Good advice vs. REALLY bad advice from actual millionaires

Today I want to pass along one of the greatest gifts I've ever received To view this email as a web page, [click here]() {NAME}, Today I want to pass along one of the greatest gifts I've ever received — I realized I’ve been living life wrong all along. If I want to save up enough money for a house... I NEED TO STOP BUYING $19 AVOCADO TOAST. YES. THAT’S RIGHT. ADVICE STRAIGHT FROM A MILLIONAIRE. [News article] Let me see if I got this right, guys. If I cut back on $19 avocado toast and $4 coffee, I can afford to put a 20% down payment on a house, and a house represents happiness and Americana, so finally, I can be happy. With the purchase of a house. And this MUST be true, since a MILLIONAIRE said it. A MILLIONAIRE!!! [Gif] Well, I’m also a millionaire, and I’m about to lay down some fucking real talk. 10 points, that’s it. By the end, I hope you realize how bad most money advice is. And in many cases, worse than bad. Actually destructive. OK, let's go… 1. No amount of saving on avocados is getting you a house. [The median price of houses listed in America is $355,000](). (Laughable, since [the median price of an apartment in NYC is over $2 million](), but just go with it.) If you want a 20% down payment on that $354,000 house, you’ll need to cut back on 3,736 avocado toasts. At one $19 toast per week, that would take you 71 years to save a 20% down payment. In other words, according to this advice, you’ll be able to save enough for a down payment assuming you live to be one of the oldest people in human history. Eat those vitamins! 2. HOW FUCKING DUMB IS THIS ADVICE. AND WE’RE ONLY ON POINT #2 SO FAR. 3. This guy (and many others) also tells you to cut back on $4 coffees. Aside from the fact that I like coffee, if you run the numbers, $4 every day doesn’t really add up to that much. In this case, it would take you eliminating 17,750 coffees to save up for a 20% down payment on a $354,000 house. That’s eliminating buying $4 coffee every day for 48 years. Good luck, you poor caffeine-deprived bastard. 4. Why is the goal in America always to buy a house?Could it perhaps be the decades of propaganda by the National Association of Realtors? Why are more and more people choosing to rent (including me)? Oh, I don’t know… - Maybe it’s the fact that in large cities, it makes no financial sense to buy. - Or that as an asset class, real estate dramatically underperforms the stock market. - Or the phantom costs of real estate that nobody talks about (except me, [in Chapter 9 of my New York Times bestselling book](), where I show you the real numbers behind buying a house). [If you want to read about why real estate isn’t always the best investment, click here](). If you get angry because this is contrary to everything you’ve been told your whole life — even though I back it up with concrete numbers — please email your angry comments right to straighttothetrash@iwillteachyoutoberich.com. 5. What are the experts not telling us?Hmm, let’s dig in. This guy, who became a very wealthy multimillionaire, claims we need to cut back on expensive food and coffee. I wonder if he did that...I wonder if possibly, maybe, he had a little help he doesn’t like to talk about. Wait a second...what’s this??? [Quote] [Source]() OK, OK, he just forgot to mention that. Let me adapt it for him: How to buy a house:Step 1: Stop buying $19 avocado toast Step 2: Stop buying $4 coffee Step 3: GET A 34 FUCKING THOUSAND DOLLAR LOAN FROM YOUR GRANDPA Just an innocent oversight, I’m sure. So many of these personal finance experts preach one thing to you, then do another. You really think the person on that national TV show is cutting back on lattes? Their dress (or suit) costs $2,000. You think they’re counting their pennies when they have a 3BR apartment in Tribeca? Get real. By the way, if you want to hold my feet to the fire, please do. I started out writing about personal finance — which is where you should start and where I’ve made considerable money. More importantly, I sleep well at night because my finances are automated. I’ve talked about freelancing, finding a dream job, salary negotiation, and starting an online business — all of which I’ve done. Above all, it’s about putting in the work to become truly great at your craft and loving what you do. Walk the walk, talk the talk. 6. Why don’t personal finance experts talk about earning more money? Answer: Because they don’t know how.They’re not financial experts, they’re journalists. That’s why they write about cutting back — it’s all they know. They don’t know about [Big Wins]() or how to [automate your money](). They will never tell you how to afford a $1,000 dream coat or $5,000 dream vacation (even though they take them themselves). But they sure do know how to tell you what you SHOULDN’T do with your money. [Here’s an article]() that goes into other cost-cutting strategies. According to them, you need to cut back: - No coffee - No taxis - No dinners out - No nights out - Cut back on one subscription service - No lunches out - No overseas travel - No weekends away - No bottled water - And, inexplicably, a random photo of two half-naked women (???) According to them, if you do all of this...in 4 years, you’ll have enough for the $34,000 that millionaire guy got from his grandfather. Do these people look at themselves in the mirror when they write this stuff? Hey, if you give up water and oxygen, you can also save money, too. In fact, you’ll never need to spend another cent after implementing this strategy for approximately 2 minutes. 7. Some of the advice is actually good.In general, Americans DO spend too much. Yes, you. Yeah, you eat out too much. No, you don’t even know how much you spend. You have no savings goals, you don’t know how to invest, and you say you “don’t want to lose money in the stock market” but you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. When you tell people this (including that [69% of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings]()), they get really mad and [try to argue that they can’t save](). Everyone can save. Most of you have never even read [one good personal finance book]() in your life, until the predictable day (in your 40s) where you realize... “Oh shit, what is all this money stuff?” The sad truth is you'll have missed out on hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) by then. Wake up and take control of your money! It's not too late. I spend less than 1 hour/month on it. You have the time for one of the most important areas of your life. 8. It’s not hopeless. But if you follow the old rules, you’re screwed. If you believe you need to (1) cut back on tiny things like coffee to (2) ultimately save up for a house, then (3) buy it and live happily ever after, you are screwed. You’re playing the wrong game and you don’t even realize it. You’ll spend your life chasing a goal where you cannot win — and you’ll never realize why. Dig deep into your [invisible scripts]() about your happiness and money. This is really challenging, but what you’ve been told — “real estate is the best investment” and “if I just buy a house, I’ll be okay” — might not be relevant for you any more. 9. Follow better advice that actually rings true for you. As you can tell, I think this typical advice is bonkers. But I also have zero tolerance for people who just want to complain about how hard we have it. “Waa, our generation is screwed...student loans, Baby Boomers, waa.” Shut up. We have more opportunities than ever before. Instead of complaining about the government or Baby Boomers, what have you done to live a Rich Life? Here's better advice you can follow: - Let other people cut back on random $2 packs of gum. There’s a limit to how much you can cut, but no limit to how much you can earn. - Get really good at your job and negotiate your salary. [Or find a better job](). - [Design YOUR Rich Life](). Don't just accept what society tells you to want. - Take control of your money! You can [use my book to set up your finances to automatically save and invest for you](). Or go further and [get money coaching from me](). - Learn how to [improve your social skills](), [master your inner psychology](), & [get more productive](). - When you’re ready, [start a business](). Make it a side business or full-time — you're in charge! - READ. God, I don’t even care if you read my material or other people’s. Just get off your ass, stop taking bad advice, and create YOUR Rich Life. 10. Forward this to 3 of your friends who need it. Tell them to [get on the newsletter at iwillteachyoutoberich.com]() from this weird Indian guy who wrote a New York Times bestseller and takes no shit. Love me or hate me, I don’t care. What I do care about is that you do something today. Nobody else is gonna do it for you. [Signature] P.S. Do you want to get answers to your money questions, directly from me? Doors to my brand new program — [Money Coaching with Ramit Sethi]() — are open. Join the community today and attend our first group coaching session next week: [Session 1] After that, I have monthly live events already lined up for members: - Oct 27: "Do I need to worry about this? Inflation, gas prices and more" - Nov 16: "Where can I find an extra $100, $500, $1,000 per month?" - Dec 15: "How Ramit does an Annual Rich Life Review" [Click here to get Money Coaching with Ramit Sethi]().   Featured Products [Learn how to be your own boss, do what you love, and earn more.]() [What if you woke up EXCITED to go to work? I show you how to achieve it, step by step.]() [Ready-to-use mental frameworks for increased happiness, confidence, & success.]() [No guilt, no excuses, no BS. Just a 6-week program that works. Over 1,000,000 copies sold.]() The I Will Teach You To Be Rich Podcast Raw, unfiltered conversations with real couples: - One partner is $300,000 in debt, but shrugs it off. The other cries at night, anxious about the future. - A couple that’s so worried about money, they feel like they’ll never have enough. They go to a restaurant and order chicken instead of steak to save $10. Their household income: $600,000. - Two parents who feel overwhelmed by work, kids, and debt. When I ask them how they’d describe their lives, they instantly say the same word: “Stuck.” Listen in to hear real money conversations from behind closed doors today. [Apple Podcasts] [Apple]() [Spotify]() [Google]() [IWT]() Follow Ramit: [insta]() [Twitter]() [twitter]() [youtube]() [Linkedin]() Was this forwarded to you? [Sign up here.]() This email was sent to {EMAIL}. If you no longer wish to receive these emails you may [unsubscribe]( at any time. 548 Market St #89946 San Francisco, CA 94104-5401