General Advice Warning. The information on Dad Mode is intended to be general in nature and is not personal financial or product advice.
In a world full of scammers, grifters and people trying to make a quick buck, it’s hard to know who to listen to when it comes to money.
Walk down the personal finance section of your local book shop and you’ll come across characters of all kinds, Dave Ramsay with his religion-laced debt ramblings and Robert Kiyosaki with his Rich Dad Poor Dad guide for tax avoidance.
Don’t get me wrong, all of these ‘gurus’ have valuable information to share but most of them are either completley un-relatable or have their heads jammed so far up their own ass that they can't see the wood from the trees.
So is there anyone out there that is actually worth listening to? Someone that has a nose for bullshit and a proclivity for real-world advice?
Enter Ramit Sethi, New York Times bestselling author, chilli taco lover and personal finance nerd.
Ramit has changed the way in which I think about money, His “rich life” principles are a real game changer when it comes to planning and executing his advice.
Who Is Ramit Sethi
With an origin story unlike the others, Ramit become interested in personal finance in university when he invested half his tuition money in the stock market.
This is a smart finance guy, he must have made millions and driven off into the sunset in a Lamborghini right?
Nope! You better believe he lost it!
I don’t know what it is with the human psyche that we are more inclined to trust people that have failed than those that have been successful. Maybe it’s a relatability thing. Perhaps it’s his innate self deprecating style that I, as an Australian, can relate to. Or maybe it's his “flawed” track record that is refreshing after years of reading other ‘gurus’ that have seemingly never put a financial foot wrong.
In my eyes, Ramit is so much more approachable because of this early investing ‘failure’.
Whatever the case, Ramit Sethi is someone to listen to, and the best place to start is with his book, I Will Teach You To Be Rich.
If, like me you think the name “I will teach you to be rich” is absolutely horrible, then you’re just going to have to trust me when I say that you need to read it.
"I Will Teach You To Be Rich" was first released in 2009 and has since become a best seller, establishing him as an authority on personal finance. He has also released several additional books, including "The Ultimate Guide to Saving Money," "The Ultimate Guide to Paying Off Student Loans," and "The Ultimate Guide to Credit Card Rewards." Let’s ignore those for now, mainly because I haven’t read them….
What is I Will Teach You To Be Rich About?
I want to jump into a few sections from the book that have had the biggest impact on my life. Just note that these barely scratch the surface, there’s so much more of value in the book.
DON’T ASK $3 QUESTIONS, ASK $30,000 QUESTIONS
“There’s a limit to how much you can cut, but no limit on how much you can earn”.
At its essence, what he’s getting at here is that you can cut all of the takeaway coffee and overpriced avocados In the world and you still won’t get rich. In fact it will barely move the needle at all. You’ll just be tired and sad.
Instead, what you need to be focusing on is the big stuff, asking yourself, “could I be getting paid more?”, “can I really afford where I’m living” and “do I really need this gigantic truck to do the school drop off?”.
These are the questions that could end up saving you thousands over your lifetime and will make a real difference to your quality of life.
This was a big mindset shift for me. I thought If I lived like a hermit crab, I would eventually be able to afford a golden shell, nope. Don’t skimp on the simple pleasures for the promise of a grand future, just focus on the big stuff and make it happen.
AUTOMATION IS KEY
Set it up, leave it alone. Thats what you need to be doing, says Ramit.
To my partners despair, I’ve taken this advice to heart and agonised over automating everything. Our bills are auto transferred out at the right time, savings are split off my pay automatically and our investing is hands off. Removing myself from the day to day has been crucial to reducing stress and growing our wealth. I can’t be trusted.
I once saw an article which said that the most successful investors were dead. This isn’t because all rich people are old.. although that may also be the case.
People that had passed away had consistently higher returns than those that were living because they left everything alone.
Activity is the assassin of returns, so set up your strategy then go and play dead.
SPEND EXTRAVAGANTLY ON WHAT YOU LOVE, AND CUT BACK RELENTLESSLY ON WHAT YOU DON’T
“Frugality isn’t about cutting your spending on everything. That approach wouldn’t last two days. Frugality, quite simply, is about choosing the things you love enough to spend extravagantly on— and then cutting costs mercilessly on the things you don’t love.”
I love watches, like REALLY love them. They give me so much joy that removing them from my life to edge closer to some financial goal wouldn’t make me happier. So I don’t. What I don’t love, is alcohol, so I’m happy to cut back and save some money there.
Spend on what you love, cut what you don’t.
INVISIBLE MONEY SCRIPTS
What have your parents taught you about money that influences you everyday?
We often don’t realise how much of an impact our upbringing has had on our lives in both a positive and a negative way.
If we can recognise these patterns, we can change the course of our lives for the better. The term ‘generational trauma’ has been popularised in the last ten years and it fits well in to this context.
It’s the same but instead of commitment issues, it’s bad credit habits, flawed investment psychology and being a tight ass.
Some examples of invisible money scripts are
“I need to work a 9-5 job until I retire or I won’t be successful”
“Wealthy people are all assholes”
“I need to buy a house or I will never be secure”
“If I earn more, I’ll just have to pay more tax”
These can absolutley be true, but are they serving you? Probably not.
WHAT IS YOUR RICH LIFE
Visualising a goal is a fruitless pursuit without conscious effort to take the steps towards it, BUT, you need to know where you are going first.
Who do you want to be? Where do you want to live? What do you want to do? All questions you need to ask yourself to find out what your rich life looks like.
Once you know, you can take the steps to get there.
The I Will Teach You To Be Rich Podcast.
The real icing on the Sethi cake is the podcast. Every week he interviews couples that are having issues with their money and helps them resolve psychological and behavioural issues.
Honestly, a lot of the time is it physically painful to listen to. Ramit doesn’t take anyones bullshit and he absolutely tells them so. You can feel the guests squirming through your airpods.
Listening to the psychological transformations he guides people through is staggering and it’s well worth a listen.
IS RAMIT SETHI WORTH LISTENING TO?
As I said at the start of this article, there are so many financial gurus in the world vying for your attention that it is easy to be turned off.
It’s rare to come across someone that is genuine, relatable and entertaining enough to spend your time with, Ramit is one of them.
He’s helped me immeasurably and I can’t understate how refreshing it is to see someone cut through the bullshit of the personal finance world.
Read the book, listen to the podcast and watch as you find yourself laughing, crying and learning your way to a rich life.
Cya in the next one x
Bonus
Follow Ramit on twitter and instagram, he often confronts trolls and it’s hilarious. He’s one of my favourite follows.
Find more on the his website www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com
