Book · 2009
I Will Teach You to Be Rich
by Ramit Sethi
Ramit Sethi's personal finance system for people who hate budgeting: automate everything, ignore avocado toast, stop leaving money in savings accounts.
What does Reddit think of I Will Teach You to Be Rich?
r/Bogleheads leads with 53 mentions, broadly positive, and the praise there is specific: a ↑260 comment calls it 'very clearly written unlike a lot of Boglehead books,' which is a credible compliment in a community that defaults to The Little Book of Common Sense Investing. The avocado toast framing comes up at ↑387 — Sethi's actual point being that people obsess over coffee money while ignoring real drag items — and Bogleheads find this persuasive. r/personalfinance, across 10 mentions, is where the psychology-first reads land: ↑157 credits the book with changing money psychology directly. r/investing's 11 mentions are neutral, suggesting the book doesn't speak to active allocation questions. The title is the main liability: even enthusiastic recommenders on r/Bogleheads qualify with 'sounds scummy but isn't.' Sentiment across 74 mentions is genuinely positive.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · Automation as the foundation of personal finance
- · Credit card strategy and rewards optimization
- · The psychology of spending vs. saving
- · High-interest debt elimination first
- · Index funds and Boglehead alignment
Common praise
- + r/Bogleheads (↑260) credits it as the clearest written entry point to Boglehead principles, ahead of the more technical Boglehead canon.
- + The money psychology reframe (↑157, r/personalfinance) works for people who know what to do but keep not doing it.
- + r/Bogleheads (↑387) endorses Sethi's big-expenses argument: stop tracking lattes, start examining the large fixed costs nobody questions.
- + r/Bogleheads (↑113) recommends it as a complete starter system: pay off high-interest debt, emergency fund, then follow those directions.
Common criticism
- − The title makes recommenders work harder — the ↑387 comment on r/Bogleheads has to preemptively defend it as 'not scummy at all.'
- − r/investing's 11 neutral mentions suggest the book has little to say to readers who've moved past the basics.
- − The book targets younger accumulators; the r/Bogleheads commenter at ↑131 who finished The Simple Path to Wealth in a day is a different reader.
- − Sethi's Netflix show gets mentioned at ↑85, which has a different focus than the book — recommenders should flag that the formats diverge.
Who it's for
You know you should be investing but you have four financial accounts you've never connected, credit card debt accruing interest you haven't looked at, and a vague plan to sort it out eventually. This is the book for that. r/Bogleheads recommends it at ↑260 precisely because it explains the logic, not just the steps. If you've already automated your savings and are optimizing asset allocation, you've aged out of it. r/personalfinance's ↑114 puts the target plainly: if money scares you because you don't understand it, start here.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for I Will Teach You to Be Rich?
Top-upvoted quotes across the subreddits where this book is mentioned. Click through to read the full thread.
“If you want to buy a house one day I'd suggest making sure you're still building your credit so you can qualify for a good loan In general advice Burn through your credit card debt, those come with interest, it's money on money Then try to take a look at your fixed costs and spending habits, t…
“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…
“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.
“Read “I Will Teach You To Be Rich” and then follow those directions. Pay off your high interest debt (>5%), set aside 6mo for an emergency fund
“So somehow you need education and introspection, but without making it contentious. Ideas: -Consider snuggling up with some popcorn and wine (or whatever floats your boats) to watch an episode of Ramit Sethi’s I Will Teach You to be Rich on YouTube. He interviews couples with a focus on delving int…
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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.
The Wealthy Barber
David Chilton
A Canadian barber explains index funds and pay-yourself-first saving to his regulars, and the advice still holds up decades later.
Quit Like a Millionaire
Kristy Shen
A Canadian immigrant who grew up in poverty explains how index funds and geographic arbitrage got her to retirement at 31.
The Index Card
Helaine Olen
Harold Pollack's viral index card — nine rules for personal finance that fit on a 4x6 slip — expanded into a full book with Helaine Olen.
The Richest Man in Babylon
George S. Clason
A 1926 book about a Babylonian merchant that r/Bogleheads still hands to newcomers because nothing else this short covers the basics this cleanly.
If You Can
William J. Bernstein
A free 16-page PDF from William Bernstein that tells millennials exactly how to invest for retirement using three index funds and nothing else.
Winning the Loser's Game
Charles D. Ellis
Charles Ellis argues that active stock-picking is a game professional managers reliably lose, and that ordinary investors win by refusing to play.
I Will Teach You to Be Rich — frequently asked
Is I Will Teach You to Be Rich actually good or just a clickbait title?+
Good. The title is the main problem, and r/Bogleheads acknowledges it at ↑387: 'sounds scummy but isn't at all.' The content aligns closely with Boglehead principles — index funds, low fees, automation — and gets recommended there 53 times. The ↑260 comment specifically calls it clearer than most Boglehead texts, which is a meaningful endorsement from a community with high standards for financial writing.
What does Reddit think of I Will Teach You to Be Rich vs. The Simple Path to Wealth?+
Both circulate on r/Bogleheads, and they serve different readers. I Will Teach You to Be Rich targets the earlier setup stage: debt, credit, automation, first accounts. The Simple Path to Wealth is for readers already accumulating who want an allocation philosophy. The ↑131 commenter finished The Simple Path to Wealth in a day and immediately fired their financial advisor — that's a different situation than the one Sethi's book addresses.
Does I Will Teach You to Be Rich change how people actually handle money?+
Yes, based on r/personalfinance data. The ↑157 comment says the book changed their money psychology — not just their tactics. The ↑114 comment frames it as a cure for money avoidance. These are the kinds of before-and-after reports that show up in 10 r/personalfinance mentions, which is a smaller sample but consistently directional.
Should I read I Will Teach You to Be Rich if I'm already a Boglehead?+
Probably not — you've covered the material. The book is the entry ramp to Boglehead investing, not the destination. r/Bogleheads recommends it most strongly to people who haven't automated anything yet or who are still carrying high-interest debt. If you're rebalancing a three-fund portfolio and debating bond allocation, this book has nothing left to teach you.