Justin, from Pittsburgh, called “The Ramsey Show” and said he is considering marriage while confronting a significant financial gap between himself and his partner.
The 28-year-old told the hosts that his girlfriend of two years had graduated from veterinary school and would bring about $350,000 in student loan debt into the marriage. Co-host George Kamel asked Justin how much debt he would bring into the relationship, and Justin replied that he had none.
Justin said his income was about $107,000 at the time, with projections of roughly $135,000 following his return from a nine-month military deployment.
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He asked how to prioritize debt repayment alongside marriage and major purchases such as a home or vehicles. The question prompted a blunt warning from personal finance expert Dave Ramsey that in some cases the right move is to “run — run away” if both partners are not aligned on aggressively addressing the debt.
Justin said that aside from being debt-free, he has about $21,000 in cash, roughly $60,000 in retirement savings through a Thrifty Savings Plan, 401(k), and an investment portfolio valued at approximately $110,000.
He also serves in the Navy Reserve and works as a program manager in the oil and gas industry. A recent deployment, he said, temporarily affected his income, with higher earnings expected after returning to civilian work.
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“The No. 1 cause of divorce in North America is money fights and money problems,” Ramsey said as he shifted to how the couple would need to approach the debt together. He added that Justin was “walking into a mess” and that the scale of the loans meant the relationship would require unusually deep agreement on short- and long-term financial plans.
Ramsey then outlined two possible paths. “If she’s gonna roll up her sleeves and… go, ‘Oh my God, we’ve made a mess. We’re gonna dive on this thing… and we’re gonna fix this thing,'” he said, describing a scenario in which both partners work long hours, slash expenses, and aggressively attack the debt. He told Justin that if both partners were fully committed — “working like a maniac” — the debt could be cleaned up in a few years.
