I Will Teach You To Be Rich: No Guilt. No Excuses. No BS. Just a 6-Week Program That Works

“It’s fine to keep an eye on your expenses, but you should focus on spending time on the things that matter, the Big Wins.”

As he explains in the Introduction, Sethi believes that people love to debate minutiae because it makes them feel like they’re doing something without them actually having to take action. This quote demonstrates one of Sethi’s primary themes: Turning Attention From the Micro to the Macro. In each arena of personal finance—credit cards, banks, investing, conscious spending—Sethi encourages readers to identify the two or three “things that matter” most to them and commit to making those changes.

“You’re much better off building a personal finance infrastructure that focuses on long-term growth, not on getting a few bucks here or there.”

In this quote, Sethi articulates an idea that is related to his principle of Turning Attention From the Micro to the Macro. In this chapter on negotiating with credit card companies, he advises readers to avoid fixating on every last dollar or extra interest-rate point. Instead, financial well-being requires readers to focus on “long-term growth” in the form of saving and, even more so, investing.

“[I]nvisible money scripts turn into very peculiar behaviors […]. People are not purely rational […]. My goal with this book is to show you that you can change your money stories.”

In his chapter on credit cards and debt, Sethi explains that emotions around money are rooted in the stories we tell ourselves about it, or our invisible scripts. Once readers can change these stories, they can change their behaviors and they become the solution to their own money challenges. Sethi uses his characteristic form of second-person address—“show you that you can change”—to engage the reader directly.

“Your checking account is the backbone of your financial system. It’s where your money will first go before it’s ‘filtered’ to different parts of your system, like your savings account, your investing account, and your guilt-free spending.”

This quote from Sethi’s chapter on choosing savings and checking accounts encapsulates the basis of his Automatic Money Flow system. Sethi advises readers to link their bills, savings, investment, and credit card accounts to their checking account. He uses a metaphor of a “backbone” in order to simplify his advice and provide an easily understood image for readers to picture the function of the checking account.

“If you learn only one thing from this book, it should be to turn your attention from the micro to the macro.”

In this quote from Sethi’s chapter on finding the right checking and savings accounts, Sethi explicitly states one of his major themes: Turning Attention From the Micro to the Macro. Sethi believes that people fail to act because they get bogged down in the details. The antidote is to focus on the long term, the big picture.

“It’s not just about your immediate earnings—it’s about developing the right habits.”

As he discusses banks, Sethi reinforces the centrality of emotions, behavior, and psychology to his understanding of personal finance. Just as he implores readers to take the long view of their financial lives, he asks them to think less about the individual wins and losses and more about understanding their “habits.” In addition, Sethi emphasizes that financial health is less based in somebody’s yearly salary and more based in how they have set themselves up for the future. This exemplifies the advice in the book that is applicable to more in life than just finances.

“Put simply, saving is not enough. You need a way to put that money to work for you so it earns more than even the highest-yielding savings account, and investing is the first and best way to do it. ‘Compounding,’ Albert Einstein said, ‘is mankind’s greatest invention because it allows for the reliable, systematic accumulation of wealth.’”

This quote epitomizes Sethi’s most important lesson about long-term financial well-being. He believes that making monthly contributions to low-fee investment accounts is the best route to building wealth because investments compound wealth over time. He uses Albert Einstein as a metonym for intelligence to portray the validity of his arguments.

“Investing isn’t about picking stocks.”

This simple quote represents the heart of Sethi’s advice about how to invest: Most people think that the only way to make money through the stock market is to pick winning stocks, but Sethi argues that the most lucrative method of investing is to prioritize asset allocation and diversification and then leave the money alone. This short sentence is typical of Sethi’s pithy tone in the book, which reinforces the practicality of his advice.

“The problem, and the solution, is you. Your psychology, your emotions, your invisible scripts … all of it. Without understanding why you behave the way you do with money—and deciding why you want to change—any information is just meaningless drivel.”

This quote summarizes the psychological principles behind all of Sethi’s advice: People’s behavior around money is driven by their emotions and psychology. In order to get better results, readers have to change their behavior, and in order to change their behavior, they need to confront their emotions around money. He uses an anaphora of “your” to reinforce his point that the reader is the one who has to act.

“‘Create a budget!’ is the sort of worthless advice that personal finance pundits feel good prescribing, yet when real people read about making a budget, their eyes glaze over. Who wants to track their spending?”

In this quote at the beginning of the chapter on conscious spending, Sethi both distinguishes himself from other personal finance commentators and offers advice. Sethi argues that his advice is better than pundits’ and provides a long-term solution to financial challenges where other pundits fail because he bases his advice in realistic human behavior. His rhetorical question about budgeting prompts readers to ask themselves this question and agree with Sethi’s line of argument.

“Unfortunately, most Americans were never taught how to consciously spend, which means cutting costs mercilessly on the things you don’t love, but spending extravagantly on the things you do.”

Here, Sethi defines one of the pillars of a personal financial infrastructure: the Conscious Spending Plan. This quotation exemplifies the way Sethi positions himself as both like and unlike his readers, being an American with South Asian parents who can understand “most Americans” but also see their financial weaknesses.

“To me, this is an enviable position to be in, and it’s a big part of what I Will Teach You to Be Rich is all about: automatically enabling yourself to save, invest, and spend—enjoying it, and not feeling guilty about those new jeans, because you’re spending only what you have.”

Here, Sethi paints a picture for his readers of the payoff of making and following a Conscious Spending Plan. The goal is for readers to be able to spend on what they love without feeling guilty about it because they know that they’ve already taken care of their savings and investment accounts. Guilt-free spending is an essential piece of living a rich life beyond simply being rich, highlighting the theme of The Relationship Between Money and Fulfilment.

“We’re going to play offense by building a system that acknowledges our normal human behavior—we get bored, distracted, and unmotivated—and uses technology to ensure we’re still growing our money. In other words, do the work now and benefit forever—automatically! You’re in control.”

In this quote, Sethi identifies two central ideas in his book: His financial advice is guided by the principles of human behavior, and readers need to go on the offense and take control of their own finances. Sethi outlines his view of human nature: People are very excited to begin an endeavor but soon become lazy. His observations draw on the principles of realism to make his advice sound actionable and his vision sound attainable.

“The key to taking action is, quite simply, making your decisions automatic.”

Here, Sethi pulls together several strains that he has developed over the book regarding Making Choices and Taking Action. In the Introduction, he discusses the state of having too many choices and therefore being inactive. In later chapters, he explains that people struggle to maintain an action plan because they become unmotivated, bored, and easily distracted. In this quote, Sethi presents his solution to the problem of inaction: “making [their] decisions automatic.” Putting “quite simply” in a short clause reinforces the point that automation will be efficient.

“Money exists for a reason—to let you do what you want to do. Yes, it’s true, every dollar you spend now would be worth more later. But living only for tomorrow is no way to life. Consider one investment that most people overlook: yourself.”

Although encouraging readers to spend may seem counterintuitive given his emphasis on long-term wealth-building, Sethi reminds readers that the goal is to use their money to have rich experiences. This quotation epitomizes his thematic ideas about The Relationship Between Money and Fulfilment.

“The vast majority of people can earn more than the so-called ‘experts’ by investing on their own. No financial adviser. No fund manager. Just automatic investments in low-cost funds. So, for the average investor, the value of financial expertise is a myth.”

Sethi dedicates an entire chapter to the idea that average investors—young professionals like his readers—do not need financial advisers or wealth managers to invest wisely. His short sentences beginning with “[n]o” do not contain an active verb, suggesting that the action (of abandoning “so-called ‘experts’”) must be taken by the reader.

“The only long-term solution is to invest regularly, putting as much money as possible into low-cost, diversified funds, even in an economic downturn. This is why long-term investors have a phrase they use: Focus on time in the market, not timing the market.”

Here, Sethi reiterates his fundamental investment strategy—avoid “experts” and invest regularly in low-cost funds—and adds something new. He addresses one of the greatest mistakes that individual investors make, which is that they withdraw their money from the market when their individual stocks or the market take a “downturn.” His knowledge of phrases that “long-term investors use” establishes him as both one of them and yet an outsider equipped to subvert conventional advice.

“Ignore the pundits’ prediction. Ignore the once-in-a-lifetime freakish results. And ignore the last year or two of a fund’s performance.”

Sethi builds on the idea that market investments are best considered through a very long-term lens. He uses imperative verbs—“ignore”—to mobilize readers to follow his advice.

“Automatic investing may not seem as sexy as trading in hedge funds and biotech stocks, but it works a lot better.”

This quote in the chapter on the myth of financial expertise echoes the question with which Sethi’s book opens: “Would you rather be sexy or rich?” He argues that the key to effective investing is to prioritize long-term returns over sexiness. This strategy is less exciting but more successful. His use of the colloquial adjective “sexy” is in keeping with his informal tone through which he engages a non-expert readership.

“The major predictor of your portfolio’s volatility doesn’t stem from the individual stocks you pick, as most people think, but instead from your mix of stocks and bonds. […] Your investment plan is more important than your actual investments.”

In this quote, Sethi argues that asset allocation—spreading investments over multiple asset classes—is actually more important than which stocks readers choose. The final sentence exemplifies his technique of highlighting a key takeaway in simple terms, particularly when it goes against conventional wisdom.

“Diversification is D for going deep in a category […] and asset allocation is A for going across all categories.”

Here, Sethi defines his key principles for effective investing. In this quote, Sethi tells readers how to choose the specific stocks and bonds in which they invest. Diversification and asset allocation protect investors against risk when the market naturally ebbs and flows. He uses spatial metaphors of “deep” and “across” to help readers to visualize their investment strategy.

“You invest much more aggressively in your thirties than in your sixties, when you find yourself growing older and telling long-winded stories about how you trudged through three miles of snow (each way) to get to school every morning. The real work in investing comes with creating an investment plan that’s appropriate for your age and comfort level with risk.”

People in their thirties have years of investing ahead of them, so they can make riskier investments by putting most of their money into stocks; people in their sixties have less time and often less tolerance for risk and should therefore invest more heavily in stocks. Sethi uses humor to convey his point by making fun of the “long-winded stories”; this engages his target readership of young professionals who are more likely to be listening to such stories than telling them.

“If you had to get extremely specific about why you want to earn your next $10,000 and you had to bring your answer from the clouds to the street, what would you say? What’s your street-level motivation? […] Get brutally honest and bring your answer down to the street.”

In Chapter 8, Sethi turns the question of how to maximize wealth-building. Before he offers advice, though, he pushes readers to think about why they want to make more money. In this quote, he uses rhetorical questions to prompt readers to think about their “street-level motivation”: What do they really want, in their core, and why do they want it? These questions are part of Sethi’s engagement with the psychological and emotional components of money management, one of the foundational themes of the book.