Having been a subscriber to Ramit’s mailing list for a while now, I finally got around to reading his book “I Will Teach You To Be Rich”. Written in a clear and humorous manner, Ramit’s book is targeted at young people who have done little with their finances and are interested in taking the next step. Through this practical guide, Ramit teaches the reader on how to live a richer life by setting up your finances so that they work for you. It’s a common misconception that one has to spend hours and hours on stocks in order to see a return on their finances, but this definitely isn’t the case. The first part of the book is all about setting up your personal finances in an automated system and finding which systems works best for you. Once everything is set up, you hardly have to do any work if you don’t want to.
One of the cool things that Ramit talks about is having big wins. He says you shouldn’t worry too much about cutting out on lattes or going out less. Instead he stresses on focusing on big wins, which could come in the form of travel, or things such as fancy shoes if thats what you’re into. Another thing I picked up from this book is how real estate may not necessarily be the best investment, depending on the market that you live in. The thing with real estate is that you are essentially purchasing an asset, and if you don’t live in the home for a very long time, you may end up losing money. Also, if you never sell the home, you never actually got your return on investment so to speak. Therefore it may be better to rent, and just pay that as a fee and spend the extra money you would have spent on your mortgage on other investments such as RRSP’s.
Overall, I Will Teach You To Be Rich was an entertaining and informative read that helped me get over the tough hurdles of finances which before, seemed rather overwhelming. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to get their finances on track!