Dave Ramsey, the bestselling personal finance author and the host of the popular "The Ramsey Show," takes questions from across the country.
His no-nonsense approach to financial planning has earned him a legion of fans and they keep calling him to help them navigate their financial problems.
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Man weighs crypto and high-yield savings to tackle debt and wife's surgery
On the Sept. 10 episode of "The Ramsey Show," Jonathan from Sarasota, Florida, called in to share his struggle with paying off the house debt and saving for his wife's surgery.
Currently, the man has $100,000 in a high-yield savings account, which he said makes his emergency fund "overfunded."
He also has $25,000 in what he called "gambling winnings" from crypto and single stocks. He told the hosts Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruz that it's his "beer and gambling money" that he has made from essentially pennies."
But Jonathan is staring down a house debt. He asked if he should turn his crypto and single stocks worth $25,000 into his emergency fund and use the high-yield savings worth $100,000 to pay off the debt.
Dave Ramsey has strong message for couple losing millions in XRP
Dave Ramsey has strong message for couple losing millions in XRP
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Dave Ramsey compares crypto craze to toilet paper
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The man next shared a rather personal crisis: his wife for 20 years has a disease for which she requires surgery every 1-3 years.
The doctor they trust doesn't accept insurance, so he will have to spend everything from his pocket. The initial consultation fee is $1,200, but he isn't sure how much the surgery would cost.
Cruze advised Jonathan to get out of his crypto holdings to focus on his wife's health.
Ramsey agreed, asking Jonathan to not pay off the house debt immediately and hold the high-yield savings for long to navigate his wife's medical journey.
"Cash out the crypto and single stocks today. Put it in your high-yield savings."
The personal finance guru asked Jonathan to visit the doctor for the consultation, set aside the emergency fund and the budget for the surgery, and allocate the rest of his funds to the mortgage. Ramsey told the man that his wife's surgery will be over by Christmas and he would know by then how much more he needs to allocate to the house debt.
"The emotions of the surgery and taking care of your wife are raising this up and making it like a blocker," Ramsey told Jonathan. "It's really not. It's just a step. It's just one more step in the process is all from the math part."
Well-known for advising the old-school, traditional manner of financial planning, Ramsey holds a very critical stance on cryptocurrencies.
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This story was originally published by TheStreet on Sep 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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