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

“Write a check today and pay off the car,” he said. While he admitted that it would be “pretty scary,” he also pointed out that he still had $16,000 left in savings, which was a good start for an emergency fund.

If you’re just starting to build your emergency fund like Trisha, don’t let your cash gather dust. An ideal emergency fund usually combines high liquidity, so you can get your cash when you need it, with a solid interest rate to grow your savings.

But traditional savings accounts usually have lower interest rates. This makes it essential to find the right high yield option to increase your saving power.

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

A Wealthfront Cash account may offer a base variable APY of 3.30%, but new customers can earn a 0.65% increase in their first three months for a total of 3.95% APY offered by program banks on their uninvested cash. That’s more than nine times the national deposit savings rate, according to the FDIC’s November report.

With no minimum balance or account fees, plus 24/7 withdrawals and free domestic wire transfers, you can ensure your funds are always accessible. In addition, Wealthfront cash account balances up to $8 million are insured by the FDIC through program banks.

After Trisha has started an emergency fund, her children have finished college and she rents rather than owns her home, Ramsey concludes that the only big thing left for her to do is start investing 15% of her income.

Trisha earns $52,400 and has a second job that earned $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 ages 51 to 70, she would reach $600,000 to $800,000 — even if she didn’t receive another raise.

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

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

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

You can 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 — including manually added items like banking, investments, retirement, property, vehicles, and 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 like automatic savings and customizable dashboards, Rocket Money makes it easy to see the big financial picture, stay on top of your investments, and keep you focused on building your wealth.

Read more: Approaching retirement with no savings? Fear not, you are not alone. Here are 6 easy ways you can catch up (and fast).

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

And the balance doesn’t inspire much confidence either. Vanguard’s 2025 How America Saves report found 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 nearing retirement, the median balance was $95,642 (4).

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

For someone like Trisha, the takeaway is clear: Getting serious about consistent investing now can mean 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, you can take concrete steps 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 per year, you’ll need about $600,000 in savings. Use the calculator on Investor.gov to see your current age, expected contributions and what it will take over the time horizon.

Maximum 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 additional $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 and reduce the number of years you need to draw down your savings.

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

That said, building your retirement fund doesn’t mean moving all your money into a large 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 example, saving just $3 each day adds up to $1,000 a year — and that’s before compounding and making money in the market.

With Acorns, you can automatically invest the extra change from your daily 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 recurring deposits if 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 fundamentally sound investment portfolio, it’s time to start thinking about diversification to protect yourself. A common strategy is to balance your stocks and bonds with market-sensitive alternative assets such as real estate or private equity.

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

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

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

Arrived handles 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 as little as $100. You’ll also get access to their secondary market, which is currently undergoing a phased rollout, giving you 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 can consider investing in incoming private credit funds instead.

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

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

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

Starting at 51 can feel daunting, but as Trisha’s example shows, it’s never too late.

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

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Ramsay Show (1); Ramsay Solution (2); Gallup (3); Vanguard (4); IRS (5); YCharts (6)

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