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Chapter 1: What are the Baby Steps for financial success?
Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work, that they love and create actual amazing relationships. Rachel Cruz, number one best-selling author, Ramsey personality, my daughter, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Elena is in Huntington, West Virginia. Hi, Elena, how are you?
I'm doing good. How are you?
Better than I deserve. What's up in your world?
So I've been watching you for a long time, for years now, and I have just saved my $1,000. Good. And I am also drowning in student debt, credit card, and my car loan. I do have a job. I make about $50,000. My debt is a little bit more, around $65,000. I hate my job, and I want to go to school, but I don't know if that's a good idea because of the amount of debt that I have.
I'm trying to figure out what the best way is to get out of this mess, basically.
What's your current job? What are you working that you're not enjoying? I work in property management.
I'm an assistant property manager.
Okay. And is it the field that you're not enjoying or is it the specific company, do you think? Because you said you want to go back to school. I'm just curious what else is out there that you're thinking.
Yeah, so I think it's just the field. This is actually... a Christian-based company, which is super awesome. So I think it's just a field. I'm not happy here. It's just not fulfilling. I do love kids, so I've always wanted to pursue NICU nursing. But I graduated in Hawaii, and the diploma I got from there is not recognized. So I would have to go back to school for a GED and then go to college.
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Chapter 2: How do I get out of debt when I hate my job?
All right. Justin is with us in San Diego. Hi, Justin. Welcome to the Ramsey Show.
Hey, guys. Good morning. Thank you for your time also. Sure. I'm trying to figure out. I have a three-year-old. And all of the money that we get for her birthdays and like holidays and things like that, uh, we just kind of been putting into a CD that's yielding about 5.29%, uh, annual return. And I want to give it to her when she's 18, um, as like a life starter kind of fund.
Um, so I don't want to put it into a 529 or retirement fund. Is there anything better that has a higher yield or better return for her when she does reach 18? Are you saving for her college? I'm active duty military, and I just finished my master's, so I've already transferred all of the benefits over to her. So I'm going to take her through community college, and then I'll pay for that.
And then pretty much all of her master's is going to be completed. I already paid for it. Okay. If you have all that already.
Okay. The answer to your question is just a simple mutual fund. And when I'm doing something like that, I just pick a good growth stock mutual fund that has a long track record. And I did that for our kids because when Rachel was a baby, there was no 529s or ESAs. And so we used just put the money in the kid's name and
And then it's taxed at the growth is taxed at the kids rate, which is nothing for a long time because they have a standard deduction. And so the. It's called an UTMA, Uniform Transfer to Minors Act, which is, by the way, the exact same document you use to open up a savings account if you put a name on that savings account you opened. That CD? I did. Okay, that's called an UTMA.
It's an UTMA as well. Anything you do in a kid's name that's not 18 years old where the parent is the custodian falls under the UTMA, the Uniform Transfer to Minors Act. It's a law, okay? It's a process because you can't contract... and do financial transactions until you're 18 years old in America. Children can't have a standalone account. It's impossible.
Parents have to be on it, or someone has to be on it as a custodian, and the UTMA. Now, the downside with the UTMA is when they turn 18 years old, technically speaking, the money is theirs, and you have zero control. So if you have a 17-year-old heroin addict with $100,000 getting to come her way,
You don't have control. Well, I mean, you don't have control over it. Maybe a 17-year-old who likes to shop. I don't know.
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Chapter 3: Is going back to school a good idea for my career change?
The hospital is allowing that?
Yes. Yeah, I don't know if that's new or not, but I was actually talking to them, and they said, if you want, we can have it go to a Charles Schwab account. So I'm assuming it's some kind of lockdown type account. But then I would have total control to buy, sell, or do whatever I want with it.
But that kind of scares me because at least with principle, I have theoretically an expert looking after it versus me, the amateur, looking after it. So I'm basically looking for your advice. Is the $1,200 that I thought I was paying worth an expert looking at it?
No. But you can get another expert. You don't have to do this other thing. Okay, I'm... seriously confused. I have no idea what the flip your company is doing because a 401k, a company has a single 401k administrator. If principal is their administrator, they cannot send your 401k money to Schwab. It's illegal. They can't do it. You can't have four different 401k companies at your company.
There's no such thing. It doesn't work. So I absolutely have no idea what you're up against. The only thing I can do is tell you to call one of our SmartVestor pros and see if they can unravel this for you. Just go to RamseySolutions.com and click on SmartVestor. By the way, they can help you if you're going to be doing side investing. This is The Ramsey Show.
Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality, is my co-host. Joshua is in Seattle. Hey, Joshua, how are you?
Doing good. How are you?
Better than I deserve. What's up?
So, I recently retired from the military, medically retired from the military, and I after I had gotten out, I, there was about a month of no household income, uh, whatsoever. Um, and we kind of ran into some financial hardship and, uh, with Christmas coming up, I have three young children. Um, and I'm wondering, should I kind of sacrifice, uh, their happiness Christmas morning, uh,
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Chapter 6: What should I do if I'm behind on my credit card payments?
You're just going, OK, I'm sorry. And I probably wouldn't use the phrase you're doing no more work. That's a bit insulting. But I would say, you know, what am I getting for what I'm paying you? Why would I do this? And what's going on here? I mean, because I do value what they do. And I think you should, Eric. I think you ought to have someone in your corner to talk to.
Rachel has a SmartVestor Pro she wants to meet with. I have one that Sharon and I meet with. And they don't, in my case, they do less than they might for Rachel and Winston because we do all our own estate planning stuff.
uh off to the side and we do all of our own for that matter i do all my own selections on the mutual funds but yeah what i found eric the value for us is that they're looking at more than just investments i mean ours are looking they're looking at taxes and like if there's like real estate involved that you can sell within this five year period and get this.
I mean, like they're kind of strategizing with you. I mean, everything from our giving to investing. I mean, they're looking at the whole thing. And that's always helpful. But my question, Dave, to you, is there ever a point from like Eric's perspective, which I know is not a lot of people out there to have this substantial amount of money, just investments.
that you would ever pull a million out and do your own and put in an index funds and keep a million in. Do you know what I mean? Like spread out where you're not, it's not all under someone's.
No, I would get, I would get happy where I am.
Yeah.
And if I can't get happy there, I'm going to get happy somewhere else. I want somebody in my corner and I want it all. I want it all in one place invested in different things, but under one set of eyes, there's no advantage to diversifying your advice. No, I think that's just bifurcating your brain.
Well, not your advice, but would you ever just individually go open up a Vanguard and just put your own money in for the S&P or something? Do you know what I mean?
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Chapter 8: Should I invest in real estate?
Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work, that they love and create actual amazing relationships. Rachel Cruz, number one best-selling author, Ramsey personality, my daughter, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Elena is in Huntington, West Virginia. Hi, Elena, how are you?
I'm doing good. How are you?
Better than I deserve. What's up in your world?
So I've been watching you for a long time, for years now, and I have just saved my $1,000. Good. And I am also drowning in student debt, credit card, and my car loan. I do have a job. I make about $50,000. My debt is a little bit more, around $65,000. I hate my job, and I want to go to school, but I don't know if that's a good idea because of the amount of debt that I have.
I'm trying to figure out what the best way is to get out of this mess, basically.
What's your current job? What are you working that you're not enjoying? I work in property management.
I'm an assistant property manager.
Okay. And is it the field that you're not enjoying or is it the specific company, do you think? Because you said you want to go back to school. I'm just curious what else is out there that you're thinking.
Yeah, so I think it's just the field. This is actually... a Christian-based company, which is super awesome. So I think it's just a field. I'm not happy here. It's just not fulfilling. I do love kids, so I've always wanted to pursue NICU nursing. But I graduated in Hawaii, and the diploma I got from there is not recognized. So I would have to go back to school for a GED and then go to college.
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