I will teach you to be rich-Ramit Sathi

[iris lilies]

I’ve been listening to this guy’s podcast. Man, he is good. He does interviews with one couple to fill up entire podcast. He drills down into the psychology of money.

What is interesting is that he interviews a fair number of couples who actually have money. They have assets of $350,000. $500,000. Etc. And they still have trouble in their relationship about money.

I think he’s the new Mr. money mustache for the millennials and Gen Z.. He’s really entertaining. Has anyone else heard him?

[Tybee]

I’ve been listening to this guy’s podcast. Man, he is good. He’s he does interviews with one couple to fill up entire podcast. He drill sound into the psychology of money. I think he is VERY way good.

What is interesting is that he interviews a fair number of couples who actually have money. They have assets of third and 50,000. 500,000. And they still have trouble in their relationship about money.

I think he’s the new Mr. money mustache for the milliniells.he’s really entertaining. Has anyone else heard him?

Did he have a book? That is ringing a bell. I'd like to listen to his podcast.

[iris lilies]

Did he have a book? That is ringing a bell. I'd like to listen to his podcast.
Oh, yes, he has a book and perhaps several of them. He has courses that he sells as well. But I listen to his podcast for free on Spotify.

[catherine]

Hmm.. I'd like to check him out!

[bae]

Is he himself rich? If so, did he become rich by selling advice on how to become rich?

[iris lilies]

Is he himself rich? If so, did he become rich by selling advice on how to become rich?
I don’t know if he himself is rich.

In the few podcasts I’ve heard, he’s not telling people how to accumulate wealth. He’s talking to people about making financial decisions that support their values. His schtick is getting “ a rich life.”

In the podcasts he leads people, through questioning, to understand their attitudes and core values about money. He has them analyze if their money habits get them where they want to be in life.

He’s selling good financial psychology. In other words, figure out what your values are and what your goals in life are and spend money accordingly.

this is of course, the main idea of Your Money or Your Life, but this guy is good at probing the psychology of money.

[catherine]

Since you're also a Mr. Money Mustache fan, here's a review on MMM about this guy:

https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/11/06/book-review-will-this-guy-really-teach-you-to-be-rich/

Maybe you're already seen it, but it's interesting.

[iris lilies]

Since you're also a Mr. Money Mustache fan, here's a review on MMM about this guy:

https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/11/06/book-review-will-this-guy-really-teach-you-to-be-rich/

Maybe you're already seen it, but it's interesting.

haha, yeah, I’ve read Pete on Ramit. And in the Ramit Sethi podcast today I laughed and thought of Pete, a.k.a. Mr. money mustache because the young couple he was counseling had declared bankruptcy. The wife had a daily coffee habit that ran $7 to $15. I immediately thought of face punching her. But Ramit said he usually doesn’t talk about the little spending stuff like daily coffee because he wants people to focus on the big picture actions, especially this couple who were extremely detail oriented. And I thought if Pete heard about this daily coffee habit, he would’ve blown a gasket.

[littlebittybobby]

Okay---Thank you for the tip, I/L. You know, it does raise questions, with a non-European, named as the author. But that's very interesting. Hope that helps you some. Thankk Mee.

[iris lilies]

haha, yeah, I’ve read Pete on Ramit. And in the Ramit Sethi podcast today I laughed and thought of Pete, a.k.a. Mr. money mustache because the young couple he was counseling had declared bankruptcy. The wife had a daily coffee habit that ran $7 to $15. I immediately thought of face punching her. But Ramit said he usually doesn’t talk about the little spending stuff like daily coffee because he wants people to focus on the big picture actions, especially this couple who were extremely detail oriented. And I thought if Pete heard about this daily coffee habit, he would’ve blown a gasket.

Ramit Sethi is a good money guru because he is kind and engaging. He is patient, and he works to elicit answers from his interviewees. Maybe Dave Ramsey does this too, I don’t know having only,heard him a few times. And Mr. Money Mustache, well, we all know he likes to shout and jump up and down and face punch for ridiculous spending.

Ramit has a different style.

I think about the fiddly, practically OCD exercises recommend by dear Joe Dominquez. The recording of all your “stuff”. The notation of each tiny expense. The charting. He comes off practically as someone on the spectrum with his uber focus on the little stuff, dwelling in minutiae.

Your Money or Your Life doesn’t fit into current social media promotional methods. It would be hard to podcast and video cast these ideas, I think.

[bae]

Your Money or Your Life doesn’t fit into current social media promotional methods. It would be hard to podcast and video cast these ideas, I think.

I read YMOYL when I was on vacation up here on the island on my first visit, in the late '90s. I retired on the spot and didn't really return from vacation, buying a house here before I'd finished the book even. I never really bothered with the charting and such, but the message that time is not a replaceable resource was quite compelling.

[iris lilies]

I read YMOYL when I was on vacation up here on the island on my first visit, in the late '90s. I retired on the spot and didn't really return from vacation, buying a house here before I'd finished the book even. I never really bothered with the charting and such, but the message that time is not a replaceable resource was quite compelling.
Yes, that is the Gold Nugget of the book. I always knew that concept. I was listening to Bob Brinker in the 70’s? 80’s? on the radio talk about getting to “critical mass” long before I read YMOYL. At “Critical Mass” you can stop working.

I knew about YMOYL long before I read the book.

The Gold Nugget in Millionaire Next Door is, I think, It’s not how much money you make, it is how much you keep of it that matters.

[jp1]

I stumbled into YMOYL when a friend and I went on vacation to Portland Oregon the week that Princess Diana died. During that trip we also went to some small town in the southern part of the middle of washington where the founder of the previous version of this site resided and he explained the book to us. As you've both mentioned, I immediately glommed on to the idea of the cash value of my time. Within weeks after returning home from that trip I'd read YMOYL and became aware of how many "hours of life energy" I was spending on everything. Lunches eaten out were one of the first things I cut. I never really "did" the rest of the stuff suggested in the book but that one aspect of it has driven much of my financial life in the 25 years since.

[iris lilies]

Oh, was Ramit ever wrong in the podcast I heard today!


I listened to an older podcast by Ramit where he interviews one couple whose household income is $270,000. I get the impression they are under 30. Their assets total $1 million. The wife called in for help because the friends and family consider them cheap.


She says her husband won’t buy a winter coat and they live in Canada. She says their friends stopped asking them to go out to eat because they don’t want go to expensive restaurants. Ramit started grilling them about why they couldn’t spend money and how do they feel whrn their friends commented on things they wouldn’t do. They don’t have much furniture in their house, and none of it is new.

The husband said he doesn’t value material goods, he values experiences.


But here’s where Ramit was WRONG. he seemed to ignore the husband who said they budget $20,000 a year for vacations because they value experiences. They spend more than $20,000 a year on food even though they want to cut back. They buy top quality organic everything.

They complain that their friends choose very expensive restaurants and they don’t want to spend money on that even though they budget $3000 a year on restaurants. They complained that their friends planned a wedding celebration and charged their share as $600; the friends didn’t even consult them just expected them to chip in $600. Their siblings expected them to chip in $1700 on an expensive lawnmower for their parents.

Ramit spent the first 20 minutes harassing them about being “cheap “and ignored the nugget of gold when the husband dropped that they want to retire when they’re 50 years old.

So this young couple sounds right on target to me. They spend a lot of money on the things they value which is high-quality food and good travel experiences. They do not let their friends and family bully them into spending on dumb shit they don’t value. If they were my kids, I would be very proud of them.

Ramit later pontificated that he didn’t think the husband would actually retire when he was 50 because he wouldn’t be able to let go of that income stream. That is sheer projection, and while it is true a lot of money hoarders like that never do retire, he doesn’t know these people very well.

I was not impressed with his podcast at all, and frankly, it’s the second time I’ve heard him push people to spend money when they really do not want to.

[bae]

Junior year of college I had three roommates. We'd sit around having pizza and beer, and talking about Our Great Plans For The Future. We all four decided "hmm, if I had $2 million, I'd retire and live my life on my own terms". (This was in the mid-1980s).

All of us hit that goal in our early/mid 30s. Two of us "retired" as we had discussed. One continues to work today as a research neurologist, and doesn't seem motivated at all by money or material goods, simply the joy of discovery. He'll probably be working until he can no longer hold a beaker. The fourth continues to work endless hours, spending little time with his wife (who also works 60+ hours/week) and kids, but boy does he have nice mansions, airplanes, yachts, and that sort of thing. He visits here once a year for a week, flying his own jet, and always seems so stressed out about the need to "relax while he's on vacation".

One of my other classmates became a billionaire from the last startup we did, he lives a simple life still, "retired" by the time he was 50, and seems to spend most of his massive pile of loot quietly buying up land and conservation easements to protect important bits of the ecosystem. He did not retire as early as he could have, but he was greatly enjoying his role at our company, and making a difference there, and as soon as that stopped, he waved goodbye.

[catherine]

So, the message from jp's, IL's and bae's posts points to why we are all connected through YMOYL.

IL, I agree with your assessment of Ramit's podcast. The unfortunate truth is that some people equate mindful spending with being cheap or austere. Recognizing the value of your life energy and then "spending" that in the way that works for you is going to be a different blueprint for everyone.

[ApatheticNoMore]

His advice seems fairly common sense from googling, I like it (not the keeping up with your wealthy friends part mentioned above). But it is NOT going to make one rich.

[iris lilies]

His advice seems fairly common sense from googling, I like it (not the keeping up with your wealthy friends part mentioned above). But it is NOT going to make one rich.

He preaches “a rich life” which *I* think means money security and spending according to your values.

yesterday I heard him kind of harangue another non-spender, and I have to say he does this more often than I would like.


This non-spender was only three years into a relationship with his girlfriend. They are not married. They have net assets of $200,000. The non-spender is worried about what happens when and if they decide to have a baby and the girlfriend quits work. The non-spender was trying to keep the entire household afloat on his salary alone which was generous at $130,000, but his girlfriend also made a little bit more money.


From my point of view, these people don’t have a solid history of a relationship and she could leave him any moment with or without a kid. With@kid, this would not be a excess monies. The non-spender is right to be cautious.

[Tybee]

But he's not a non-spender:
"the husband who said they budget $20,000 a year for vacations because they value experiences. They spend more than $20,000 a year on food even though they want to cut back. "

[iris lilies]

But he's not a non-spender:
"the husband who said they budget $20,000 a year for vacations because they value experiences. They spend more than $20,000 a year on food even though they want to cut back. "



well, this “non spender” was part of a different couple. THIS non spender thought $6,000 was a good amount to spend on a blow out vacation to Cambodia.

But you are right that the men folk in both couples were the tightwads, and maybe to the detriment of their relationships.

Me—I would marry both of them! Haha.or rather want my daughter to marry them.Fiscal responsibility is HUGE in my value system.

[lhamo]

Ramit has actually been around longer than Pete. Ramit started blogging back in the mid-2000s when he was an undergrad at Stanford (on scholarship, very interested in psychology but also double-majoring in finance or something techy to keep his immigrant parents happy). To answer bae's question from earlier, yes - he made himself rich by selling how to advice to people. Much of it about how to build an on-line business and write good sales funnel copy. He also is very good at networking. He's had two episodes on The Mad Fientist podcast, the latest one very recent, where he beats Brandon up a bit about being a cheapskate.

The podcast is relatively new, though others in the field (Tim Ferris and Jordan Harbinger, who he is friendly with) had been encouraging him to do it for a long time. Putting the videos on youtube is even newer. His sweet spot really seems to be helping tightwad rich people learn to spend more money on things that are meaningful to them. Lots of resonances with YMOYL but more on the "spend your life energy because you can't take it with you" side of the equation rather than the "save it forever because you might end up in a van down by the river" side of the message.

I'm personally far enough into my FIRE journey with enough money and dwindling financial worries (looks like DD will choose a college experience we can afford with what we have saved) that I'm loosening the purse strings a bit. Planning quite a bit of travel over the next few years, among other things. But my annual spending will still be well within what I can afford. I can have a very rich life on 40-50k/year, no question.

[frugal-one]

Nice to hear from you again Ihamo!

[catherine]

Nice to hear from you again Ihamo!

I was thinking the same thing!

[iris lilies]

As you all know, I think it is prudent to save money for nursing home care and/or expensive in-home care. That said, we spend money where we wish to now in what most people consider FAT fire.

I would not respect Ramit telling me “you must spend! Don’t deny yourself! Spend, spend!” any more than I would respect someone telling me “why are you spending money on THAT!!!”

If he gets people’s heads in line with their values about spending money, that is good. But I am sorry, Ramit, those daily lattes DO add up to a nice pile of Benjamins that can ease your old age if they had been invested.