I Will Teach You to Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No B.S. Just a 6-Week Program That Works.

by Ramit Sethi

People love to argue minor points, partially because they feel it absolves them from actually having to do anything.

The single most important thing you can do to be rich is to start early.

Cynics don’t want results; they want an excuse to not take action. Ironically, even if they win their own manufactured argument, they lose overall, because they’re stuck in a prison of their mind.

Follow my CEO Method: Cut costs, Earn more, and Optimize your existing spending.

In relationships and work, we want to be better than average. In investing, average is great.

The single most important factor to getting rich is getting started, not being the smartest person in the room.

The 85 Percent Solution: Getting started is more important than becoming an expert.

Spend extravagantly on the things you love and cut costs mercilessly on the things you don’t.

Sometimes the most advanced thing you can do is the basics, consistently.

(Sidenote: If you find yourself getting a ton of credit card offers and other junk mail, go to optoutprescreen.com to get off their marketing lists.)

cutting costs mercilessly on the things you don’t love, but spending extravagantly on the things you do.

Age and risk tolerance matter.

If you’re in your twenties or early thirties and you don’t necessarily need to reduce your risk, you can simply invest in all-stock funds and let time mitigate any risk.

As a financial adviser once told me, “Once you’ve won the game, there’s no reason to take unnecessary risk.”

Diversification is about safety in the long term.

you find yourself growing older and telling long-winded stories about how you trudged through three miles of snow (each way) to get to school every morning.

Forgot about the fact that it is uphill both ways 😂

Index funds are the financial equivalent of “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”

When you’re investing in index funds, you typically have to invest in multiple funds to create a comprehensive asset allocation (although owning just one is better than doing nothing).

rebalance (or adjust your investments to maintain your target asset allocation) regularly, usually every twelve to eighteen months.

Target date funds are different from index funds, which are also low cost but require you to own multiple funds if you want a comprehensive asset allocation.

target date funds automatically pick a blend of investments for you based on your approximate age.

But while we all grew up with our parents telling us we were special and different, the truth is that most of us are mostly the same.

Are you calling my mama a liar? 😂

want you to take all your money, put it in a big Ziploc bag and light it on fire.

Don't actually do thisbecause it's illegal, at least in the US

30 percent—Domestic equities:

15 percent—Developed-world international equities:

5 percent—Emerging-market equities:

20 percent—Real estate investment trusts:

15 percent—Government bonds:

15 percent—Treasury inflation-protected securities:

Living a Rich Life happens outside the spreadsheet.

Don’t tell them your current salary.

Don’t make the first offer.

I also highly recommend using Fighting Chance (fightingchance.com), an information service for car buyers, to arm yourself before you negotiate.

The easiest way to see if you should rent or buy is to use the New York Times’s excellent online calculator “Is It Better to Rent or Buy?”

Keep in mind that ideally the total price shouldn’t be much more than three times your gross annual income.

Check out hud.gov/topics/buying_a_home to see the programs in your state.

I’d like to share some bonus resources with you to help you earn more money. Get them at iwillteachyoutoberich.com/bonus.