I Will Teach You To Be Rich Book Summary - I Will Teach You To Be Rich Book explained in key points

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I Will Teach You To Be Rich summary

Name: I Will Teach You To Be Rich
Rating: 4 (678 reviews)
Author: Ramit Sethi

Ramit Sethi

The easy approach to smart banking, saving, spending and investing

4 (678 ratings)

17 mins

Brief summary

I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi is a personal finance guide that offers practical advice on saving, investing, and living a rich life.

Topics

Retirement

Table of Contents

I Will Teach You To Be Rich
Summary of 7 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 7

What’s in it for me? Learn how to start saving money, invest in the easiest way and become rich.

Why are so many Americans afraid of learning how to invest and save their money? The fact is that it’s simple. It all comes from having a plan that allows you to do as little as possible. That means understanding how credit cards and retirement funds work, automating your money, and focusing on patient and smart investments.

I Will Teach You To Be Rich does what it says it will. Through a down-to-earth description of the basics of investing, it discloses the investment tips that everybody should’ve been taught in school.

In these blinks, you’ll learn:

how to spend 20 percent of your income guilt-free without hurting your savings;
what the difference is between 401(k) and Roth IRA retirement funds; and
how to set up a totally hands-free investment and savings system.

Don’t blame others for your financial problems. Blame yourself.

You’ve probably felt guilty at some stage about not saving money or maybe you think it’s too late to start. Resist those thoughts! It’s time to stop making excuses.

The first thing you should know is you shouldn’t get distracted by information fed to you by the media.

There’s a lot of information on finance out there, and it can be paralyzing. Plus, a great deal of this information is boring and unhelpful, like “you should cut back on those lattes,” which doesn’t take into account the actual life of a young adult.

When it comes to investment advice, young people have reason to point the finger at the media and blame others who could have taught them better. But the best way for someone to change their savings outcomes is by taking responsibility for his choices.

Such common excuses, like our education system doesn't teach money management, are grossly inaccurate. Many colleges do provide classes on finance, yet students don’t attend them.

Fear of losing money is another popular excuse for not doing anything with it. But it's actually preferable to lose money when you’re young, because you don't have that much to lose! Then when you have more later, you'll better understand how to keep it. Bear in mind money is also drained from your account when you leave it to stagnate in banks!

Yet another excuse is not being able to afford to put $100 aside a month. Really, the amount is not so important. Even $1 saved per day adds up over time.

We all remember the financial crisis in 2008 when many foolishly withdrew their money from the market. A lot of these people had no diversified portfolio and bought high and sold low, a big mistake. It was easy to blame the government and banks, but most hadn’t picked up a single personal finance book to educate themselves.

We need to take responsibility for our problems and start solving them.

Now that you know this, how do you get rich?

Use your credit cards smartly.

Understanding how to harness the power of credit cards will be your first step towards saving money and getting rich.

Our most significant purchases are often made on credit, and people with good credit are able to put aside a lot of money. Credit comes in the form of loans, mortgages and credit cards and it enables you to buy big purchases when you don’t have the money for them immediately.

Choose the best bank and the bank accounts with the highest interest.

Zero fees and high interest rates are impossible, right? Actually, no!

Online banks often provide the best interest rates. Their overhead costs are minimal and they don’t have to spend money on branches or marketing. Consequently, their customer service is better and they can handle lower profit margins than traditional banks. They also offer interest rates six to 10 times higher than a conventional bank.

Open investment accounts even if you only have $50 to start.

Watching your pennies and putting a bit aside in your savings account is good but will only get you so far. To really make your money work for you, you should invest.

Opening a 401(k) retirement fund, which many companies in the USA offer to employees, is a good place to start.

Figure out how much you're spending, then direct money where you want it to go.

Remember the last time you felt guilty about buying something, but bought it anyway? Next time you’ll know better after you learn how to spend consciously.

Conscious spending is about reducing the amount of money you spend on things that aren’t so important to you, and spending more on things that you really care about.

Automate your bill payments so you don't have to think about them.

Paying bills is inconvenient and annoying. If you’re not crazy about managing money, create an automated system to do it for you.

Take the Conscious Spending Plan from the last blink and automate it using your bank and your own tools for tracking your spending.

Ignore experts and invest the simple way.

Experts are always going on about choosing stocks. But there’s a much simpler way to invest.

Don’t believe the experts. Not one of them can consistently predict how funds or stocks will perform in the market over time.

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What is I Will Teach You To Be Rich about?

I Will Teach You To Be Rich takes a straight-talking and amusingly cocky approach to smart banking, saving, spending and investing. You don't need to be an expert to become rich, you just need to have a plan and know a few tricks. Sethi will teach you the benefits of saving as early as possible and setting up automatic investments so you can sit back and let your money work for you.

I Will Teach You To Be Rich Review

I Will Teach You To Be Rich (2009) is a comprehensive personal finance book that you shouldn't miss. Here's why:

It breaks down complex financial concepts into simple, actionable steps for readers to follow.
The book covers a wide range of topics, from saving and investing to negotiating and spending wisely.
It provides real-life examples and case studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of its strategies.

Improve your financial future by reading I Will Teach You To Be Rich today.

Best quote from I Will Teach You To Be Rich

Because of inflation, youre actually losing money every day your money is sitting in a bank account.

—Ramit Sethi

Who should read I Will Teach You To Be Rich?

Anybody who wants to start making more money
Students, graduates or recent recruits who want more from their investment in their educations

About the Author

Dubbed “the new finance guru” by Fortune magazine, Ramit Sethi is a personal finance advisor, writer, public speaker and entrepreneur who is known for his irreverent style and savvy advice.

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