This is an open letter to Ramit Sethi, author of I Will Teach You to Be Rich. Sethi is a personal finance guru with a great sense of humor and a proven set of strategies to get people in top financial shape. From reading his book, I sense his target audience is high earning tech employees. This book focuses on money mindset, conscious spending, investing, and also has great information on credit cards, real estate, negotiating, and pre-nups. For more details check out this summary by J.D. Roth over at the site where my personal finance journey started: Get Rich Slowly.
Dear Ramit,
When I first heard your work I thought you were pompous, condescending, and out of touch with reality. That was a few years go. In the past year I’ve been following you on Instagram – and although your style is still brash, I was attracted by your pro-social attitude. As in, you’re pro people thriving!
For example, I love it when you highlight that taxes are not a good reason to move to Florida and that renting does not automatically mean you’re throwing money away. You’re a lot more in touch with reality than I initially gave you credit for. What I originally took as rude is actually just your sense of humor! Although, it’s still weird to me when you make fun of your followers… but hey, you do you!
What I loved about your book:
Your intro mentions that when you began advising others on money, you ignored psychology. I’m so glad you see that today! IMO it’s the biggest part of money management. You also acknowledge you were overbearing back in the day. It is incredible to see a man publicly own where he needed growth. Bravo!
Your focus on a self defined Rich Life is refreshing! What makes others happy and what commercials try to sell me is irrelevant if it’s not my own Rich Life. In your words, a rich life “is different for everyone, and money is just a small part of being rich.”
You acknowledge that changing our spending is the most difficult task in your book. Having a clear definition of a Rich Life makes this easier. In two sentences, “There is power in saying no to the things we don’t care about. But there is even more power in saying a big YES to the things we love.”
You point out there’s only so much we can cut spending, yet there’s no limit to how much we can earn! Your “negotiating a new job” and “getting a raise” scripts are spot on! I’m glad you offer resources for people who want to delve deeper into this.
You share things you’ve struggled with as you’ve become wealthier. From having conversations with parents about money, to setting up your own pre-nup. The book also shows you’ve had deep conversations with readers and have compassion for anyone who’s helping family with debt, is not earning enough, and many other relationship+money questions.
Finally, this section made me laugh so much I actually called a fellow immigrant to read it to her: “I quickly realized that the most interesting part of eating wings with friends is seeing how much meat they leave on the bone. Some people leave half the chicken and move on to the next wing. I never speak to these people again.
Then there are people who clean the bone so thoroughly, flawlessly ridding it of every last shred of meat and marrow, that you can conclude only two things: They will be stellar successes in all aspects of life, and they must be from another country. You see, immigrants (like my parents) never leave a shred of meat on a chicken wing – and we can all learn something from them.” Thank you. Yup, some people are just not gonna get it…
What I thought needed work:
Six weeks to figure out your money life? Puh-leeze! I get that the systems could theoretically be set up quickly, but changing our ways with money takes a lot of psychological work. I would appreciate more nuance around this timeline.
Your investment section glaringly omits any mention of Socially Responsible Investing. Other than a quick word on philanthropy, the book hardly talks about helping our community or addressing climate collapse. The way we do business today is not sustainable, yet you don’t acknowledge it.
You don’t delve into mitigating risk with insurance and an estate plan. As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner I see how important risk mitigation is. Yes, there’s a lot of scammy stuff other there, but there’s also great, easy to use tools. One estate example is setting up accounts as Transfer On Death directly to whoever you want to receive the money. This is faster than going through your state’s process. [Dear reader, if you have questions on this, please reach out directly at diana@allthecolors.net.]
Yes, the second edition of your book does go into money scripts and the psychology of money – but you missed trauma. Financial hardships mark us, and knowing better does not mean we can do better. For example, if growing up your family always took your money, it’s hard to save because of the fear that someone will take whatever you’ve put aside.
I know, I know, a lot of this can sound like excuses, and for some it’s just excuses, but for others a money coach could be really helpful! I recommend you check out the book Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means so Much by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir and Bari Tessler’s superb work over at The Art of Money.
I’m grateful for…
Honestly, I’m glad you did not mention my favorite parts of working on money: financial coaching and our social responsibility. This way, I get to write and teach about these areas myself and leave the rest to you!
You do a wonderful job of questioning empty consumerism! Thank you for adding your voice to personal financial, while pushing back against the other extreme of depriving oneself of anything not “essential”. Many financial bloggers shame us into not spending on anything. Your focus on a Rich Life goes way beyond that. May you continue to shine and raise others up through your work, your relationships, and your philanthropy!
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