A 22-year-old college student called into “The Ramsey Show” and said he was being financially “abused” by his parents. The student, identified only as Tyler, said he had been following Dave Ramsey‘s baby steps and recently used a school refund to pay off debt. His parents were not happy about it.
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Student Loan Refund Sparks Family Drama
“I got my refund from school in May and it was close to about $4,000—exactly $3,999,” Tyler told hosts Jade Warshaw and Ken Coleman. “I used that money to pay off my debt, my car payment, and a little bit of my credit card payment.”
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Tyler said his parents were furious, claiming the money was theirs. “They were just absolutely furious about me, saying that that was their money and about the hard work they did to put me out here,” he explained.
He summed up the situation in one sentence: “My parents are financially abusing me.”
Coleman asked for clarification: was the refund from money Tyler had earned through work, or was it part of a student loan? Tyler said it was a mix of both—federal work-study and student loan overage.
When asked whose name was on the loan, Tyler replied, “I believe it’s mom and then me. I believe I’m the co-signer on it.”
That raised a red flag for the hosts. “You should have communicated with the parents because they’re involved in this financially,” Coleman told him..
Warshaw agreed, saying that while paying off debt was a smart instinct, Tyler should have talked to his mom first. “If your mom was like, ‘Wait a minute, you took this loan money that we’re both on the hook for to do this thing without consulting both of us,’ I can see that,” she said.
Is It Really Abuse?
Tyler accused his parents of financially abusing him, but both hosts pushed back on the use of that word.
“I see no evidence of that,” Warshaw said bluntly. “You’re 22 now. Your parents can make suggestions, they can even try to strong-arm you to do things their way, but you don’t have to.”
Coleman was more direct: “You need to stop saying they’re financially abusing you because this is not anywhere close to it. It’s dramatic, and by the way, words matter.”
Tyler claimed the tension comes from his parents’ spending habits. “They’re both spenders… My mom just bought a brand new Mercedes. My dad spends money constantly on his new truck,” he said. “They’ve always been haggling me for money.”
He also said they pressured him to help pay for a down payment on a truck—something he didn't want to do. Warshaw responded, “Then you don’t have to do it.”
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Future Debt Could Tie Him To Parents Even More
The conversation shifted toward Tyler’s financial future. He currently has $40,000 in student loans and expects it to reach around $80,000 after finishing his degree in sports management at the University of Tennessee.
“You’re following in [your parents’] footsteps right now because you are taking on debt and you’re going to an out-of-state school,” Warshaw said. She advised Tyler to consider in-state options or work his way through school without borrowing more money, especially since his mother is on the loans.
“Mama’s going to be breathing down your neck every month, talking about, ‘Where’s the payment? You’re messing up my credit,'” she warned. “And that is going to jack you and her.”
Coleman added, “Nobody cares where you get your degree from. There’s a better way, Tyler.”
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