Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTMichael WilliamsFri, July 3, 2026 at 12:31 AM GMT+2 5 min readQuick ReadDave Ramsey blasted the 4% rule as "hope stealing" after a $1.5M retiree with zero debt and $2,000 monthly expenses still feared going broke.Ramsey advocates an 8% withdrawal rate assuming 12% annual returns, yet analysts project U.S. equity returns of just 4 to 5 percent over the next decade.When Social Security or a pension covers essential expenses, higher withdrawal rates are survivable. When the portfolio itself funds essentials, sequence risk makes 4 to 5% the prudent range.Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? SmartAsset's free tool can match you with a financial advisor in minutes to help you answer that today. Each advisor has been carefully vetted, and must act in your best interests. Don't waste another minute; learn more here.A 62-year-old divorcee called into The Ramsey Show with a portfolio most Americans will never see. She has zero debt, a paid-off car, no rent because she lives with a partner, and roughly $1.5 million in retirement funds. Her monthly spending: $2,000. Her biggest fear: running out of money.Beth Gwinn / Getty ImagesDave Ramsey was not gentle. "She's a freaking millionaire and she's scared to live because she read your stupid but common law goal whatever the garbage the line was for 4% withdrawal rates," he said, calling the rule "hope stealing." Co-host George Kamel piled on: "4% is way too conservative. You'll end up leaving a whole lot of money, but in the meantime, you didn't live your life."The stakes are real for anyone approaching retirement with a decent balance. Withdraw too little and you underlive a life you already paid for. Withdraw too much and you outlive the money. Ramsey's answer was blunt, but his assumptions deserve scrutiny.Ramsey is correct that a paralyzed millionaire living on $2,000 a month is not winning. He is also correct that the original 4% rule, popularized by financial planner Bill Bengen, came from a 1994 study, and that Bengen himself has since suggested a higher figure closer to 5.5%.Read: Are you ahead, or behind on retirement?