I Will Teach You To Be Rich Book Review 

Overview: 

Ramit explains in simple terms some harsh truths as to why people are broke or living paycheque to paycheque. He goes through some less obvious reasons why and explains some steps you can take to get back onto track. He makes it clear these things can take time but makes you feel you can do it. In the book he shows some ways you can improve how much you earn, and reduce how much you spend. It's a very practical book which offers a high level of description on the explanation - enough for you to grasp the topic. 

​

First Impressions:

The chapters are structured in a way where you want to get to the next one and find out what to do next. He drops one bit of awesome advice after another so you can't wait to for your next task or next piece of advice. He breaks the mould from the traditional finance books which are focused I feel at an older aged audience or with a higher level of financial understanding. This book explains the complicated topics well so that everyone can understand in a language I believe is geared more to the 20's audience, especially with some of the advice and guidance used. 

​

Key features:

1/  Nail the big important decisions and don't worry about the small stuff. If you have made your housing, commute and bills as efficient as possible - don't worry about spending £3 on the coffee. There are countless memes, Instagram posts and blogs about the effect of buying coffee can have if you invested that £3 over 40 years. Which I get. I understand the effect of a £3 coffee a day. But if someone is coming in fresh to this world and you have someone who is super frugal stopping them doing anything they like, good chance they won't stick it out. If we worry about the big stuff we don't need to stress on the small stuff. 

​

2/ He gave actual examples of how to use a sink fund and how not to apologise for wanting these things. He uses the example of a honeymoon that he wanted to do, which was going to cost quite a decent amount. As he ahead of time this event was going to happen him and his wife just started putting money aside so that when it came around they were ready. "Super simple!" I hear you cry - but who is actually doing this? Sometimes the simple things need addressing. He suggests to plan ahead to what you need to do in 3 years, how much will it cost, divide it by 36 and put this away. Don't change what is important to you and what makes you happy, just plan for it. 

​

3/ Automation. Again this is such an obvious thing but the way he writes about it actually makes you do it. He explains how to work out how much to put into each pot, and why you should do it. Once it's written so clearly and obviously it's hard to say no. 

​

What I learnt:

​

1/ That my happiness and who I am can't be ignored in this process if I want to stick it out for the long term, and his practical advice of putting away for known events was super helpful. Similarly to recognise where we are on the frugal scale, and not let someone else's marker dictate what we should be doing. 

​

2/ Once I got to the chapter to do the automation I did it. I have carried this on with other aspects of the journey I have picked up on since, as I have seen the benefit of having it all automated. I had things automated before, this isn't the first time I have done this, but it's the first time I have been consistent and efficient at it. 

​

3/ The importance of asking. Asking banks to waive chargers, asking work for a raise or asking for a better rate with your mobile provider. I actually did the mobile provider one and got an improved rate by a reduction of roughly 25%. It's your financial independence so you can't let a little nerves get in the way!

​

Conclusion: 

This finance book is so different to the other books I read and I loved it for it. It gave such a fresh look on things with a really unique view that I really got onboard with as it answered all the doubts I had with FIRE. 

It was incredibly practical with so many tasks to do and examples of how to do things. It really did hold your hand here it was great. It's written in a very positive manner which makes it fun and uplifting to read. 

The only thing which I found frustrating was at times the language was very much geared to the young American finishing college. And a fair amount of the examples were very US specific. 

This book helped me so much in my financial journey and I still employ some of the tactics it goes through in the book. I feel this book would be great to read after something broader such a JL Collins Simple Path to Wealth. As a standalone book it needs a little more depth for you to really get a good understanding. That said, I still give it a 4/5 and would 100% recommend it to people to add onto their bookshelves. If I were an 20 year old American college student who knows, it may have got 5/5.....​​