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She had good intentions—just a bad plan.

“I was just trying to help my husband retire early,” a Boston woman told “The Ramsey Show,” where Dave Ramsey‘s team took her through the wreckage of a failed real estate experiment.

She took money out of her husband’s 401(k), invested in two homes and now she’s stuck with hard money loans, rising interest, and no way out.

“I asked if I could borrow from his 401(k), so that I could, you know, invest in flips and flip them and then help pay down the mortgage,” she explained.

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The first flip failed. The house didn’t sell, the hard money loan came due, and she had to refinance. “Now we’re stuck with that house,” she said. “But the renter is paying for that—it’s covering the expenses.”

Then she did it again. Flip number two is now a second burden. “I’m stuck with a house that is nearing its maturity for the hard money loan to be paid,” she said.

Host George Kamel couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You touched the hot stove, and then you did it again,” he said. “You need to get out of the real estate game entirely.”

He pressed her for numbers. The loss? “At least $12,000,” she said.

The couple has about $9,000 in emergency savings and around $4,000 or $5,000 in a business account. Her husband’s 401(k) still has $49,000—what’s left after she pulled out $40,000. “That was a straight-up withdrawal?” Kamel asked. It was.

“You paid upwards of what, 35% in taxes and penalties,” he said. “You robbed yourself of all the compound growth that could have happened.”

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He added, “Let’s stop robbing the 401(k).”

She told them her husband tried to put some money back into the account, but the provider said he was too old.

Kamel asked what part of Boston the property was in, assuming it was local. That’s when the caller clarified—she lived in Boston, but the properties were in Birmingham, Alabama.

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“What made you go, ‘We’re going to purchase property thousands of miles away and hope for the best?'” Kamel asked.

“Someone on YouTube,” she said. “The properties were just cheaper.”

Co-host Jade Warshaw told her to immediately stop taking advice from strangers online.

The financial details were ugly. She bought the first house in Birmingham for $64,500. Renovations cost another $102,500 using a hard money loan. Total: $168,000. She thought it could sell for $229,000. It didn’t.

“There were no offers,” she said. Not in four months. “Supposedly it was priced right,” she claimed, but the market said otherwise.

Kamel broke down the numbers. “If you can sell the first one for $180,000, walk away,” he said. “Clear $12,000 and use that to offset the second property.”

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But the second house is even worse. That property is fully funded with a hard money loan—$138,500. It was due three months ago. The lender extended it, but now he’s charging her $1,385 a month. “He’s charging a solid 1% every single month that this thing doesn’t sell,” she said. “And come June, he’s going to charge me an additional $1,385.”

“Sell it at a loss,” Kamel said. “I don’t care if you lose $12,000—you are not meant to be real estate moguls.”

Then came Kamel’s knockout.

‘I hope this is a lesson to all of you, America. This is how Dave Ramsey went bankrupt in the ‘80s. Same exact concept. He’s been telling y’all for 30 years not to do this crap—and here you are.”

Flippers who profit usually buy properties below market value, fund renovations out of pocket, and have local knowledge—or boots on the ground—to manage the project.

It’s not passive, and it’s definitely not quick cash. For everyday investors who want real estate exposure without hard money loans, property rehabs, or cross-country risks, platforms like Arrived offer an alternative—letting people invest in fractional shares of rental homes with as little as $100.

The lesson for the caller wasn’t just about a couple of bad flips—it was about knowing your limits. Investing without experience, local insight, or a solid plan isn’t a shortcut to wealth. It’s touching a hot stove.

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This article Dave Ramsey Caller Says She Was Trying To ‘Help’ Her Husband Retire Early By Borrowing From His 401(k) To Buy And Flip Houses…But They Didn’t Sell originally appeared on Benzinga.com