Dave Ramsey tells Arkansas mom, 51, with no savings she can retire comfortably. How it works

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Finding yourself divorced at 51 after being a lifelong stay-at-home mom would make almost anyone feel overwhelmed. And that’s before having to figure out how to take financial control of your life.

That’s what happened to Trisha, who called into The Ramsey Show when her husband left after 22 years in 2022 (1), taking his $130,000 annual income with him but leaving behind the new car he’d bought her the month before, which came with a $596 monthly payment.

Now that she’s had a few years to sort herself out, she’s looking to find a way forward. In addition to having to support herself, she is scared about retirement. She told hosts Ramsey and Jade Warshaw, “I spent my whole life raising kids, homeschooling. I have basically no retirement.”

But Ramsey says she can get back on track, even if she starts saving late.

“Lots of 51-year-olds making $50,000 a year, $75,000 a year with your extra income coming in have become millionaires by the time they were 65 or 70. Lots of them,” Ramsey said.

Here’s what to do if you find yourself struggling to make up for lost time when it comes to retirement savings.

Despite Trisha’s fear for her future, Ramsey was at ease, saying, “Your math is going to be OK. You’re gonna get there.”

Trisha told the hosts she had refinanced her car loan to save her money, started a second job, and had $38,000 saved in a money market fund, along with $3,000 in another account.

With this fairly solid footing, Ramsey recommended his 7 Baby Steps program (2), which details his approach to building wealth.

These steps are:

1. Saving a $1,000 starter emergency fund

2. Paying off all debt (except the mortgage)

3. Saving three to six months of living expenses in an emergency fund

4. Investing 15% of your household income

5. Saving for college for your kids

6. Paying off your home early

7. Building wealth and giving

Ramsey went through the steps with Trisha, advising her to first pay off the remaining balance on the car, which was around $25,000.

“Write a check today and pay off the car,” he said. While he acknowledged this would be “very scary,” he also pointed out she would still have $16,000 left in savings, which was a good start to the emergency fund.

If you’re just starting to build your emergency fund like Trisha, don’t let your cash sit gathering dust. An ideal emergency fund will typically combine high liquidity, so you can get to your cash when you need it, with a solid interest rate to keep growing your savings.

But traditional savings accounts typically have low interest rates. This makes finding the right high-yield alternative essential for boosting your saving power.

To get started, a high-yield account, such as a Wealthfront Cash Account, can be a great place to grow your emergency funds, offering both competitive interest rates and easy access to your cash when you need it.

A Wealthfront Cash Account can provide a base variable APY of 3.30%, but new clients can get a 0.65% boost over their first three months for a total APY of 3.95% provided by program banks on your uninvested cash. That’s over nine times the national deposit savings rate, according to the FDIC’s November report.

With no minimum balances or account fees, as well as 24/7 withdrawals and free domestic wire transfers, you can ensure your funds remain accessible at all times. Plus, Wealthfront Cash Account balances of up to $8 million are insured by the FDIC through program banks.

Since Trisha has already started an emergency fund, her kids have finished college and she rents her home rather than owns it, Ramsey concluded the only big thing left for her to do was start investing 15% of her income.

Trisha is earning $52,400 and has a second job that made $14,000 last year. She is also eligible for an employer match on her 401(k). Running the numbers, Ramsey felt confident that if she invested 15% of her income from age 51 to 70, she’d end up with $600,000 to $800,000 — even if she never got another raise.

He left her with one key piece of advice: “You have to continue to be very process driven, math driven, and let the facts talk to you,” he said. “You can fight through this. You can do it.”

Tracking where your money is going at all times isn’t just a quick fix for someone in Trisha’s situation. It’s the start of a lifelong commitment to financial literacy.

But managing all of your inputs and outputs yourself can be a major time drain, especially if you’re working two jobs.

You can also let Rocket Money work behind the scenes to keep your finances on track.

With the app’s premium Net Worth feature, you can link all your accounts — banking, investments, retirement, property, vehicles, and even manually added items like jewelry — and it shows your assets versus liabilities in real time, no spreadsheets required.

With free tools like subscription tracking, bill reminders, credit scores, and budgeting basics, plus premium features such as automated savings and customizable dashboards, Rocket Money makes it easier to see the big financial picture, stay on top of your investments, and keep you focused on building your wealth.

Read More: I’m almost 50 years old and don’t have retirement savings. Is it too late to catch up?

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Trisha’s fear about retirement isn’t unique. While 59% of Americans have a retirement account such as a 401(k) or IRA, only about half of them believe their savings will be enough to live on comfortably, according to a Gallup poll (3).

And the balances don’t inspire much confidence either. Vanguard’s 2025 How America Saves Report shows the average retirement account balance for Vanguard participants was $148,153, but the median balance — a better reflection of the typical saver — was $38,176. And even for those closest to retirement, the median balance was $95,642 (4).

That number may sound large, but under the common “4% rule,” it would generate less than $4,000 a year in retirement income.

For someone like Trisha, the takeaway is clear: Getting serious about consistent investing now can be the difference between barely scraping by and retiring with confidence later in life.

If you’re behind on saving for retirement, or starting almost from scratch like Trisha, there are concrete steps you can take to catch up.

Determine your retirement number: A general rule of thumb is to aim for 10 times your final salary saved by retirement.

For example, if you plan to retire earning $60,000 a year, you’d need about $600,000 saved. Use a calculator, like the one at Investor.gov, to plug in your current age, expected contributions and time horizon to see what it will take.

Max out catch-up contributions: Workers 50 and older can contribute an additional $8,000 to a 401(k) in 2025, on top of the $24,500 standard limit. IRA holders can add an extra $1,100 to the $7,500 annual limit (5).

These provisions are specifically designed for late starters.

Delay retirement if possible: Working a few extra years can dramatically increase your nest egg by giving your investments more time to grow while also reducing the number of years you’ll need to draw down your savings.

Invest for growth: A diversified portfolio of ETFs can be one key to building wealth over the decades. While bonds offer safety, equities can provide the long-term growth you need if you’re starting late.

That said, building up your retirement fund doesn’t always have to mean moving all your money into a huge investment account. You can start small — even by saving spare change from everyday purchases. It all adds up over time, especially if you start early.

For instance, saving just $3 each day adds up to over $1,000 in a year — and that’s before it compounds and earns money in the market.

With Acorns, you can automatically invest spare change from your everyday purchases into a diversified portfolio of ETFs managed by experts at leading investment firms like Vanguard and BlackRock.

Here’s how it works: Once you link your debit and credit cards, Acorns automatically rounds up each transaction to the nearest dollar and invests the difference in a smart investment portfolio for you. So, your $3.25 morning coffee automatically becomes a 75-cent investment in your future.

You can also set up a recurring deposit if the round-ups aren’t enough. Even better, you can get a $20 bonus investment when you establish a monthly contribution.

Once you’ve established a solid investment portfolio at a baseline, it’s time to start thinking about diversification to protect yourself. One common strategy is to balance your stocks and bonds with market-resilient alternative assets like real estate or private equity.

For many, investing in real estate automatically translates to getting a mortgage and taking on “good” debt. However, there are other options available to investors.

For instance, real estate crowdfunding platforms like Arrived make it easy to get started with this asset class.

Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived helps you buy into shares of prime residential real estate and vacation rentals across the country.

Arrived manages everything for you — from property taxes to finding reliable tenants — so you can sit back and relax. And any potential rental income generated by the property is distributed to shareholders, helping you set up a source of passive income.

Once you choose a property, you can start investing with as little as $100. You’ll also get access to their secondary market, which is currently undergoing a phased rollout, giving you even more flexibility to buy, sell or hold shares of individual rental and vacation rental properties.

If you want to opt for a different course, you might want to consider investing in the Arrived Private Credit Fund instead.

Arrived’s Private Credit Fund allows you to invest in short-term loans used to fund real estate projects, such as renovations, property rehabs or even new home construction projects.

All of the loans are secured by residential housing as collateral — so even if the borrowers default, the underlying property can be sold to keep the fund healthy.

Historically, the Arrived Private Credit Fund has paid investors 8.1% in annualized dividends, distributed monthly. Dividend stocks don’t even come close — the long-term average yield for S&P 500 is about 1.8% (6).

Starting at 51 may feel intimidating, but as Trisha’s example shows, it’s not too late.

With focused saving, smart investing and steady discipline, you can still build a meaningful retirement fund and reclaim control of your financial future.

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.

The Ramsey Show (1); Ramsey Solutions (2); Gallup (3); Vanguard (4); IRS (5); YCharts (6)

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