may / june 2023
28 finance
Featuring the advice of personal finance expert and best-selling author Dave Ramsey , the Dave Says column is filled with timely , relevant questions and answers taken from actual letters and calls on Ramsey ’ s radio program , The Dave Ramsey Show .
GEN ZERS AND MILLENNIALS ? I LOVE ’ EM ! Dave , I am the managing partner of a family business . We would like to add to our team , but I ’ m worried we can ’ t try to hold millennials and Gen Zers to the same standards as other generations without losing them . How do you feel about this ? — Sarah
Sarah , Listen , I ’ ve got a building full of Gen Zers and millennials — and I love them . If you hire the rights ones , you ’ re getting people who love calluses on their hands and on their brains . They make the interview process easy too , because there are just two types from these generations : the ones who are unbelievably awesome and the ones who aren ’ t . But the great ones are not afraid of hard work . They ’ re passionate , intelligent and mission driven . I mean , they ’ ll charge the gates of hell with water pistols for something they believe in .
But that means you have to provide meaning in the work they do . They want to see that their work connects to something that matters . They want to be treated with dignity , not like units of production . And they have inquiring minds . Most of them want to know why you do things the way you do them . All that is perfectly okay with me and always has been .
Now , they ’ re the worst two generations to work for someone who ’ s just a boss . That ’ s because bosses push while leaders pull . If you ’ re going to pull , you have to inform , communicate and
share a vision that draws people into your mission . Bosses , for the most part , have a “ do it this way because I said so ” attitude . That ’ s not going to last long with Gen Zers and millennials .
I get where you ’ re coming from though , Sarah . I ’ ve still got friends and business associates who tell me we ’ re going to lose everyone from these generations if we don ’ t cave in and give them things like “ the flexibility to work from home ” — which really means , “ I don ’ t want to work much ” or “ I want to work all the time .” Listen , I understand not everyone who works from home falls into one of those two categories , but some of them do . There are folks who put in 80 hours a week because they can ’ t put their screens down and live a life . Or they work three hours a day and call it “ working from home .” That ’ s not working from home — that ’ s working part-time hours for fulltime pay . And that ’ s called stealing .
But millennials and Gen Zers ? I ’ m a huge fan of these generations . I truly , personally like them . They are , for the most part , genuine , real people and hard workers . If you give them what you should as a leader , they ’ ll blow you away with their smarts and what they ’ re capable of achieving !— Dave
$ 15,000 BUYS A NICE USED CAR ! Dear Dave , I was recently in a car accident that totaled my car . My old car was paid for , and the insurance company is writing it off and giving me $ 15,000 . I ’ m a physical therapist who does home care treatment , so I need a reliable car for work . I ’ m debt-free , and I ’ m in the process of finishing up my emergency fund , but I can ’ t seem to find a car like my old 2014 Toyota Camry with all the accessories . My rental car is paid for by insurance until the end of the month , and I ’ ve looked at used cars at a few dealerships , but the dealers and salespeople are telling me used cars still cost the same as new ones , and that I should just finance a brand-new car . I ’ m not sure what to do . — Valerie
Dear Valerie , Asking a new car dealer if you need a new car is like asking a dog if it ’ s hungry . The answer ’ s always going to be yes .
The smart answer , though , is this : If you ’ ve got a $ 15,000 insurance check in your hand , go buy a great , used $ 15,000 car . You may not be able to find the exact car you had before , right down to all the bells and whistles , but Toyota Camrys aren ’ t exactly rare , either . That money will get you virtually the same car — one that is very comparable in equipment , reliability , miles and overall quality to the one that was totaled .
I realize this whole thing is a big inconvenience . And you ’ re probably feeling a little pressure to make a decision . But the line you ’ re getting about used cars still costing the same as new cars is a load of crap . Used cars do notcost as much as new ones anymore . That was true for about five minutes on the back end of the pandemic , when the Mississippi River ran backwards and used cars went up in value . It was an absolute miracle !
There seems to be something in the human brain that tries to tell us we have to get an upgrade if we total a car . I want you to fight that idea , because you don ’ t need to wreck your emergency fund over something that ’ s not an emergency . Go online , and look around there without the pressure that always goes with being on a car lot .
And I ’ m just going to say this out loud : A $ 15,000 car today is a much better vehicle than anything I drove for the first 30 years of my life . The quality of used vehicles and the life left in them are so much greater than even a new car back in the day . You know that old saying , “ They don ’ t make ’ em like they used to ”? Well , thank God for that !
But a $ 15,000 pre-owned car in today ’ s world ? That ’ s a nice car !— Dave
Leadership and small-business expert Dave Ramsey is CEO of Ramsey Solutions . He has authored eight national bestselling books , including “ EntreLeadership ,” and is a co-host of “ The Ramsey Show ” and the host of “ The EntreLeadership Podcast .”