![\"Dave](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/b81ae251cc75f8c01248807ef6cd4683.jpeg\")
Dave Ramsey <\/p>\n Dave Ramsey <\/p>\n
When 23-year-old Jackson called into The Ramsey Show, he wasn\u2019t asking how to spend his inheritance. He wanted to know what not to do with it.<\/p>\n
A few months earlier, he and his brothers had sold their parents\u2019 home, leaving him with about US$450,000. He had no debt, had just graduated from post-secondary, earned about US$75,000 a year and was renting with his brother while planning a move from the suburbs into the big city.<\/p>\n
But instead of feeling confident, he felt stuck.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just wondering what to do with it,\u201d Jackson told the cohosts (1). \u201cI have all of that money \u2026 just sitting in a GIC right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a feeling many adults would recognize. But coming into a large sum of money \u2014 especially in your early 20s \u2014 can actually make it harder to act, not easier.<\/p>\n
Parking the money in a Guaranteed Investment Certificate<\/a> (GIC) kept Jackson from making any rash decisions. Host Dave Ramsey praised that move, saying it stopped him from doing \u201csomething stupid with it.\u201d He even said Jackson was \u201cwise beyond his years\u201d for not spending it.<\/p>\n But Ramsey also warned that waiting too long has its own price. Inflation slowly eats away at what your money can buy. And when you\u2019re in your early 20s, time is one of your biggest advantages.<\/p>\n Ramsey pointed out that money invested in the stock market tends to double roughly every seven years, by historical average returns. By comparison, a GIC earns far less \u2014 meaning Jackson’s money could have grown much more if he had invested it earlier.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s put that in perspective: according to Statistics Canada, the average net worth of Canadians under 35 is around CA$159,000 (2). Jackson is sitting on nearly four times that amount, before he\u2019s even hit his mid-20s. But that head start only means something if the money is actually growing.<\/p>\n Read more: Here are 4 major investments worth making right now<\/a> to help your net worth skyrocket<\/p>\n One option Jackson was considering was using the inheritance to buy property in a big city. Ramsey shut that down quickly. Here in Canada, even with CA$600,000, buying a home outright in a big city such as Toronto or Vancouver isn\u2019t realistic \u2014 and taking on a mortgage without strong, stable income adds stress, not security.<\/p>\n \u7e7c\u7e8c\u95b1\u8b80 <\/p>\n The same thinking applies to lifestyle upgrades or lending money to friends and family too quickly. Ramsey\u2019s advice was simple: keep your inheritance separate from your everyday life.<\/p>\n \u201cLeave it alone. Pretend like you don\u2019t have it and just live off your income,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n That aligns with guidance from financial planning professionals, who warn that sudden wealth can disappear faster than people expect \u2014 especially without a clear plan and proper advice.<\/p>\n Ramsey\u2019s core advice wasn\u2019t about finding the hottest investment. It was about slowing down, educating yourself and working with someone you trust.<\/p>\n He recommended Jackson find a vetted financial advisor, learn how investing works, put the money in diversified growth investments \u2014 then leave it alone. For Canadians that may mean looking at options like index funds held inside a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) or a Registered Retirement Savings Account (RRSP), which can help shelter growth from taxes.<\/p>\n Ramsey was also clear that Jackson shouldn\u2019t invest just because an expert told him to, \u201cBut because you start to understand it.”<\/p>\n That\u2019s backed by research. Studies on investor behaviour show that having a plan\u2014 and sticking to it \u2014 often matters more than chasing high returns. Panic-selling during a market dip, for example, is one of the most common ways people lose money.<\/p>\n Cohost Ken Coleman put it plainly: \u201cThis is a massive head start for you. Just leave it alone.\u201d<\/p>\n In Canada, inherited money can have tax advantages, depending on how the estate was structured. But once you sell investments and pocket gains, those are generally taxable. Getting proper tax advice early can prevent costly mistakes down the road.<\/p>\n An inheritance creates opportunity, but it doesn\u2019t protect you from bad decisions. Jackson is sitting on barely four times the average net worth of Canadians under 35, before he\u2019s even hit his mid-20s. That\u2019s a remarkable head start.<\/p>\n But a head start only means something if the money is actually growing. The best move a young person with a windfall can do is slow down, get informed, find a trusted financial professional and let time do the heavy lifting.<\/p>\n -With files from Melanie Huddart<\/p>\n We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n YouTube (1<\/a>); Statistics Canada (2<\/a>)<\/p>\n This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dave Ramsey When 23-year-old Jackson called into The Ramsey Show, he wasn\u2019t asking how to spend his inheritance.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[28,9567,155,72932,663,147,530,2458,724],"class_list":["post-495444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-canadians","tag-dave-ramsey","tag-gic","tag-jackson","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-statistics-canada","tag-warren-buffett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}