Caller Says Retired 65-Year-Old Dad Wants $1,000 A Month—Ramsey Hosts Say: 'Dads Aren't Supposed To Do That'

A caller on a recent episode of The Ramsey Show found himself in a moral and financial dilemma: should he lend his retired father $1,000 a month to help cover loan payments, knowing it would pull money away from his own family's future?

What Happened: The caller explained that his father has accumulated around $90,000 in debt, including $85,000 in personal loans and another $5,000 in credit card balances. Despite drawing a monthly pension of $4,000 and annual bonuses between $7,000 and $12,000, the father's loan payments total $2,500 per month, leaving him in a tight spot.

"He's reached out to me and my brothers for some help," the caller said. "What he's asking from us ideally would be for us to lend him about $1,000 a month so that he can repay us at the end of the year with the bonuses."

The hosts immediately raised the hard questions: Was the father fit enough to work? Why had he retired so young, and what had he been doing since? The caller explained that his dad runs a hobby mango farm and otherwise has not worked in over 15 years.

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Why It Matters: The hosts did not hold back on their frustration with the father's approach. "He's put you and your brother in an incredibly awkward position," one said. "Dads aren't supposed to do that to their boys."

They noted that while helping a struggling parent in crisis, like someone without food or shelter, would be completely understandable, this case was different. "This isn't that," they said. "This is: ‘I don't want to have a job. I get checks a couple times a year, but I want that money now. Will y'all do that?'"

The caller said he technically had the $10,000 his dad was asking for, but it was earmarked for his wife's master's program. "So that means you don't have it," the hosts replied.

The Ramsey Show hosts urged the caller not to loan his father the money. "You didn't do this. This is not your cross to bear," they said, highlighting the need to distinguish familial love from enabling bad decisions and jeopardizing one's own financial future.

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