Chapter 1: What financial advice do George and Rachel give to newlyweds?
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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 Ramsey Show. I'm George Campbell, joined by my pal and co-host of Smart Money Happy Hour, Rachel Cruz. And we're taking your calls at 888-825-5225. Naya is going to kick us off in Cleveland, Ohio.
Naya, did I get that right or is it Naya?
Naya.
Naya. Yes. First try.
All right, we're off to a great start. Naya, how can we help today?
Hi. So I was just wondering kind of what me and my husband should set up our budget on, just to give you a quick backstory. Me and my husband, we eloped. We got married early because we wanted to just have a good foundation going forward into our wedding as far as finances.
I work in real estate, so the insurance rates got super high for me, and I was like, well, let's elope, get on a normal insurance, and then put the rest of our money so that we could cash flow our wedding versus pulling from either of our savings. And we've mostly been able to do that, except for the final cost of the food based off of the headcount.
But I just started reading your Total Money Makeover book. Our original goal was to buy a house probably within the next year, a year after the wedding, the wedding's this coming May. But after starting your book, I realized that we may not have enough to start it based off of the three to six months in savings. Currently, we have about $30,000 in savings.
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Chapter 2: How can a couple manage their budget for a wedding?
Everything you've laid out, I'm like, they are crushing it. And I'm glad the book just kind of gave you a little pause to go, hey, we're going to be broke if we just jump into a house with close to nothing down and nothing in savings. So you're right that we got to get through this wedding first. Then we'll see what's left money wise. Make sure we get the emergency fund.
Then anything beyond that becomes our down payment savings plan.
Yeah. How much will the food cost for the wedding? Um, right now we're looking at about $3,500. It could go up depending on the final RSVP, but we're assuming we're going to put out 3,500 and everyone keeps telling us that last minute expenses are going to come up. So in our mind, we're just, even though 3,500 is the amount that we think we're going to spend, we're thinking of 5,000. Sure. Yep.
I think that's a great plan. So, so out of that, you'll have 25 left and you said 24,000 is a six month emergency fund for you guys.
Yeah.
Correct. Okay. Yeah. And what you could do just to kind of press play on this and like keep moving forward because you guys, well, you're in housing. I'm trying to think of your careers, how stable they are. Would you say you guys are in a pretty good spot?
Yeah.
We're in a pretty good spot. I work in real estate, and then he is an engineer. I mean, he has a very stable job. Okay. So what you could do, honestly, because we say three to six months of expenses, and the six-month side, I'm more comfortable with that if there's two people working or one person working, multiple kids working. There's a lot going on. That six-month cushion usually feels good.
But you guys, you don't have kids. The responsibility there, you're wanting to buy a house. So if you wanted to go to the three-month, the $12,000 versus 24 six-month, I would be okay with that. So you could say, hey, we have $12,000 earmarked. after the wedding for our emergency fund. That's a check. That's baby step three. And the baby step three B is that down payment.
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Chapter 3: What should a couple consider before buying a house?
Have you guys done that yet to go with our future incomes?
We can set aside $3,000 a month. Right now with the wedding, we're only setting aside about $800 a month because we're wanting to pay for most of it through cash flow. But realistically, after the wedding, we have decided we'll set around $2,000 to $2,500 aside each month.
Great. Okay, so that's about $25,000 a year. So in one year, you'll have $25,000 for the down payment. In two years, it becomes $50,000. Well, plus the $12,000. Plus your $12,000. Rachel is very generous with that.
I know. I wanted you to have some more.
And what really will happen is you guys will be making more money as a married couple who is very intentional, and all of a sudden, you'll be saving $3,000, maybe even $4,000. And all of a sudden, this will speed up the process, and you might have $50,000 to $100,000 saved up in no time. So don't rush it. Do it when you're financially ready.
Nobody's yelling at you if you get a house at 28 versus 24.
Yeah, renting is not bad for now. And you guys are doing awesome, just like George said. You are on the right track without even knowing it. I mean, yeah, you're in the right direction. You guys are crushing it. Statistics show that half of Americans don't have enough life insurance or they don't have any at all. I don't understand this, John. Why don't people want to take care of their family?
They think they're going to die or something?
Well, I used to be one of those guys. I didn't even think about it. And one of my buddies said, hey, the only reason to not have life insurance is if you hate your wife and kids. And I immediately went and got term life insurance. That's a gut punch. And you're telling me and for decades, Dave, I've sat across people who've lost a spouse. They've lost somebody important to them. Me too.
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Chapter 4: How can couples communicate effectively about finances?
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Get it done. All right, Dan is in Kansas City up next. What's going on, Dan? Hey.
How can I help? So I have some money that a couple years ago I put in with a family member who had some investment stuff that he was doing, and it's not a huge part of my savings or anything, but it's just a little bit. And I guess it wasn't really worked out in the initial agreement, like what his cut of the money was going to be as he managed the investments. And so we're working on that now.
And what was mentioned to me was like a two and 20 structure with like a 10% hurdle. So like we get the first 10% and then anything above that, like he would get a 20%, but then somebody else mentioned the 25%. And to me, those are the 25% numbers.
Is he a financial advisor or is this some back alley deal?
It's just a family member who talked to some finance people and worked out some investment thing, and he's been doing that and making pretty good money.
Dude, this is sketchy all around.
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Chapter 5: What key financial advice is given for first-time home buyers?
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Chapter 6: How can individuals overcome their debt and retirement savings challenges?
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Chapter 7: What steps should you take when dealing with business partnership disputes?
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Chapter 8: How can you transition from saving to spending wisely?
Today's question comes from Toby in Missouri. I'm 25 years old and self-employed with an average salary of $100,000 a year. I have a net worth of $400,000 and my fiance would be out of school and getting a job within a year starting out at $95,000 a year. I have saved $200,000 to put down on a house for a down payment.
Should I buy my dream home for $450,000 in the best neighborhood in town or a house that costs $200,000 in an okay neighborhood, knowing that we want to move into another neighborhood in the next couple of years? We have no student loans or car payments, and we'll be getting married later this year.
Ooh. Okay. A lot of variables here. It's like a little riddle. A lot of timing.
I'm going big.
Yeah. Well, I'm wondering, can you wait to buy the house until you're married? Oh, for sure. Why the urgency right now to get the – I would get the $450,000 house, but I would wait until you're married. Yep. For sure. Because then you know that you know that you know both incomes are there. Because what if – God forbid.
Maybe the wedding gets pushed and you're stuck with a mortgage payment that's a little tight for your $100,000 income, which is amazing. But you take on a $250,000 mortgage. I don't know what the payment's going to be compared to your take-home pay.
That's right. Yes. I would assume that after you get married, you guys will be making $200,000. And maybe rent for one year, right, before you jump into the new neighborhood.
Oh, yeah.
and save an extra 50, 7,500, right? To add to the down payment. And if you put 250, 300 down on a 450.
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