Why Most People Don’t Retire a Millionaire

Summary

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Episode Overview

Podcast: Ramsey Everyday Millionaires
Episode: Why Most People Don’t Retire a Millionaire
Release Date: August 22, 2025
Hosts: Representatives from Ramsey Network – featuring a conversation between George Kamel (“A”) and Dr. John Delony (“B”)

Theme:
This episode unpacks why most Americans don’t retire as millionaires, despite it being mathematically attainable for many. The hosts demystify the steps toward building wealth, expose key pitfalls like debt and lack of discipline, and emphasize the importance of starting early, living below your means, and making intentional choices to secure a prosperous future.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Millionaire Math is Simple—But Behavior Is Hard

• Investing Consistency vs. “Easy Math”
  • George Kamel points out that mathematically, retiring a millionaire is straightforward if you start early: “The math of it is easy.” [00:39]
  • John Delony counters: “How do I lose weight, diet and exercise? Like it’s easy, but it’s hard.” [00:46]
  • The real difficulty is the behavioral side: consistently investing over decades and resisting the temptation to spend.

2. How Much You Need to Invest by Age

• Examples Using the Ramsey Investment Calculator
  • Age 24, start with $0, invest $150/month, 11% return: $1M by age 62.
    • “One million bucks...$68,000 of that was John's contributions. Now $964,000 was growth. That is the power of starting early.” [02:12]
    • Hosts acknowledge skepticism about the 11% assumption but explain this is based on historical S&P 500 averages.
  • Age 35, start with $0, $375/month to $1M by 65 (“way lower than 15%”—the Ramsey recommendation).
  • Age 35, invest 15% ($1,000/month if household income is $80k): $2.8M by 65, “and that’s if you never get a raise.” [04:32]
  • Age 45, $1,200/month to $1M by 65—possible, but you need higher monthly contributions.
  • Age 50, $1,000/month to $600,000 by 67—still achievable with catch-up contributions and higher income. [08:35]

3. Debt and Spending Trap

• Redirecting Debt Payments to Investing
  • People often claim they don’t have enough money to invest, but a look at monthly debt obligations tells a different story.
  • George breaks it down: “How much is your student loan? That’s $400 a month. Your car payment? $600 a month. Credit card minimums? $200 a month. I think I found $1,200 bucks.” [05:22]
  • “When you don’t owe people money, you have money left over. When you...make sacrifices for future you, you will invest said money.” [05:46]

4. Lifestyle Choices: Sacrificing Now for Wealth Later

• Intentional Frugality
  • John Delony notes the difficulty of living differently: “You’ve got to be very intentional about driving the car you need to survive...postponing buying a house for maybe 10 years longer than it took me to buy my first house...it is changing the way TV and Instagram says you should be living...” [06:03]
  • The pain of living below your means is offset by finding joy and laughter within that reality.

5. Wealth Status Is Invisible

• Societal Pressures vs. Real Wealth
  • George: “To be truly wealthy, it has to be invisible to others. Nobody can see the balance of my 401k, but they can see what’s in my driveway.” [06:57]
  • Many people chase visible status symbols while neglecting invisible (but real) wealth.

6. Values, Relationships, and Legacy

• Defining Your “Why”
  • The drive for wealth isn’t about external validation but about future independence and family legacy:
    • John: “We're still using either one of those proxies as some sort of value statement on what we’re worth...do the harder work on our spiritual lives, our relational lives, our emotional and mental health, to say, no, I’ve got value just because. And I’m going to go do the next right thing...” [07:20]
  • George: “Do you want to be a financial burden to your family or do you want to leave an inheritance to your children's children?” [07:56]

7. Key Takeaways

• You Get to Choose Your Wealth Path
  • “That choice, as far as that calculator goes, that choice begins at 24. That choice begins at 35.” [08:03]
• You Can Start Late and Still Succeed
  • Even starting at 50, diligent saving can yield a retirement with dignity, not depending on Social Security. [08:35]
  • “You don’t need to have a 20 million dollar net worth. But there’s also no reason to retire broke and hope that social insecurity covers the bills.” [08:53]

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Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “The math of it is easy.” — George Kamel [00:39]
• “How do I lose weight, diet and exercise? Like it’s easy, but it’s hard.” — Dr. John Delony [00:46]
• “If you don’t think about the future, plan for it, invest for it, then you’ll never have money and you’ll retire broke.” — George Kamel [00:12]
• “You now have no excuse, you know too much to retire broke.” — George Kamel [01:33]
• “150 bucks, that’s like Doordash money. That’s like all of your subscriptions combined for a month money...the problem is human behavior.” — George Kamel [03:32]
• “I want to go back and just give a whooping to 24-year-old me.” — Dr. John Delony [03:56]
• “If you never get a raise, 35 to 65...2.8 million, if you invest $1,000 a month.” — George Kamel [04:32]
• “We’re going to figure out how to have a great, wonderful life in this little reality that we live in. And my promise is if you can choose to live in that, you can choose to find joy and laughter.” — Dr. John Delony [06:36]
• “Nobody can see the balance of my 401k, but they can see what’s in my driveway. That’s the problem—we get way too excited about the thing going down in value in our driveway instead of the invisible number...” — George Kamel [06:57]
• “Do you want to be a financial burden to your family or do you want to leave an inheritance to your children’s children? You get to choose.” — George Kamel [07:56]
• “Building wealth in 2035 starts in 2025.” — George Kamel [08:09]
• “You don't need to have a $20 million net worth. But there's also no reason to retire broke and hope that social insecurity covers the bills.” — George Kamel [08:53]

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Conclusion

The episode underscores that most people fail to retire millionaires not because of math, but because of behavioral pitfalls and societal pressure to spend. The Ramsey plan—live on less than you make, avoid debt, and invest consistently—is accessible, but demands intentional life choices and delayed gratification. Whether you’re 24 or 60, the best time to start investing intentionally is now, and by making values-based decisions, you can secure your financial freedom and legacy.

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*For more advice, tools, and calculators, visit RamseySolutions.com.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign this episode is brought to you by SmartVestor. Connect with an investing pro near you at RamseySolutions.com SmartVestor so John, I've got a YouTube channel and what we try to do is help people build wealth, especially young people who go, I don't want to wait till I'm 65 to enjoy my life. I get it. But we also know if you don't think about the future, plan for it, invest for it, then you'll never have money and you'll retire broke. Which is not okay in America today because it's really easy to retire a millionaire. And yet most people don't.

[B]

Is it easy?

[A]

George? It's. Well, here's the thing. The math of it is easy.

[B]

Okay, there you go.

[A]

The dollar amount you need to invest.

[B]

How do I lose weight, diet and exercise? Like it's easy, but it's hard.

[A]

And as you know and as you every single day, it's harder to make progress.

[B]

There you go. Yeah. When you change habits.

[A]

We all had abs at 24. Yes, right.

[B]

I mean I was, I've always had a thing for gummy candies. Just saying.

[A]

Okay, that's fair. But I thought it would be fun and I've done this on my channel is use our investment calculator to show you exactly how much you would need to invest based on your age in order to have a $1 million nest egg. Cause here's the stat. Only 3% of US adults have a million bucks saved for retirement. Nearly half of Americans have under 10 grand saved and 26% have nothing in any retirement account. And some of that's due to, you know, living paycheck to paycheck. Some of it's financial literacy. But if you're listening to this show, listening to this segment, you now have no excuse, you know, too much to retire broke.

[B]

All right, bring it on.

[A]

Here we go.

[B]

So we're start save the day GK.

[A]

Let'S start with that 24 year old with ass, a young Dr. John, bright eyed, bushy tailed, ready to take on the world. And this is also assuming you're following the Ramsey plan, which means we're not going to take on crippling debt and car payments and student loans and credit card debt. But let's say you're ready to Invest. We recommend 15% into into retirement. And we're going to even go lower than that. We're going to go 150 bucks a month from age 24 to age 62. Let's see what happens. I've got it pulled up. If you're watching on YouTube, you can see in real time. We use this investment calculator on our website, which is free. We'll link it in the description. So you have nothing saved. We're starting from zero and we're going to invest 150 bucks a month and we're going to assume an 11% rate of return. Now John, people are already, they're angry, they're already typing comments on YouTube going, Where's this guy getting 11% on his investments? This is just historical data from the s and P500. So if you look at the US stock market over the last 50, 70 years, you're gonna see an average rate of return of 11%. So we're gonna use that as our number. And what do we find, John? One million bucks. And guess what? 68,000 of that was John's contributions. Now 964,000 was growth. That is the power of starting early. And you'll see what I mean as we move on to our next example. Let's say you're 35, you have nothing saved. You got a hold of this plan a little bit later on in life. And let's also say you work a little bit later, 65, nothing saved. In retirement you would need to invest 375amonth, which again is not even close to the 15% parameter we recommend way lower. But even then at 11%, you'll see you have just over a million bucks. But at this point the growth was 916,000. Your contributions were 135,000.

[B]

Is that real?

[A]

That's real math. And here's the thing I love can be.

[B]

If 24 year old me put 150 bucks away every month, that's it, 150.

[A]

Bucks, that's like doordash money. That's like all of your subscriptions combined for a month money. It's really not that much. The problem is human behavior. We don't have the consistency, the discipline to just put away that money and not go spend it elsewhere. And we got. Well, that's a problem for future John to deal with 35 year old John when he's an adult and he's got like a family and stuff. He'll figure it out. Except we know that that's not how life.

[B]

I want to go back and just give a whooping to 24 year old me.

[A]

I know, I feel the same way. So don't get discouraged. Let's move on to 45. Or you know what, let's move on. Let's actually do 15%. Let's, let's look at that 35 year old who actually invests 15%. Average household income is $80,000 in America. 15% of that is a thousand bucks a month. All right, so let's look at what happens when you invest a thousand bucks a month instead of 375. 2.8 million. So for those of you going, well, John, a million bucks isn't going to be anything when I. Okay, how about 2.8 million? Can we concede? That's a lot of money no matter where you came from. Good. And that's if you never get a raise. 35 to 65. 2.8 million if you invest 1000 bucks a month. Let's move on to the 45 year olds. A lot of people listening who went, man, I wish I could go back to when I was 35 and do this stuff. Let's say you're 45. You have not a dime saved in retirement. Now the truth is, the math is going to differ here. You need to invest more to still achieve a million bucks. So we're going to pipe it up to $1,200 a month from 45 to 65, which again is still about a six figure household income investing 15%. And you can see you can still retire a millionaire at 65 years old with a million bucks in that account. Even if you start from nothing at 45 years old.

[B]

I know, George, but here's the big thing. You're leaving out my feelings.

[A]

Oh, I'm sorry. Let's hear it. How do you feel about this?

[B]

Just feels unfair. I don't know, I was trying to say something.

[A]

And now here's the other thing, John. People go, well, must be nice. Who's got 1200 bucks to invest? And I go, hey, how much is your student loan? Well, that's 400 bucks a month. Hey, what's your car payment? Well, that's 600 bucks a month. Hey, what are your credit card minimums? That's 200 bucks a month. I think I found 1200 bucks. If we got out of that debt, that's how much money would free up to then invest. Therein lies the power and simplicity of the Ramsey plan. When you don't owe people money, you have money left over. When you have money left over and you're willing to make sacrifices for future you, you will invest said money. So that's the big secret is live on less than you make. Don't owe other people money. Invest the surplus and you will be unbelievably wealthy.

[B]

And that means in the short term, not to minimize it. You've got to be very intentional about driving the car. You need to survive, about not going out and figuring out ways to have people over to go out to the park. Is any of that cool? No, it's. It's awful. And postponing in these days, postponing buying a house for maybe 10 years longer than it took me to buy my first house. Right. Like, that's the reality. Those are expensive. But it is changing the way TV and Instagram says you should be living and saying, okay, based on this set of realities, we're going to live this way. And so we're going to figure out how to have a great, wonderful life in. In this. In this little reality that we live in. And my promise is if you can choose to live in that, you can choose to find joy and laughter. And it is what it is, man.

[A]

Well, it's crazy. Is to be truly wealthy, it has to be invisible to others. Nobody can see the balance of my 401k, but they can't see what. What's in my driveway. That's the problem is we get way too excited about the thing going down in value in our driveway instead of the invisible number happening in our. In an account somewhere in a 401k. Because it doesn't feel real and it doesn't affect our life right now.

[B]

But the idea is we're still using either one of those proxies as some sort of value statement on what we're worth instead of doing the harder work on our spiritual lives, our relational lives, our emotional and mental health, to say, no, I've got value just because. And I'm going to go do the next right thing for me and my family where we want to be when we're 65 years old. And I don't want to be like this other family. I don't want to have cut off my kids due to value differences and then have to go beg them to build us a wing in their new house. Right. Like, so we have to reverse engineer where we want to be at 65 and just choose that reality.

[A]

Yeah. Do you want to be a financial burden to your family or do you want to leave an inheritance to your children's children?

[B]

Right.

[A]

You get to choose.

[B]

But that choice, as far as that calculator goes, that Choice begins at 24. That choice begins at 35.

[A]

Yeah. Building wealth in 2035 starts in 2025.

[B]

I think that's an important thing.

[A]

That's the hard part to grapple with because we live for today. Everything is just this ephemeral quick hit that we need as we scroll social media and the calculators. You know, only so many people get excited about a calculator. I love a good calculation, I love a good spreadsheet.

[B]

One time you and I were at a punk rock show and you're like pulled out one of your earplugs and.

[A]

You'Re like, hey, hold on, check this out.

[B]

And you're like doing facts and figures in the mosh pit.

[A]

It was pretty true. I stay away from the mosh pit as a guy who's short. It's just most people's elbows are right where my face is. So it's not ideal. Not ideal, but I hope that encourages you. And listen, if you're 50, you're 55. Even if you're 60, yes, it's going to be harder, but you have catch up contributions. Hopefully you're making more than you ever have made in your entire life. So there's still time to retire with dignity. And I can even show you, John, from 50 to age, let's say 67, you're going to have to work a little bit longer. You start with nothing. You invest a thousand bucks a month. You can still have $600,000 if you start at 50 with $0. So let that be an encouragement to you. You don't need to have a 20 million dollar net worth. But there's also no reason to retire broke and hope that social insecurity covers the bills. Because if you've listened to the show long enough, you know it doesn't. I don't want you to be that person. You can do better.