A 32-year-old caller named John from San Jose, California, phoned into “The Ramsey Show” recently after losing his $120,000 analyst job, worried that his growing debt might cost him the house his father gave him. With $105,000 in various debts and a soft job market in tech, he asked personal finance experts Dave Ramsey and Ken Coleman whether defaulting could result in losing the home.
Ramsey Urges Immediate Action, Not Panic
John explained that although the house was a gift, it still carries a $50,000 mortgage. He’s currently sitting on $10,000 in savings and has about $50,000 in a 401(k). But with no income and his wife in law school full-time, he’s concerned about making ends meet.
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He rattled off his debts: $50,000 in student loans, $25,000 in a personal loan, $25,000 in a car loan and $5,000 in credit card debt. He said he's actively applying for jobs but hasn’t landed anything yet. “I think I have enough money to cover myself for like maybe about four to six months,” John said.
“The money you gave me doesn’t cover you four to six months. You can’t make it four to six months on $10,000,” Ramsey shot back.
Ramsey told John the focus shouldn’t be on whether creditors will take his house, but on finding work immediately. “Get up off your butt and go be a man,” Ramsey said. “Go knock some stuff down, dude. Let’s get with it.”
John admitted his father, who gave him the house and hates debt, would step in to cover the mortgage if necessary. Ramsey was frank: “Don’t call your daddy up for payments. He’s not real proud that you ran up $25,000 on a personal line, $25,000 on a car after he gave you a dad gum house.”
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Coleman emphasized two parallel paths: look for contract or freelance analyst jobs, and in the meantime, go back to warehouse work if necessary. “We have a $1,300 mortgage payment,” Coleman said. “Do we need to press pause on law school? Law school will still be there, but we have two adults here that are in a financial problem.”
Ramsey pressed harder on what he saw as a lack of urgency. “You got knocked down, but they gave you a month notice and you still hadn’t fixed it,” he said. “You got bills to pay, people to feed, man.”
Both hosts agreed that John wasn't in a full-on crisis—yet. But his mindset needed a serious reset. “You have too good a head start. Way too good a head start. Go fix it, man. You can do it,” Ramsey said.
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