profit to pay down this student loan debt. Um but uh I really hate making all these payments and it's eating up all the money I make every month. Did you buy the You didn't buy the rentals in cash.

Uh I paid for them outright. Okay. Yeah. Um three single family homes outright.

What are they worth? Uh let's see. One one's about 300. One is worth about 250.

Uh the other I would say high twos, low threes, kind of that 290 range probably.

What do they cash flow totally every month? Uh, one rents for 1,800, one rents for 1,900, one rents for 2,000 a month. Um, after home owners insurance, property taxes, uh, maintenance, repairs. Um, uh, it's about 37 38,000 a year.

Okay. And what's your base pay or how much are you bringing in from your job? For my day job, my base pay is 70,000 a year. Um, and before taxes. And then I just got a a bonus. It's like a one once a year bonus uh recently to uh $10,000.

I mean, if you like these properties, you paid for them in cash. If they're cash flowing, I would just use your income and the cash to pay down this $97,000 bill. I mean, if you wanted to sell one of them off, you could. But I have a feel I mean, it's just you, right? There's no family.

No wife. I'm a single guy. I'm 30 years old. I I live in an apartment. Um yeah, no no wife and kids. Uh no, not even a dog.

What do you have in savings? What's your cash cash position right now? Um let's see. In savings, I have about 93,000 in a savings account and about 20 in a checking account.

Well, you buried the man. Just you could pay off your debt today instantly. Um my worry is uh I I would like to get into a primary residence and own a house that I live in. Um, so that's another hesitation.

That's two different things. So there's there's a time and place for that, but it's once you're completely debtree and you have a fully funded emergency fund. And think about it, once you don't have these student loans, it's all pure cash flow. So you can save up a down payment real quick.

Mhm. And I might change my advice on that now that you throw the fact in that you want to get a personal residence. I might say, "Yeah, take take um the cash that you have, pay off the student loans, and then I might sell one of these properties to free up some cash." So, you've got a uh you've reuped your emergency fund and now you have cash to come in and buy whatever house you get for you that needs to be in cash. So, maybe you're selling two of these properties to have what it is that you truly want. And maybe that leaves you with one rental property. Cuz what I wouldn't want for you to do is to put a mortgage on your personal residence and now you've got rent people living in paid for houses and you're not even living in a paid for house, right? So, maybe you sell off two of these to get what you want. I'm not mad at that.

It's all about your timeline or urgency. If you really want your own home, then I think you might go, "Hey, I'm going to sell one of these cuz I don't want to have to save up for the next 3 or 4 years. That'll speed up the process." You have a lot of options. You've done a lot of things well, but you sort of became a landlord by default cuz some dude told you it would be a good idea. And so, the good news is you have options, my friend.

When you've saved up and paid cash for a reliable used car, you want that thing to last. And the best way to keep it running for the long haul is to take care of it with people you trust. That's why I'm proud to welcome Christian Brothers Automotive as the official auto repair partner of the Ramsay Show. At Christian Brothers, they treat you like family. You'll get digital vehicle inspections so you can see exactly what your technician sees, a complimentary shuttle to keep you moving, and every repair is backed by their nationwide nice difference warranty. They've even been ranked number one by JD Power for customer satisfaction among aftermarket full service maintenance and repair providers 6 years in a row. Visit jdpower.com/awwards for the details. So if you want your paid for car to keep going and going, trust Christian Brothers Automotive.

Visit cbac.com/ramsey to find your local shop and get an exclusive Ramsay discount of 10% off your visit.

10% off up to a $250 value. See store for details. Kelsey is in Austin, Texas. Up next, Kelsey, welcome to the show.

Hi, thanks for taking my call. Um, so I'm working the baby steps and I just need some advice. I am a real estate agent and so all of my income uh runs through my business account. I have an escorp and I like to keep about 3 months of my payroll in there just to like keep my anxiety levels at a lower level. Um, just in case like a month is slow or a deal falls through. Um, I'm a single mom with two kids. So, I guess I'm just wondering if that amount in my business account would be enough to consider as a starter emergency fund or if I should have that starter emergency fund in a separate account.

So, I like that you're doing that. The only change that I would make is this is not an emergency fund. Um, so whenever you're a person who's on irregular income, whether you're in real estate or just anything that has those major uh opportunities for fluctuation, it is smart to keep a month's worth or, you know, two months worth, whatever you feel like you absolutely need aside.

Yeah. Just in case something happens, a deal falls through or it gets pushed later and that way you can, you know, continue to live your life. But that's not your emergency fund because that your emergency fund is there for the things that emergency funds are there for. something that's completely unforeseen, something that's completely um necessary, and something that can is completely urgent, right? That's your roof, you know, your car falls falls apart, that kind of thing. This is just part of your budget. This is just part of in many ways, it's just an extended cushion for you letting your budget uh uh adjust to a regular income. So, I would not to clarify, you can have this money here. Maybe you take half of it and you have, you know, a month and a half. I only you know how much your income truly fluctuates and what you actually need there, but maybe there's some of that that could also go towards

building a dedicated emergency fund. Okay. Yeah, I could definitely at least start the $1,000 just to have that there and then put some towards debt, especially once I have things like under contract. It feels a little safer. But

how much debt do you have? I have uh 46,000. Um yeah. What kind of debt is that? So, 22 of that is credit cards from just putting my head in the sand after a divorce. And then, uh, 13,500 on a car and then my AC went out over like Thanksgiving, so I had to put that one on a loan. So, it's 10,000 on that.

Ouch. Okay. So, do you have a business checking and a business savings account separate from your personal?

I have like I run the profit first model in my business account. So, I have a couple of accounts in there. So, I stash a little bit away every month or every closing for profit. And then I have a personal checking.

Okay, good. So, they are separate. Yes. You're not doing this all from one bank account.

No. Yeah, I finally got all that in order a couple years ago. And how much do you have in across your personal checking and savings that's not tied to your business?

Oh, sorry. Can you repeat that? How much do you have across checking and saving in your personal life? Oh, I am I could probably have well I would have $1,000 in savings and then personal is just obviously I pay myself every month. So I pay about 6,000 in payroll every month.

So the good news is once you start paying down so if you do 6,000 in payroll, what do you have 18 stashed aside? Is that what you have in your business?

I like to stash 20 just because like with the payroll there's taxes associated with it so it it works out months. Uh, do you really feel like you need three? I feel like you could get

I mean, only you know, I'm not trying to push you because I know that you're this is your soul thing, but if you don't need three, I would knock it down a bit. And then the other thing is the good news is once you start paying off this debt, the amount that that needs to be, cuz that should be a barebones budget, not like your bells and whistles budget. um you'll be able to knock that down because once you pay off the 10 10k, that's a payment you don't need to make any more out of your budgeted money. Once you pay off the car, that's a payment you won't need to make out of your budgeted money. So, as you're paying this debt down, you're also able to reach over and pull a little bit of that um extra. Does that make sense?

And that can then also go towards your debt. my payments, my debt payments are like 600 a month and then I think it's going to go up in June as long as I mean I'm going to try and get

the smallest credit card knocked out before you know before June but then in June the AC loan like it was 0% for the first few months and then it'll be 10%. So it's going to go up a little bit.

So what's your current plan to pay off all the debt? What's the timeline and how much can you throw at it a month? I am throwing at it as much as I possibly can. I'm doing extra side hustles on the nights that I don't have the kids and like just trying to throw everything at it. I just have gotten a little I mean this was my first month actually doing a budget in every dollar and like I thought I had it all planned out and then you know things happened that I didn't account for and so I was like oh man I kind of missed the mark this first month.

Well it takes it takes a couple of months. I mean just to be honest it takes three months and some to to really lock in. The first month is experimental truly and then after that you kind of start learning your behavior and you should be locked in in the next 90 60 to 90 days for sure.

I would have a game plan to go hey my goal is to put $2,000 a month toward the debt minimums plus extra that gets me out of debt in 23 months. Once you start doing that kind of math that shows me that you're serious about getting out of debt because now you kind of know the benchmark. You know if you're ahead or behind instead of just well hopefully I'll have some extra to throw at it if life doesn't get crazy. you need to prereddecide, hey, no matter what happens, this is what we're going to do,

and then we'll shift everything else around it. The nice thing about real estate is if I have like, you know, an extra closing, it it can knock out a really big chunk of that.

Yeah. When's your next commission check? Do you know? My next commission check. Is that what you said?

Yeah. When is that coming in? Uh, Tuesday. Woohoo. How much is that going to be?

Yeah. Um, it'll be 6,000. Okay. Okay. Good. So, you have your month covered and

Mhm. Okay, good. I I like this. Okay, so it sounds like you've got it set up, like you've got the the system set up. It's just now letting it start to work for you.

Yeah, hopefully you can start making progress soon and every dollar will definitely help. Jenny is in Miami up next. Jenny, what's going on?

Hi, thank you for taking my call. Um, so I I'm I'm a little nervous. U my question is me and um and my husband we have about 500,000 saved. Um we've been saving for a home for quite some time. The issue is that we don't have much in retirement. I'm 40. He's 45. So I'm like really debating here if we should really put as much toward a home or we should allocate some towards more towards a retirement account. Um so that's kind of eating at me because we haven't bought yet. We're we're looking at the moment, but that kind of doesn't worry me. It doesn't worry him much, but me, it does.

Are you guys investing at all right now? Um, honestly, no. Like I I have because I I work for a hospital, so um I believe it's a 43b, so there is money in there without me having put anything in there as of yet.

Um 18 18,000 I believe or 19 for me. And I think on his it's maybe 3,000. He just started contributing to that.

Okay. What do you guys make a year? Uh well this last year uh gross was both of us is it overtime about on 148 uh000.

Awesome. Okay. And what's this house going to cost? We're trying to stick to 600 but it is Miami. So um it's it's definitely difficult but we're trying to stick with that. Um even if it has to be some repairs or anything like that. So we also have to consider those things as well.

Sure. And you're renting right now. What's your what's your rent cost? renting up 1,400.

Okay, we've been lucky. Yeah, that's amazing with your income. That's fantastic. And um

I'm thinking through this. You have 500,000 to put down. Does that include your emergency fund or do you have a separate emergency fund from this 500?

That's everything. That's everything across the board. We wouldn't put all that in. We We would definitely leave our emergency fund. We have about 40 would be left for at minimum for the emergency fund. So, we put $460 down on a $600,000 home, for example, or $650,000. So, you have a $150 to $200,000 mortgage, which is very reasonable for Miami. And the good news is you're going to be able to pay that off fast. So, here's the here's the deal with the should I put it toward retirement or not.

I would suggest you guys start investing 15% of your $150,000 income today. Okay?

And then put as much down on that house as you can. And here's the simple reason. it reduces the amount of mortgage you need, which in turn reduces the mortgage payment, which then frees up way more money to pay down the house early to live your life in the meantime. And so, it's a good middle ground play right now because you guys are 40 and 45. And so, my guess is you end up paying this house off in the next 7 years max.

Mhm. And the good news is Yeah. If you keep doing what George said, as you're investing 15%, if you invest 15% of your income starting now, a little over 20,000 a year, you're going to have 2.6 6 million in retirement if you retire at 65.

That's calculator numbers. That's not an opinion. And so that's the truth. The faster you get the house paid off, then you can max out investing. You'll be making more by then. I have no fear that you guys are going to be just fine if you become completely debtree. And then you invest all of that margin you create.

You know, every year I hear the same excuses for why people don't get the life insurance they need to protect their families. So this year, let's clear the air and look at the facts. Having 10 to 12 times your income on a 15 or 20-year plan is in many cases just plain cheap. That amount of coverage lets your family keep the lights on and keep food on the table while they're grieving. Second, life insurance through your work is not enough, especially since these plans go away if you change jobs. You need to have your own policy so you're not without protection when your family really needs it. Third, stay-at-home parents need life insurance, especially those with young kids. People don't realize how quickly the costs add up without someone at home taking care of things. So, no more excuses, folks. Get the protection your family needs. Go to xander.com or call 800356-4282.

They've been my choice for all my insurance for over 25 years and are the only people I trust. Welcome back to the Ramsey Show in the Fair Winds Credit Union studio. I'm George Camel joined by Ramsey personality Jade Warshaw. Open phones at8255225. Sarah is in Memphis up next. Sarah, welcome to the show.

Hello. Hey, how can Jade and I help? Hi. Um, my question is, how should I be investing to build wealth? Um, but also to leave an abusive top an emotionally abusive relationship.

Oh gosh. How long has this been going on? This relationship has lasted going on four years.

Are you safe right now? Yeah, absolutely. It's no It's no physical abuse or any of that, but it's just too toxic for me to stay. I feel like I'm not evolving.

Are you guys living together? Yes. Okay. Okay. So, what's your timeline? Um, on what?

On exiting the premises. Um, it's not like I would say I want to leave with definitely within the next like 6 months, 6 to 8 months.

Okay. Tell me what you think. Tell me what's pre precluding you from going now because when you say how can I build wealth? Wealth is different than I need first and last month's rent to be able to get into my own apartment.

Wealth is like a 10 20 year journey. And so right now it's hey what is the next step I need to take? What is the minimum amount I need to leave this situation?

We'll get to wealth. My limit my dilemma right now is I have I I did have roughly like $10,000 saved. I've recently paid off my car and got rid of absolutely all my debt.

I'm waiting on my title in the mail. I currently have about $8,000 left in my account.

Um the reason I didn't my lease was up. The reason I moved in with him is because I was my income with at my job is quite low. I only make $17 an hour. So I was a little bit worried about getting an apartment um just due to the requirements.

Okay. Um, and so I'm trying to figure out if I should be like investing with the $8,000, like maybe buying a quadplex, living in one or

like that's what I'm trying to figure out. Let me say this back to you. Let me make say this back to you and make sure I've got it. So, you've got zero debt at this point. You've got $8,000 cash, $17 per hour. What's that equate to a month? What do you bring in after taxes every month? Um, I think around like like $2,300.

Okay. So, no to your thing about investing right now. Cash is your friend. You need liquid money because you're trying to get a place.

Um, I would And the $17 per hour, are you working 40 hours a week or are you part-time? How many hours do you do?

Um, yeah, I work a little under 40, maybe like 36 hours. Okay. And Okay. What kind of work are you doing?

Um medical assistant. Okay. So, if are you wanting to stay in that field? No, I I'm currently looking for jobs to expand my income right now to hopefully like build my savings account.

Well, yeah. I'm I'm saying are there, you know, the next up rung on the ladder in the medical world from assistant to XYZ. Can you move up in the field and place that you're in right now or is this it?

No. No, I think this is it. I've tried. Do you know what? You know, I think a lot of your skills would transfer in the medical field to other assistant work cuz you could be an executive assistant and go make 70 80 grand.

Okay? So, I don't want you to just limit yourself going, "Well, this is the only thing I can do." You've got to think about what skills can transfer. And I'll I'm going to give you our friend Ken Coleman has a great tool and resource uh called Find the Work You're Wired to Do and it comes with a Get Clear Career Assessment. And that will actually lay it all out for you. And so that will help you immensely. And then on top of that, do you have any a community right now? Friends, family nearby?

No, that's the problem. Um I don't I don't have anyone to like, you know, stay at their house for a set amount of time or help me out in this situation. So it kind of was like this was kind of my only option.

Well, I'm can you get a roommate even? That's what I'd say. I'd be looking at rent in your area and what you can and think about it through the lens of a roommate. It's like, okay, who can I split this with? Because I think if you can get a roommate and and I'm not saying you live like that forever, but this is just for you to get out of a toxic environment to your to your own point and to get someplace where it's a split cost. Um that's what I'd be looking for. That's the research I'd do tonight. Have you done that any research on apartments?

I've already I've already tried that option and yes, I have been looking for apartments. Honestly, the the op the roommate situation probably is unrealistic in my case. I don't have anybody. I was looking about renting a room like through Airbnb or something like that.

And how much does that cost? Um I haven't gotten prices yet. I was thinking about doing that as of today. That's why maybe I should call first.

Yeah, I think that's a good that's a good starting point. Uh see see what it'll cost you. I mean cheap the cheaper the better. Cheap and safe are the two things that you're looking for. And it's just you, right?

Yes. Okay. Okay. I know you don't have people close to you in your life, but I would jump on some local Facebook groups and you can see their photo, their name, and say, "Hey, can we meet at this coffee shop and see if this is a good fit?" So, I know it's a scary step, but it's a much safer step than than the situation you're in right now. And the truth is, you can't afford an apartment on your own,

right? And so, that's the next step. And then we can work on the work and career piece to get that income up. But right now, 2,300 bucks, you can survive if you can split a two-bedroom at 6 7 800 bucks.

Yeah. Right. And so I that would be my next step is roommate followed by income. And do you have a separate bank account separate from your partner?

Um, absolutely. Yeah. Okay, good. And they don't have access to it. They don't know your passwords.

Do they Do you have like shared location services on on your phone? No. No, I'm pretty good. I'm pretty clear to exit if I can figure out what I can afford, but I just wanted clarity on if I should be focusing on investing and that should be my way to move out.

I would not invest a dime. So, in the steps, you'd go, "Hey, I don't have any debt now. I need a fully funded emergency fund of 3 to 6 months of expenses and then I can begin investing. But right now, we need some stability and a foundation." So, you're you're close. If you can get your income up and get in a safe situation with where you're staying and get the emergency fund, now we're cooking with gas. Now we have the recipe to build wealth cuz right now one emergency could tank you

and now you have no money to build wealth with. Okay. So I appreciate that you are you're doing all the right things. I would not wait 6 months. Sarah, I would be gone by this weekend.

Yeah. Once you find an Airbnb or once you find a roommate in many ways I think your chances are better. Um well, they're both the same thing. If you rent a room on an Airbnb, you have a roommate and this is somebody that you don't really know very well and you're up in their place. But the the good news is you can if it doesn't work out, you could easily move to someplace else versus a roommate, I guess you'd be locked in lease-wise. So, I kind of see what you're doing there. Um

I think for you, the ultimate thing is the price on it because t usually in order to make progress, we don't want rent to go over, you know, 25 30% of our of our take-home pay. for you. That's a very low number at 2,300 a month. So,

talking like 600 bucks. Yeah. So, you're Yeah. 600 700 bucks range. Luckily, you have no debt. Way to go on that, but um that's what I'd be looking for if at all possible.

Okay. Okay. Gotcha. I understand. Thank you. You bet. You're welcome. I'm wishing you the best getting out of the situation.

Mhm. Mhm. Jade, when it comes to abusive situations, it's so easy to tell yourself, "Well, it's not that bad, and I can just wait another six months. I'll be okay." And

you never know when people are going to shift into another gear. That's my thing.

Yes, you need to get out. And she's taking all the right steps on the financial side. She's got no debt. She has separate accounts from from this partner. She's got some money in the bank. Now is the time to go. Don't have some random arbitrary number. Once I have $12,000, then I'll feel comfortable. Mm- That's you justifying why you're going to stay in the situation. You need to be out. And if you need to call a hotline, you need to get in a woman's shelter, you do whatever you need to do to get out of that toxic situation. Sarah, we're rooting for you.

If you missed open enrollment, don't panic. Most health plans lock you out for the year if you didn't sign up by December. But Christian Healthcare Ministries lets you join anytime. CHM offers a simple, flexible, and budget friendly alternative to health insurance. And you can join anytime. That's right, no open enrollment deadlines. CHM is perfect if you're self-employed, starting a business, or in between jobs because it gives you options without those outofcontrol Cobra costs. And CHM isn't insurance. It's a community of believers coming together to share medical bills and pray for one another. That's real peace of mind.

You're not just sharing costs. You are sharing community. And families have trusted CHM since 1981 with billions of dollars in medical bills shared. You can see any doctor or hospital you want with no network restrictions. And members say that they often save hundreds of dollars a month compared to traditional insurance. So make a change that fits your budget and your values. Check out chmin ministries.org/budget to learn more. That's chmin ministries.org/budget.

Sarah is in Boise up next. Sarah, what's going on? Hi, thank you for taking my call.

Sure. Um, so I'm in crisis mode and my question is, how do I manage my husband's business since he had a stroke about a month ago?

Oh my goodness. What What is his current health? Um, physically he's doing very well. Um, it was a large stroke and somehow physically he's good, but the area of his brain that was most affected affects his reading, writing, understanding of spoken language,

and ability to speak accurately. Sarah, I'm so sorry. So, he's not available to consult with.

Yeah. I mean, your life flipped upside down overnight. Yeah. Wow. So, what is the the pressing thing that like I got to figure this out tomorrow? He is a business owner and um he has one employee. He does my husband does pretty much everything for the business and his employee is not able to take over. Um

what kind of business is it? Essentially um it is a pilot school. Okay. Is there a physical location like give me a picture of all the things tied to this business. So, he has several airplanes that are housed at a local airport and he pays leases to have slots for those airplanes in hangers and and so he pays those leases by check every month. He has an employee um who is not getting paid because my husband's not here to run payroll. Um

do you have any knowledge of all of that? Is this something you could even step even even if you wanted to you had the capability? Is this something you could go all right? I can figure this out.

I can pay the bill. I can handle payroll. I don't know who to con I know enough of who to contact to figure out what's due. My problem is we don't have power of attorney or anything set up. So, I don't have access to his business finances. M

what I do have is a watt of cash that he keeps around and I could pay the leases by cash until he gets out of

until you can do it through the business and can come home and can do it through the business. Yes.

Wow. So he's still in the hospital? Yes. And he'll be there for the next one to three months. So, I just need to keep it going for a few months until we see where things are going to land and he has enough communication ability. You know, he's been trying to communicate to me about his work. Um, but there's a lot of guessing at what he's trying to say. He can't get it specifics. Um, so I'm just trying to keep things going as he's recovering and hoping that we'll be able to talk about it in a few months. I just don't want everything to fall down.

Yeah. Is this your only source of income? No, I make a good income and I can cover our personal expenses.

Good. How much are you making without significant? 150,000. Okay. Okay. So, the biggest concern is there could be leases piling up that are past due and you wouldn't know you to re you wouldn't be receiving them because they might be in his email or something that's password protected. Right. Correct.

Um, okay. And I did get a bill in the mail from a mechanic. Okay. And so I could just call them, but I can't pay it out of the business. I can either pay it by cash or out of our personal accounts.

Do you guys have any money saved, you guys? Aside from the business, we have about $2,000 left. I've used 3,000 of it on business expenses so far.

Okay. So yeah, I would kind of start, this is very tough. You're not lying that this is this is a tough situation. I would start by compiling as many folks as you can. I would sit down with the employee and I'd be like, "What do you know? Tell me anything you know. If there's any numbers for anybody that you have, please give them to me." And I would just start trying to You're almost a detective on this trying to figure out the mechanic. I'd contact them and say, "Do you know of any do do tell me what you know?" and just derive as much as you can. Um cuz you might find Yeah, I know you said there's no power of attorney, but you might find out that maybe he was working with somebody that was just kind of helping him with some of the accounting or some of the numbers. Um

Okay. And then the next thing I'd be talking with the doctors and saying, "What's the timeline for us to understand his recovery? What can we expect in the next couple weeks regarding speech?" Those sorts of things. Um

yeah. Do you have an estate planning attorney? No. Okay. I would contact one today and say, "Hey, what are my options here?" Because one option, if he can't understand or communicate decisions right now, then you likely need to go to court to request guardianship or a conservatorship. And so, the judge would have to grant you legal authority. And if he is able to, um, you might have a shot here to get that power of attorney. So, the estate planning attorney can help with that step. And that's a big step. that unlocks a whole lot for you to be able to manage and run this business and just keep it stable uh as you know just get the bills paid. Is the employee are they aware that hey you you're not going to get a paycheck there's no money coming in to pay you with?

Yes. Yes. I've let him know that I don't have access to that and he said that he will do everything that he can and continue working and that if he reaches a financial point that he can't continue then he'll just get a second job. Okay.

And keep doing his part of the business and logging his hours because he knows that we will make good on it.

I'd also look into since your husband's been paying him. If you know even what bank your husband's using, if you can get with an attorney and say, "Let's go to the bank, let them know what's going on so we can get access into this account." I think there's those things that I would do to just I mean obviously you're in a situation where this person cannot um verbalize what they need. So working with the lawyer to get access is going to be what you're going to need to do.

Are you a joint owner on anything? Would you use that cash if Okay, so let's pretend. Let's play that out. Let's pretend you get with a lawyer. You go down to the bank. They're like, "Oh, okay. We see what's happened. Yes, you're obviously legally married. Whatever. Whatever." You get into the accounts. Then I'd work with then I'd be hiring somebody to say, "Help me understand what we have here. Is there money? Can you look back? Can we now look at a past tax return to find out kind of what the situation is with the business?" Then from there, you can decide, is this something I can keep up?

Is this something we maybe need to sell? By then, you've heard from the doctors about recovery. So, there's part of this. It's kind of like a puzzle that has to come together for you to decide, is this going to be something that you're going to keep or is this something that needs to be sold and maybe in the distant future he can reopen this again based on his knowledge, but not based on the previous business.

Okay. Yeah. Man, I'm sorry that this is happening. This is this is you got a new full-time job of just trying to track all these things down. And uh it's not a fun thing to deal with. It's not something anyone could even plan for, Sarah. So, I'm so sorry you're going through this. I'm glad that you at least have an awesome income on your own and can cover all the bills. Do you have any margin each month just on your income alone?

Um, I we are still paying off our personal debts. So, all of our margin is going into that.

How much debt do you have between personal, the business, everything? About uh well, I don't know about the business debts. I don't I don't know. I don't think that there's any business debt, but as far as personal debt, it's there's a car loan for 34,000.

Okay. And a credit card for 2,000. I would look into selling that vehicle if you can, you know, even make what it's what it's worth. You know, if you can get 34 for it, do you have another vehicle?

Uh, yes, but it needs work. How much work? I don't know. I don't know anything about mechanics.

Okay. But I'm just wondering if you can sell that. Before this happened, my husband told me it was unsafe to drive.

Okay. Well, I would do some homework. You can jump on Kelly Blue Book website and find the private party value for that car. You'll just type in the VIN number for the vehicle and answer a few things. It'll tell you what the car is worth. And if you can sell that, you free up that car payment. So, what is that car payment every month?

500. So, you just get $500 of breathing room. And now we can if the repair is $1,000. Great. Let's go ahead and do that. That is well worth it to free up $500 a month forever. And so there's all these pieces. You have a lot of variables that are in your control. And that's all you can do right now is focus on what you can control and bring in all the community you can find. Bring in all the professionals and experts at your disposal to help you through this. You do not have to do this alone. I'm wishing you the best navigating your husband's health issues, the business, and just the grief of what the next chapter of your life looks like. Thanks for the call, Sarah.

Hey guys, George here. Listen, just because it's 2026 now doesn't mean 2025's ideas all go away. Some things are timeless. Like if you want to win with money, it's still the same playbook. Budget like your money depends on it. Avoid debt like $10 lattes. And build wealth on purpose. But here's the truth almost nobody tells you. Most banks make money when you lose yours. They want you swiping, overdrafting, and racking up fees because that's how they stay rich while you stay broke. And that's why I tell people to go with Fairwinds Credit Union instead. They actually want you to win with money and become debtree. And their smart bundle gives you a no fee checking account, a high yield savings account, and my favorite, the new Ramsay branded debit card that says, "Debt is normal. Be weird." Right on the front. It's not just a piece of plastic with your money attached. It is a declaration. It says,

"You're not buying the lie anymore. You're taking control of your money for real." So this year, forget the gimmicks from the big banks. Forget so-called rewards that keep you broke. And instead, partner with a credit union that actually backs you working the baby steps. Go to fairwinds.org/ramsey to get started. That's fair winds.org/ramsey insured by the NCUA.

Up next, we've got Jennifer in Memphis. Jennifer, welcome to the show. Hi, thanks for having me.

Absolutely. What's your question today? My question is, how best do I approach a conversation with my husband who recently purchased a home as an investment without telling me? Uh had no knowledge, didn't know it was a plan. Um it it came up fast, I guess, and called me after he did it. And my question around that is how best to approach that conversation. Do I approach it from a financial perspective of understanding uh can we do this or more so in the fact of the the personal side? Um I'm struggling being a a numbers person focusing on the financials rather than the emotional side. So that that's my question on how best to approach that.

When did this happen? Yesterday. Oh, listen. This takes impulse purchase to a new level. This is wild.

I applaud you. The fact that you had enough self-control to be like, I'm not going to even mention this.

You're like, you've held this to a radio convers. I applaud you because I would have been like, what? Um,

so good job. How did this all come about as far as him telling you like what what happened here?

Well, so long story short, he has a this is his goal. He wants he's good at it. The man has a 2% error rate in life, which frustrates me. Um, but he

he's got a 100% error rate with his marriage. Yeah. Well, how mad are you? Um, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much does this just like hack you off?

You know, it's surprising because normally it would like I' I'd lose it. Um, this fury is not my normal fury.

Okay. So, I'm trying to like listen and go, is this is this an opportunity to have a discussion? Because we do struggle with his impulse control. um because he is a very he's a very smart person.

The fact that you're not shocked by this tells me there has been a pattern of this your whole marriage.

This is the the biggest um usually I'm involved, but we've done some pretty high stakes investments that he he researched. He's smart. He's so he's not impulsive. I wouldn't say he

Hold on. You're he has a high risk threshold in you. He's impulsive. He bought a house without telling you on a whim.

Well, it wasn't a whim. So, come to find out, he's known about this. He's researched it. It was an auction. Um

Okay. How much in $750,000? Oh, man. Was it cash? No. Um we we we have very good net worth. Um

what is it? My net worth? Yeah. About two to 2.1 million. Is it all real estate or is some of that Can you tell us what that is?

Yeah, majority real estate. We have very very good equity in our home. Um and then uh we have a investment in some land that's in high uh very nice area. So it's it's worth quite a bit. Um and then we've got um some other assets. So our cars are paid off.

Okay, good. Yeah. What what debt do you guys have? Uh, so we so when I say they're paid off, we do have a loan on one of them. So I shouldn't say that. We do have a loan on one of them, but it's going to be paid off here soon. Um, so total debt is $798,000

and that's including this 698,000. Well, now it's double that cuz there's a $750,000 mortgage.

Does that include the new one? No. What's the mortgage on that? The new one? Well, so we haven't closed on a loan yet. Um,

but it was 750, right? Yeah. Okay. Okay. So, the first question you asked was, do I approach this from basically the dollars and cent side or the emotional relational side? I would go the dollars and cents side is kind of like goes without saying. I think I would go first for the emotional relational side since honestly that's the most important problem at hand is if if you're going to do these purchase, I understand what our history has been. I am not. The point is not to insult intelligence here. The point is to say that I'm part of this marriage. And when we make decisions like this and I'm not included, I feel like I'm not a vers a voice that matters. That's what you're telling me is my voice doesn't matter.

And I need to know is that how you actually feel because that's the way you're acting. So, I would make make him understand that what what you're feeling is not consistent what you think his intention towards you is. Does that make sense? And that that's not going to work for you going forward. So, I would get pretty strong on this because to in my mind, and I'm not trying to project onto you, but in my mind, if you can call me right after the deal, you could have called me right before the deal,

right? It's the same amount of time. Nobody, you know, and I understand it was an auction.

Yeah. Thought he wouldn't get it. Um because he he did he texted me actually. That's how he told me. Um I think he legitimately didn't think he'd get it. But um

but this is not a Pokemon card on eBay that I bid on. I went, "Oh my gosh, babe, I won."

But the fact that he was even going to an auction means I have the intent to purchase something. And once the auction starts, here's the truth. Once the auction starts, sure you could be like bidding and be like, "I don't have time to text. I'm bidding." But the when you knew, I think I'm going to go to an auction today. That's the time you email and go, I'm thinking about going to an auction today. Here's a property I'm thinking about bidding on. If we get it, here's the extent that I'm willing to bid to. What do you think about that?

Right? That's a conversation that should have had. He knows that. Go ahead and remind him of it. Um, and I would just I think Jennifer, for you, you're going to have to decide how serious you're going to be about this because to George's point, seems like there's been a bit of a pattern. And it's not to say that he's not a smart guy or doesn't it hasn't had great luck or great um um outcomes with his knowledge. I'm not saying that. But it's not put you in a place of mattering. And you do matter. And that's the part that needs to be figured out here. Now we can go back once that's deciphered. Now we can go back and talk about okay keeping this house. What's it going to turn into? All that stuff. But first and foremost, how much do you matter in this relationship when it comes to our money?

I think that's where we've struggled our whole lives is I'm risk adverse and he's obviously risk taker and we've always struggled with the fact that he he does do his research. He does he's willing to take risk.

But Jennifer, that's not the problem. You being riskaverse and that's not the problem. That's just you guys having personalities. The problem is your vote weighing and mattering when the deci when it comes time for the rubber to meet the road in a decision. That's the piece. So don't your your challenge is because I can like I said you're very very patient but your challenge is going to be when you have this conversation not to get bogged down in those minutia right cuz that doesn't matter it doesn't matter how smart he is it doesn't matter how riskaverse you are none of that matters what matters is do I matter does my opinion matter because so far it has not and that is not okay with me going forward and if this continues to go forward here's what that's going to look like on my end. That's what you have to decide and that's a firm conversation.

Mhm. So, that's what that's that's my advice to you. Um, and again, I can't say it enough. Has nothing to do with smarts or not smarts.

I don't care if he won the lottery. This is still financial infidelity. I mean, think about if this was a person. You went, "Well, he didn't cheat on me impulsively. He's been talking to this girl for months." That doesn't make it better, does it?

No. And so if he knew he was looking at this house, he should have said, "Hey, you know, I've been looking at this property. I think it could be a really great investment. Here's what I'm thinking." You guys aren't communicating at all when it comes to money. I mean, my wife and I don't make purchases over $500 without talking about it first, let alone 750,000.

Yeah. And I don't I don't make anything without asking. Um, I think again this is the first time he's done it without telling me. It's always been he's brought it to me and then I tell him no or which is why it got to put the line in the sand on this because what you don't want is for this to be seen as oh that wasn't that bad. I could maybe do this again. This is you putting your stake in putting your line in the sand. Hey, do you earn are are you a contributor of money in the house? Okay. Uh, I just wanted to check on that. So I think that's the hard part. We have substantial annual income. Um and he you know he he uses the debt obviously to build wealth and he has he's built

fine fine fine fine fine but you need to make sure he understands and you need to understand too this is not a money conversation has zero to do with prior success. You cannot let the conversation go in that direction. It's about respect on your name. That's it. Heat.

Heat. Well, Jade, we just took a call where the husband bought a house without telling his wife.

Unreal. Pretty wild. And uh you know, buying or selling your home is a big deal. It's the biggest financial decision you'll ever make. And with all the clickbait headlines and conflicting data out there, it's hard to know what is actually happening with the housing market. So we are here to make the latest trends easy to understand. We've seen mortgage rates dip which is nice. We 30-year for the first time in a while under 6%.

And 15 years been dipping down along with it which is nice. So if you want to learn more about the housing market trends and get free tools to help you buy or sell with confidence. Go to ramseyolutions.com/market or click the link in the show notes if you're listening on podcast or YouTube. All right, let's get to the phones. John joins us in Portland up next. John, welcome to the show.

Good afternoon, gentlemen's and Miss Sh Jade there. Thanks for including me in that. I was concerned.

I was happy to be called. You're a hoot on the show. I enjoy listening to you guys almost every day on my work.

How can we help? So, uh, I'm looking to get engaged with this young lady that I've been dating about nine months, and, um, I'm just getting into figuring out her financial situation, and it's really a freaking mess to be an understatement here.

Oh boy. Um, so she's co-l livingiving with um her mother, her sister that is married, her other sister that is married, um, and of course herself. And they all co-signed signatures and such and incomes to be able to afford and purchase a home together.

Whoa. Six of them. So they're all in the deed. They're all in the on the mortgage,

right? They're all in this mortgage. And then there's a food truck business that they run as a family business. And there's other incomes. And then there's private and business credit cards all mixed together. And my girlfriend's um credit score is tied to all of these as a co-signer and two auto loans that she's also tied to.

Oh boy. Okay. So I'm going Okay. So, if in s, you know, six months, if I was hoping for a spring or summer wedding here that like I cannot join finances with over $100,000 of small debts and a house that I have zero equity or input in, and I don't think she has equity in any of those things. She's been coaxed into signing as a co-signer on all of those things, but does not have equity in any of those things.

Uh, how much of this does she understand? And it sounds like you are wellversed in the world of finance and I'm worried she just is like, "Oh, I didn't understand all this. I just signed cuz it was family and I thought it'd all work out."

I I don't know if she understood the weight of when you sign a a cosign a loan like that. How much are you on the line for?

I don't think she really understood that. She doesn't understand that if they all default that it all reflects on her and that she could be the one that's responsible for all of it.

Correct. So, there's another curveball here. One of the sisters has cancer and so her and her husband aren't really working and so they're kind of like soaking up some out of the household. They kind of pulled their money together in the house

and um her mother wants to go back to Mexico. So, she's Mexican, but her you don't I don't think debt companies can um chase you and collectors can chase you once you're on the other side of the border kind of an idea from my understanding. So, her mother is, you know, obviously participated and created some of this debt.

And I think that they're all going, "Oh, well, now she's found this nice guy." In other words, me.

Okay. Um, let's not go, what do I do with this? I here let's let me go back to what I think is the most important things first because there's a lot here. I'll try to tackle some of them. I know George will tackle some of them. So, first things first is the conversation where you're kind of getting her to understand your um fears around this. And then, and only then, if she's in a space to move forward, here's here's what I would say is the ultimate goal. The goal is to find out first, hey, this mortgage situation, who can buy you out? Like, who can buy out your portion so that you can get your piece? and can we get folks to refi and get you out of this? Cuz that's the only way is to refy this mortgage so she's not on it. So that must happen.

It must happen. Same thing with these auto loans. This is it's just so serious. So that conversation of her understanding that that's why I say that's like paramount to this entire thing working because after that she's going to have to have some serious conversations of I need to refy the mortgage. I need to refi these auto loans and I need to find out how to get my name off of these credit cards because if I were in your shoes, I don't think I would move forward with marrying her until that's done because you are going to get that's a horrible way to start off your marriage. Period. It's just going to cause problems.

Is she willing to essentially be exiled by her family? Uh, you know, does she want out of this or is she like, "No, everything's great. I I like everything that we're doing right now.

She she honestly has conf confided me that she's very stressed about the financial situation because she's I I explained to her a lot more the depth of like you don't have equity to play with as a bargaining chip.

It's not even stuck with the liability. It's not Yeah, it's not even about the equity. I think that that's burying the lead a little bit. The biggest the thing that you guys have to be most concerned about is the risk on her life. When these people stop being interested in paying, especially because there's so many involved, it's very easy for Bob to go, you know what? I'm not working in this season. It's okay.

Mom goes to Mexico and guys, good luck, guys. Now what? Now she's on the hook for everything and collectors are coming after her and suing her. And that's what she's up against right now. That's the thing you need to be laser beam focused on is the risk. Forget equity, forget any of that other stuff. It is risk, risk, risk on her head right now.

And so to to start to reduce some of that risk, I looked was like, yo, you guys need to sell these cars cuz one of their their cheapest car, they are at an 18% interest rate on it. And so I was like, you guys cannot be paying $750 a month on a 2018 Nissan Pathfinder.

Yes, you're right. They need to sell it. They're underwater. They're underwater by 5K on that one. They got offered eight for it. I was like, "Sell it, but they don't have any money to pay off the loan." So, the dealership will

then whoever's whoever's lover it is that's driving the car needs to see if they can get a loan for the difference

and they need to be selling at private party. The dealership's always going to give you a super low ball offer.

Correct. Yeah. They have to have their margin. So they might actually be able to sell it for what they owe on it if they sold their private party instead of going to the dealership.

People who screwed them over. I think I think I think they owe just about even with KBV on the vehicle. Um

do they need it to get from A to B? No. So I'm a mechanic for a living. I was like, look, I'll find you a Toyota Camry that needs a water pump and a timing belt for 1,500 bucks. Put $80 of parts in it and ship it. You guys can have reliable reliable transportation. in a week.

Is it the sisters? No, this is what my girlfriend drives and her mother and whoever else needs the car.

So, okay. So, it's your for all intents and purposes, it's your girlfriend's car,

correct? So, what you need to do is you need to go with your girlfriend and say, "Hey, we're getting a loan once we find out KBB if there's a difference. We're getting a loan for the difference. and then we're gonna sell this and you're gonna get your mom and your sister to agree to that immediately. Is that the case for both cars, by the way?

Yeah. So, there's another there's a 2024 Dodge Ram 1500 Lami that they have. They're paying about $1,000 a month for on the payment and they owe 385 on it and it's they got appraised at dealership last week for 34.

And who's the main driver? Um that's one of the one her brother-in-law drives that mostly and so and he's currently not working so I don't know how he gets the privilege to be driving.

Are they all like chipping in to cover all these payments? Correct. They kind of just pull all their money in a pot and pay bills out of that and some months they have enough for all the stuff.

Okay. I'm straight up toxic codependence happening here. Well Well yes. Yes. But I think what you more so like we can look at it on the outside and say toxic codependency, but it sounds like it's a it could be a cultural thing of this is just how we survive and this is what we're used to. Your work is cut out for you and I don't know if you're going to be able to win this battle, my friend. This is deep, deep deep deep deep.

This is going to be a part-time job for you just to help her. She's going to need to pull her credit report and go line by line and go, "How do we get you off of this? How do we get you off of this?" explore all the options and then she's going to have to fight with the family and be excommunicated for ditching them in their time of need.

And I don't know if you want to be the guy who's responsible for that. Welcome back to the Ramsay Show in the Fair Winds Credit Union studio. I'm George Camel joined by Jade Warshaw. Open phones at 888255225. Jake joins us next in Madison, Wisconsin. Jake, welcome to the show.

Hey, thanks for having me. Absolutely. What's going on? So, I am in the process of building myself a house um and looking for some guidance on if I should take the 15-year mortgage option where the payment is about 31% of my monthly pay or should I take some of my sixmonth um emergency fund and try to get that down to like 29%. Or is there some other route I should try to pursue?

Cool. What's the house going to cost? Uh, total what we're tracking at right now is about 380,000 all said and done.

Okay. And how much are you going to put down? So, I've already put about 180,000 down of my own money to get the project started before I even went to the bank.

How much more do you need to get it percentage- wise to where you want it to be?

Uh, I believe it's close to 20,000, which I do have. Uh, that would just be most of, like I said, a six-month It would be most of it. What would it take your emergency fund down to as far as months?

Uh, about two. Okay. The most I would personally be comfortable with is 3 months. If you're like, "Hey, I'm going to take 3 months of the fund out, leaving 3 months in there, and then I'll restock it once we move in." You're going to be okay.

And so, that's not on fire. And if it's 29%, nothing is on fire cuz the truth is your income will go up over time.

Sure. Right. And so that percentage will go down. Y the other thing is when we talk about the 25% parameter, which for everyone listening, we tell people, hey, if you're going to buy a house, do it once you're out of debt with an emergency fund. You've got a solid down payment, and make sure that you get a 15-year fixed rate conventional loan where the payment is no more than a quarter of your take-home pay. But when we say that, you got to remember this is after tax, but before other deductions. So we're not going to include the, you know, 15% in retirement. We're not going to include the health care premiums.

It's just after tax. So, have you done it based on that math? Uh, I would say not entirely. Um, I was doing it more so including like the 15% that I would have in retirement and all that.

Okay. Cuz then my guess is once you redo the math, you'll go, "Oh, it's actually like 20% of my after tax income, but before the deductions."

Yep. Okay, good. That makes sense. So, you're in great shape, man. I'm proud of you. How did you do this? Um, so I had a house on 30 acres previously that I sold for uh quite a bit more than I owed on it. Um, I was able to take those proceeds uh pay off my car and then uh my parents were kind enough to let me and my girlfriend live in their basement while we're building this house. Uh, and basically every month that we've been there, I've been able to set aside quite a bit of uh cash to kind

You got the savings muscle now? Well, and you're completely debtree. Yes. Fantastic, man. Green lights over here. Congrats on the new house. I hope the build goes smoothly. Hope it's on time. Is it on track so far?

Uh yeah, we're about 3 months ahead of schedule. Um Wow. We're so I'm technically my own general contractor. My dad is helping me with that. He's like a inspector, so he's got all the certifications for that. Um so I've been able to do a lot of it myself and kind

savings all over the place here. Yep. Yep. Cost and time savings. Time savings has been the big one for sure.

Yeah. Well, congrats, man. Super excited for you. Best of luck with with the big move and finishing the construction.

Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate the insight and the uh the discussion. Happy to do it. That's that's what you want. That's a good best case scenario right there.

Yes. Good for him. I'm happy for him. If you're arguing about is it 28% or 25%, it's the right argument.

Yeah. Versus most people just go, "Well, we just needed a house and it's 54% of our take-home pay." We're like, "Oh my goodness, this is a hard this a hard one to crack." All right, Nora is in Nashville up next, right down the road. What's going on, Nora?

Hi, George and Jade. Um, I am just calling because um, sorry, of course, somebody tries to call me as soon as I'm on this call.

Who could be more important than us? Put them to voicemail. Nobody, nobody is more important unless it's my husband or my kids.

Truth. All right. There's a lot of people ahead of us. So, I came to the event and actually Jade, you gave me your book.

Nice. I'm the one who asked the questions and I gave it to you from the stage. It's from the stage and I gave you Yep. Yeah. So, it lit a fire and the next Tuesday we joined Financial Peace University. Yay.

So, um, so we're trying to get our emergency fund together and like things were so tight, but I just started selling stuff on Facebook Marketplace. And so since since the 14th, I've gotten $23052.

Way to go. Way to go. And I'm still selling stuff. Someone's coming at like four o'clock to get something else.

Got to take that call. Yeah. So, once I get that $1,000, I was looking at the Every Dollar app, and it looks like I should pay my IRS debt first before I attack my smallest debt. Is that true?

Yes, ma'am. Okay. Okay. How much is the IRS debt? It's $2,266. Good. Yeah. that that's one debt that always jumps to the top of the list no matter what because it's just such a volatile situation to be in and so we want to get you out of that as soon as possible. So yeah, that or if you had uh you know back rent or back mortgage, those things would jump to the top of the list.

How much other debt do you have? Um so we have about 62,500 and um yeah, that's it.

Great. So what can we help you with? What can we help you with? Was it just the IRS thing or was there something else?

Well, I mean I I mean I make good money, pretty good money. Like my husband and I together make about 117 and um but I've just been really irresponsible like I said at the event and um it's just trying to like get my behavior on track.

Um I've really been traction. I have like I haven't used my credit cards. I haven't been on like CLA or PayPal paying for

Did you cut up the credit cards? Cut all of them up. Great. Great. Now, do you want to know what I would help if I were in your shoes? If I had a problem with impulse spending, things like buy now pay later, CLA. I would do a couple of things. A, I would start with my phone because that's usually the thing that speaks to us the most. Obviously, unsubscribe to all the ads. I would take Amazon off my phone. I would take those apps, anything that's an app, I would take it off my phone that has the ability to purchase things with just so it's not talking to me all day long, you know?

Okay. And I would really I've been like unsubscribing to like the emails that get sent, you know, like from all the places that I've bought from before. I'm like, "Okay, let's just unsubscribe from all this."

It gets addictive when you start to go, "Look how many inputs are just trying to get my money from me." It's pretty wild. And I'd set up notifications that notify my spouse when money is spent both ways. So you get the little text when a transaction comes out of the bank and so does he. Just an added layer of accountability and transparency because it's easy to go through the drive-thru when you're thinking, "Oh, I can just go through. I'll get these fries. So and so probably won't see it. I can get away with it." But if you know their phone is going to light up with the, you know, notification 5.95 spent at Wendy's, then you're less likely to do it.

Oh, that's my favorite. I get all the transactions texted to me and so I'm always texting my wife,

what's this? What was this about? Or usually it's more like, what'd you get at McDonald's?

That Oh, yeah. Have you had your Looks like you had your break. Did you get some for me? That's always You have enough for the whole class.

That becomes a fun discussion once you're not broke and out of debt. So, we're rooting for you, Nor. Thank you so much. If your holiday ham tends to last longer than your New Year's resolutions, then I got a fresh challenge for you. Make this the year you take control of your financial future with an actionable plan. Sound intimidating? You don't have to do it alone. Smart Vtor pros are financial adviserss who can walk you through what you need to know about retirement planning, wealth management, and anything in between. Find a pro near you at ramseyssolutions.com/smartvevestor.

Ramseyolutions is a paid non-client promoter of participating pros. Learn more at ramseysolutions.com/smartvevestor. The Ramsay Show question of the day is brought to you by Y refi. You don't have to stay stuck in defaulted private student loans forever. Yrefi helps borrowers take back control with affordable refinancing options that actually work. Learn more at yrefi.com/ramsey. That's yfy.com/ramsey. Not available in all states.

Okie dokie. Today's question comes from Vince in Rhode Island. Uh he says, "My wife and I are buying a used car, but instead of paying cash, we're thinking of leveraging the debt considering we can get a low interest rate. We'd invest the 30,000 into Vanguard funds and contribute more each year to fund a family cabin down payment. We're in our 30s, have over 200,000 in 401ks, no other debt, have an emergency fund in place, and a steady income. Does this sound like a good plan?

No. No. Um, here's my thing. You're doing so much right. And I think it's just a patience a patience issue because you've done like you said there's no debt. You've got the 401k set up and you know you've got the emergency fund squared away. Why why divert? Like why abort the plan and go into this lifestyle of debt for a vehicle that you can pay cash for? Pay cash for the vehicle that you want. And there's and then from there on, yes, go ahead and go ahead and invest for this cabin down payment. Why can you not do both and do both of them the right way is what I would say. George,

it's just like it's just so I'm so confused. I'm like what? You would invest the 30K that you would have spent on the used car, but then you've got a car payment. So now your income's locked up there. Just invest what you would have paid for that car payment and pay in cash.

Easy, easy, buddy. You can do all of it. And uh and if 30K feels like, oh, I don't want to sink that into a car, maybe rethink buying a $30,000 car.

Get a cheaper car. You can do both of these things. You just need to do them both the right way. And you can do them both almost simultaneously. You just need to do them both the right way. Get the car.

You guys are in baby step four. So, you're investing 15% of your income and buy the car in cash and then any extra money you can save up or even invest for that cabin uh down the road. It can all be done. Just do it in the right order. Don't go backwards.

Don't go backwards, please. Thanks for the question. David is in Los Angeles up next. David, welcome to the show. David, you with us?

Oh, yep. I'm here. Hey, how y'all doing today? Doing great. So, my wife and I are going to like plan to get pregnant later this year and uh when we do eventually have a baby. Um I'm going to need a new car. Right now, mine only has two seats, and I'm probably going to need something with at least four. Um I was looking at getting a used V cuz the prices on them are pretty attractive, at least compared to a normal gas car. Uh, but the one thing that has me worried about them is the amount of depreciation that they get hit with every year. Um, it seems like they depreciate way quicker than a gas car.

And I just wanted to know, is that something that I should be factoring into like my car buying decision or should I just completely ignore the depreciation and go for whatever car fits me.

Are you paying cash? Yes, I would pay cash. Yeah. Okay. What's this car going to cost? What what exact car are you looking at? Because I think the depreciation, it really depends on the make, the model. Now EVs obviously it's Think about iPhones. How many people are in the market for an iPhone 8?

Yeah. Not many, right? And so the price is going to be a lot lower because everyone wants the latest and greatest technology. And so EVs can have a steeper depreciation, especially when you know Elon's changing the price and the model every day and you're like, "Oh man, I just paid 30 grand for it and it's only worth 20 now." So that is something to think about when it comes to resale value. But if you're going to drive the thing for a long time and you pay cash for it, you don't have to worry as much about depreciation.

Okay. Yeah, I do typically drive my cars for a while. Um it's just like my car right now has barely appreciated at all. I got it a precoid pandemic pricing spree. So, um you know that that's kind of working in my favor right now, but um being able to get out of it whenever I want to just seems like a really nice option to have. and I feel like I'd be a little more trapped with an EV if I did go that route.

What are you looking to spend? Um, I'm looking around 25 $30,000 to spend on a used one.

Okay. And what uh can you give you like a make model you're looking at? Sure. Yeah, I'm I'm still looking around a little bit right now, but right now my front runner is uh probably one of the Hyundai Ionic Fives. Um they seem to be uh some of the best deals out there, at least for the used ones in my opinion.

Okay. And have you looked at the depreciation on them, those specifically? Yes. So currently they're like, you know, about half the price that they were new and um I've done some research online and they're still forecasted to lose another half um in the next like five or so years.

Yeah, that tracks. Have you looked at uh Tesla as well to compare the depreciation?

I have. Um I'm I'm not a huge fan of the the Teslas just with everything buried in the screens and stuff like that. So I was trying to go for a more traditional car,

some analog controls and things like that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I've experienced this because I've purchased um EVs now. My last two have been EVs. And looking at the depreciation really just hurts your soul. And then I have to remind myself, who cares? Do I like the vehicle? It's paid in cash, so I can never be underwater on it. And yes, I'll take a lick when I go to sell it and go, oh my gosh, I paid so much more for that. But that's the nature of cars. They are just boxes that exist outside and go down in value. And you'll find that with any car, but EVs can, depending on the make and model, uh, go down in value a little faster because people want the latest and greatest. And especially if it's it hasn't kept up with technology. And so that's the key.

You just need to know going in. There's pros and cons. Okay. So, yeah, don't treat it as like I'll save so much money on gas. Treat it more as like this is the kind of car that I enjoy driving and I should go with this.

I never use like the math to justify it. I just go I enjoy it. I like not having to stop by a gas station. That's just me.

Yeah, that does seem like a huge perk in my opinion. That that really seems nice to be able to come down to your car every morning and have it have a full full charge and full tank to go wherever you need to.

I still have to go to the gas station to fill my wife's car because I'm a I'm a gentleman and a scholar and I get brand.

I might be in the same boat. Yeah, she's got a a a gas car that I would probably still need to fill up every now and then.

Yeah, that was the that was the compromise. She was like, "I don't feel good about having all EVs, like just in case. You want to have the ice car, but uh I think you guys are you're on the right track, man. The fact that you're paying cash, you guys are debtree, you're investing, cars just become a thing, and now you can buy a more enjoyable one that makes sense for your family.

Perfect. Yeah, thank you so much. Yeah, wish you the best. Uh starting the family, man. That's a big step. Austin is in Salt Lake City up next. What's going on, Austin?"

Hey, guys. Uh I got hopefully two questions. If you got time, I'll make them quick. But if not, my main one, um, my wife and I are also preparing to have a baby this year

and currently maxing out Yeah. maxing out our HSA. I'm just wondering, should we use the HSA to pay for healthcare expenses like that? Or if we can, should we cash flow them and let that HSA continue to stay invested and build and do the whole save the receipts and bring down the line type of a deal?

I I'll say this take on that. That's what Dave Ramsey does. Dave Ramsey has never touched his HSA. He maxes it out every year and he cash flows it because he can. And so if that is you and you're in the you're in the case to do that where you go, hey, we can cash flow it. It's not going to, you know, bust our budget to do that. We can max it out. Then yes, keeping the majority of invested is always going to be beneficial. And like you said, a lot of people don't realize, hang on to the receipts and you can reimburse it later on and that money will show up in your bank account. So it's pretty cool how that works.

Yeah, I agree. Yeah, Jade may have different thoughts, but No, that's what we did. That's exactly what we did.

Okay, cool. That's kind of what I was thinking, but I just wanted to take your guys' opinion on that.

And then if you got time for another quick one, I just got married over the summer. Uh, so we've been married about seven months now.

Um, and we've combined our finances, combined our lives, and everything. Um, I already had a house and our vehicles before we went into the marriage. I'm just wondering should I is there a way or do I need to get her on the title of the house or on the mortgage um or like on the the title for the cars or does that really matter?

It's not really necessary. Technically, it's going to roll over to her anyway as your spouse. If something were to happen to you,

um if if it were something that she was like, I just feel better about this, then you you could

Yeah. Nothing's on on fire here. Uh, so if it's just it makes you guys feel more united, awesome. But there's no like this is really going to benefit us in this explicit way. It's not really the case. You guys have, you know, legal protections as a married couple. And so, um, you're doing all the right things, man. I'm proud of you guys. Wishing you the best with this, uh, baby. Very exciting.

Thank you. Two calls in a row. Look at this. I know it. That's That's the best thing you can do. I think it's outside of the baby steps, but we tell them, "Hey, there's no baby step to have a baby. If you want to start a family, go for it.

Go get it. And you you'll work even harder to sacrifice to take care of that little one." And uh it's a good time. When you're tired of feeling stuck with money, there's just one solution. To get different results, you have to do something different. No one accidentally wins with money. You have to have a game plan and that begins with our getstarted assessment. Go to ramseysolutions.com/start. Answer some questions and we'll show you what steps to take next. Don't stay stuck. Take control of your money starting today. Go with ramseysolutions.com/start.

If you're wondering where all your money went in 2025, that's normal. And normal is broke. But the good news is this year can be different. You can get a head start by downloading Every Dollar. Every Dollar builds you a personalized plan and coaches you to find extra money and then put it to work to beat debt and build wealth. Just answer a few questions and you'll find thousands on average in just the first 15 minutes. And every Dollar still has the same great budgeting features to help you tell your money where to go. So don't go another year feeling broke and stressed.

Start Every Dollar for free in the App Store or Google Play. Marie joins us up next in Charleston. What's going on, Marie?

Good afternoon, guys. Um, so my biggest question, I'm a single mom with three young kids. Uh, I was widowed in 2023

and I'm just I have a limited budget uh because we are currently living just on social security survivor benefits and I'm trying to go to school, get a certificate so I can add to that once my 4-year-olds in school. So, I'm trying to right now with where I am knowing I probably won't be out of school until next year. um trying to figure out what my wisest steps are going forward. I've never been good with money. Um and I just want to I want to do better for them and for our situation.

Well, that's a great why. That is what's going to fuel this journey is those three little ones that you're taking care of.

Uh what's their ages? Uh my youngest three are eight, six, and four. Okay. And what's the certificate that you're pursuing? uh health information technology.

And what's on the other side of that? What job are you aiming for? Um I'm kind of looking for something that keeps me uh the ability to have flexibility in remote. So that's one of the reasons I chose that path.

Okay. And are you cash flowing this certificate? Are you able to pay for it all?

Uh I'm actually able to get it through financial aid. So it's PEL grants. I'm able to get through all of it with PEL grants.

Great. When will you be finished? Uh, I think it's not this coming December, but the December following.

Okay. So, you've got two. I have I have a potential to do to go into like an internship that or like to where I can do on the job kind of clinical type training at the hospital and make money through a portion of that.

Okay. Okay. So, end of next year. And then in the meantime, we're going to be living off of these survivor benefits, which is how much per month? So, right now I take in about 52,000 a year. 50 52,700 a year.

Okay. Is that enough to cover all of your bills? It It is. And I do have quite a bit of credit card debt that I was left with because of my late husband's

Was your name on them? Opened a bunch of credit cards in my name. Okay. How much?

Yeah. Um, right now without my car I have 27,000 left in credit card debt. And then what about with the car?

With the car total of it's just under 70,000. I had to get a new car this last year when mine

43,000. It's a 2022 Subaru. What's left on the loan? Uh, it's 33. 33 and some change.

Goodness. That's a huge portion of your yearly income. It is. It is. And the the thing that I do have going forward is I am in a relationship with someone that it is leading to a a marriage and he's encouraged me to not try to because if I tried to sell that I'd be really upside down at this point. I wasn't wise when I bought it and I'm clear about that. But my financial situation will drastically change once we're married. I just I'm with the Dave Ramsey plan that you don't combine those things until you're there.

Are you engaged? So, I'm trying uh not yet, but it's hopefully the spring. Okay. Okay.

So, it is it is in the our conversations. It's a very active topic. We're just I need to There's a aspect of this that I being that I haven't always been financially responsible. There's a percentage of me wanting to do this and struggle. I need to feel the struggle.

Yeah. know if I don't I don't want you I don't think you're in a position just yet and I hope you get there but I don't think you're in a position just yet to like ride on this uh and I don't think that you are I just want to caution you against thinking about well in the future I'll have this financial help because this is leading to marriage correct because you're not even at engagement yet so I just want you to be really focused on what you are doing and uh the how upside down are you on the car?

Uh I'm not quite sure. I just got it in June of last year. I know that as of right now once my because I I'm living rentree, I'm able to live in a home that my mom owns and I just pay utilities. Okay.

So, that is a huge help. I check on the car immediately. I'd go on Kelly Blue Book, see what the value is and

the private party value, not trade in cuz that will make it seem like, oh my gosh, I'm 10 grand under. I would never sell it. But if you can save up the difference with the margin you have cuz you're living rent free. Maybe you're $5,000 underwater. Okay. Well, let's come up with $10,000 in savings. Five will cover the difference on the loan and five will get you something to get from A to B. Now, maybe you get a nicer car, but it doesn't need to be a $33,000 car,

right? It could be a $20,000 car. Those are still safe and reliable even for the kids. It's not a death trap. Don't let anyone scare you into thinking that or even yourself. That's usually how we justify. Well, I had to get a new car. The kids, you know, you got to have something reliable. You got to get a car,000 car.

Less debt is the goal. So, yeah. What's the payment on that? Right. Right. Uh the payment is 655.

Yeah. That would rock your world right now. Would change your life, right? So, it it definitely could for sure. I I do like the the man that I see that him and his youngest daughter come over and eat all the time. So, he does throw me $500 a month for groceries because he does care. So that that does help some. So like right now without what he does help me with.

I my disposable income after paying my debt which is 1,700 bucks a month and my just fixed expenses like my bills is 822. I bring I leftover disposable I have 1,800 bucks left over without his help.

And that goes towards your smallest debt. That's what I'm asking because I have I know I have to have my uh I haven't even started my emergency fund yet and I know that that's like number one step number one. So with the 1,800, let's put it pra p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p practically to to with the 1,800, I take a,000 aside this month when you when you're left with that margin, a th000 of it, put it aside, savings account, done and done, baby step one knocked out. Then you have $800 to look over at the credit cards and go, what's the smallest credit card? And so what's the smallest balance you have on one of those credit cards?

I mean, I have something as low as 123 up to 5,300. Great. So we're gonna knock out Go ahead.

Quite a few of those. Yeah. Knock I can knock quite a few of those. Knock them out all the way up to 800 bucks and then if there's any other margin left out that or that money that comes through at the end of the month, just go ahead and throw it at the next credit card. And you're really going to do that um Marie until these credit cards are knocked out. Uh I do like the idea so so much of you getting in a cheaper car because

okay, knocking that out is going to make this journey feel so much more feasible for you. Plus, it's going to free up money. Like I said, even if you go from a $33,000 car to a $23,000 car, that's still going to free up money for you. So, please just be willing and open to do anything to lower lower the debt, if that makes sense.

And our parameter around cars, just so you know, is that everything with wheels and motors in your life shouldn't add up to more than half of your annual income. And so, we're well over that.

And I understand that. And so, even if that's before I like really started listing and being active.

Oh, sure. Sure. I'm just saying in the sense of keeping the car, it's still too much of your world depreciating in value every day. And so I know it feels like, well, it's I'm already underwater. Well, let's let's cut it off right here and not be more underwater cuz if you did that right now, you said you have to how much total consumer debt.

Total consumer debt is 69,000. Okay. What is the extra nine? Because you said 27,000 on credit cards, 33 on the car. That's 60.

Uh, is there more? I don't know. Are that student loans? Student loans. Student loans. Okay. Student loans.

Cuz right now, I'm doing the math for you. 1,800 bucks and you have 69,000. It's going to take you 38 months. You're talking over three years at this rate.

Mhm. That's a long time. Yeah. I mean, that's that's the thing for me is I want to I have zero retirement. I was a stay at home mom for 10 years,

right? So, I have zero retirement. And you know, unfortunately, he passed and because of the way he passed, he had life insurance, but we were 2 months shy of being getting the payout for that. So, I've been kind of trying to float us

for two years now. Well, you've done a great job. I finally am to a point. You've done a great job. Keep going. You got to The car is a huge part of this cuz I don't want this to take three years.

So, question on the car. So, so if I What if I don't have cash to buy a new one? You'll just go over to the credit union and you'll get a loan or you'll go to the bank and get a loan for the difference. At this point, just remember going down is worth it. So, get you a loan for the difference, however you need to get that done.

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 ramseysolutions.com/events.

Our scripture of the day, Isaiah 41:10. So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous hand. Simon Synynic said, "When in doubt, be yourself."

There you go. That's good advice. If you've if you've got a good personality, simple.

Sometimes I'm told, "Hey, don't do that." Well, that's just who I am. Be yourself.

Don't be that vulnerable. Be a different version of yourself. Y Austin is up next in DC. Austin, welcome to the show.

Jaden George, thank you for taking my call. Sure. How can we help? Um, yeah. So, between my wife and I have about 142K in consumer debt and huge fork in the road right now. Got a toddler and a kid on the way do this summer. So, very uh precarious situation and just trying to decide if I should do a single filing for a chapter 7 or go another route. I really don't want to do chapter 7, but if I have to and if it makes the most sense, then I will. But thought I would call you guys for advice first.

Well, how much money do you guys earn? Uh, well, um, right now we only make about 78 total, which is well below the median.

Okay. The median laid off median income, median household income for my area. Well, who cares about that? Is that both of you?

That's not the reason you guys are in this situation, Austin. Yeah, I I The median is like what, 79 80? Okay, you're two grand short of the median. The the problem is we're $142,000 in consumer debt. So, break this down for me so we can see if there's a way out of this faster.

Yep. So, uh, myself, I have 72 to my name and then another, well, it's actually 181,000 if you include student loans. But

consumer debt, it's tell us the the the debts and what they're each worth. So, student loans x amount of dollars, cars x amount of dollars.

Yeah. So student loans is 39, car is 17,284 and then everything else is personal loans, personally guaranteed loans and personally um guaranteed credit cards.

Okay. And how much is that amount? Um we'll do some napkin math here. Uh so minus the car. So, if you subtract 17 from 142, that's all of the personally guaranteed loans and credit cards.

Okay. All right. So, you're talking about that can't that can't I mean 125 grand between them?

Mhm. Okay. What was it for a business? Did you have a failed business? What is this all of these personally guaranteed loans and credit cards?

Yeah. So the dream was basically to you know retire the wife from the military and um you know I I went about it completely the wrong way obviously and you know just dug myself into a hole doing um business centers um you know Airbnb and then uh tried an Amazon store and then after the layoff last month uh we ended up having to live on the revenue from the Amazon store. Um, so I'm not able to pay off any of the consumer debt that I used to get the Amazon store. Um, so, um, that's where we're at now. And um

do you still have this this property that you were doing Airbnb on? It was a I made a mistake of doing rental arbitrage last year.

Dude, how much Tik Tok have you been watching? Well, this is like buy the book every Tik Tok like business hack scam out there.

Yeah. you know, they sold me a dream and I got a you know, I own up to that and it was it seemed like a good idea at the time when um you know, my my father-in-law died and I was just really trying to find a way to

okay make as much money as possible to retire my wife and cause but I just went I went about it completely the wrong way. So

yeah, listen, I think I think you ought to that at this point you've got to just say that's in the past. I think you realize that it was erroneous and I think you're ready to go the right direction. So the 78,000 of income, is that both of you combined or is it just you working since she's pregnant?

Um both of both of us combined right now since she's full-time um active duty and um I'm still in the process of getting work. I'm trying to get a certification for cyber security

down the road. But what are you earning? What portion of that is your income today? Of the 78,000, what portion of that is yours today?

Of the 78,000, what portion of that is mine? Yeah. What do you bring in? Well, I'm doing I'm doing some side gigs in the meantime before school starts or if I get accepted.

So, monthly every month. How much money do you bring in every month? How much money do I bring in? probably, if I'm being um realistic, probably between a,000 and 2,000 right now doing side gigs with media and stuff like that.

Okay. So, that's that's our biggest issue is I know that you're doing a certification for cyber security. How much of your day does that take up?

Um, so I'm not doing it yet. The program starts in uh would start in March if I get accepted. I'm cut I'm cutting you I'm cutting you off a lot because I want to get to solutions and I don't want to fluff around on this.

All right. You need to get a job instantly. Any job. Any job. Not side gigs. You can fill in space with side gigs, but I want you to apply for anything that you think you could possibly get. I want you to make a list tonight. Your job tonight is to make a list of anybody you know that might know somebody that's hiring that has an uncle that's hiring somebody that whose father-in-law is hiring somebody. And I want you to put the word out. I need to work immediately. I need I need connections. If you know anybody and that I mean you're going to be like a dog on a bone trying to get a job because you can't make a thousand. You can't make 1,500 bucks a month. Now, your wife uh seems like she's kind of carrying the bulk of that, but like you said, there's a baby coming in the summertime. So, her she's getting her her situation of working is getting more and more precarious as the months go on.

So, this is your number one deal. The issue is we got a toddler. We got a toddler at home and I need to get a job that I'll make enough to qualify for accounting assistance.

So that's the kind of the I'm in right now. It's like I would love to get a job.

So you're saying I need to you need to limit your income in order to get assistance.

No, you need what you need to do is find a a friend cuz you're in a community. You need to find a friend that's like, "Hey, I need help watching with the the baby sometimes because I need to go over here if there's family in town." This is you reaching out to everybody you know because what I don't want is for you to file bankruptcy. That's what I'm getting at. Once you file bankruptcy, that is you losing all control. That is somebody else stepping into the situation and saying you're going to sell this, you're going to do this, you're going to pay this amount, and you're going to do this amount.

And you can't bankrupt on the student loans. They're going to take the car. And so a lot of this is not going to solve the major problems.

And you'll be able to do those things. We can look at this and say, "Why don't we just look at it and go, okay, here's what we're going to do. We're going to pay this. We're going to sell this. We're going to do You can look at it and do that and not decimate your

your financial life for in seven years." And you personally, right? Are you guys renting?

Yeah. What's that? Are you renting? Yeah, we're renting right now. Okay. How much is your rent every month?

2500. And that's that's steep for the income. Is your wife gonna continue to have income when she has the baby?

Yeah, I'm maternity leave, so I'm guaranteed income. Okay, good, good, good, good.

At least we have some stability there. And then how much is she bringing in on her own? Is that another three or four grand a month?

Um, after taxes 6300. Oh, great. Great. So, once we get you working, I mean, right now when you guys pay your bills at the end of the month, is are you in the green or are you in the red? you should be in the green.

Um, it it's really close. If we pay all the minimums, I think we're if we're not breaking even, we're probably at a couple hundred deficit.

Okay. So, we're going to give you every dollar because I want to know I want you to know exactly how much money you have and how much exactly how much money you're spending. That's going to give you a lot of peace just seeing the numbers there. And then you can say to yourself, okay, if we're in the green right now, at least we're kind of safe for a moment. We're not operating in the red. All everybody else can wait, right? It can wait until you get a job. It can wait until you cuz you're giving them the minimum payments. But once you get that job, it's attack mode on this debt.

Smallest to largest debt snowball method. You got to fight, man. Don't give up. Now, that puts this hour of the Ramsay Show in the books. 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 "Risk Is Always Part of the Equation When Taking On Debt | January 26, 2026"?

George Camel (Host), Jade Warshaw (Host), Sarah (Guest), JD (Guest), Michelle (Guest), Ryan (Guest), Marie (Guest), Austin (Guest).

What is "Risk Is Always Part of the Equation When Taking On Debt | January 26, 2026" about?

The discussion revolves around the complexities and risks associated with debt, particularly in a personal finance context, as a caller navigates a surprising demand from her parents to repay a significant sum related to her education funding. Key points include examining the implications of loans, understanding financial agreements, and the importance of clear communication about financial…

What is mentioned in this The Ramsey Show episode?

18 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Jade Warshaw, George Camel, Dave Ramsey, IRS, HSA, Amazon. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Risk Is Always Part of the Equation When Taking On Debt | January 26, 2026"?

The episode runs 2 h 6 min; the transcript is about 23,692 words in 465 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 January 26, 2026.