How much have you spent on your Rich Life?

Yesterday I asked you what you’ve spent the most on for your Rich Life. To view this email as a web page, [click here]() [IWT Header] Your responses: The most you’ve spent on your Rich Life Yesterday I asked you what you’ve spent the most on for your Rich Life, how much it cost, and if it was worth it. Here are some of your answers: [I finally bought an Omega Seamaster 300 watch...$6.5k] [$500 to spend 5 seconds with the Backstreet Boys and take a pic with them] [$50 grand buying and racing cars] [Yoga mat $100 and sleep coach $350] [Honeymoon in the Maldives $10k] I love it. If you didn’t reply yet, please do! I read every one. --------------------------------------------------------------- Ramit's Rant: It's a tragedy to live a smaller life than you have to I spoke to a couple who were fighting about renovating the bathroom. She wanted it, he didn't. They made $150,000/year. When I asked what they wanted with their money, he said, "I don't know." And when I pushed, he struggled for an answer. "Maybe travel...buy a house...send kids to college…" What do you notice here? Most of us have never thought deeply about what we actually want to do with our money. When asked, we resort to cliches: Travel...house...send kids to college. This couple doesn't even have kids! In his vision, he literally skipped over 20 years of living to "send kids to college." Now, I'm too curious to leave it at that, so I pushed more. Eventually, they both revealed they grew up in middle-class families whose invisible script with money was simple: SAVE. That's it. That was the total extent of "what you do with money." Their parents could save, buy a house on 1 income, and live a nice life. But today… - It's difficult to live on 1 income and buy a house in their area. - They make way, way more than their parents did in their early 30s. - Following the same scripts their parents did — for a different time, income level, and world — would be a mistake. When I talk to people about money, I almost always find they think they have a math problem — but that's just not true. This is hard to accept. It's easy to dream of a simple solution if it involves cell C2 in your spreadsheet. It's much harder to change your entire psychological worldview. I pointed out they could live a much richer life than they'd ever imagined...if they wanted to. But their middle-class upbringing has surrounded them with a script of "save...that's what we do." Save how much? For what? Why? I hope they change. What a tragedy to get to the later years of your life and realize that you lived a smaller life than you actually had to. You scrimped and pinched on your Target bill...but it made no difference. You worried about ordering a second appetizer...but you could have bought every appetizer you ever wanted. Do you want to end up 70 years old with $2 million in the bank — or $5 million — having agonized over your spending all along the way? Would you even know what to do with that kind of money at 70? Too many of my readers end up in a situation where they saved and saved and saved...but never learned the skill of spending. That's why part of living a Rich Life is living. Yes, you should save and invest. Yes, you should manage your money (better yet, automate it). Yes, you should earn more. But you also need to learn how to enjoy your Rich Life today. ([Click here for more on how to design your Rich Life]().) --------------------------------------------------------------- Tips for reading more in the new year The IWT team recently started an internal Slack channel focused on all things self-improvement — life hacks, courses, books, tips and tricks … basically anything. Of course, IWT is full of readers, and they have their favorite tips and tricks. The tips were so great that I had to share some of them. I narrowed it down to ten. - Get a library card. Library displays are great ways to stumble on new books you wouldn't normally come across. And since they're free, it's zero risk to try something. Plus the library is a nice place to go to work when you want to get out of the house. - Download the Libby or OverDrive apps if your library participates, and you can get free books to read on your Kindle/e-reader. - Get a Kindle — seriously. Keep it charged and nearby like you would your phone, so you can pick it up often. - Read multiple books at once — read at least one fiction and one nonfiction book at the same time. That way, if you’re not in the mood for one, you can switch to the other. Also be sure to have an audiobook for when you’re traveling. - Always have books on hold at the library or in a to-be-read list. This helps with decision fatigue of what to read next. - Read books you like!!! Even if they aren’t “serious literature.” If you enjoy it, you’ll keep reading — and even easy-to-read books help you build the muscle of reading, which you can then apply elsewhere. - Read every day, even if it’s just a single paragraph. One team member had a goal to read 24 books in 2020 but only got 16. So in 2021, instead of setting a goal for a number of books, she set a goal to read every day. This was a game changer — she read 31 books in 2021. - Always bring a book with you. Waiting at the dentist or doctor’s office or in line at the store? Read! Not only are you getting more reading time in, but you look cool and mysterious next to everyone else scrolling on their phones. - If you think you have “no time to read,” start counting how many hours you spend on your phone. - Children's books are surprisingly good ways to explore miscellaneous topics. They're often engaging, fast, clear, and don't bog down in minutiae. Awesome! If you have any tips or tricks that you use to read more or retain more of what you read, reply and let me know. The IWT team would love to hear them! I’d also love to hear what books you plan to read in 2022. --------------------------------------------------------------- In 2022, do more of THIS with your money On Twitter the other day, [I asked]() “In 2022, what’s one thing you will START doing with your money?” [What's one thing you will START doing with your money?]() Unfortunately, most of the answers I got were boring, so I wrote some better ones. - Become an incredibly generous tipper (e.g., minimum of 30% or $5K/year, whichever is greater). - Spend extravagantly on one [Money Dial]() (e.g., hire a personal trainer). - Create a [debt-payoff plan](), [automate it](), and know the exact month/year you will have $0 debt. - Spend 5 hours/week working on a [Big Win]() (salary negotiation, starting a side business, etc). We teach these at [iwt.com/products](). - Create a group of 3 friends to read and discuss one money book or article every month. - Set up 60 minutes to [review finances with your spouse]() every month. - Create an absolutely incredible memory with someone you love 4x/year. - Create your own [Money Rules](). Will you focus on one of these this year? I encourage you to try no more than two or three max. If you try too many, you’ll lose focus and won’t do anything. Tomorrow: Things to STOP doing with your money. [Signature] WHAT TO DO NEXT - DESIGN YOUR RICH LIFE: Don't put your Rich Life off until "someday." Craft a compelling Rich Life vision today. My free How to Design Your Rich Life mini-course will get you started. [Click here to begin](). - REPLY AND LET ME KNOW: What are your tips to read more or retain more of what you read? The IWT team would love to hear them! I’d also love to hear what books you plan to read in 2022. --------------------------------------------------------------- What did you think of today's newsletter? [Hated it]() [It was fine]() [Loved it]()   [Logo] [insta]() [Twitter]() [twitter]() [youtube]() [Linkedin]() [podcast]() This email was sent to [{EMAIL} .]() If you no longer wish to receive these emails you may [unsubscribe]( at any time. I Will Teach You To Be Rich 548 Market St #89946 San Francisco, CA 94104-5401