The Ramsey Show
The Ramsey Show

You Get To Decide Your Next Financial Step

April 20, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

A caller named Taylor, a newlywed in Miami with an irregular income, asked how to combine finances with her husband. He works part-time while managing four rental properties that barely break even. Hosts Ken Coleman and Jade Warshaw gave a straightforward answer: open one joint checking and one joint savings account, then budget for the minimum month—$4,400 from Taylor and $1,700 from her husband. As extra money comes in, add it to the budget. The couple is debt-free with no credit card debt, two paid-off cars, and about $6,000 in savings. Jade suggested using half for a modest honeymoon and keeping the rest to start building a three-to-six-month emergency fund.

The Power of Margin

The conversation shifted when Ken asked about the couple's mortgage debt. Taylor owns the house they live in, with $260,000 remaining, and her husband has $60,000 and $120,000 on two of his rentals. She pays $2,000 a month on her mortgage, including an extra $400 toward principal, and still has $800 to $900 left over each month. Jade pointed out that the rentals are charging too little rent and suggested selling some of them to pay off the personal residence. If they did that, they would free up that $2,000 monthly payment. Ken ran the numbers: if a 27-year-old invests $2,000 a month at a 10 to 11 percent average annual return, they would have $17 million by age 67. The point was not the specif

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What you'll learn

  • 1 Timestamped Outline
  • 2 (00:07) **Show Open & First Caller: Combined Finances as Newlyweds** - Ken Coleman and Jade Warshaw introduce the show and take a call from Taylor, a newlywed in Miami struggling to merge finances with her husband who has irregular rental income.
  • 3 (06:00) **The $17 Million Math: Power of Paying Off the House** - Jade and Ken break down what happens if Taylor and her husband sell some rental properties to pay off their primary residence and invest the freed-up $2,000 monthly.
  • 4 (11:00) **Homework Assignment: Use the Investment Calculator** - Jade assigns all listeners to visit Ramsey Solutions and use the investment calculator to run their own numbers and create a vision for their future.
  • 5 (15:23) **Single Mom with $100K: How to Get on Stable Feet** - Bianca from Las Vegas, a newly single mom of three leaving an abusive relationship, calls about what to do with $100,000 from selling her father's house.
  • 6 (26:00) **Focus Advice for the Single Mom** - Ken challenges Bianca to put all her energy into generating income from her hair business rather than splitting focus with content creation, and to consider working for an established salon.
  • 7 (33:57) **HELOC for Land? Don't Do It** - Nick from Wichita asks about taking out a HELOC to buy land for a new house because his current mortgage consumes 40% of take-home pay now that his wife stays home with their daughter.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Ken Coleman Jade Warshaw

Show Notes

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Jade Warshaw and Ken Coleman answer your questions and discuss:

  • “I have to leave the father of my kids and will be receiving $100,000—how do I use this money to start over?”
  • “Am I making the right decision by walking away from a high-paying job to become a stay-at-home mom?”
  • “My bank told me to take out a HELOC on my house to buy land—should I do it?”
  • “I feel like I will never be able to get ahead financially—how do I get over this feeling?”
  • “Should I file for bankruptcy?”


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