George Kamel
Appearances
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
She's been playing and smiling this whole time, totally ignoring mom, just being a rock star on the stage, which is how it should be.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
If you're watching on the Ramsey Network app or on YouTube. Oh, cute, cute, cute.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
And now an ambassador. What a cool title at four years old.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
Yeah, generosity in times of good, that's fun. But generosity in times of grief and trauma, that will change you forever.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
And in honor of our giving show, we're going to do a giving story instead of a question of the day. So today's giving story comes from Morgan in North Carolina. An older couple came into the small bank where I worked to open a checking account. The husband mentioned he was expecting a wire of over $1 million. Immediately, my alarm bells went off.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
Someone had contacted him claiming to be the executor of a cousin's estate with documents and a website to create legitimacy. When I pointed out the flaws in the documents, the customer was devastated. He had no car and had planned to get one with his newfound wealth so that he could provide for his family. Every year, I collect money and donate items in my papa's honor.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
I called a friend who has an auto repair shop and asked him for help. God was working behind the scenes and he knew someone who was selling a reliable van. The lady who owned it... lowered the price to the exact amount we had to spend. We called the couple to let them know we had a surprise for them and were heading to their home. The man and his wife broke down in tears when they saw the van.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
He had just gotten home after walking in the freezing cold to get a loaf of bread. I'll never forget squeezing the keys in his hand and saying that he would finally be able to provide for his family again. Wow.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
She turned it from grift to grace. Oh, there's the book. They're going to make a movie about it. That title's free.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
That's a really cool story, though. That is fun. And again, you have to be able to look up and see the opportunity. When you're so focused on your own situation, your own money problems, it hurts your ability to give.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
That's cool to think about. Put that on your bucket list of generosity.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
Yeah, if your car doesn't work or you don't have one, a $2,000 car might as well be a $100,000 car.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
Seeing a theme here. Legacy. Paying it forward. Contagious generosity. Special.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
That's impressive. So I want to speak to the person out there who wants to give their they may, you know, go, I don't know if this is trustworthy organization. How do you get someone who has not given to go? All right, I'm going to jump into this cause. What is the target demo there? What gets them to give?
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
How do you even choose when the world is your oyster? What college did you end up going to? What did you study?
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
Wow. He was waiting a long time for some payback, and he got the idea. Talking to Grandma, I went, I know exactly what to do. I really like this guy.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
Yeah, now I'm wondering, do they need college at this point? There's some budding entrepreneurs right there.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
Are you determined to get out of debt and build wealth this new year? Then don't leave out an important step, which is having the right insurance. Don't make the mistake of thinking you can get by with minimal coverage or no coverage at all.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
Because when Murphy comes knocking, and he will, you'll start backsliding further into debt if you don't have the money to pay for it and if you don't have the right insurance. So take our insurance coverage checkup. We make it easy with a free tool that helps you find out if you have all of your bases covered. To check it out, go to ramseysolutions.com slash checkup.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
And wishing you the best with the rest of college. And forgive my ignorance, I didn't know Xander did that. So that's a really cool program they have.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
You'll have to ask Jeff Zander about that next time you guys hang out.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
Well, it's cool to see the other side, because when you're Zander, you give out the scholarship. You may not hear from them, so it's cool to see the progress and momentum and how she's changed her life because of this, going to school debt-free.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
Well, and that checked off about four boxes on the Ramsey plan. We're talking about, number one, generosity. The kids are going to college debt-free, and they started and launched this debt-free business and grew it. That's entree leadership right there. I mean, you got your start mowing lawns way back in the day, didn't you?
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
I'm proud of you. Listen to this story. What a great reminder. You don't have to give a lot personally, but Danielle was bold and said, I'm going to start this thing, and the community rallied around it and made it happen.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
I wouldn't call it a feature, but there it is. That's fun.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
Can you imagine if someone did that for you? You might have a lawn care business right now.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
If you just start listening and start looking, you will find so many opportunities to give. It's amazing.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
Well, and just the surprise element of kindness is just so shocking in today's culture that it really does change a person's day, their week, maybe even their year.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
Oh yeah, this one's from Carl in Knoxville, Tennessee. Here's what he had to say. A week or so later, we found a better pair of tickets for $1,100. We decided to purchase the second set and turn around and sell the first to recoup our money. To make a long story short, we tried for over a month and could not sell our tickets.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
We drove to Knoxville the night before the concert, and the day of the concert, we decided to eat at one of our favorite restaurants in Knoxville, and it was about three or four hours before showtime, and we still had the two extra tickets. Whoa. Whoa.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
There was no entitlement here. The kids worked hard.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
It took us about an hour working with her phone and hours to transfer the tickets on Ticketmaster, but we did get it taken care of and even gave her a big tip on top of that to cover her parking. The concert was fantastic, but my wife and I enjoyed blessing her and her husband even more than the concert itself. It was the first concert she had ever been to.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
She texted us after the concert and told us she and her husband had a wonderful time and thanked us again. Best $1,200 my wife and I have ever spent.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
That's the truth. And I know, Dave, you're a big Eagles fan. And, you know, being a Knoxville fan... It's all there. This is a very Dave story. If I had to make one up.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
If I said chat GPT, give me a generosity story that Dave will love. It's going to involve the Eagles and Knoxville.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
Yeah, these kids are not going to be the Grinch when they grow up. They're going to remember this for the rest of their life.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
And you know their kids are going to go to college debt-free. And so the ripple effect of this thing is massive.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
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The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
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The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
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The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
Well, I was just thinking I should have brought some tissues because usually these stories make my eyes leak.
The Ramsey Show
It’s Our 2024 Annual Giving Show!
And I bet the people that aren't giving would like to give more, and that's the power of the budget is you've got to find the margin to be able to give, to be able to look up and see those opportunities. And so that's the best part about it. That's why we put the giving line item first, not every dollar budget.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
And so I just want to make sure if you talk to a tax pro, there may be a better strategy to sell portions of this off every year and use that toward the house payoff to get this done over the next three years, for example.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Instead of paying a larger tax bill with your tax brackets, you know, because you're basically paying taxes on $379,000 of gain.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
So I would crunch the numbers with a tax pro and see what the best strategy is. But yes, as soon as you can get that house paid off and get out of a single stock, the better. And if you invest in a mutual fund in your 401k, Tesla is going to be in there. It's just going to diversify your risk because Elon could, you know, you know, Trump could go, ah, Elon's not a friend of mine anymore.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
And Tesla stock takes a 10% dip in one day. We just don't know. Sure.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm George Campbell, joined by Dr. John Deloney. Hey, student loan debt is an epidemic, and defaulting on debt makes you feel even worse. But our question of the day sponsor, YRefi, refinances defaulted private student loans and builds a custom loan based on your ability to pay.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
So you'll have a payment you can afford with a low fixed interest rate you couldn't get anywhere else. Check them out at YRefi.com slash Ramsey. That's the letter Y, R-E-F-Y dot com slash Ramsey. May not be available in all states.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Well, the irony here is he's saying he already doesn't have ambition and he has no clue that there could be an inheritance. So adding one to the picture is not going to remove more ambition.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
So I would see if I can repair the relationship. You can always change your will later. This is not like a forever thing. But what would I do at this point? If there's no connection to this person, they've cut me out. There's no reason to leave them in if you don't want to. That's your choice. If you want to leave a million dollars anyways, that's also your choice.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
But I would do my best to see what's behind that lack of ambition. Because like John said, there's likely trauma. There's just a lack of hope. And I think he does want to make something of himself. He just needs some support to get there.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
That might make you feel better, but it doesn't actually solve any of the problem.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
It's like, sorry. I was hoping you were going to say no. That would have been hilarious. Deloney's kids are listening. They just learned about Santa today. There we go. Zach is up next in Tulsa. What's going on, Zach?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Live from Ramsey Network, this is The Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create amazing relationships. I'm George Campbell, joined by the great Dr. John Deloney, and we're taking your calls at 888-825-5225. You call us up, and we will do our best to give you the right next step for your life, your relationships, your emotional mental health, and your money.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Great. So how fast can we pay off the $13,000?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Okay. So by March, you're debt-free. Then how long until you have a fully funded emergency fund?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
wacky, but... You've been listening to the show for 17 years? And you decided Zach's plan is better than Dave's?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
So the question is, why do you feel like your method is more optimal?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
But you could be in like the four-figure mark if you knock it down from $13,000 down to $9,000.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
You'd be debt-free by late January or February instead of March, and then you'd have the emergency fund saved up probably six months after that, if not less, with no expenses. Then we can begin saving up 15%, and then any money beyond that goes to down payment, and then we'll see where we're at in two years. But investing 25 or 30% now, you're going to go, man, I really want a house.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
We have nothing down. So we're going to do it anyways on a 30-year loan with 1% doing FHA. This is the cycle that people get into when they want to shortcut it. And there's something beautiful about just relinquishing going, I'm not the smartest guy in the room. I'm going to follow a proven plan that worked for millions of others. One thing in front of the other. That's the way to do it.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Thanks for the call, Zach. This is The Ramsey Show.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm George Campbell, joined by Dr. John Deloney. The phone number to call is 888-825-5225. If you're looking for a shortcut to get better with money, I wish I could tell you there was a magic trick you could do. But here's the best shortcut I found is making it easy to do the right things with your money. And that's why I love our EveryDollar budgeting app.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
You punch in your income, You list out your expenses, you track your transactions against that. Both, you know, if you've got a spouse, they can be signed into the same budgeting app. And so you have accountability, you have clarity with where your money's going.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
And I'm telling you, no matter what your money goal is, whether it's paying off debt, saving up for whatever it is, the budget will be your best friend. So you can download EveryDollar for free in the App Store or Google Play, or click the link in the description if you're listening on YouTube or podcast. David is up next in Colorado Springs. What's going on, David? Hey, how are you guys doing?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Doing great. How can John and I help?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
How much do you have in your nest egg currently across your retirement accounts? Um, about probably about 180, 190,000.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
And is there any other retirement income that you're planning on a pension or anything like that?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Okay. So history will tell us in the rule of 72, that every 7.2 years, your money would double at a 10% rate of return. And so that 190, let's call it 200 would double to 400 in seven years. So you'll have 400 K in your nest egg. How much is left on your mortgage? About $130,000.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
So over those seven years, can we also make a plan to get the mortgage knocked out, which will reduce your expenses by whatever your mortgage payment is? What's your payment every month?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Oh, good. You're already paying extra, and you're saying there's extra money coming in.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
I love it. So here's what I would do if I was in your shoes. I would put any extra money beyond the 15% toward the mortgage. And the answer is pretty simple. If you can reduce your expenses by $1,100 a month, you're going to be better off in retirement. You won't need as much in the nest egg to cover your expenses.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
And the true part is you're going to knock that mortgage out probably quicker, and that will allow you to then invest up to the max with your catch-up contributions, just max everything out that you can once the mortgage is paid off. And that might mean I got to work an extra year or two longer than I wanted to.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Yeah. Well, the thing is, retirement is not an age. It's a financial number. So I wish I could just tell you, yeah, you should be good at 66. You might need to go, I'm not quite there yet based on the life I want to live, or we have to make some serious sacrifices in our lifestyle in order to stay at this level in retirement.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
then you don't need $1.5 million in that nest egg. You might be able to make two. But I would still crunch the numbers on this and go, all right, how much will we likely need, and is there going to be a gap, and what does that mean for our income? We might need to get our income up for the next seven years in order to hit this goal.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
So there are things you can control in this, and I love that you're taking charge even though you're getting a later start than many. Way to go. Jackson is up next in St. Petersburg, Florida. Jackson, welcome to The Ramsey Show.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Did you not have enough coverage or did they lowball you for some reason?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
So what's the quote? Like, what's the gap here of, hey, the quote's actually $100,000 and insurance is covering $50,000?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
They didn't kick you off? No, they have not. Okay, good. And you're still living in this house?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
And what does this mortgage plus rent add up to every month?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Man, that's a lot of your take-home pay going to just try to cover this in the meantime. This could be a long journey. That's a tough one. I'd talk to everyone, real estate agents, attorneys, the mortgage company, and just fight, fight, fight, man. I'm so sorry you're going through this. That puts this hour of The Ramsey Show in the books.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Live from the Ramsey Network, it's The Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create amazing relationships. I'm Ramsey personality, George Kamala, joined by my colleague and friend, Dr. John Deloney, host of The Dr. John Deloney Show. And we're taking your calls at 888-825-5225.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
If you've got a question about money, relationships, mental or emotional health, help us help you by calling in, and we'll do our best. Connor is in Anchorage, Alaska to kick us off. What's going on, Connor? Hey, how's it going? Good. How are you?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Yeah, right. And you've done it all very wisely.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Love it. Is this a solo gig or do you have a team?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Okay. How much do you have in savings?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Okay. So you're at the point where you're able to build wealth. You don't have any debt. You have an emergency fund that puts you in baby step four in the Ramsey plan, where you begin investing 15% of your income into retirement plans. So for you, 100K a year, we're going to call that $15,000, should be being put away every single year into retirement. Okay.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Now for you, you're self-employed, you have options. You can always open a Roth IRA. Do you have one of those?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Okay. Well, it sounds like you just made it to this point where you're in a really good spot. You've got all the toys you need and you have the emergency fund. So I would begin doing what's called dollar cost averaging. So you take, you know, the $7,000 is what you can contribute to a Roth IRA this year. And so come January, we're going to put in one month of that.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
And then February, one month of that. And so by December, you've put in all $7,000.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Okay. So you can put 583 every month in there. It'll be maxed out by the end of the year. But remember, you should be investing 15,000. So you still need 8,000 more of retirement account, which means you might want to look into, depending on your situation, a SEP IRA or a solo 401k. Okay. Depending on how your business is set up. And I would be contacting a SmartVestor Pro.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
This is a person who can help you on your investing journey. If you jump on ramseysolutions.com and click on SmartVestor, they can walk you through the best options for your situation, for how your business is set up to get the right retirement accounts going for you.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
But man, you're crushing it. And if you, you know, as your income goes up, that 15% will also increase. Yeah. And then I'm guessing you have other goals. Do you want to be a homeowner?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
So beyond the 15%, let's say, you know, you hopefully you have money left over because you're doing such a great job budgeting and living on less than you make that you could then also set up another high yield savings account and just start shoveling any extra money into that account so that you'll look up and have a hundred grand ready for a down payment in a few years.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Don't. Ever. You're 18 and wealthier than most Americans. What makes you think you need a credit card?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Just delete social media and become a great- Freeze your credit accounts. Never touch the stuff. Because guess what? You've already learned that you know how to manage your money instead of managing debt, and credit scores are all about being good at managing debt. It's not something you need or are interested in.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
So here's the process, and I'll send you a copy of my book, Breaking Free from Broke. And in the home ownership chapter, I walk people through the process of buying a house without a credit score. Actually, in the credit score chapter. That makes sense where it goes. And so it's a process called manual underwriting. You'll hear this as a no-score loan sometimes.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
And what they do, just like the olden days before credit scores existed... They'll look at your actual financial picture and they'll go, okay, Connor has a very low debt to income ratio because he has no debt. He makes a great income. We see his tax return and we're going to grant him this mortgage based on real factors.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
The automated underwriting is just a computer saying, hey, he's got a great credit score. You can trust him to hopefully pay back this loan. And so it's a very similar process. It's just a little bit more manual. It doesn't take much more time. It's simple. You just need proof of, you know, are you paying rent every month on time?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
i am i am yes are you paying any utility bills or cell phone bills on time every month cell phone yeah insurance yep boom those are the types of things that would qualify you and our friends at churchill mortgage have been specializing in these types of no score loans for a long time it's why they've been great partners for us and john and i have both went through this process so we're here to tell you it's very much possible and hey um you're going to learn a hard lesson can i go ahead and just ruin it for you connor
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Congratulations. Hang on the line. We'll send you a copy of my book, Breaking Free from Broke. Hope it helps you build wealth in a much more peaceful way. This is The Ramsey Show.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm George Campbell, joined by Dr. John Deloney. The phone number to call is 888-825-5225. John, listen, I was in the Ramsey Network app, as I tend to be in my free time.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
I noticed there's a new spot up top, and it's got your face on it. That's right. And it said, United States of Anxiety.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
It's totally free, so go download it. And a good reminder that... the next hour of the show will be exclusive to the Ramsey Network app. So we're putting a lot of cool things in there on top of new shows. The third hour of the Ramsey show is also in there. So go check it out. Go to your app store and search for Ramsey Network and get it today. All right. Rachel's up next in Wichita.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Every time someone steps over that boundary line, the story you're telling yourself is, well, of course, I'm not worth someone respecting a boundary. Yeah. I shouldn't have put that boundary up. That's on me. You've taken this on yourself.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
None of us can. And you reached out for help right now.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
So I realize that it's OK to bring others in to help you through this and no one's going to judge you. And the ones that do get get them out of your life. Yeah. And so I love John's idea of make the the bad things difficult to do and make the good things easier to do. And we did this with our little toddler.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Are you determined to get out of debt and build wealth this new year? Then don't leave out an important step, which is having the right insurance. Don't make the mistake of thinking you can get by with minimal coverage or no coverage at all.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Because when Murphy comes knocking, and he will, you'll start backsliding further into debt if you don't have the money to pay for it and if you don't have the right insurance. So take our insurance coverage checkup. We make it easy with a free tool that helps you find out if you have all of your bases covered. To check it out, go to ramseysolutions.com slash checkup.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
That's ramseysolutions.com slash checkup. Welcome back to the Ramsey show. I'm George Campbell joined by Dr. John Deloney. The number to call is 888-825-5225. We'd be happy to help you take the right next step for your life, your money, your relationships, whatever you got going on. Noah is up next in Jackson, Mississippi. Noah, welcome to the Ramsey show. Thank you so much, gentlemen. How are we?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
We're doing great. How can we help today?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
We took off all the ornaments on the bottom of the tree so that she couldn't reach them and smash them. And so for you, that means freezing your credit, cutting up the credit card, and putting some restrictions to make it harder to spend. Put friction in your life to where you can't spend money on that credit card because you don't have one anymore.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Is she also at home taking care of the kids and this is just like a few hours a week kind of thing or what?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Right. The part that's concerning is you've been making more and more every year with nothing to show for it, which tells me every single extra penny you earn is getting also spent. Yeah. And I don't, I don't think it's all like it's for the kids.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Like there's probably some spending we've been doing out of just survival mode to kind of, you know, have some retail therapy or just go, I just deserve X, Y, Z. So where is that spending happening?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Where would you say like, man, I'm really, this is where the money's going. If you told me straight up beyond the bills, this is where it's going.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Jessica is going to kick us off in Seattle. How can we help, Jessica?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
So dad's gone, and when dad's home, he buys our love, and life is okay.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Could you put $4,000 a month toward this debt right now with your income if you got on a real tight budget?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm George Campbell, joined by Dr. John Deloney. As a listener of The Ramsey Show, many of you are wondering, am I on track financially? Am I on track to hit these baby steps to reach my financial goals? Well, our team created a really quick, easy, fun quiz to check your progress. And on the other side, you'll get a personalized plan built just for you.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
So if you want to check it out, go to the show notes and click on the link titled Are You On Track With The Baby Steps and complete the free quiz. And if you didn't know, the Ramsey Network app is the only place to get full episodes of The Ramsey Show. You can download it for free. We get the link in the show notes again. Or just search Ramsey Network app.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
in the App Store, and this will be the last segment of this show where you're listening right now if you're on YouTube or podcast. If you're on radio, stay tuned. The show will continue. Everyone else, you don't want to miss more calls, so go get the Ramsey Network app and finish the show like a decent human being, John. Be a good American.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Thank you. Robert is up next in Houston, Texas. What's going on, Robert? Dr. John's already a fan of you. Oh, fantastic. How are you doing today, gentlemen?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Okay. And you're thinking, hey, do we just try to snowball this or refinance later on? When would you be refinancing?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Amazing. So what's your monthly mortgage payment right now? And what's the monthly take-home pay?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Okay. Well, if it puts your family in financial jeopardy at some point, you may want to dial that back so you can take care of your own house first. But, I mean, nothing is on fire here. I don't see a world where, I mean, if you refinanced, what would the big deal be at this point? You'd get a slightly higher interest rate?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
That's annoying. So you're going to have to keep your lifestyle in check, keep living on less than you make, and maybe even downgrade a little bit from what you guys are doing. Yeah, you're going to get Camrys.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Let's start a sinking fund, and part of that is we're going to put $2,000 a month right now into the savings account every month. We're going to have $24,000 in a year so that when the car blows up, we've got $20,000 to go buy something used and reasonable. So I think you're trying to go all in on one thing.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
You're in this spot in Baby Steps 4 through 6 where we've got to balance a bunch of things, and that's where the sinking funds are beautiful because you just stack the money away every month. You're intentional about it. Nothing's ever a surprise. Whatever's left, we can throw at the mortgage.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
And then debt snowball the rest. Whatever the smallest balance debt is, we're going to attack that first, make minimum payments on the rest.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
And you're also – you said you're only investing 9%, and the Baby Step 4, the 15%, is your income regardless of the match.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
If you complain that you've amassed too much wealth because of the extra 6% invested, you can call and yell at John and I. Yeah, I'll take that call. You can Venmo us the difference that you want to unload.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
People don't pay people $200,000 when they suck.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
That puts this hour of The Ramsey Show in the books. Go check out the Ramsey Network app to get even more calls coming up.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm George Campbell, joined by Dr. John Deloney. The phone number to call is 888-825-5225. It's the only way to get on the air to talk to the great Dr. John. And George.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
You're right. I'm not even going to mention my YouTube channel.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
No, John needs the affirmation. I need this. He's very insecure.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
All right. We're going to try to help Joe in Detroit up next. Joe, how can we help you today?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
That's incredible. That's their money. Yeah. Not your money. They're forcing, but it's their company money. They're putting in 12.5% of your income.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Great question. I would focus on the Roth side of the 401k. And if you have great funds in there, if they have some decent options, it sounds like they do based on how they treat this retirement program. You could do all 15% in that Roth 401k of your own money.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
It'll be very similar to the Roth IRA. It probably has very similar funds. There's not going to be that much of a difference. The difference with the Roth IRA is you can invest in any fund in the world. On top of that, you can look at expense ratios, but I think it's a good deal to invest in that Roth 401k. And again, their side will be the traditional pre-tax side. That's okay.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
When you get to retirement, when you hit baby step seven, you could begin rolling some of that money over from the traditional side to the Roth side and pay the taxes on it.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
No, that's a retirement fund, not an emergency fund. Your emergency fund should be just in savings outside of that.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Okay, awesome. And do you have an emergency fund saved?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Okay. Your goal should be three to six months of expenses in that high-yield savings account. Then beyond that, invest 15% of your own income, regardless of what the company's putting in.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Oh, man. The fact that you're talking about this stuff now and already investing, you're going to be just fine. The key is just invest consistently. Never stop. From 24 to 64, the next 40 years of growth, it'll blow your mind. Go punch it into our investment calculator and have a Merry Christmas.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Yeah. They're very similar. And for everyone listening in going, what the heck, the pre-tax and the traditional Roth is just the tax treatment. So the pre-tax means you're going to get the tax deduction now. But you're going to have to pay taxes on it later when you take it out in retirement. With the Roth account, it's going to be after tax. So you don't get the tax deduction come tax time.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
But when you withdraw that money in retirement, it grows tax free and you can withdraw it tax free. So I love that. You can control the controllables because I don't know what taxes are going to be when I retire, you know, 30 years from now. So I like knowing that it's tax-free. If there's $2 million in that account, that's like $2 million of take-home pay in retirement. So I like that plan.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Let's go to Alice up next in Sacramento. Welcome to the Ramsey Show, Alice.
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
I did not put in a dime more. Upwards of $380,000. Wow. That is wild. So...
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
Well, what's your household income this year?
The Ramsey Show
Your Future Self Deserves Better Choices Today
So my immediate gut reaction was, oh my gosh, sell it and pay off the house today. What I want you to think about and talk to a tax pro about are the tax implications. Because you're going to have to pay the capital gains on this, which will be a significant tax bill.