Saturday, November 7, 2009

Book review: I will teach you to be rich by Ramit Sethi

I will teach you to be rich – Ramit Sethi

Synopsis:
As the title implies, this book is focused on teaching you to be rich. The book is focused on young people (in their 20s). A six week program is explained in detail on how to look at every aspect of your situation and improve it. From optimising your credit cards and bank accounts, to tracking your spending and simple investments. The book also looks at how you can negotiate to get a raise or even get a better deal on a house or car. The book uses plain English without any complicated formulas or number crunching.

What I gained from reading this book:
A more accurate title for this book would be ‘I will teach you to be in control with your money’ and if you follow the steps, you will be in control. This book can make you rich if you do follow the instructions. You won’t get rich tomorrow, or even in a years’ time, but eventually you will. Studies show that people who have a strong control over their income and spending become richer as time goes on. The great thing about this book is it is easy to implement.
This book was straight forward and very easy to read. My biggest gain from reading this book was seeing a fresh perspective on personal finance that I actually enjoyed. I had already implemented the steps that the author suggests, so although I didn’t learn anything new (I’ve read so many books on this subject), I did get much needed reinforcement that I am doing the right thing and one day it will pay off.

Positives:
This book is extremely easy to read and is enjoyable. Young people will relate to the author and his writing style. The advice given is practical and it works.

Negatives:
I thought that maybe it could go into more detail, but then readers would get bored and not implement the plan. So the fact that the book is short and basic is a good thing. The most important thing here is that the reader takes action, and I think the book will do a great job encouraging it.

Recommended for: All young people
Every young person (from teenage years onwards) should read this book. Even if you hate the word finance and don’t want to think about it, you should check it out. In forty years time you will be so glad you did.

Genre: Personal finance

Overall rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below:
I Will Teach You to Be Rich

Where to from here:
If you want to go into more detail on the topics covered, I have reviewed many other books on personal finance that go into great depth. Click on ‘List of book reviews’ at the top of the page to see the ones I have reviewed.

If you have read this book, feel free to give it your own rating by posting a comment below.