Dear Dave,

My wife and I make about $180,000 a year combined. We’re also debt-free, and we have no kids. We’d like to start planning to buy a nice piece of land sometime in the near future. Do you have a rule of thumb when it comes to determining what percentage of our savings we should put towards a large purchase like this?

— Daniel

Dear Daniel,

Honestly, I’m not sure there’s necessarily a specific percentage for this kind of thing. Since you guys are already debt free — and congratulations on that, by the way — I’d advise first making sure you’ve got a fully loaded emergency fund of three to six months of expense in place.

I’d also recommend you have some sort of retirement savings plan going before buying a piece of land.

You two have done a great job with your money, so in your case, it sounds like any other cash you might have sitting around is just wealth.

So, if you’ve got an extra $100,000 sitting in a savings account in addition to all these other things, and you’d rather have $100,000 worth of land instead of that bank account, I’m good with it.

Do you understand what I’m saying, Daniel? In my mind, it’s more a matter of ratios than percentages.

Now, this would all change, of course, if your household income was $50,000 a year instead of $180,000 a year. And I wouldn’t advise anyone to put building an emergency fund or saving for retirement on hold while they saved up to buy a piece of land.

There needs to be a sensible balance. And that means making mature, grown-up decisions, and ensuring you have the really important things in life covered first.

Great question, Daniel!

— Dave

• Dave Ramsey is a nine-time national bestselling author, personal finance expert and host of The Ramsey Show. He has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Today, Fox News, CNN, Fox Business and many more. Since 1992, Dave has helped people take control of their money, build wealth and enhance their lives. He also serves as CEO for Ramsey Solutions