Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTMichael WilliamsSat, July 4, 2026 at 1:35 AM GMT+2 5 min readQuick ReadDave Ramsey told a caller to immediately cancel his mother's $18,000 co-signed credit card after six years of zero balance progress.At 21% APR, a $360 minimum payment on an $18,000 balance barely covers monthly interest, leaving the principal essentially untouched.Co-signing creates legal shared ownership of debt, exposing the co-signer's credit score, wages, and borrowing capacity if the primary borrower defaults.Many financial professionals are salespeople paid on what they push, not whether you end up wealthier. A fiduciary is the opposite. The SEC legally requires them to put your interests first. Advisor.com's free matching tool pairs you with vetted fiduciaries from major national firms, all in under three minutes. See who you match with today.A caller to The Ramsey Show earning $85,000 a year called in with two debt problems layered on top of each other. His own balance had started at $53,000. He told Dave Ramsey, "I've been listening to you, so I've sold some stocks that I had in an ESP plan, and I brought my debt down to about $20,000." That is real progress. Then he explained the second problem: he had co-signed a credit card and a lease for his mother roughly six years ago during COVID, and the card still carried an $18,000 balance that had never come down.Anna Webber | Getty ImagesRamsey's response was blunt. "She's never going to pay off the debt. COVID was 6 years ago. We're not going to sit around and wait on her." He told the caller to add the $18,000 to his own payoff list, refuse to renew as co-signer on the lease, and act on the card now: "Cancel the card. No more charges. Charges aren't allowed by anybody, you or her."The verdict: Ramsey is right, and the APR is whyFinancial mistakes do not define anyone. Cutting personal debt from $53,000 to roughly $20,000 by liquidating an employee stock purchase plan is proof of that. But co-signing creates shared legal liability, and the numbers on this specific card make delay dangerous.Are You Ready To Retire, Or Years Behind?Most Americans suspect they're behind on retirement and never find out.