4 Things Ramit Sethi Would Teach His Younger Self About Spending and Saving
Written by
Nicole Spector
Edited by
Molly Sullivan
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Ramit Sethi, 42, wears several hats that on some would be towering, but on him, fit just right. He’s an entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling personal finance author and media personality behind both a podcast (“I Will Teach You To Be Rich”) and a Netflix series (“How to Get Rich”). How did he get to a place of such influence, with more than 872,000 followers on Instagram?
Sethi has said that his journey started in 2004, while studying technology and psychology at Stanford, but it looks as though he actually launched it in high school, when strategizing a way to get a degree without going into debt.
“I built a system to apply to more than 60 scholarships — and it worked,” Sethi said on his website. “I eventually earned enough to cover my undergrad and grad school.”
It was around this time when Sethi started investing. “When I got my first scholarship check, though, I invested it in the stock market,” he said. “I immediately lost half my money.”
It’s easy to look at someone like Sethi and think, “Oh, they had so much figured out at such a young age! How can I relate?” But Sethi is just like the rest of us in that he’s gained a ton of wisdom with time. In a recent email newsletter sent to his subscribers, Sethi shared the four pieces of advice he’d give his younger self.
Spend Your Money on Things That Are Meaningful to You
Sethi suggested that he may have been under some pressure as a youngster to spend money on the right things. Were he able to go back in time and talk to his childhood self, he’d tell him to spend his money on whatever was important to him and him alone.
“Could be a deluxe video game setup,” Sethi said. “Or taking a once-in-a-lifetime, bucket-list type of family trip, every year. Whatever it is, you get to decide.”
Save Money, but Enjoy Life, Too
The long-dead Greek philosopher Socrates, credited as the father of Western philosophy, supposedly once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Sethi doesn’t have precisely the same take, but he does have some similar vibes — at least when it comes to financial teachings. He would tell his younger self that “living a small life is a tragedy.”
“Cutting costs is good. Saving is good. But these will only take you so far,” Sethi said. “If you want to live a Rich Life, you’re going to need to earn more. The best part? There’s no limit to how much you can earn.”
Don’t Try To Be Perfect
Did Sethi ever struggle with an intense desire to be perfect and get it all right, right away? Maybe. He would tell his younger self not to worry about that so much.
“You’re in control. You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t need all the answers to get started,” Sethi said. “There are proven systems out there you can follow. Learn from others. Get started and keep moving.”
Don’t Wait
Sethi finds that people often err by postponing major changes that will only benefit them.
“Don’t wait!” Sethi would tell his younger self. “This is the biggest mistake people make.”
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