$175K student debt, no degree
A 23-year-old woman accumulated $175,000 in student loan debt attending an out-of-state school and never finished her degree, leaving her working as a nanny.
Where this was said
Elizabeth: Drowning in Three Mortgages, $30K in Credit Card Debt
At 1:27:33 · chapter starts 1:24:55
Elizabeth's call is the most complex financial disaster of the episode — layered with real estate over-leverage, irregular construction income, and a husband whose dream of a rental property empire is accelerating the collapse. The checklist Dave runs through is damning: new home purchased before the old one sold, old home listed for four months with almost no interest despite a $25,000 price cut, a duplex with no tenants that's losing money annually, $30,000 in credit card debt used to float construction jobs, and a $150,000 father-in-law loan on the new home's down payment. [1] — Dave Ramsey "Buying a new house before selling the old one, running a duplex with no tenants, and funding a construction business on credit cards — Eliz…" 1:25:06 Dave is uncharacteristically blunt: sell the duplex immediately, keep dropping the price on the old house, hire an accountant to determine if the construction business is actually profitable, and stop treating real estate speculation as a wealth-building plan. He has a PhD in this particular failure — he went bankrupt himself in real estate — and he delivers the warning with matching urgency.
Drowning in Three Mortgages: The Real Estate Trap
Buying a new house before selling the old one, running a duplex with no tenants, and funding a construction business on credit cards — Elizabeth has checked every box for financial disaster. Dave says sell everything, hire an accountant, and stop treating real estate like a get-rich scheme.
$175K in Debt, No Degree, Baby on the Way
She racked up $175,000 in student debt at an out-of-state school and never graduated. Now she's 23, pregnant, and working as a nanny. Dave lays out the brutal but workable plan: apply $75,000 in cash toward the loan when the baby arrives and attack the rest.
Construction company: $100K savings runway
Elizabeth and her husband have $100,000 in savings but are burning through it monthly while carrying three properties — a new home, an old listed home, and a duplex — plus $30,000 in credit card debt.
54% finish 4-year degrees
Dave Ramsey cited that only 54% of students who start 4-year degrees actually finish them, meaning roughly half end up with debt but no diploma.
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