*The Dave Ramsey 'Baby Steps' Thread*

[ThereYouSeeHer]

This won't open for me. Anyone else?

Here it is...

'Ramsey Show' Host Asked People At Disney How Much Debt They Have. 'You're Driving Most People's 401(k)'

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

TBH I would struggle with this as well. We have a car loan and mortgage but the interest rates are so low that I don't think about them. (we're not 100% in the Ramsey camp)

It seemed like they were screened instead of random so I wouldn't say "accost"ing them is accurate.

Disney does have rules about commercial filming though so I am a bit surprised the Ramsey org filmed there. There is a gray area regarding what exactly is classified as "commercial" since vloggers and others are tolerated but a company as big as Ramsey Solutions will probably draw a cease & desist from Disney.

Still, this money could be going into savings instead to sent to a bank. You don't have to be overwhelmed with debt to be driven to get rid of it. Just saying..

We took out a car loan for $11k for dh's truck and even that bothered me so much that I paid it off from savings with our first payment. I really can't stand having any debt at this point. It's just so ingrained in me now.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Still, this money could be going into savings instead to sent to a bank. You don't have to be overwhelmed with debt to be driven to get rid of it. Just saying..

The car money is already in the bank. We were prepared to pay cash for it.

I don’t want to get too much into our personal strategy in this thread because it is outside of Ramsey's advice. I was just commenting on that to give a perspective that the compartmentalization may not always be negative.

 

[barkley]

Not only that but it assumes they will both live to a very old age. When my mother died, SS literally pulled their direct deposit back on my mother's SS payment for the month. Can you still live on ONE monthly SS payment? There's no guarantee that it will always be 2. We don't get to live forever and one or the other will be first to die.

as well-if one or both spouses is/will be vested in a pension plan research well ahead of time needs to be put into exploring the options available b/c what might look like a great one budget wise when retirement eligibility comes may mean that the surviving spouse receives zero upon the pensioner's death while taking a reduced monthly pension ensures the surviving spouse has the income source continue until their death.

 

[afan]

as well-if one or both spouses is/will be vested in a pension plan research well ahead of time needs to be put into exploring the options available b/c what might look like a great one budget wise when retirement eligibility comes may mean that the surviving spouse receives zero upon the pensioner's death while taking a reduced monthly pension ensures the surviving spouse has the income source continue until their death.

Thankfully that's what my step-dad did because he was gone less than two years from when he retired.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

as well-if one or both spouses is/will be vested in a pension plan research well ahead of time needs to be put into exploring the options available b/c what might look like a great one budget wise when retirement eligibility comes may mean that the surviving spouse receives zero upon the pensioner's death while taking a reduced monthly pension ensures the surviving spouse has the income source continue until their death.

We looked into this for dh's pension. He hasn't retired yet even though he is past FRA. He's afraid he'll end up sitting around watching too much tv and age much faster.
Anyway, the monthly amount is reduced if he chooses the plan with survivor benefits. He will probably choose it anyway since he's 9 years older than me and I'd have potentially more years without him.
If he can get 25 years in at his job, we both get health insurance for life. That would require him to work until 70. It's a great perk but I told him do it if he wants to but don't feel pressured to. They have taken away so many benefits lately that I don't even trust them to come through with what they told him when he was hired back then.

 

[barkley]

If he can get 25 years in at his job, we both get health insurance for life. That would require him to work until 70. It's a great perk but I told him do it if he wants to but don't feel pressured to. They have taken away so many benefits lately that I don't even trust them to come through with what they told him when he was hired back then.

you are right not to trust on the benefits. i've personally and I've known many others who have retired from employers (civil service in my case) that hired in and worked under what were supposed to be iron clad post retirement benefit guarantees restated year after year for decades in union contracts that have been taken away. sometimes a court battle (in my former employer's case) gets some clawed back but then they can be SO freaking tricky it prevents the retirees from actually benefiting.

one of the most common i've seen in several states is that the employer will only offer ONE plan that covers retirees that live 'out of region' (it can be a small radius region from the employer's location). they don't care what the premium is b/c they more often than not are capped with a dollar amount they contribute or only a percentage for retirees. if they can make it unaffordable/unusable (no preferred providers in many states or at least none that have taken new patients for years) then the retiree opts out and the employer saves money. I was curious to see what my former is charging for 2026 so I just looked (right now is a great time to check up on this stuff for the future b/c open enrollment stuff is online for active employees and retirees on most employer portals)- they still only offer one plan out of region, it's a Medicare supplement (they require you to apply for and take Medicare when you hit the age and are retired)-over $2000 for a couple who are both on Medicare *these are monthly premiums*, but increase that to $5000 if one of the spouse's isn't on Medicare yet and needs traditional insurance. obscene.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

you are right not to trust on the benefits. i've personally and I've known many others who have retired from employers (civil service in my case) that hired in and worked under what were supposed to be iron clad post retirement benefit guarantees restated year after year for decades in union contracts that have been taken away. sometimes a court battle (in my former employer's case) gets some clawed back but then they can be SO freaking tricky it prevents the retirees from actually benefiting.

one of the most common i've seen in several states is that the employer will only offer ONE plan that covers retirees that live 'out of region' (it can be a small radius region from the employer's location). they don't care what the premium is b/c they more often than not are capped with a dollar amount they contribute or only a percentage for retirees. if they can make it unaffordable/unusable (no preferred providers in many states or at least none that have taken new patients for years) then the retiree opts out and the employer saves money. I was curious to see what my former is charging for 2026 so I just looked (right now is a great time to check up on this stuff for the future b/c open enrollment stuff is online for active employees and retirees on most employer portals)- they still only offer one plan out of region, it's a Medicare supplement (they require you to apply for and take Medicare when you hit the age and are retired)-over $2000 for a couple who are both on Medicare *these are monthly premiums*, but increase that to $5000 if one of the spouse's isn't on Medicare yet and needs traditional insurance. obscene.

His employer is our county. What's more disgusting is that their pay rate is low compared to working out in the "real world" (private contractors) but the trade off was always the awesome benefits package. Well if they're going to take that away too, they need to raise their pay to match what contractors pay. It's pathetic. The only reason he doesn't leave is that he doesn't want to start new somewhere else at 67.