The Ramsey Show <\/p>\n
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Cherie, a 63-year-old San Bernardino, California resident, has been surviving on dwindling savings since 2007. And she\u2019s down to her last few thousand. Concerned, she called into The Ramsey Show for some advice (1).<\/p>\n
With multiple disabilities that prevent consistent work, she lives in a fully paid-off home held in a trust. She carries zero debt and spends roughly $1,000 a month on essentials, living diligently within her budget, paying only utilities, insurance and food \u2014 supplemented by food stamps.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve burned through nearly all my savings, and I\u2019m down to $4,000,\u201d she confessed on her recent call to The Ramsey Show.<\/p>\n
Cherie can\u2019t claim Social Security retirement benefits until age 67, and repeated disability-benefit denials have left her without another reliable income source. Here\u2019s what happened next.<\/p>\n
Cherie asked if she should borrow against or sell her trust-held home to gain more money.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon’t borrow against it because that’s now putting the one thing that you have that’s safe and secure at risk because income is an issue for you, so you don’t want to do anything that will add debt to your life,\u201d cohost Jade Warshaw said.<\/p>\n
Instead, they urged her to try generating a modest but essential income through part-time remote work.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou sound great on the phone,\u201d cohost Ken Coleman added. The hosts recommended customer service roles that require only a headset and about four hours of work per day.<\/p>\n
Warshaw mentioned her own experience working flexible hours on platforms such as arise.com (2), which allow workers to choose short shifts without competition. This is ideal for someone who hasn\u2019t held a traditional job in years but needs flexibility due to health challenges.<\/p>\n
They also told Cherie to apply immediately for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which averages about $718 monthly (3) for all recipients (that number is slightly higher for someone aged 63, averaging $764). This should allow her to cover roughly two-thirds of her current expenses while bolstering her Social Security application at age 67.<\/p>\n
Cherie could also search for ways to cut back on expenses, such as by shopping around for better rates on fixed monthly costs. For instance, with OfficialCarInsurance.com<\/a> you can find a more affordable auto insurance plan rate within minutes.<\/p>\n After answering a few questions about yourself, your vehicle and driving history, you can compare quotes from trusted brands like Progressive, Allstate, and GEICO<\/a> in just minutes. Depending on factors like the make and model of your car, you can find rates as low as $29 per month<\/a>.<\/p>\n But car insurance isn\u2019t the only monthly recurring cost cutting into your bottom line. Home insurance, even on a paid-off home, can put you in the red if left unchecked. To counter this, you could work with OfficialHomeInsurance.com<\/a>. It takes just two minutes to comb through over 200 insurers for free to find the best home insurance deal in your area. The process can even be done entirely online.<\/p>\n OfficialHomeInsurance.com users can save an average of $482 per year<\/a>. For Cherie, that would amount to about an extra $40 per month in savings, provided she can find a similarly low rate.<\/p>\n Read more: Warren Buffett used 8 solid, repeatable money rules to turn $9,800 into a $150B fortune. Start using them today to get rich (and stay rich)<\/a>\u2019<\/p>\n Cherie\u2019s predicament isn\u2019t unique. Nearly half of Baby Boomers (49%) are working past age 70 and do not plan to retire (4). Their situation is driven as much by financial necessity (82%) as by a desire to stay active (78%).<\/p>\n The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that participation in the workforce for those over 65 has been trending upwards since 1985, with 23.4% of men and 16.2% of women working full- or part-time hours in 2024 (5).<\/p>\n Part of the reason is that many Americans do not have sufficient savings to retire. According to the Schroders 2025 US Retirement Survey, Americans believe they\u2019ll need $1.28 million to retire comfortably (6), but data from Empower shows that the median retirement savings balance for those in their 60s in the U.S. is just $544,439 (7).<\/p>\n While the average retiree\u2019s Social Security benefit is $1,925 per month as of November 2025 (3), many cannot afford to wait to collect benefits, or don\u2019t qualify due to limited work history. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to save as much as you can, even when your means are limited.<\/p>\n You may feel like it\u2019s almost impossible to find extra funds in your monthly budget to invest, but you can get started with pennies \u2014 literally \u2014 when you sign up for Acorns<\/a>.<\/p>\n Acorns is an automated investing and saving platform that rounds up the price of each of your purchases to the nearest dollar and deposits the difference into a smart investment portfolio. Here\u2019s how it works: Say you buy a sugar cookie for $5.55. Before you\u2019re done dusting off the crumbs, Acorns has rounded up your treat and invested the 45-cent difference.<\/p>\n The platform also allows you to set up automatic monthly contributions to maximize your savings and, for a limited time, if you sign up with a minimum of $5 per month, you can get a $20 sign-up bonus<\/a>.<\/p>\n For those nearing retirement who need a more aggressive plan to grow their savings, a fiduciary financial advisor could help you find out how to build a better nest egg for your retirement while optimizing your Social Security strategy.<\/p>\n Advisor.com<\/a> connects you with vetted financial advisors who are ethically and legally required to act in your best financial interests at all times.<\/p>\n How it works is simple \u2014 just answer a few quick questions about yourself and your finances. From here, the platform will match you with up to three experienced financial professionals to help you develop a plan to achieve your homeownership or retirement goals.<\/p>\n You can view the advisors\u2019 profiles, read past client reviews and schedule an initial consultation<\/a> for free with no obligation to hire. From there, you can discuss your advisor\u2019s fees and billing schedule to determine what\u2019s right for you and your budget.<\/p>\n For seniors like Cherie, experts recommend treating job seeking as a strategic project:<\/p>\n Apply for SSI and appeal disability denials: Even partial SSI support (about $700\/month) can ease immediate cash flow.<\/p>\n Launch remote job searches now: Sites such as arise.com and flexjobs.com list customer service, data-entry and other roles that require minimal qualification and offer flexible hours.<\/p>\n Track and adapt: Keep a simple spreadsheet of applications, follow up weekly and tweak your pitch to emphasize reliability and interpersonal skills over technical credentials.<\/p>\n Plan for Social Security at 67: You can delay full retirement age and raise benefits by up to 8% annually, which can make a long-term difference in your retirement situation.<\/p>\n Cherie owns her home outright and has no debt. These are both net positives that can give her more agency than many to start managing this issue. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to happen to this problem,\u201d Coleman said. Cherie\u2019s next step, he says, is to increase her income until she qualifies for more retirement benefits.<\/p>\n \u201c Sum it all together and say, \u2018I\u2019m not going to be a victim here. I’m going to take control.\u2019 And you can, but you have to go after it,\u201d Coleman said.<\/p>\n With that plan, Cherie could transform her precarious situation into a more sustainable next chapter.<\/p>\n We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n @RamseyShow (1<\/a>); Arise (2<\/a>); Social Security Administration (3<\/a>); TransAmerica Institute (4<\/a>); Bureau of Labor Statistics (5<\/a>); Schroders (6<\/a>); Empower (7<\/a>)<\/p>\n This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Ramsey Show Moneywise and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue through links in the content…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[28,155,130224,1168,36552,147,530,1666,734,733,29347,30560],"class_list":{"0":"post-382884","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-dave-ramsey","10":"tag-jade-warshaw","11":"tag-jeff-bezos","12":"tag-ken-coleman","13":"tag-personal-finance","14":"tag-personalfinance","15":"tag-retirement","16":"tag-retirement-benefits","17":"tag-social-security","18":"tag-supplemental-security-income","19":"tag-the-ramsey-show"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}