He Focused On His 401(k) While She Spent Her Paychecks. Now She's Asking For Half And Dave Ramsey Says, 'I've Been There, It's No Fun'

An Ohio man going through a rough divorce called into “The Ramsey Show”  and got straight talk from personal finance expert Dave Ramsey. 

Corey, a truck driver from Cleveland, laid out his financial nightmare: mountains of debt, a $970 truck payment, a spouse unwilling to cooperate, and a divorce hearing just weeks away.

Truck Payments, Debt And A Draining Split

Corey told Ramsey and co-host George Kamel he has $35,000 in credit card debt and is being asked to take on half of his estranged wife's $30,000 in additional credit card balances. That's not all. He used to share an over-the-road trucking job with her that brought in $250,000 a year between them.

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“I was sticking mine in my 401(k). She was spending hers,” Corey said. Now that they're divorcing after just three years of marriage, his future ex-wife wants half of that retirement money too.

Corey explained that he'd bought her a Lexus and also had a motorcycle loan. When the marriage started falling apart, his wife returned the Lexus to him, leaving him with both the car's and the motorcycle's debt. 

To cut costs, he traded both vehicles in and bought a 2023 Chevy Silverado to save about $500 a month. But it wasn't enough to manage his out-of-control debt.

Ramsey was frank: “Now this has got to stop. You’ve already eaten a Lexus and a motorcycle and now she wants you to eat [$15,000] more of the debt.”

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Corey told the hosts he tried to be fair. He told his wife to keep the house, everything they put into it, and her own debts, but she wouldn't go for it. So now they're both lawyered up and heading to court.

“What she wants doesn't matter. What you want doesn't matter,” Ramsey said. “The law is going to demand that you split it down the middle.”

Sell The Truck, Don’t Buy A Semi

When Corey said he was considering buying his own semi truck and hitting the road again, Ramsey told him to hit pause. “You need to get this cleared up before you do that, because she’s gonna end up with half the dadgum semi.”

Corey also mentioned he's paying nearly $1,000 a month for the Silverado and owes more than it's worth. Ramsey called that decision financially reckless, saying, “$970 at $33 an hour is in the cray-cray zone.”

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Ramsey pushed Corey to sell the truck immediately, even if it meant taking out a small loan or finding a private buyer to break even. “Somebody will give you more than you owe on it,” he said. “Get you a hooptie. You don't need a big car right now. You've got more problems than you need car.”

The big picture plan Ramsey laid out was for Corey to force the sale of the house, trade part of the home equity in place of giving up half the 401(k), and walk away with just his own $35,000 in credit card debt.

“Do not let her have the house,” Ramsey warned. “Because you’re on the mortgage, and then she doesn’t pay it, you’re screwed.”

Ramsey ended the call with empathy: “You’re being managed by emotion because your heart’s broken. One minute you’re p***ed, the next minute you’re broken terrified. I’ve been there. It’s no fun.”

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