Are you interested in finding out how you can achieve the best type of life out there? If you said yes, then perhaps that is the reason why you landed on this page.
You probably wonder if the many promises of the “I Will Teach You to Be Rich” book are genuine and pondering whether Ramit Sethi is a scammer or an actual financial guru who knows what he’s saying.
When was the last time you read something or finished a book? 📚
Was it yesterday?
Perhaps today?
Whether you arrived on this page by mistake or you purposely clicked on this link because of the catchy title, I sure bet that you are one of those who are interested in becoming rich.
And just like you, I devote time and effort to try out opportunities that can help me get closer to my dream of becoming financially free.
I have tried everything from freelancing, affiliate marketing, online selling, flipping sites, to even playing apps and subscribing to paying sites!
I guess you can consider me as an “insider” who knows what’s out and about in this ever-changing field. And this is why I established this site.
You see, I know what it feels like to be so lost in a world of scams and shady businesses, which is why I took the responsibility of speaking out truths about various services, products, and opportunities.
I will share my experience and personal opinion regarding Ramit Sethis’s finance book in today’s post. 😊
There are hundreds of financial books out there, but most of them are written on different calibres – some are great, while others are plain trashy. 🗑️
Trashy may sound like a harsh word, but that is the reality because self-proclaimed gurus exist and they are leveraging on writing idealistic( and somewhat absurd!) or very general things about finance.
You can go on a quick tour of your local library and see for yourself how most of the recently published financial books have almost the same ideas and topics.
What’s worrisome here is that they also come in various price ranges. 🙁
Still, if you analyze the content and financial advice, you’ll find that most are somewhat plagiarized with an assortment of styles and poorly revised analogies from other best selling books.
Could “I Will Teach You To Be Rich” be a breath of fresh air? Does it cover revolutionary matters that can help you put your financial health in order?
Before I start this review, allow me to clarify that I am not connected with Ramit, nor am I an affiliate of his program.
With this, you can be at ease knowing that this post will only feature my personal view and will not encourage you in any way to purchase.
If books are not your thing and feel that you do better with tutorials and mentors, I also added my most recommended way to learn and earn online in the latter part of this post. 👇
Ramit Sethi’s “I Will Teach You To Be Rich” Review
I have always been fond of books like The Rich Dad Poor Dad, The Richest Man in Babylon, and Think & Grow Rich.
You see, not all of us are born with the blood of a financial analyst. Kidding aside, if you think about it, do you even remember the last time you tracked your expenses?
Personally, books like these bring me back to the reality that I need to grasp my financial principles to save for my future goals.
Additionally, most of the books under this category are structured in an easy to follow manner to educate anyone from all walks of life.
I even saw a young man (I’m assuming he was a teen) in the subway reading The Richest Man in Babylon just yesterday, and it made me realize that woke teens today are so lucky to have resources like these at an early age.
And speaking of early stages, our book for today is a tailored fit for the younger professionals and fresh graduates. I am saying this now so that you can have a feel of whether this is for you or not.
This one covers a six-weeks worth of material that focuses on helping you to establish a saving routine and kickstart the process of investing for goals and retirement. ⭐
Hyped by Set Godin, Penelope Trunk, Christopher Stevenson, George Hofheimer, J.D. Roth, and many others, Ramit’s self-help book published in 2009 remains one of the most recommended books in terms of personal finance due to its concise, bold, and practical advice.
It has been granted recognition as a bestseller and the best book for building wealth by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
While it may sound like a heavy lifter, please note that its discussions are on the introductory level and are seasoned with some funny metaphors about life and success.
In this sense, do not expect heavy lessons on technical analysis or the legalities behind establishing legitimate businesses.
A chunk of the chapters here all go back to Ramit’s recommendation to make readers consider opening a savings account with legitimate institutions like banks and cooperatives.
Is Ramit Sethi A Scammer?
Let me put it out there and tell you straight away that Ramit Sethi is not a scammer as he has been one of the most highly-praised financial gurus of the past decade.
Unlike other self-proclaimed financial geniuses, he is actually recognized and considered the go-to person of CNBC, NBC, and has been featured by London Real and Forbes!
If this is the first time you hear of him, please do not assume that he came out of nowhere, okay? 😃
He has been in the field for years and has been the trusted consultant of ABC News, Yahoo Finance, and even CBS in the early 2000s.
I believe that part of the reason he has become so popular is that people can easily resonate with him and he makes it a point to make dry topics like finance much more interesting for the younger crowd.
Who knows, maybe he learned that from his degree in psychology and technology from Stanford. His claim to fame is his book and the website that goes by the same name – I Will Teach You To Be Rich. 💸
As of writing, his website has a resounding A+ rating on BBB, and it only has one complaint in the last ten years! ✅
So, he is legitimate in every level, and he seems to have earned his fame through acceptable practices: no shady businesses, gossips about him, or things of that sort.
In terms of social media presence, I bet that you’ll be surprised to know that he has around 187k followers on Facebook, 189k on Twitter, and a blazing 217k on Instagram (with a verified account!).
If you have been consistently following this site, you probably know that this is the first time we are reviewing a personality with such a sufficient number of followers!
A breath of fresh air among all the fake gurus out there. 😌
What Is “I Will Teach You To Be Rich” All About?
I know what you are thinking. The book title is indeed an appealing one, but could its content live up to our expectations? Please find out more about this in my review below.
Let’s start with the structure of the book. 📕
Basically, it has 219 pages, and it is available on paperback (around $14 depending on your country), Kindle ($8.04 as of writing), and as an audiobook ($30).
Language-wise, it uses short sentences with minimal jargon use, making it understandable for a wide range of audiences.
I tested some parts of the book to check its readability based on two parameters: Flesch Index (to gauge how easy it is to read) and the Gunning Fog (to calculate sentence and word difficulty).
From the way I see it, the whole book is relatively easy and fun to follow since it is filled with one-liner jokes and engaging anecdotes. 🙂
Additionally, it features many links to resources and websites to get updated information even though the book was published years ago.
If you learn better through pictures, you’ll find the book a great read since it also has lots of tabulated info and infographic type of pages.
At the same time, you might also find it hard to put down because of Ramit’s unique way of explaining complex examples through dialogue type of writing.
The whole book is divided into nine chapters, and each chapter ends with a list of actionable steps that you have to accomplish within the week of reading before moving on to the next lesson.
Don’t worry because the steps are actually pretty easy and quite realistic. To give you a glimpse of what to expect, allow me to list the chapters here and a few of the expected action steps.
• Chapter 1:
Optimizing your credit cards – focuses on negotiating premiums and fees and how to handle the process effectively. You can expect action steps like to list your credit report and credit score or set up automatic payment for your credit card.
• Chapter 2:
Beat the banks – dwells on how to look for an open high-interest account. Some of the actions steps include opening an online savings account and funding it with any amount.
• Chapter 3:
Get ready to invest (how to open a 401 and Roth IRA with just $50). You can expect to be required to open a 401 and create a realistic and time-bound plan to pay off existing debts.
• Chapter 4:
Conscious spending – this part will discuss how to increase money and save it. Some of the action steps may include optimizing spending habits and getting your conscious spending plan activities together.
• Chapter 5:
Save while sleeping – focuses on making your savings and investment accounts work together automatically. You can expect to do the following: link savings account to automatic payment and to set up automated savings facility.
• Chapter 6:
The myth of financial expertise – this part will walk you through how you can beat the market, fund managers, and even stock advisers.
• Chapter 7:
Investing isn’t only for wealthy people – this part will teach you how to prepare a simple but profitable portfolio. Some of the action steps are brainstorming on your investing style and researching your desired investment vehicles.
• Chapter 8:
Easy maintenance – how to optimize and maintain your financial routine. You can expect to check how much you are saving and if you’ve already paid off your debts.
• Chapter 9:
A rich life (how to plan for future purchases and goals)
Aside from those, he also touches on some entrepreneurship concepts because he believes that people don’t just get rich by saving and investing.
Instead, they become financially free when they own a profitable business that can finance their way of life.
Since the book is not a technical one, he just mentions the concepts, but I believe his website posts articles about that.
Is The Book Worth It? 🤔
Given its price and unique structure, I totally recommend this to young professionals with shaky financial status.
While the content is not like what you can read from the Cashflow Quadrant or Guide to Investing, it still packs a lot of information that makes it an excellent gift for yourself or your 18 to 30-year-old friends.
While it may sound all sparkly, I find that labelling it as a 6-week program is not a good thing because honestly, 219 pages are something that you can finish reading in a single seating.
Realistically, the actionable steps per chapter are also reasonably easy to do, and you can even finish all of them in a single day.
If you are going to ask me, I think that the maximum time you can give yourself to finish everything in this book is two weeks (of course I’m saying this under the assumption that you have only a few debts to pay).
Additionally, the book is an excellent read if you are from the United States. I mean, the 401 and IRA only exists there so you might have to find alternatives in your home country for that.
But overall, the other chapters are general and applicable to readers from other countries.
Why Not Get Rich For Real?
The fact that you landed on my review suggests that you have a burning desire within you to change the way you’re living.
I don’t know what it is, but I’m assuming that you’re experiencing a burnout feeling from your every day 9 to 5 hours.
And if you want my advice on surpassing that emotion, it would be to go after whatever makes you happy and gives you that feeling of fulfilment.
It doesn’t matter if it’s your willingness to reach for the sky or your mear desire for financial independence – I have this opportunity to introduce you to that I believe will suit your interest the most.
It comes in the form of a business model, in which you get paid a specific predetermined commission to promote and sell other people’s products or services.
It’s generally recognized as affiliate marketing, and it’s the very same business model that helped me to break free from the rat race and live life on my terms.
I know the last heading may sound catching, but getting rich as an affiliate marketer is indeed a realistic possibility, as reflected by these success stories. 🏆
However, it’s easier said than done. 🙃
Affiliate marketing may be a genuine income opportunity, but you need to understand that it entails a lot of time, effort, consistency, and hard work.
It’s one of the most common ways people earn online, and at the same time, it’s perfect for beginners such as yourself because it doesn’t require you to have any previous knowledge or expertise on technicalities or those kinds of things.
The concept of how it works is quite simple: 👇
Step 1:
The first step is to build your asset, which comes in the form of a website, fill it up with content that resolves a specific issue like making a treehouse, or digging a well.
You have the freedom to choose what kind of content you produce, as long as it’s helpful and valuable for people worldwide (they’re the ones giving you the money).
Affiliates tend to see more success when they stick to topics they’re passionate about, but that shouldn’t limit you since I’ve experienced great numbers from sites that had nothing to do with the things I’m keen on.
I understand that building a website may sound intimidating at first, but trust me when I say that you can establish one within less than ten minutes nowadays. (I’ll be showing you how)
Step 2:
The second step of the four-step process is to partner up with companies through their affiliate programs, grab the links they share with you, and place them strategically on your site, so they earn you money every time someone clicks on them and buys the thing you’re recommending.
If you were to build a site that teaches people how to dig a well, you could promote something within those lines, such as the latest lightweight shovel or the newest heavy-duty root buster.
It doesn’t matter what the product or service is as long as you integrate it naturally within the content.
People don’t want to buy from another salesman online. Instead, they want to hear a genuine opinion from someone they can resonate with – everyday folks such as ourselves.
Step 3:
The third step is to drive traffic to your pages and let the content work for you. Traffic is the lifeline of your business, and without it, your chances of growing rich are quite slim, I might say.
I’ll share some of the best techniques I’ve used throughout the years, but more on that later.
The fourth step is the last, and at the same time, my very favourite. 🤩
This is the part where all your hard work pays off, and you finally get to enjoy the fruits of your labour. You won’t be hitting the 1K days from the get-go, but I can promise that your earning will continuously increase.
As indicated earlier, this is a real business you’re building, so please expect to earn nothing for the first few months. If you’re looking for a get-rich-quick method, you should look somewhere else.
As with any other business, this one also requires you to learn a thing or two before starting, and what better way to do it than to join the platform that gave me all the pieces of training, tools, and support to succeed within this prospering industry.
The platform is called Wealthy Affiliate, and without it, I wouldn’t have gotten to where I am today, nor would I sit here and write this review on Ramit Sethi’s book.
The blog you’re on now wouldn’t have existed without the continuous support from this community, and that’s why I’m forever grateful for stumbling upon them. 💖
WA has been one of the leading AM platforms of the past decade, and its uniqueness can be easily identified through the freemium membership model they’re dealing with.
With it, you’re able to participate in the first few lessons for free, and that should give you more than enough time to decide whether a career in affiliate marketing is worth pursuing.
You’ll be able to chat with some of the world’s top affiliates, and you’ll even have me as a personal mentor on top of that. I’ll show you around, and hopefully, give you a reason to stay.
I’ll unselfishly share the best combination of theories, techniques, guides and even provide you with real insights based on my experiences on this site.
The choice is entirely up to you, but make sure you don’t miss out on my onboarding message just in case you decide to give it a try.
So, are you getting a copy of the book? Let me know your thoughts below. 🤗
As I end my review, I hope that I could shed light and answer the question of whether Ramit Sethi is a scammer or not.
If you have enjoyed this post, please feel free to send it out to your colleagues and friends by sharing it on social media to help spread the news on scams and all things financial.
Keep yourself updated and informed with whatever’s trending in the financial-sphere, and stop by soon for your daily dose of truths regarding favourable online opportunities. 👋
