Veteran Blew $40K in 18 Months on Cars, Delony Says Sell the $76,000 Truck Tomorrow

Colin, 22, called into The Ramsey Show on March 27 with a straightforward problem that took 18 months to build: he received a $40,000 lump sum after leaving the military, spent it cycling through cars, and now sits upside down $16,000 on a $76,000 truck with payments of $1,200 a month he cannot afford. He has about $11,000 invested in stocks left. He is being evicted from his parents’ home and moving from Florida to Texas.

John Delony’s response was direct and practical. Before anything else, he told Colin to get mental health treatment through the VA in Texas. Colin agreed. Then Delony laid out the financial unwind.

"I would sell that stock and I’d go take out a $5,000 loan from a credit union. I would sell that truck, or maybe a $7,000 loan from a credit union. I would take that stock, put the 11 grand towards it, get this truck sold, pay the difference, and then buy a $2,000 1988 Corolla with 400,000 miles on it."

Rachel Cruze agreed: "That’s exactly what I would do, which would be about a $7,000 loan and a crappy car versus a nice truck that is worth $76,000."

Here is why the math forces this outcome.

Being Upside Down Changes Every Option

When you owe more on a vehicle than it is worth, you cannot simply sell it and walk away clean. Colin is $16,000 underwater on the truck. That gap has to be paid by someone. The plan Delony outlined closes it using the $11,000 in stocks plus a small credit union loan to cover the remainder, then gets Colin into a cheap car with no payment.

Continuing to make $1,200 monthly payments on a truck he cannot afford while relocating to a new state with no stable housing is not a viable path. At $1,200 a month, vehicle payments alone consume a large portion of entry-level take-home pay, leaving almost nothing for rent, food, or the mental health treatment Colin needs.

Delony named the $40,000 loss directly: "Can you metabolize a $40,000 stupid tax? Would we draw that up again? No. Would we run it back differently? Yep. But we can’t do either of those things. And so the reality is here we are."

The “stupid tax” framing matters. The $40,000 is gone. Treating it as a sunk cost and making the best decision from today’s position is the only productive move.

Why Selling the Stock Is the Right Call Here

Holding stocks while carrying high-interest debt on a depreciating asset is a losing position in almost every scenario. A truck loses value every month. The $11,000 in stocks may grow, but it would need to outpace both the depreciation on the truck and the interest on the loan to justify keeping it. That is an unrealistic hurdle for a 22-year-old who needs liquidity now.

The broader economic backdrop makes this more urgent. The personal savings rate fell from 6.2% in Q1 2024 to 4.0% in Q4 2025, meaning American households broadly are carrying less financial cushion than they were 18 months ago. Consumer sentiment sits at 56.4, well below the 80-point threshold that signals neutral economic confidence. Colin is not alone in being financially stretched, but that context does not change what he needs to do.

The Profile This Advice Fits

Delony’s plan works specifically for someone in Colin’s position: young, no dependents, willing to relocate, and holding liquid assets that can be converted immediately. The credit union loan is key. Credit unions typically offer lower rates than dealerships or banks on personal loans, and a $5,000 to $7,000 loan at a reasonable rate is manageable on almost any starting salary.

This plan is harder for someone with dependents who needs a reliable vehicle for work, or someone whose stocks are in a tax-advantaged account where early withdrawal triggers penalties. Colin’s stocks are in a taxable brokerage account and he has no family obligations, making the liquidation straightforward.

The Steps Colin Needs to Take

1. Contact the VA in Texas immediately to establish mental health care before the move. This is the foundation everything else depends on.
2. Get a payoff quote from the truck lender to confirm the exact amount owed versus current market value.
3. Apply for a personal loan at a credit union, targeting $5,000 to $7,000 to cover the gap between what the truck sells for and what is owed.
4. Sell the stocks, apply the proceeds to the truck payoff, and close the loan balance with the credit union funds.
5. Buy a reliable used car in the $2,000 to $3,000 range with cash.

Delony’s closing line to Colin captures the real goal: "I want to reestablish trust again with Colin. Colin’s a guy that does the next right thing." The truck is a financial problem with a clear solution. The next right thing starts with getting that truck sold.