QUESTION: Jeff took a new job about four weeks ago. Just the other day, he was recruited by another company for a position paying twice what he makes now. Jeff didn’t sign a contract stipulating how long he would work for his current company, but he values integrity and wants to handle things well and do the right thing. Dave gives him some advice for handling this uncomfortable situation.

ANSWER: I try to put other people’s shoes on. Let’s pretend you own the company, and you just hired a young guy. Then, somebody offered him double and he walked into your office and said that. I can tell you what would happen here. I’d tell him to take it, because I would. And I’m not going to double his income that quickly.

Now, if you’ve got an unreasonable person working there, they may not say that. They may try to put some kind of guilt trip on you or something like that. But truthfully, if an organization cares about its team members, and one of those has the ability to double their income and they’re not breaking a promise in the process, then it’s a reasonable thing for you to take the job.

I would probably want to walk into a leader or supervisor’s office and just say that. Just let them know that you feel awful about the situation, and tell them you know they’re good people and they wouldn’t expect you to stay if you had the opportunity to make double what you’re making there. Let them know you had no intention of being misleading to them when you came in and that you’ll do everything you can to make the transition as easy as possible.

But I think you take the job. Just talk about the awkwardness out loud, and remember that their reaction may be more about them than anything else. But I mean, as the boss or owner of the company, how am I ever going to feel right about that if I ask you to stay?

That’s how I would handle it. All I’m doing there is treating other people the way I like to be treated—as an employer or an employee. I would just walk in there and tell the truth. Just make dadgum sure you’ve got the other one tied up before you do that.

QUESTION: Dave receives a note in which the writer says that when people work for a company, they do not owe the company loyalty. As you might imagine, Dave feels the writer has a lot to learn about things such as loyalty, character and ethics.

ANSWER: That makes me want to be an old man and say something like, “That’s what’s wrong with this generation!” I want to say something like that to an idiot response like this. Let me give you a story.

My grandfather passed away many years ago. He worked for Alcoa Aluminum in Alcoa, Tennessee, for 38 years. Once he went into my mom and dad’s home, and my mom pulled out a roll of Reynolds Wrap—the competing aluminum foil to Alcoa aluminum foil. She bought the wrong brand. He ripped it out of her hands, threw it in the trash and said, “Never buy from the enemy!”

That’s the kind of loyalty people had in those days to the company they worked for—the company that took care of them and fed them. Now, I understand that many companies today aren’t as loyal to people as they should be. I get that part. But that’s irrelevant to how you have your ethics. Your ethics are you’re loyal to who pays you, and if you can’t be loyal to who pays you then you need to change to someone you can be loyal to. That’s called character!

QUESTION: Jennifer’s husband recently lost his job as a roofing and remodeling contractor. Now, she says, he’s considering opening his own roofing company and bringing in a former co-worker. Jennifer asks for Dave’s advice on how to proceed with setting things up.

ANSWER: His former co-worker should be what’s known as an employee. That’s the relationship. You could bring him in as a subcontractor, or you could just bring him in as an employee on a percentage of the jobs he brings in — which is kind of like being a subcontractor pay-wise.

I would open it as a sole proprietorship. I think you’ve got two major areas in this business. Your husband knows how to sell jobs. That’s going to be the easy part for him. But he’s got to line up some crews before he sells any jobs. So he needs to get out there, hustle up, and find three or four people who are willing to work with him and what kind of pricing they’ll give him. He needs to get that lined up, and if he’s buying supplies, he needs to swing by a supplier, set up accounts, and negotiate his prices on the shingles, nails and so forth.

When it comes to taxes and bookkeeping, just hold back 25 percent of your net profit each month in a separate account before you take it home. If you do that, you’ll be okay on your taxes until you get above $80,000 net profit. That’s probably not going to happen for a little while, so just start with a fourth and you’ll be in good shape.

QUESTION: Erik and his wife in San Antonio, Texas, are thinking about selling their home. He was recently separated from the military due to downsizing, and his wife is a teacher who brings home about $3,500 a month. The only debt they have is their mortgage at $1,616 monthly, plus he was given a $35,000 severance package. Now, Erik is just starting a job in real estate and things are slow. Dave gives him some advice to help bridge the financial gap.

ANSWER: Variable income isn’t hard. It’s having no income that’s hard. Are there some things you can do on the side while you’re getting your real estate business going that will create some income? I mean, if you could create $1,000 to $2,000 a month, you’d change the whole picture and be able to keep your home while you make this transition.

Long term, two years from now, you’re selling a bunch of homes as a realtor, and you could easily stay in the house. But if you don’t find some side income while you get your real estate business going, I mean if you’re not willing to do that, then you probably need to sell the house.

It takes about six to nine months to start making a living in the residential real estate business. So, exactly like I was saying, if you go make $1,000 to $2,000 a month on the side while you’re running your residential real estate business and getting it going — even if it’s just delivering pizzas — $1,500 a month changes your whole life right now. It gives you patience to get the real estate business going, so you don’t have to sell your house.

The more houses you sell, the less pizza you deliver. But let’s find something to do to supplement your income in the short term, for the next six months or so, while you get the real estate business going. If you don’t do that, then you need to sell the house.