Ruly Bookshelf: I Will Teach You to Be Rich
Ramit Sethi is a brilliant writer. When I first signed up for his free email list, I was both surprised and shocked at his communication style. He weaves in wonderful tips about finances, time management and other organizing-related topics, along with a dose of machismo, humor and personality.
At just 29 years old, he is one of the key voices of Generation Y and Fortune calls him “Generation Y’s personal finance adviser”.
I enjoy reading his emails but had never purchased his signature book, I Will Teach You To Be Rich. So, how could I resist when he pitched it in a recent e-mail like this:
Get my book for less than a Taco Bell Mexican Pizza
(The reference to the Taco Bell Mexican Pizza by the way refers to a touching story about how his immigrant mother refused to let him order the Mexican Pizza at Taco Bell when he was younger because it was one of the most expensive items on the menu.) You can download the e-book version of I Will Teach You to Be Rich at amazon.com for just $2.24 (for a limited time). As someone who always loves a bargain, this was my chance to see what Ramit’s book had to say.
I Will Teach You to Be Rich is primarily aimed at young college-age people but it has applications to a wide variety of people who are making a fresh start in managing their finances. I would consider my financial expertise to be more in the intermediate range so I didn’t find Chapters 1-5 on choosing credit cards, setting up bank accounts, opening a retirement savings account, creating a spending plan and automating your finances to be anything new. I have done these things already (although in a slightly different way than Ramit recommends) but the advice was sound and presented in an easy-to-understand and entertaining way. Below are some of my favorite quotes:
“After years of talking to young people about money, I have come to a couple of conclusions: First, I pretty much hate everyone. Second, I believe there are three categories of people: the As, the Bs, and the Cs. The As are already managing their money and want to optimize what they’re doing. The Bs, the largest group of people, are not doing anything but could be persuaded to change that if you figure out what motivates them. The Cs are an unwashed mass of people who are a lost cause.”
“The 85 Percent Solution: Getting started is more important than becoming an expert. Too many of us get overwhelmed thinking we need to manage our money perfectly, which leads us to do nothing at all. That’s why the easiest way to manage your money is to take it one step at a time—and not worry about being perfect. I’d rather act and get it 85 percent right than do nothing.”
“While other people spend many hours cutting coupons, growing food in their gardens to save on grocery bills, or being frugal with lattes, they’re failing to see the bigger picture. It’s fine to be frugal, but you should focus on spending time on the things that matter, the big wins.”
“. . . credit card companies, whom you should treat just slightly better than you would an armed militia coming after your younger sister.”
“Simple, long-term investing works. This idea gets nothing but yawns and rolling eyes during a conversation. But you need to make a decision: Do you want to sit around impressing others with your sexy vocabulary, or do you want to join me on my gold-lined throne as we’re fed grapes and fanned with palm fronds?”
“I hate budgeting. Budgeting is the worst word in the history of the world.”
“Try focusing on big wins that will make a large, measurable change. In fact, I focus on only one or two big wins each month: eating out, and buying books because I am a huge, huge dork.”
“Some people just seem to have a magical ability to manage money. They enrolled in their 401(k) years ago, they always know how much money they have, and they seem to relish tweaking their system to optimize it. Usually, these people are extremely annoying and unattractive. But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn something from them.”
“Nobody really cares about managing their money. Hell, I don’t even care. Get away from me, endless mailings from banks and investment accounts. (That’s the line I will use as a bedtime story to soothe my future children. I know, I know. My future wife is a lucky woman.)”
–Ramit Sethi, excerpts from I Will Teach You to Be Rich
Chapters 6-8 address investing, asset allocation and other more sophisticated financial topics. I wasn’t expecting to learn very much here but I was pleasantly surprised. Although much of the information I knew intellectually, the way Ramit presented it with his own opinions and recommendations was new and refreshing. He even recommended a free Internet based tool for analyzing your investment portfolio that I had never heard of before and was a wonderful new way to look at my finances.
Chapter 9 is about living a “rich life,” in which Ramit takes on money issues like student loans, helping parents in debt, talking to your significant other about money, budgeting for a wedding, negotiating a better salary, and buying a home.
Overall, this book is a quick and entertaining read, packed full of great financial information. It would be a wonderful world if every student graduating high school or college received this book at graduation.
Since the financial world has undergone a lot of change in the last few years, there are just a few points that I wonder if Ramit might write differently today than when the book was first published in 2009.
1) He makes mention that “you can make an average of about 8 percent in the stock market.” Now historically this is true (and hopefully it will continue to be true into the future) but anyone who has tried to make 8% in the stock market lately would probably advise that you ratchet that percentage down a few points for shorter-term planning purposes.
2) Using a credit union instead of a commercial bank is in a sidebar but probably would be in the main text if the book was written today.
3) There is no mention of choosing a bank based on the bank’s financial stability rating, which is becoming increasingly important today. Yes, all banks are FDIC insured but that depends on the government keeping its financial house in order.
4) Like many personal finance writers, Ramit emphasizes that a huge benefit of the 401(k) is getting the employer match. Employer matches to 401(k)s and other retirement accounts have taken a hit in the economic crisis. Some have reduced the match, others have eliminated it entirely. But I agree that if you are lucky enough to still have a match, take full advantage of it!
5) Ramit likes to emphasize having an automated spending plan. Once you have a family costs can become much more unpredictable and expensive than when you are a single person or childless. I suppose I am waiting for Ramit to get married and have a family and write part 2 to this series and see if his advice differs then. I do automate our spending in many ways but can’t fully automate to the extent Ramit recommends. Still, the concept is a good one and if you can do it then you should!
6) Ramit likes Lifecycle funds in 401(k) plans. (If you don’t know what a Lifecycle fund, a.k.a. Target Date Retirement fund, is, it is the fund in your 401(k) that is labeled with a year close to your expected date of retirement, like 2020 or 2035 or 2040.) Suze Orman has a completely different take on these funds and hates them. Following Ramit’s 85% solution, however, I think Ramit has a good argument that if you are not going to spend any time thinking about your 401(k) plan and your simplified choices in the 401(k) are: a) invest in cash b) choose one fund or c) use a lifecycle fund, going with the lifecycle fund is probably not a terrible choice. For a young investor, The Motley Fool tends to advise choosing the closest thing to an S&P 500 stock index fund, however, and some investors in this economic climate might choose cash. So, the Lifecycle funds might not always be the best choice for every situation. Anybody worried about this, however, could always follow the more detailed investing advice Ramit provides.
Bottom line: I would say I got incredible value for my $2.24. Ramit also provides some extra free downloads for those who buy the book that I have not yet watched but plan to. I would encourage anyone and particularly young investors or anyone who hasn’t found a finance guru they trust and like to give it a read. If you are only going to read one book about finance or investing this year, this is a good one!
Are you a Ramit Sethi fan? How do you react to the excerpts above illustrating Ramit’s writing style? Please share in the comments.
*I have no affiliation with Ramit Sethi other than being a fan and reader.