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Russian (RU) Adrian Volenik
Wed, May 21, 2025, 9:01 AM 3 min read
A recent caller on “The Dave Ramsey Show” shared an emotional story about how her husband fell for a crypto scam and lost nearly their entire retirement savings.
“This weekend, I received some devastating news,” the woman said, her voice breaking. “My husband was scammed out of almost his entire 401(k). Now it’s tax time, and we’re going to have to pay taxes on it. We have no more retirement, and our savings is going to be wiped out.”
The couple, both in their late 50s, had paid off their home in 2022 and were debt-free. They were living on her husband’s $98,000 annual income after she had to quit working in 2023 due to cancer and side effects from medication.
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She explained that her husband had initially told her he invested $30,000 in crypto after feeling financially pressured to secure their future. He apparently showed her that they had made about $300,000 or $400,000 in an investing app. When she asked him where he got the money from, he said the 401(k).
But as tax season approached and key tax forms didn’t arrive, she grew suspicious. When she pressed for answers, he finally came clean: he had actually invested $270,000 and lost nearly all of it.
“It was a company in Hong Kong,” she said. “I looked up the address, and it was in the slums of Hong Kong.”
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Dave Ramsey did not hold back. “Does he now own that this is stupid, or is he still defending it?” he asked. When the caller confirmed her husband admitted fault, Ramsey replied, “That’s important because otherwise he’s going to do it again.”
Ramsey continued: “He not only did something stupid, he lied about it at length. Deceived, created a web, a full scenario of lies—that concerns me actually more than his stupidity.”
The caller remained hopeful, saying she feels good most days and is thankful for the time she has despite her health issues. Ramsey encouraged them to rebuild, suggesting they max out their 401(k) and Roth IRA contributions and work another 10 to 12 years to recover.
He also pointed out a key principle: “If you have to hide the investment or the financial move from your spouse—warning, warning, warning—you’re screwing up.”
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