News & Trending Money News

Dave Ramsey’s Blunt Advice for People in Their 50s Who Are Behind on Retirement

He says 50 isn't too late, but the approach has to change.

By Chris Lewis, CEPF , Edited by Laura Hohenstein

Updated Nov. 10, 2026

Add Us On Google

If you hit 50 and your retirement balance makes you wince, you're not alone. Dave Ramsey's company, Ramsey Solutions, conducted a State of Personal Finance study and found that only 47% of Americans are investing for the future. Additionally, an earlier round of the same research found that 56% feel behind on their retirement savings goals.

So if you feel far behind in your retirement planning, you're in the majority now. The good news is there's still plenty of time to get ahead financially if you follow Ramsey's brutally honest investing advice.

Here's his investment advice for Americans who are far behind their retirement goals at 50.

Now Available: The Definitive Guide to Retirement Income

Many successful investors eventually reach the same moment. The saving is done, the portfolio is built, and the question quietly changes from how much can I grow this to how much can I take out? Get that second question wrong and decades of good investing can come apart in a handful of years.

That is exactly what The Definitive Guide to Retirement Income helps answer.¹ <p class="">Investing in securities involves a risk of loss. Past performance is never a guarantee of future returns. Investing in foreign stock markets involves additional risks, such as the risk of currency fluctuations. Guides are provided by Fisher Investments. The publisher may be compensated when readers request a guide.</p> It covers what your retirement could actually cost, which income sources are worth using, and the withdrawal math that decides whether the money lasts. It is free today from Fisher Investments. Read More Here ›

How to get ahead financially at 50

Ramsey has a few key money moves that older Americans need to make if they want to catch up on their retirement planning. The key here is having the focus and the discipline to change your financial situation.

Shopping for cheaper auto insurance? Enter your zip code here to get started.

Pay off your non-mortgage debt first

Ramsey recommends paying off every debt except the house before you build wealth, and he doesn't soften it for late starters. The interest rates on non-housing debt crush all potential gains you might make from the stock market.

Ramsey suggests foregoing market investing to put all your cash toward paying down debt, and that makes perfect sense. According to the Federal Reserve, the average credit card APR was 22.36% as of August 2026. No amount of smart investing can overcome that percentage, so you have to funnel in all extra cash toward paying down your debt.

Invest 15% of your gross income

Once the debt is gone, Ramsey recommends investing 15% of gross household income into retirement accounts, and he applies that number to late starters without adjustment.

On "The Ramsey Show," he told Trisha, a 51-year-old divorced mom earning about $66,000 between two jobs, that investing 15% of her income from 51 to 70 could leave her with $600,000 to $800,000, even if she never got another raise.

Those projections lean on Ramsey's famously optimistic return assumptions, so treat the range as directional rather than guaranteed. The underlying point holds either way. Fifteen percent of a decent income, invested consistently for nearly two decades, is real money.

Released: The Definitive Guide to Retirement Income (Sponsor)

Most people spend their entire working lives focusing on one thing: growing a pile of money. Then they retire and discover the skill they actually need is close to the opposite. Turning that pile into steady income, year after year, through good markets and bad, without ever running out. It may be the least discussed and most consequential transition in personal finance, and plenty of otherwise careful investors walk into it with no real plan.

That is exactly what The Definitive Guide to Retirement Income helps answer.¹ <p class="">Investing in securities involves a risk of loss. Past performance is never a guarantee of future returns. Investing in foreign stock markets involves additional risks, such as the risk of currency fluctuations. Guides are provided by Fisher Investments. The publisher may be compensated when readers request a guide.</p> It is a free guide from Fisher Investments covering what your retirement will really cost, where the cash flow should come from, and how much you can safely withdraw each year. Learn More Here ›

Max out your catch-up contributions

Turning 50 unlocks extra retirement contribution limits that younger workers don't have access to. For 2026, the IRS caps 401(k) contributions at $24,500, but workers 50 and older can add an $8,000 catch-up, bringing the total to $32,500.

It gets better between 60 and 63. A SECURE 2.0 provision raises the catch-up to $11,250 for workers in that age window, pushing the ceiling to $35,750 if your plan allows it. IRAs get their own boost: The 2026 limit is $7,500, or $8,600 total once you add the $1,100 catch-up for savers 50 and up. Between a maxed 401(k) and a maxed IRA, a 61-year-old could shelter more than $44,000 in a single year.

If you take those 13 years of max retirement contributions at a 10% average annual return, roughly the long-run S&P 500 average, that grows to about $1.02 million by age 63. Even if you use a more conservative 7% assumption, closer to the market's inflation-adjusted average, you still land around $840,000 in today's dollars.

Go Roth where you can

Ramsey has a clear order for where your investment money should go: Invest up to your employer match first, then fully fund a Roth IRA, then go back to your workplace plan until you reach 15%.

For someone starting later in life, this approach is crucial. Roth money grows tax-free and comes out tax-free in retirement, and Roth IRAs carry no required minimum distributions during your lifetime. When your nest egg is smaller than you'd like, not owing the IRS a cut of every withdrawal matters.

As Ramsey Solutions puts it, if you have access to a Roth 401(k), "always pick that option."

Work a few more years if the math demands it

While it's a hard idea for most to swallow, the math really works out in favor of people who are able to work more years. Ramsey agrees, and in his guidance, he shows just how much extra money one could make by working a couple more years while keeping the same investing habits. Investing $800 a month from 45 to 65 could land near $700,000, while holding the same pace to 70 could reach $1.2 million.

Throw in taking Social Security later in life, and you set yourself up strongly for retirement. For every year you delay claiming past full retirement age, your benefit grows about 8%, with the increase stopping at age 70. Someone with a full retirement age of 67 who waits until 70 locks in a 24% larger check for life.

Retirement News: Almost 80% of Americans fear a retirement age increase — here’s the real reason why

Stick to a tight budget

Ramsey's budgeting method is zero-based: Income minus expenses equals zero, because every dollar gets assigned a job before the month starts. For someone catching up at 50, the job for most of those dollars is retirement.

Bottom line

Ramsey's message to anyone feeling behind at 50 never changes: Where you start matters less than what you do next. Clear the debt, invest 15%, use the catch-up limits Congress built for exactly this situation, and give the plan more working years if the math demands it. Discipline over the next 15 years beats a perfect head start. Even at 50, it's not too late to get back on track for retirement.

And it's never too late in life to hit those financial fitness goals. So even if you're 50 and just getting serious, you're not as far behind the wealthy as you think.

More from FinanceBuzz:

Intro APR on purchases and balance transfers
$0 annual fee
Apply Now

INTRO OFFER: Receive a $200 statement credit when you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months of account opening
UNLIMITED CASHBACK MATCH: Discover will automatically match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year! There’s no minimum spending or maximum rewards. You could turn $150 cash back into $300. Click Apply Now to view important rates and disclosures
Earn 5% cash back on everyday purchases at different places you shop each quarter, up to the quarterly maximum when you activate. Plus, earn unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases
Redeem cash back for any amount. Every $1 you earn in cash back is $1 you can redeem
Rewards don't expire for the life of the account
No annual fee and no foreign transaction fee
Lock your card in the Mobile app if it’s misplaced, lost, or stolen
You're covered by $0 Fraud Liability for unauthorized charges

4.7

Apply Now

on Issuer's secure website

Read Card Review

Intro Offer

UNLIMITED CASHBACK MATCH: Discover will automatically match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year! There’s no minimum spending or maximum rewards. You could turn $150 cash back into $300. Click Apply Now to view important rates and disclosures. Plus, receive a $200 statement credit when you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months of account opening

Annual Fee

Why we like it