Dear Dave,
My husband and I live in India. I’m from the States, and he was born here. When it comes to our finances, I manageourAmericaninvestments, and he manages our Indian investments. Every month, we sit down with spreadsheets and go over our finances. I trust him completely, but I’d like to better understand our investments here and how they work. Should I just defer to his judgment, or should I learn to understand things a little better?
Anna
Dear Anna,
I always tell folks to make sure they completely understand their investments and how they work. So, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with learning more about the side of your investments he manages.
I learned a long time ago thatwhenyou’remarriedand it comes to making decisions, you should use all of your brain. That means both of you. Two heads are better than one, right? Back when I made all my mistakes with money and we went broke, I didn’t listen to anyone about anything. I thought I knew it all. We had investments and owned pieces of property my wife never knew about or laid eyes on.
When it came to our finances, she always trusted me and told me to do what I thought was best. Well, it turns out, I was an idiot. If I’d had an ounce of sense or humility back then, I’d have gone to her with my all my bright ideas. Knowing her thoughts or hearing her say, “I don’t know about that, honey. I’ve got a bad feeling about it” might’ve saved us a lot of pain and heartache — if I’d listened. But now, I understand like never before the meaning of Proverbs 31:10-12. “Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain” (NKJV).
I’m sure your husband is lot smarter about things than I was. And he’s obviously open to talking with you about all this and showing you things. That’s a really good sign. But if I were him, and something were to happen, I’d want you to understand everything. I’d want you to know exactly what you have going on and how it all works.
Great question, Anna!
— Dave Dear Dave,
I recently experienced a medical emergency and unexpected hospital stay. I’m about halfway through Baby Step 2, and I’m paying off my debts using the debt snowball system. I have good insurance, but should I put Baby Step 2 on hold for now due to all the hospital bills?
Gerard Dear Gerard,
That’s exactly what you should do. I’m sorry to hear about your health issues, but at the same time, I hope you’ll make sure you’re only pressing the pause button on Baby Step 2. I’m talking about temporarily stopping the debt snowball and making only minimum payments on all non-mortgage debt for now. Can you manage that? Things like this can be expensive, but they’re part of life. At the same time, taking care of these kinds of issues doesn’t have to mean giving up on gaining control of your finances. Emergency issues, especially medical emergencies, come first. Then, go back and pick up where you left off when things are better, and finish knocking out your other debt by restarting your debt snowball. After that, I’ve got a feeling you’ll have the motivation to fully fund your emergency fund in Baby Step 3 all the way up to three to six months of expenses.
Godblessyou,friend.Keep your head up, and take good care of yourself while you’re recovering. You can do this!
— Dave Dear Dave,
I’m 26, so I haven’t had time to accumulate a lot of moneyyetthroughmycareer. I do have a good, full-time job, though,andhavestartedsaving money. Do I need a will or trust when I’m so young and have so little in terms of assets?
Alisha Dear Alisha,
I love the fact that you’re alreadythinkingaboutthings like this. You’re a wise young lady.
Considering that you’re young and just starting out, you don’t need anything complicated in place. Trusts tend to be geared toward people with complex estates, so it doesn’t sound like that’s something you need to worry about. But you do need a simple, inexpensive will.
You didn’t give many details, so let’s say you have a car, along with the money in the bank you mentioned, plus a few belongings. With a basic will, it’ll be no problem to work through your estate and follow your directives if something unfortunate should happen. Here’s something else to think about, too. Anotherimportantdocument you’ll want in your will package is a healthcare power of attorney directive. This includes things like who’s going to make medical decisions for you if you’re unable to make them yourself. As a part of this, you’d also want to fill out the paperwork on whether to disconnect life support systems in the event you’re in a coma.
All this stuff’s a real wakeup call, right? I know these kinds of things aren’t fun to think about—especially at your age. But thinking about them, and doing something about them, is the right thing to do. It’s the smart thing to do. Plus, it will take a huge burden off your loved ones. And all this becomes even more important if you have children, because the state will step in and decide what happens to them if you don’t. Having these things laid out ahead of time, and sharing them with your family and close friends, would be a very thoughtful and mature thing to do, Alisha. Think about it. They’re already going to be grieving and distraught if something happens to you. You don’t want to make things harder by leaving a lot of important and difficult decisions for them to make in the middle of it all.
— Dave Dave,
I have a cleaning and restoration business with 30 employees. Last year, we brought in $3 million. Things are going very well overall, but considering what we do, I can get calls around the clock, seven days a week. I want to be there for my team as much as possible, but I’m also trying to get them to take on more responsibility and ownership when they’re on job sites. Do you have any suggestions?
Joe Joe,
When someone brings me a problem, and drops it on my desk, I tell them to pick it back up. In other words, I want them to look at the problem as theirs—not mine. Then, I ask one question: Based on what you know about our company, what do you think we would do to fix this? Sometimes they’ll be right, and sometimes they’ll be wrong. If they’re wrong, I’ll tell them to go back to their desk, and just quietly think for a few minutes. After, I want them to call me back with three possible solutions to the problem. I’ll explain which solution is the right one, and why. I’ll also explain whytheothertwoweren’tthe best ways to handle things.
Do you see what I’m getting at? They’re not going to grow if you solve every problemforthem.Makethem
Dave Ramsey is a seventime #1 national best-selling author, personal finance expert, and host of The Dave Ramsey Show, heard by more than 16 million listeners each week. He has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Today Show, Fox News, CNN, Fox Business, and many more. Since 1992, Dave has helped people regain control of their money, buildwealthandenhancetheir lives. He also serves as CEO for Ramsey Solutions.
think it through. Because by doing this, you’re training them to make decisions. Do youknowwhatelsethisdoes? It will eventually relieve you of being jarred awake in the middle of the night by a ringing phone. Joe, you’ve built a $3 million company. You’ve got a big team working with you and making big things happen. You shouldn’t have to answer phone calls around the clock.
Transferring the fire in your heart, and the knowledge in your head, to your team members sets everyone up to burn brighter and be more knowledgeable and self-assured. But you’ll need to intentionally shift your mindset from stepping in and doing the work to leading it. Start seeing yourself more as a catalyst, a coach and a consultant, rather than the muscle for all the heavy lifting.
If this sounds hard, it’s because it is. Delegating, at first, is one of the hardest things you’ll ever do in your business. But if you slow down a little to put the best delegation and problem solving processes in place now, you’ll be able to move—and grow—even faster later.
Great question, Joe!
— Dave