Ramit Sethi — Automating Finances, Negotiating Prenups, Disagreeing with Tim, and More (#371)
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“Most of us should spend less time on most decisions and we should spend a lot more time on a few key decisions.”
— Ramit Sethi
Ramit Sethi, (@ramit) author of the New York Times bestseller I Will Teach You To Be Rich, has become a financial guru to millions of readers in their twenties, thirties, and forties. He started his website, iwillteachyoutoberich.com, as a Stanford undergraduate in 2004, and he now hosts over a million readers per month on his blog, newsletter, and social media.
Ramit grew up in Sacramento, the son of Indian immigrant parents who taught him the art of negotiating — his father once spent five days negotiating with a car dealer, only to walk away over a set of floor mats. He wasn’t the smartest kid in his class, but he loved building systems, which ultimately earned him over $200,000 in scholarships, which he used to get bachelor’s and master’s degrees in technology and psychology at Stanford. His understanding of human behavior and money led to him creating innovative solutions in self development.
Ramit and his team of dozens of employees build premium digital products about personal finance, entrepreneurship, psychology, careers, and personal development for top performers. The IWT community includes one million monthly readers, 400,000 newsletter subscribers, and 35,000 premium customers.
He has written about personal finance for The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and been interviewed on dozens of media outlets including NPR, ABC News, and CNBC, and popular podcasts like The Tim Ferriss Show.
Watch the interview on YouTube.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, Castbox, or on your favorite podcast platform.
[image error] [image error] [image error] #371: Ramit Sethi — Automating Finances, Negotiating Prenups, Disagreeing with Tim, and More
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Watch the interview on YouTube.
Want to hear the first time Ramit was on this show? — Listen to Ramit and me talk about persuasion and turning a blog into a multi-million-dollar business. (Stream below or right-click here to download part one; right-click here to download part two.):
#33: Ramit Sethi on Persuasion, Negotiation, and Turning a Blog Into a Multi-Million-Dollar Businesshttps://rss.art19.com/episodes/7c653f0f-800c-48b8-bfbb-d36906a1e0b2.mp3Download
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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Connect with Ramit Sethi:
Website | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter
I Will Teach You to Be Rich, Second Edition: No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program That Works. by Ramit Sethi
What’s the Best Thing You Learned from Your Parents? By Ramit Sethi, IWT.com
A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing by Burton G. Malkiel
See Interest Rates Over the Last 100 Years by Valerie Ashton, GOBankingRates
Make Your Money Make More Money: Get 5% Back From These Checking and Savings Accounts by Steve Gillman, The Penny Hoarder
How to Negotiate Like an Indian — 7 Rules by Ramit Sethi, Tim.Blog
Don’t Buy a House (+ How to Ignore Dumb Propaganda) by Ramit Sethi, IWT.com
Adjustable-Rate Mortgage (ARM), Investopedia
Penny Wise, Pound Foolish: What Happens When You Try to Write down Every Dollar You Spend? by Rob Baedeker, SF Gate
No B.S. Marketing to the Affluent: No Holds Barred, Take No Prisoners, Guide to Getting Really Rich by Dan S. Kennedy
How to Make Millions with Your Ideas: An Entrepreneur’s Guide by Dan S. Kennedy
MacBook Air
Seamless
Veracruz All Natural
Saison
7 Ways to Buy Back Your Time: How Spending Money on Convenience Makes You Happier by Tony Tran, IWT.com
For a More Ordered Life, Organize Like a Chef (Mise En Place) by Dan Charnas, The Salt, NPR
Google Docs
Whole Foods Market
Instacart
Favor
Author Says Taking Ice Baths Will Keep You Trim by Lisa Sigell, CBS News
The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking Like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life by Timothy Ferriss
9 Tricks for Getting a Table (and Being a VIP) at Hot Restaurants by Tim Ferriss, Tim.Blog
Tasting a $60 Cup of Green Tea by Nick Gray
Chef’s Table
Noah Kagan’s Coffee Challenge Helps You Get over Fear by Alyson Shontell, Business Insider
Best of IWT: Dominate with My Word-for-Word Scripts by Ramit Sethi, IWT.com
Vanguard
Self-Made Millionaire Ramit Sethi: Here’s Why You Should Spend a Lot of Money on Your Wedding by Tom Huddleston Jr., CNBC
Pros and Cons of Target-Date Funds by Caroline Banton, Investopedia
Minority Report
The Lowdown on Index Funds by Rebecca Baldridge, Investopedia
Sub-Savings Accounts: How to save for Anything in 3 Steps by Ramit Sethi, IWT.com
Capital One 360
Bankrate
5 Mistakes to Avoid When Making a Prenup Agreement, World Wedding Guide
How to Talk to Your Partner about Money: The Definitive Script by Ramit Sethi, IWT.com
15 Lessons on Money and Marriage from Couples Who Have Been Married 10+ Years by Ramit Sethi, IWT.com
Yelp
Ways to Invalidate a Prenuptial Agreement by Kirk C. Stange, Esq., Lawyers.com
With Billions at Stake, Wife Contends She Signed Prenup under Duress, Gabrielle S. Davis
The Official I Will Teach You To Be Rich Charts & Spreadsheets by Ramit Sethi, IWT.com
Need Speed? Slow Down by Jocelyn R. DavisTom Atkinson, Harvard Business Review
Polaris is the North Star by Bruce McClure, Astronomy Essentials, EarthSky
How Willpower Works: Decision Fatigue and How to Avoid Bad Decisions by James Clear
5 Things That Are Worth the Money (Including Ramit’s Book-Buying Rule) by Ramit Sethi, IWT.com
Michelin Restaurants and Fabulous Wines: Inside the Secret Team Dinners That Have Built the Spurs’ Dynasty by Baxter Holmes, ESPN
Burning Man
Macro Calculator, Healthy Eater
Hacking the Morning Routines of Benjamin Franklin, Tim Ferriss, Ramit Sethi, and 22 Others by Garik Himebaugh, Life Optimizer
Imitating the Habits of Successful People Is Ultimately Pointless by Jon Westenberg, Business Insider
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
Equinox
Next Level Wardrobe
TripIt
50 Years Ago: Cargo Cults of Melanesia by Peter M. Worsley, Scientific American
Neil Gaiman — The Interview I’ve Waited 20 Years To Do, The Tim Ferriss Show #366
The Basics of FIRE (Financial Independence and Early Retirement) by Kristin Wong, Lifehacker
How to Take a Mini-Retirement: Tips and Tricks by Tim Ferriss, Tim.Blog
Time Management for “Busy” People by Ramit Sethi, IWT.com
24 Hours with Tim Ferriss: A Sample Schedule by Tim Ferriss, Tim.Blog
Outer Order, Inner Calm: Declutter and Organize to Make More Room for Happiness by Gretchen Rubin
Stoicism 101, How to Be a Stoic
How to Never Forget Anything Again by Tim Ferriss, Tim.Blog
Being Weird and Being OK with It by Ramit Sethi, IWT.com
The Enneagram Institute
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
SHOW NOTES
Ramit shares a childhood story that beautifully illustrates why he grew up to be such a savvy negotiator. [03:09]
What made Ramit consider “I was right” as an appropriate beginning for the second edition of I Will Teach You To Be Rich? [05:55]
As someone who once wrote “How to Negotiate Like an Indian” as a blog post for me a few years back, why has Ramit rented the same apartment for 10 years instead of buying a house? Is it a myth that real estate is the best investment? [08:37]
Sometimes your good financial decisions won’t equal someone else’s good financial decisions — or even your own at another stage of the game. Small nuances add up. [12:36]
“What am I missing?” Why Ramit wishes he could go back in time and shake his 22-year-old self. [16:53]
An expenditure that once seemed frivolous and why it makes perfect sense today (after learning the hard way). [18:21]
What Ramit means by living a “rich” life — and why his might not match yours or mine. [20:26]
Life-running, invisible scripts that Ramit inherited from his parents. [22:44]
Examining wise but seemingly counterintuitive words from marketing consultant Dan Kennedy: “Why pay less when you can pay more?” [25:31]
Frugality has its place: Parts of Ramit’s life in which he chooses to be frugal and why. [27:51]
Adjusting what Ramit calls the “money dial” to spend extravagantly on things we love and cut costs mercilessly on the things we don’t. [31:49]
Examples of how convenience is applied to Ramit’s rich life. [36:56]
How does Ramit keep track of travel and other convenience protocols and convey them to his team when necessary? [39:04]
As we’ve discovered, some of the most game-changing conveniences and lifestyle upgrades are cheaper than you might expect. [40:30]
Even if you don’t generally carry cash, here’s why always having a few $20 bills on hand can save the day. [43:09]
A tip for becoming a lifelong VIP at your restaurant of choice. [43:39]
How Ramit’s wife got a free cooking class from their restaurant’s chef just by asking for a spring roll recipe on their honeymoon, and what this and a tea tasting taught Ramit about how easy it is to learn from people who love what they do. [45:06]
A recap of Noah Kagan’s Coffee Challenge and cultivating the muscle for asking. [51:31]
Two exercises for challenging accepted “truths” you may believe about money. [52:09]
Ramit gives us a glimpse at his own system for funneling income where it needs to go, including investments (and an explanation of target-date funds). [55:53]
Ramit is an open book about a much-shunned topic he and his wife agreed to share: the pros and cons of the prenuptial agreement (aka prenup) and why therapy might be the best place to start for any couple considering one. [1:02:20]
If we can avoid decision fatigue by having systems in place to automate the mundane, we might live long and prosper like Ramit’s uncle. [1:41:07]
Ramit’s Book-Buying Rule, the power of sub-accounts, and why some areas of your life shouldn’t have a budget. [1:42:10]
How a couple can reduce decision fatigue by establishing guidelines for travel and daily chores. [1:43:53]
How Ramit and I agree and disagree on morning routines. [1:48:27]
How we agree and disagree on the use of tools. [1:54:15]
The value in understanding that our principles change over time, and what has changed for Ramit in the 10 years between editions of I Will Teach You To Be Rich. [1:59:10]
Financial freedom, retirement, and mini retirements. [2:01:30]
How does Ramit encourage his students to think about their objectives? [2:02:41]
Checking in and general organization: If it’s not in the calendar, it’s just not real. [2:05:50]
Calendar rituals for the care and feeding of a healthy relationship. [2:08:20]
How do you say Ramit Sethi correctly? [2:19:18]
Parting thoughts. [2:19:26]
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Prab Sethi
Neelam Sethi
Burton Malkiel
Dan Kennedy
Cassandra Sethi
Jill Jensen
Angus MacGyver
Nick Gray
Francis Mallmann
Noah Kagan
Mother Teresa
Scrooge McDuck
Voldemort
Gregg Popovich
Michael Jordan
Andre Agassi
Neil Gaiman
Gretchen Rubin
Marcus Aurelius
The Hulk
Anne Lamott
