- An orthodontist with over $1 million worth of student loans called in to Dave Ramsey's show.
- He said the interest on the debt alone was costing him about $5,800 per month.
TikTok viewers were shocked by a resurrected clip of a man who called in to Dave Ramsey's show saying he had over $1 million in student loan debt.
In a clip Ramsey posted to TikTok this week, where it has amassed 1.8 million views, the man, named Justin, said he had just finished his training as an orthodontist.
The exchange took place in 2020, but reached a new audience when Ramsey reposted it.
Justin said his salary was $250,000 per year, but that he was paying $5,800 per month in interest on the loans.
"You're kidding me," Ramsey said, on hearing how much debt he had. "What were you thinking?"
"Well I wasn't thinking, clearly," Justin responded.
He said he and his fiancée were trying to figure out the best way to attack the debt, and were thinking of trying to pay down $10,000 per month.
"Interest in going to be accruing greater than you're putting in," Ramsey said. "You're not making any mathematical progress."
Ramsey said the situation was "extreme," and he found Justin's debt "overwhelming."
Ramsey is an American radio host and evangelical Christian who is best known for his financial advice. He has faced controversy in the past, including accusations in 2021 that his company had a policy of firing employees for having premarital sex.
Some people are also skeptical of Ramsey's legitimacy as a financial advisor, likening him to more of a preacher than an expert on money.
But many see him as a trusted advisor on money issues, indicated by the 2.6 million subscribers to his YouTube channel and his 830,000 TikTok followers.
@daveramsey This orthodontist has $1,000,000 in student loans. #moneytok #broke #debt #debtpayoff #nomoney #studentloans ♬ original sound - Dave Ramsey
When it came to Justin, Ramsey told him that he had to be "very, very careful to just act like you're a broke college student, because you are a broke orthodontist."
He added that the couple couldn't go on vacations, buy a new house, lease a new car, or eat out at restaurants for the forseeable future.
"It gives me an anxiety attack and it's not even my debt," Ramsey said.
Ramsey said the good news was that Justin had a good income and income potential. But, he said, "you cannot relax."
"You have to cut as deeply as you can cut," he said. "Other than taxes and food and water and electricity, I really want everything else going on student loan debt."
Justin said his smallest loans were around $4,500 or less, which Ramsey recommended focusing on first — "knocking out" one or two a month, known as the "snowball" method, he said.
"I like cleaning up the little ones, getting the dust out of the corner, getting rid of the mosquitoes, then we'll get down to the bear hunt," he said. "Because you go from mosquitoes to bears pretty quick here."
On TikTok, people couldn't believe how much debt one person could rack up just in student loans.
"The system is broken!" one person said. "I'm stressing with my $7k student loans that barely go down because of interest," said another.
Many others said Justin's situation made them feel much better about their significantly smaller debts.
However, others saw the investment as a good one, because Justin could be making much more than $250,000 in a few years' time.
"You gotta think long term," one commenter said. "If he focuses on paying that debt for 2 years, he'll be good."