Book · 2009
I Will Teach You to Be Rich
by Ramit Sethi
Ramit Sethi tells a broke twentysomething to automate every account and stop apologizing for buying good coffee.
What does Reddit think of I Will Teach You to Be Rich?
The split between subreddits is the interesting part, not the number of mentions. r/Bogleheads runs warm on this one: the ↑387 comment admits the title "sounds scummy but isn't at all" before crediting the book with turning the commenter into an actual Boglehead, a specific conversion story rather than vague enthusiasm. r/financialindependence treats it as a stepping stone, pairing it directly with Your Money or Your Life in the ↑394 comment as reading to do before the FIRE math starts mattering. The line that keeps surfacing verbatim, not paraphrased, is Sethi's own: "spend extravagantly on the things you love, and cut costs mercilessly on the things you don't" (↑189). That kind of repetition is what happens when a sentence actually sticks with people instead of just summarizing a chapter. r/personalfinance's smaller sample is blunter still: "really helped me change my money psychology" (↑157). Nobody here is arguing with Sethi. They're just recommending him for different reasons to different people.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · Automating accounts instead of budgeting by willpower
- · Guilt-free spending on what you actually value
- · A recurring gateway into r/Bogleheads and FIRE culture
- · Concrete credit card and account mechanics over theory
Common praise
- + r/Bogleheads credits it with turning at least one skeptical reader into an actual Boglehead.
- + The "spend extravagantly, cut mercilessly" line gets quoted back verbatim rather than paraphrased.
- + r/financialindependence pairs it with Your Money or Your Life as a starting stack, not a replacement for it.
Common criticism
- − r/investing barely mentions it, which suggests it doesn't hold much for people already deep in portfolio mechanics.
- − Nobody in the sample pushes back on a specific recommendation, so the corpus shows recommendation more than scrutiny.
- − People still feel the need to defend the title before recommending the book, which says something about the marketing.
Who it's for
Start here if your entire money system currently runs on vibes and vague guilt. The book's whole premise is automation over willpower, which rewards someone who wants a checklist more than a philosophy seminar. Skeptical Bogleheads keep reporting the same arc: they expected a scammy title and got a working system instead, one that apparently held up well enough to convert them. Three years into optimizing your own asset allocation already? The tactical material here is probably below your current level, but the guilt-free spending framing might still be worth stealing.
Mentions over time
Which Reddit comments matter for I Will Teach You to Be Rich?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“This is the main point and direct quote from Ramit Sethi's *I will teach you to be rich.* I tell people all the time to read this book in conjunction with *Your money or your life*. IWTYTBR is all about cutting out things that you do not enjoy so that you can retire early **WHILE** you do more of …
“I liked his book “I will teach you to be rich” which sounds scummy but isn’t at all. It’s got great advice in there to include what you should look for in a credit card The most eye opening part was how he said people freak out over paying for avocado toast but are actually wasting real money in in…
“What incident do you foresee where you need instant access to $274,000 dollars? My suggestion to you would be to read *I Will Teach You To Be Rich* by Ramit Sethi. He explains not just what to do but the logic behind it. It's how I became a Boglehead but it's a very clearly written book unlike a lo…
“Always rings true: “Spend extravagantly on the things you love, and cut costs mercilessly on the things you don't.” ― Ramit Sethi, I Will Teach You To Be Rich
“I Will Teach You To Be Rich really helped me change my money psychology
“I'm 44 and started reading "The Simple Path to Wealth" this past Saturday morning, and finished reading it on Saturday night at 11pm. Spent this week planning on breaking up with my Financial Advisor of 15 years on January 2nd, transferring IRA and Roth IRA to a brokerage of my choice and move to lo…
“I think you need to re-evaluate your relationship with spending and consumerism. There are lots of great books out there that teach you to focus on what you value and stop wasting money on pointless s***. "I Will Teach You To Be Rich" is one.
“I think Ramit Sethi's "I Will Teach You To Be Rich" answers this question. His philosophy is that being "rich" doesn't mean having tons of money, so much as it means being free to spend on the things most important to you. For him that's clothes. He loves fashionable clothes. That's his thing. He c…
“Exactly. Ramit Sethi's book *I Will Teach You To Be Rich* teaches just that; stop cutting corners here and there with a few bucks at a time and focus on the big wins. Negotiating better salaries and creating a good automatic saving/investing plan will help so much more in the long run than just cutt…
“I will teach you to be rich by Ramit Sethi. It tells you not only how to save and invest your money, but also how to spend it so you have a fulfilling life.
“I will teach you to be rich by Ramit Sethi. Save money and invest after paying debt. I started saving money and investing. I saved money and started investing. Opened a Roth IRA.. Great book to start on your path to financial management.
“"I will teach you to be rich" by Ramit Sethi. Despite the bad title, this is a very down-to-earth book about how to get your finances in order. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of finance, for example paying off debt, credit cards, retirement accounts, etc. You are supposed to focus…
“1. "I will teach you to be rich" is arguably more exciting and casual than a lot of books out there. It also is a great foundation for the rest of your financial education. Audiobook is fine too. 2. Roth is great, especially at her salary. If you can, maybe match some of her contributions. 3. Dental…
“The one I recommend most is “I will teach you to be rich”. At that point in my life I had started making money but didn’t really know what to do with it so I just it into something I thought would be a sure thing. I’m much more regimented with how I handle finances now. That’s more of a personal fin…
“I'd highly recommend I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi. I wouldn't say it falls under the FIRE umbrella, but it'll help move her in that direction by showing her a different way to handle and think about money. Sethi gets you excited about money by teaching you that you can live a rich lif…
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Readers also mention
Books that share discussion threads with I Will Teach You to Be Rich — counted from the comments, not curated.
Guides featuring I Will Teach You to Be Rich
Ranked best-of lists and editorial guides where this book's tracked mentions place it.
I Will Teach You to Be Rich — frequently asked
Does I Will Teach You to Be Rich actually work for finance beginners?+
Yes, per the data here. r/personalfinance's ↑157 comment is blunt about it: it "really helped me change my money psychology," and r/Bogleheads' ↑387 comment describes going from skeptical of the title to fully converted. Both treat it as a starting system, not a lecture, which matches how the book is written. There's no displayed pushback against the core approach.
Is I Will Teach You to Be Rich worth it if I'm already a Boglehead?+
Probably marginal. r/Bogleheads' own top comment (↑260) credits it with getting the commenter to index investing in the first place, a beginner's win, not an advanced one. It's cited there as clearer than "a lot of" competing personal-finance writing, which is a claim about accessibility, not depth. If you're already past that stage, the book's most-cited value, converting skeptics, doesn't apply to you anymore.
Should I read I Will Teach You to Be Rich before Your Money or Your Life?+
Either order works, but r/financialindependence's ↑394 comment recommends reading them together rather than sequentially, framing Sethi's book as the cutting-costs half and Your Money or Your Life as the deeper money-psychology half. No comment in this sample argues for strictly reading either one first.
Does I Will Teach You to Be Rich live up to its own title?+
Depends who you ask, but r/Bogleheads' ↑387 comment addresses the question head-on: the title "sounds scummy but isn't at all," and the same comment specifically credits its credit card advice. That's one reader's rebuttal to the marketing, not a fleet-wide verdict, but it's the only direct answer this corpus gives.