As I Will Teach You To Be Rich author Ramit Sethi has pointed out on his eponymous blog, there are definitely other personal finance voices out there with different foci. Some, such as The Simple Dollar's Trent Hamm, write primarily about frugality tactics such as making your own laundry detergent or, more extremely, using less toilet paper or pepper. The value in these tactics, especially the latter, is not so much the total amount of money that could be saved but rather the mindset the behaviors foster. Still, as Sethi is quick to point out frugality tactics are not what members of our generation have much tolerance for. Thus, I Will Teach You To Be Rich was born.Sethi is a young, Stanford-educated personal finance blogger turned author. This book is directed mostly at twenty-somethings in or just out of college and who are beginning their independent lives and creating a financial structure. Sethi focuses on "big win" tactics for saving money such as negotiating a lower credit card APR, getting bank fines and fees waived, and, perhaps most importantly, starting to invest early and often. Much of what Sethi urges his readers to do to get their financial lives in line seems to be pretty common sense (at least as far as I'm concerned), but a significant part of the book deals with de-mystifying the process of investing. Knowing very little about investing myself I found his advice and explanations extremely helpful overall. Even though I already do a lot of what is described in the first part of the book, the section on investing is strong enough to merit a recommendation on its own.
The text itself reads like a magazine and is definitely formatted that way, with constant breaks in the text for mini-articles and guest "columns" written by other members of the personal finance blogosphere in what is likely a conscious effort to appeal to a younger generation of readers. Sethi's writing style is informal, sarcastic and frequently rather funny. He comes off as equal parts serious about personal finance and enraged at the poor financial choices his generation often makes. The format and Sethi's voice make for a lively read, especially considering that personal finance is not always the most riveting topic.
Perhaps the best thing about the Sethi's book though is his understanding that "rich" means something different to everyone. He takes time to point out that the spending decisions of a few of his friends would at first seem to be poor choices ($28,000 to go out each year, a multi-thousand dollar love of shoes, etc.), but actually fit very well it to their overall financial plan. Sethi advises his readers to spend extravagently on the things they care about and cut costs mercilessly on the things they don't. He even takes time to talk about the importance of philanthropy and other, less tangible, means to gauge the definition of "rich." While the book is mostly about giving practical advice, Sethi frames the larger discussion well.
I Will Teach You To Be Rich may well be the most worthwhile person finance book for my generation. Certainly we'd all be well advised to read it and take its advice seriously. Maybe then we can be prepared for the next economic downturn. You know, maybe.
