In his first book, Ramit Sethi shares his own vision about personal finance. It’s not just yet another book on how to spend less and save more money as he doesn’t believe in a frugal life. Besides, he doesn’t just share his two cents but he also gives some practical procedures and scripts to follow.
Do you want to be rich? Then the title of this book is more than catchy, right? Are you already visualizing the money growing on your investment accounts? Sorry. It’s not so fast, not so easy.
First thing first. What is rich? For many, it’s having a shitload of money, not working, sipping cocktails on some remote white-sandy beach and… feel free to continue.
That vision and that wish is not a guarantee to leave a happy life. Ramit asks you to actually think about what rich means to you. Most of the people don’t even think about it and just try to keep up with the friends. What does being rich mean to you? Someone loves to travel, someone loves collecting Michelin stars, yet someone else loves shoes.
If you can define what rich means to you, you’ll be able to act on it and maybe you can already start with some small steps. Like the girl who wanted to be able to invite her friends and family to nice restaurants. She realized that she could already start small by inviting her mother to a café for some fancy latte with a cake. And both of them felt great.
What makes you feel rich? What are the first small steps to get there?
Of course, just starting buying lattés won’t lead you to take your best friends to Gordon Ramsay’s. You have to put some money aside and invest. Some say you should become an expert and invest in real estate, some others propose company shares. Ramit says you don’t have to become an expert, just start putting money aside, that’s the more important step. And the key is automation. Automate your savings so that every beginning of the month as soon as your salary arrives you automatically transfer money to certain savings and investment accounts.
He doesn’t say that you should save each cent you can. Instead, he proposes to “cut costs mercilessly on the things you don’t [love]”, while you spend extravagantly on the things you do love. It might mean that you leave in a small studio and you drive an old car (if you drive any), while you spend a lot on travel.
He proposes a 6 weeks plan to start automating your finances and to have a plan to pay off your debt. If you feel you have no savings at all and you want to change, it’s wort to look at it, but many parts are quite US specific. But at least you can get the idea.
The title I Will Teach You How To Be Rich is catchy, the content is a bit unusual and it’s for beginners. If your finances are on the track, not this book will bring you to the next level, but if you are starting out or you are fighting with some debt, it might help you.
