New Yorklu bir adam Bahamalar'daki tekneleri tamir etmek için 87 bin $ ücret kesintisi yapmak istiyor — bir ayrıntı Ramsey ev sahiplerinin kararını değiştirdi

A New York man wants to take an $87K pay cut to fix boats in the Bahamas — one detail flipped the Ramsey hosts' verdict

Emma Caplan-Fisher

Fri, September 11, 2026 at 1:30 PM GMT+3 4 min read

John has spent nearly two decades in manufacturing in New York, and is now earning $135,000 a year. He has a job offer to work on boats in the Bahamas for $48,000 and wanted to know if he was about to make a catastrophic mistake.

"I'm kind of curious if I'm about to commit financial suicide," he told The Ramsey Show.

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The numbers

The pay cut is $87,000. The company would train John, and, assuming all that is promised is delivered, the role comes with shared housing in the Bahamas — a two-bedroom apartment split with one other employee, rent-free.

His fiancée is 52, earns about $15,000 a year on disability and would be welcome to join him. John is 44, has no consumer debt, owes $57,000 on a home worth $350,000 to $375,000, and holds roughly $615,000 in other assets: $550,000 in a 401(k), $25,000 in stocks, $30,000 in a high-yield savings account and $10,000 in checking and savings.

For context on what the role pays: according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US median annual salary for motorboat mechanics and service technicians was $57,550 in May 2025.

But while John's $48,000 offer is below the U.S. median, the Bahamas is its own market.

According to the Economic Research Institute's 2026 Bahamas compensation data, the average boat mechanic salary in the Bahamas is approximately 31,578 Bahamian dollars. So, with the Bahamian dollar pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, John's $48,000 offer sits well above the local average, suggesting the company is paying a premium to attract skilled workers.

The detail that changed everything

Cohosts Rachel Cruze and George Kamel were running cautious math. John estimated his living costs in the Bahamas at around $3,000 a month, and Kamel estimated his net take-home from the $48,000 salary at roughly $3,000 a month after the Bahamas' 3.5% insurance bond deduction that John noted — leaving almost nothing to spare.

Then John revealed something he'd held back: "I'm a disabled veteran. And I do have substantial income from that as well. That would be equal to — that's $4,500 a month."

"Well, you buried the lead there," Kamel said. "That really helps us out with the expenses. We were scared you were running it up to the line."

That $4,500 is all-inclusive. Veterans Affairs provides tax-free, monthly disability compensation for veterans who were injured or became ill during military service. So, combined with Kamel's estimated $3,000 net monthly salary, John's total monthly income would be around $7,500. After the $3,000 in estimated living expenses, that leaves roughly $4,500 in monthly margin.

The US tax question

On U.S. taxes for working abroad, Cruze was uncertain.The reality is that U.S. citizens owe taxes on worldwide income regardless of where they live, according to the IRS. However, the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion allows qualifying Americans abroad to exclude up to $132,900 in earned income for 2026.

At $48,000 in wages, John would likely fall under that threshold — meaning his salary could be largely shielded from federal income tax if he meets the residency requirements.

The verdict and the bigger lesson

With the Veterans Affairs income in the picture, Kamel's assessment shifted completely. "It sounds like a fun adventure if your fiancée's on board and it's not going to destroy your relationship, even if you did this for a couple of years."

When he eventually sells his New York home, Kamel estimated he'd walk away with roughly $300,000 in equity to invest — and with his existing assets, Cruze projected John would clear a million-dollar net worth through it all. John noted his assets are already at $950,000.

Kamel's closing observation applied well beyond John's situation: "You don't have to do work that you hate just because it's good money." For a 44-year-old with nearly a million dollars in assets, no debt and tax-free income for life, the math supported what his gut was already telling him.

This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com under the title: A New York man wants to take an $87K pay cut to fix boats in the Bahamas — one detail flipped the Ramsey hosts' verdict

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.