‘I Bet You You Could Be Done With This Guy’: Ramsey to Woman Who Owes Her Ex $70,000
Dave Ramsey told Jennifer from Columbus to buy out her ex at a steep discount using present value math, but his own numbers undercut the offer before negotiations even start.
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Dave Ramsey told a woman owing her ex $70,000 to buy the debt out early. “If you could get 45 together by next spring and make that offer, I bet you you could be done with this guy,” he said on the October 7, 2026 episode of The Ramsey Show.
The caller, Jennifer from Columbus, owes her ex $1,000 a month. She also owes him a $70,000 lump sum due at the end of five years, and four years remain.
Jennifer has $15,000 in a CD, saves $1,200 a month, and takes home about $9,000 a month. Ramsey told her to buy the debt out early at a discount instead of waiting for the due date.
A lot rides on the price. Every dollar under $70,000 is a dollar she keeps. If she opens too low, though, a good attorney will turn down the offer and she’ll have lost months of negotiating time.
Ramsey Has the Right Strategy and the Wrong Price
The buyout idea is sound. The $40,000 to $45,000 price only works if the seller doesn’t run the numbers.
Ramsey explained the idea behind it, present value: money owed in the future is worth less than money today. He set “the discount rate” at “10%, meaning I can invest the money and make 10% on my money.”
In his seven-year example, he said of $70,000, “today’s valuation of that is 35,000.” That roughly checks out; the precise present value is about $35,900.
Jennifer has four years left. Even at Ramsey’s own 10% rate, her $70,000 is worth about $47,800 today. So his $45,000 offer is already below his own math.
Now use rates someone can actually get without risk. The 10-year Treasury yield hit 5.3% on October 5. At that rate, the $70,000 is worth about $56,900.
At the FDIC’s national average 12-month CD rate of about 1.7%, it’s worth about $65,400.
Ramsey prices the discount off a 10% return. In the same call he told her, “I would not use an investment account. I would just use a High Yield savings.” He wants the ex to accept a discount based on a return Jennifer was told not to pursue.
Ramsey also said, “I’m not sure that his financial advisor or his attorney or he are sophisticated enough to grasp that concept that I just covered with you.” Any advisor who does understand present value will use safe rates and counter somewhere in the $50,000s.
What Your Ex Can Earn on Cash Sets the Deal
One number decides whether the offer works: the return the person you owe could earn on the money in the meantime.
Suppose the ex has credit card debt at 24%. For him, cash today beats cash in four years, so $45,000 now could work. If he’s comfortable with Treasuries, he should hold out for something close to $56,900. By next spring, less than four years are left, so the debt’s value at safe rates rises.
From Jennifer’s side, the math is strong at almost any realistic price. Paying $45,000 to clear $70,000 works out to a guaranteed return of about 12% a year.
At $40,000, it’s about 15%. No savings account comes close to either figure.
At $1,200 a month, growing $15,000 to $45,000 takes 25 months. To reach that by spring, she’d need to put toward much more of her take-home pay.
How to Price an Early Payoff on Any Lump-Sum Debt
- Run present value at three rates. Divide the lump sum by (1 + rate), raised to the number of years left. Use a high rate like 10%, the current 10-year Treasury yield and the average CD rate. That gives you a negotiating range.
- Separate your opening offer from your walk-away price. Open near the high-rate number. Your ceiling is the value at what your own cash actually makes. For Jennifer, any deal under about $65,400 beats leaving the money in an average CD.
- Get it into the court order. Have the divorce attorney amend the decree. Make sure it says whether the $1,000 monthly payments end with the buyout or continue.
- Shop for better than the average rate while you save. The national 12-month CD average is about 1.7%. Many high-yield accounts and short-term Treasuries pay far more, and every point you earn speeds up the buyout.
A lump-sum debt is worth whatever the safe interest rate says it is today, so price your offer from that number.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Jake has been been working in financial media for almost 15 years. He focuses on all things personal finance for 24/7 Wall St. with high hopes to educate and entertain. Most recently, Jake spent 12 years working various roles at The Motley Fool. He started copy editing fool.com content, worked on premium and marketing campaigns, and helped launch The Ascent, a personal finance brand.
His work has been featured on platforms like MSN, Yahoo Finance, USA Today, and more. He's written about credit cards, social security, ETFs, savings accounts, and just about anything else you can imagine when thinking about money. Jake love to cook, play golf, and tell people he's never had a cavity. (It's true!)
