George Kamel - Net Worth By Age (2026)

Episode Date: September 21, 2026

📊 Check out the Net Worth Calculator!   How does your net worth stack up against the average American? Well, I’ve got the national data and spoiler: the bar is on the floor.   Next Steps: • 🎥 Watch my video A Step-By-Step Guide to Building Wealth in Your 30s. • 💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app! • 📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan.   Connect With Our Sponsors: • Go to Boost Mobile to switch today! • Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. • Go to FAIRWINDS Credit Union for an exclusive account bundle! • Sign up with Privacy today and receive a $5 credit just for being a George Kamel fan.   Explore More From Ramsey Network: 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 📈 EntreLeadership   Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How does your net worth stack up against the average American? Well, I've got the national data. And spoiler, the bar is on the floor, which is why I've concocted my own list of numbers that sets the bar much higher and shows you where your net worth should be based on your age group. And I recently talked about this on the Ramsey show,

and it got national coverage. And if it's good enough for that, people, it's good enough for you, people. But before we see where you stand, quick shout out to delete me for sponsoring the channel. All right, quick disclaimer, as we get into it, We are using the median net worth instead of average because median is the number smack dab in the middle of the data and is far more accurate.

The average numbers are skewed thanks to billionaires and tech nerds messing up the curve. Classic overachievers. So let's start with this group, 35 years old and under. The national median net worth for this group, $39,000. Okay, America. At least we're in the positive. I'm trying to see some silver lining here.

Now think about that. That could be a 23-year-old just starting out. or it could be a 34-year-old, which is a huge gap. Because in my early 20s, I had a negative net worth. I was 40 grand in debt with not much to my name. But fast forward, following the stuff that I teach on this channel, by my early 30s, I was a net worth millionaire. So I think by your early 30s, you're doing great

if you have a net worth of $100,000 or more. Now, that is not $100,000 sitting in cash in the bank. It is net worth, which is everything you own minus everything you owe, assets minus liabilities. So assets are things like your savings, your checking, investments, home equity, retirement accounts, your equity in your cars. Hopefully they're paid off. Even if it's a 2014 Kia Soul, as much as I don't want it to count, it somehow counts legally as a vehicle. I wish they would stop.

Did they even make them anymore? Maybe they did make him illegal. Kim Jong-un? Was that you? Did you make it illegal? Did you do a good thing for society for once? He's not going to see this channel. It's blocked over there.

Okay, let me know in the comments. If you're watching this from North Korea, drop a comment below. With proof, I want receipts. Blink twice. So we've got our assets. Then we've got our liability. So we're going to subtract liabilities, things like our mortgage balance, car loans, student loans, credit cards, personal loans to grandma, whatever you got. It needs to be subtracted from your net worth to give you the final answer.

And this is not a vibe. This is just an accounting measurement. Assets minus liabilities. And we're not talking about liquid net worth to become a millionaire. I just want to make that very clear. And for the record, these are not pass-fail numbers or financial commandments handed down from Mount Campbell. He's 15. 10 commandments!

They're just a solid target for you to aim at. There is no shame here, or judgment, or condemnation in this place. Now, I get that a lot of 20-somethings are just starting out in life. You're establishing your career. You're probably not making a ton of money. And you might even be trapped in student loan debt or credit card debt like I was. But time is your biggest advantage. So establishing good financial habits and not.

good financial habits now can make a huge difference later, which is why I think $100,000 by your 35th birthday is a great goal to shoot for. Now, I'll go over some of those habits in just a bit, but first, let's move on to the next age group, 35 to 44. According to the national data, if you're in this bracket, your median household net worth is $135,000. At least we're at six figures, pretty decent, but it's not where we want to be. What do I think would be a better goal? Well, instead of $135 grand, I think a great number to hit by your mid-40s, would be $400 to $500,000. Half a million.

Whoa, we're talking serious money. If you're at half a million bucks by your mid-40s, you're going to be okay. At this stage in your life, you're not as broke as you used to be, but you also have a lot going on. You're having kids. You're buying houses to fit the kids.

You're getting minivans to transport said kids, and then you're dragging those kids to Branson to see the Hey Good Family Fiddlers, if you're doing it right. They're an American institution. Now, here's where a lot of people get tripped up. As income goes up, the temptation for lifestyle creep goes up too.

You make more, so you start spending more. And before you know it, you're walking out of Costco with a six-person infrared sauna and a 32-foot inflatable slip and slide. Just me? Now, lifestyle creep in keeping up with the Joneses is a sure-fire way to take the gas off the pedal in terms of building your net worth.

So here's the rule. If you can't pay for it in cash, don't do it. And just because you make more does not mean you need to spend more. Take that extra margin and use it to build wealth. Now, at this age, you've still got a few decades to go before retirement. So this is prime time to prioritize saving instead of spending and let compound

growth go to work for you. All right, we're getting older now. We're moving on to ages 45 to 54 where things really start cooking. Now, hopefully at this point, you've been working 20 to 30 years and you've got something to show for it. Yeah, about that. Does the data bear that out? Well, the median household net worth nationally for this group? $247,000. Now, call me an optimist, but I think by your mid-fifties, you should be approaching a net worth of $7,000. 50,000 to 1 million or more. And that number is not a wet finger in the air, because let me tell you, I'm not a wet finger kind of guy.

No, that number comes from cold, hard data. Here at Ramsey, we did the largest study of millionaires, over 10,000 people in North America with a net worth of at least $1 million. And the average age they hit that millionaire milestone was 49 years old. So, by your mid-50s, you should be approaching this number if not surpassing it.

And one of the biggest reasons is that statistically your 50s are your peak earning years. But the kicker is, you don't have to have a super high income to achieve millionaire status. One in three millionaires in our study never made six figures in a single year of their working career. So if you're thinking, well, George, I don't make $150,000, so I'll never be a millionaire. Listen, they simply worked hard and invested consistently. You don't have to invest a million dollars to have a million dollars.

You have to let compound growth do the heavy lifting over time. In fact, teachers were one of the top five careers for millionaires. Unless they were working at Hogwarts, they probably weren't making six figures. Plus, most people in this age group are hopefully consumer debt-free and using their income, which is their greatest wealth-building tool, to save and invest regularly. And that means getting to a seven-figure net worth in your 40s is more realistic than you think. Now, before we move on to the 55-plus crowd, we need to talk about something everyone should do no matter what age group they're in, and that is to quit overpaying for their phone bill.

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$25 forever requires customers to remain active on Boost Mobile Unlimited plan. Another thing everyone should do no matter your age, protect your personal info. And that's why I love and use Delete Me, another sponsor of this video. They remove personal information like your name, phone number, address, email address, your family's information, and more from hundreds of data broker sites so you don't have to spend hours of your own time opting out and submitting removal requests. They've literally saved me over 150 hours in counting according to my latest custom report. And for me, that means less spam and way more peace of mind. So I've got you guys a sweet deal. You can get 20% off their annual plans just for being a fan of this channel at join deleteme.com slash George or click the link in the description.

All right, let's get back to the numbers. Now, you would think as we get older, and we're headed toward retirement, that we're all going to retire millionaires. But that doesn't seem to be the case, according to the data. For ages 55 to 64, the national median household net worth is just $365,000. Now, remember, that is total net worth. Home equity, cash in the bank, your investments, which means the median nest egg is far smaller than that. Think Cadbury size. So if 365 grand is the suckbar, I think by the time you hit your 60s, I would love for you to have a net worth.

of one and a half to two million bucks. So how do you get there? Again, no wet fingers here. If you had a million bucks invested by the age of 58, then by the age of 65, statistically, it would likely double to two million bucks if you just left it alone. And that is based on the rule of 72, which says, hey, if you take 72 and divide it by your expected annual interest rate, that'll tell you how long it would take to double. So in this case, a 10% interest rate, it would double in 7.2 years. So if you've paid off your house by this point, you'll have even less expenses in retirement and your nest day will last even longer. Okay, boomers, it's your time to shine. Dave Ramsey, I hope you're listening. I'm the guy that's perfectly

willing. If you're in the 65 to 74 age bracket, the national median household net worth currently stands at $410,000. Now, when you consider that the typical couple will need over 400,000 bucks in retirement savings just to cover medical expenses, a total net worth of 410 grand doesn't leave nearly enough margin to pay for other crucial expenses like food, transportation, housing, let alone actually enjoying your retirement. So guys, I want you to shoot for the starts here. At this stage, if you're following the advice I teach on this channel, hopefully for decades, your net worth should be over $2.5 million

by the time you're in your 70s. And at this point in your life, the only thing stressing you out should be the dentist appointment you have next Tuesday, not your finances. Retired life for you should look like a paid-for house, paid-for cars, over a million bucks in retirement accounts alone. And that's without any other income streams like pensions, Social Security or rental income.

That's just gravy on top if you got those things. And to bring this to real life, I'm going to show you using our net worth calculator what I hope my life looks like in retirement. So let's say I am 65 years old. I've got a paid-for home and a vacation home totaling $3 million. Pretty sweet.

Checking accounts, I'm not going to go below 50 grand. How about that? I'm a big spender. Boom, got 50 in checking. Savings accounts, I'm going to go high-ield savings for my emergency fund. I'm going to say I've got a couple of years' expenses sitting there. So I'm going to go big, $200,000. Retirement accounts, this is the big one.

I've been investing for decades at this point, so I'm going to hope that I have, I'm going to dream big, $6 million. Cars, let's see, I probably have three, like my wife would have a car, I would have a car, and then have like a fun car. You know what I mean? just like a little weekend driver. I'm going to go $150,000 in cars. Other assets, antiques, jewelry, stocks, bonds, business assets.

I'm going to say I got really into Pokemon in my old age, and I've got $100,000 in Pokemon cards as a hobby, along with some instruments. Now, if I scroll down to liabilities, I ain't got none, son. No debts. No real estate debt, no mortgage, no credit card debt, no personal loans, no car payments. So I'm going to calculate my net worth with nothing to subtract for a total of $9.5 million at 65.

Now, I don't know about you, but I'm happy with that number. I can get by on $9.5 million in net worth. I'm going to have a lot to leave to my kids, leave an inheritance to my children's children, plenty to enjoy for the next 30 years, hopefully, from 65 to 95, Lord willing, the Creek don't rise. And that's what can't happen. That's a very possible scenario for a lot of you watching. if you follow the steps on this channel. Get out of debt, stay out of debt, invest for the future, pay off your home, drive paid for cars, and one day you will be living like no one else because

you live like no one else. Thanks, Dave. Now it's your turn. Get a clear picture of where you are today and maybe even dream big like I did. I will drop a link to this net worth calculator in the description below and let me know in the comments where you stack up with your age and net worth. Let's be brave, let's be bold, let's be vulnerable and share together so we can grow together. That was really, that was beautiful. I'm going to slow clap myself. And there's no shame if you're feeling behind on your retirement goals. A lot of people in their 20s, 30s, even 40s go,

oh my gosh, I'm so far behind. I wish I got this stuff sooner. Listen, there's no time like the present. And I've got a plan for that too. So check out the step-by-step guide to building wealth while you still have the time to build it. Watch it here or use the link in the description. That's all for today. Thanks for watching.

We'll see you next time.