Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. One 59-year-old restaurant server recently said he's terrified of ending up homeless because he has little saved for retirement and doesn't know how much time he has left to catch up. That concern was at the center of a recent episode of "The Ramsey Show," where Allen from Miami laid out a situation that many workers nearing retirement find familiar.
He earns about $50,000 a year, has some debt, and worries he could end up "living on the street pushing a shopping basket around." Allen said he has about $3,800 in credit card debt, an $18,000 car loan and roughly $4,000 in savings. This Jeff Bezos-backed startup will allow you to become a landlord in just 10 minutes, with minimum investments as low as $100. AI Robots Have Already Fried More Than 5 Million Baskets Of Food.
Everyday Investors Can Still Buy Into The Company Behind Them. Personal finance expert Dave Ramsey had a straightforward advice. "I'd pay off the credit card today," he said, urging Allen to use his savings to eliminate the balance, destroy the cards and close the accounts.
The bigger issue, according to Ramsey, was the car loan. Allen said the loan is scheduled to be paid off over the next three years, but Ramsey pushed him to move much faster. "Go get six serving jobs and work like a maniac and get this car paid off," Ramsey said.
"I'd like to have it paid off by Christmas." Allen explained that the restaurant business slows during the summer months in Florida and that his hours had been cut, but Ramsey encouraged him to find additional work or seek out higher-paying serving positions where tips could significantly increase his income. "I would really be interested in getting your base income up," co-host Jade Warshaw said. "Getting that core income up is going to be a really, really big deal for you." Trending: The AI Boom Needs More Than Chips.
Explore The Infrastructure Company Building For The Next Wave Of Compute Demand. Despite Allen's fears, Ramsey argued that his situation is still recoverable if he acts aggressively over the next several years. Once the debt is eliminated, Ramsey estimated Allen could potentially direct around $2,000 per month toward retirement savings.
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