- Larhonda, from Virginia, told Dave Ramsey she was 59 and had over $250,000 of student loans.
- She said she was trying to make ends meet with two jobs, and wanted the debt to "go away."
A woman in $258,000 of student debt called into finance expert Dave Ramsey's show to help her work out a way to pay it off.
Larhonda, who said she was 59 years old and lived in Roanoke, Virginia, was making around $60,000 per year in her logistics job. She didn't give a second name.
She told Ramsey she recently looked at her credit report and realized she owed over a quarter of a million in student loans.
"Good Lord," Ramsey said. "What did you study and when?"
Larhonda said she had three degrees: the first was in multidisciplinary studies, criminal justice, and religion, the second was a masters in accounting, and the third was a masters of divinity in theology and hermeneutics. She had also taken on loans for her son's college fees.
Ramsey is a radio personality who has become known for giving financial advice. He is the author of many books, including "Financial Peace" and "The Total Money Makeover." Though he is trusted by many, some people are also skeptical of his legitimacy as a financial advisor, likening his style to more of that of a preacher than an expert on money.
Larhonda appeared on "The Ramsey Show" on May 9, wanting to know if she could make her student debt "go away." Ramsey told her "these are disturbing numbers at 59 years old."
"The answer to your question is you have to make more money," he said. "You have not monetized your knowledge base very well."
Most people with a masters degree in accounting made at least $100,000 a year, he said, so he recommended she get a Certified Public Accountant license and move into that field.
"We need to move your income way up, like dramatically," he said. "In fact I'd like you to be at 120 heading towards 22o."
Ramsey's cohost George Kamel said there was no way to get student debt to disappear, even if Larhonda filed for bankruptcy. He suggested asking her kids if they could help at all, "even though it's legally on you."
Ramsey said Larhonda's salary to pay off that much debt was like "a small shovel and a very large hole."
"We have to change your shovel to hole ratio mathematically to get you out, because these aren't going away," he said.
Larhonda would have to increase her income dramatically, he said, and reduce her lifestyle expenses to "nothing."
"Then you start throwing the difference at this very, very aggressively," he advised.