# Question for successful people on Ramit Sethi



## Causalien (Apr 4, 2009)

Hi,

Just wondering what your thoughts are on his philosophies and lessons? The guy caters to people who wish to make the jump from sub $100k salary to something above. Do you find that the way you get to where you are today agrees with his views?


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

When I googled that name, the second suggestion came up was "Ramit Sethi Scam."

I clicked on a blog where an author discusses this guy and a $1400 course to make money..
I would approach with caution and do as much research as possible.


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## Dmoney (Apr 28, 2011)

He gives a lot of good advice. One of his philosophies that I like is aiming to make an extra $1,000/month through freelancing or other methods.

As for the course, I'd never pay for it, but he does have a lot of free stuff up on his website.

I like his approach of focusing on the top line more than the bottom line, although I think to be really successful you should focus on both (ie. make more money but also save where possible).

He also has some decent advice on career advancement, which is often missing from some personal finance blogs that just focus on investing/saving.

I would read his book out of interest, but definitely wouldn't pay $1,400 for his course.


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## Spidey (May 11, 2009)

I also wouldn't pay for his course. But I did just order his book from the library.


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

Doubt I'd ever give him a penny and I've taken his book out of the library, but LOVE that guy and subscribe to several of his lists. There are very specific things I like about him that I don't see anywhere else.


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## Causalien (Apr 4, 2009)

I've subscribed to his email list and the things he gave out for free are... more than I expected. 90 minutes video interviews aren't what I was expecting to get.

Forgot to mention that I am inquiring in general about his philosophy on focusing on the top line and not the bottom line, not his $1400 course. I am specifically interested to know if anyone went from an average $50k job to +100k job following his top line approach.

Thanks a lot, especially for his book in the library, I am going to check it out soon.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

MoneyGal said:


> There are very specific things I like about him that I don't see anywhere else.


Such as?


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## MrMatt (Dec 21, 2011)

His book is well targetted at his audience.

I like his emphasis on action. Too many people delay and miss out, if more 20 somethings were saving (even small amounts) they'd be doing better.

Also I like his advice of spend money on what you love, be frugal on the other things. This is an important part of enjoying life.

Would I pay for his programs, I don't think they're a good fit for me right now, so I haven't bothered to even really consider them.


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## Spidey (May 11, 2009)

I just watched a few of his videos on YouTube. Probably much of the same stuff covered in the course. Good common sense advice.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

This is one of my fave videos from Ramit 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo2bSpfkGSM


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## Dave (Apr 5, 2009)

I enjoyed his course very much. Like said above, he provides great no-nonsense advice and I like his style. Is the course good for everyone ? It depends on your needs and your experience. I run a business with no business background whatsoever, so it was useful for me. Also, my free time to read is very limited and it is unlikely that I will do an MBA (which costs 100k by the way where I live). If you do not want to pay for his stuff, do not sweat it. Glean what you can from his website and study his marketing tactics when he pitches his classes. You can learn a lot from just that. 

Dave


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

Four Pillars said:


> Such as?


(This new quote feature is weird.) FP you asked me for an example of what I like about Ramit. Here is a copy of a Ramit e-mail I got yesterday:

One of my most popular concepts is "Invisible Scripts," or the guiding beliefs we have that are so deeply embedded, they're often invisible.

For example:
"Everyone should get a college degree"
"I don't have any money, so I can't go to college"
"Marry someone you love"
"If you rent, you're throwing money away"
"Online courses are SCAMS"

Here's an overview of the Invisible Scripts concept, which many of my readers told me changed their lives more than anything else I've written.

One of our Invisible Scripts is almost overwhelmingly powerful, causing people to make life-altering decisions for reasons they often cannot even grasp.

It is: "Buying a house is the next step!"

You see, you go to college...get a good job...buy a car...meet a nice guy/girl...then buy a house!

Right?

Interestingly, at least 30% of the "I have a horrible financial problem" emails I get are directly related to people's mortgages.

And if you've read my book, you know that in Chapter 9, I'm critical of people buying real estate because it's a "good investment" or because they're "throwing money away on rent" -- both of which are rarely true. I also cover some of the numbers on the "Buying a House" section of my site.

It turns out that Americans HATE to hear this.

In a recent article by James Altucher, one of the best writers anywhere, he writes about why entrepreneurs should not buy a house. What I really liked was how he dug into the psychology of owning a house. Predictably, the commenters hate him.

How often do we do something or want something without considering WHY we really want it? For example, if I were to say, "Why do you want to buy a house?" and you replied, "I'm tired of throwing money away on rent," I would reply: How exactly are you doing that? Can you show me the numbers? If you cannot do that, you are not ready to make the biggest purchase of your life, jackasses.

If you say "Leverage," and I point out that leverage works both ways, you need to have an answer for that before you drop several hundred thousand dollars.

Finally, if you say "For the tax benefits," then I would like to invite you to join to a community college class on financial math so that you can understand how the tax benefit really works.

Guys, I don't think I'm asking too much. If you're about to make the biggest purchase of your lives, you need to understand the basic concepts of real estate. In fact, I hold you to a higher standard: You need to be at least intermediate, if not expert, for this expenditure that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So while others (especially parents) might urge you to buy a house -- "rates are so low right now!" -- I hold you to a higher standard. I insist you do more than take catch phrases ("I hate paying my landlord's rent every month") and truly understand how real estate works.

For example -- if you pay $2,000/month for a mortgage, how much TCO (total cost of ownership) will you actually pay? Would it surprise you to learn that you'll pay 50% more than your monthly mortgage in additional costs?

Most people would be shocked. But they take their shock out in the form of denial, not further digging. And 3 years from now, they're saddled with a purchase that they feel cheated about...because they never took the time to learn how it works.

I'm not saying real estate is a bad purchase for everyone. But the vast majority of buyers do not understand how the math works...on the biggest purchase of their lives.

QUESTION FOR YOU

We talked about Invisible Scripts today.

What examples do you have where you've found out afterward that you were following a script, not doing what you really wanted?

Email me. Let me know. I want to hear from you today.

-Ramit

P.S. If you are planning to email me and tell me how I'm wrong about real estate, you're welcome to...but you need to read chapter 9 of my book first. I'm always open to a point-by-point rebuttal, but only if you take the time to do some homework.


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

OK, none of the embedded links in that e-mail copied over. Anyways: what I like is - compelling argument, backed up, confident, "goes against the grain" and throws out a challenge to his readers. I just like his style.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

MoneyGal said:


> OK, none of the embedded links in that e-mail copied over. Anyways: what I like is - compelling argument, backed up, confident, "goes against the grain" and throws out a challenge to his readers. I just like his style.


I agree about his style.

His content however is old and unoriginal (which is true of pretty much everyone) - not a big deal except that he likes to present his material as "ground breaking" or "nobody else will tell you this" kind of stuff, when in fact they do and have done for many years.


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

Oh, I know. He just repackages. I don't ever watch his videos (BOOOOOORING) and I take what he says with a grain of salt but I still like him.


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## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

MoneyGal said:


> Oh, I know. He just repackages. I don't ever watch his videos (BOOOOOORING) and I take what he says with a grain of salt but I still like him.


I should add - it's his financial content that is old, his entrepreneur articles are much better.


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## jagger (Jan 12, 2011)

Like many bland investment books, it can be condensed down to a single page:

Save money, e.g. high interest banking, pick the right credit card, quit drinking lattes everyday
Don't go into debt
Invest in index funds
Dollar cost averaging
Yadda yadda yadda!


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

Nope. Absolutely not. He's totally not a "latte factor" guy and he is explicitly pro-latte. :02.47-tranquillity: This is the main reason I like him (not that he's pro-latte, but that he destroys the "latte factor" argument).


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