5 Money Lessons That Will Help You Live A Rich Life (From The Netflix Documentary: How To Get Rich)
How To Live A Rich Life (According to Ramit Sethi)
It was a Sunday afternoon.
I was lying on the couch and thinking about what to eat for dinner. I turned on my TV and saw the Netflix documentary: How To Get Rich. I’ve seen lots of good reviews about this book and it’s been on my to-read list for a long time.
The next thing I know, I finished 8 episodes in one sitting.
Here are 5 takeaways that will help you improve your financial life:
Lack of clarity is a recipe for disaster.
“What’s your definition of a rich life?”
That’s the first question Ramit asks every person he encounters.
I noticed that most people have to pause and think about it.
This is the ultimate reason why they struggle financially. They lack clarity on what they want.
And when you don’t have a vision of what you want:
- You’ll have no motivation to earn more.
- You’ll have no discipline to follow a budget plan.
- You’ll spend your money on whatever is in front of you.
Be clear on what you want your ideal life to look like so that you won’t have to spend your money the way that works for you — not just what you see with others.
Trading is a great way to have fun and lose money.
I hear my coworkers talking about stock trading all the time.
Most of them started trading when the pandemic happened — and they kept doing it because of one thing:
Fear of missing out.
People today, especially millennials and younger generations, are trading because it’s the new trend.
When they trade, they feel like they’re actually investing. And everyone knows investing is the way to earn passive income and get wealthy.
But trading and investing are two entirely different things.
This leads to the next point:
Investing should be simple and boring.
Trading is for gamblers while investing is for patient people.
Your investment strategy should be simple:
- Open an account
- Buy low-fee index funds
- Set-up monthly automation
- Forget about it or check after 10 years
When you think in terms of decades, the stock market will always go up. So the daily fluctuations that day traders are obsessing about won’t matter.
There are fewer emotions involved in investing.
Unlike trading where you get all excited when you check your account and see that your stocks went up, or you feel so devastated when you see your stocks go down.
Your emotions will lead you to make decisions that are not wise (buying when stocks are high and selling when stocks are low).
And another thing, you don’t have to be rich to start investing.
Starting early, even if you can only contribute $50 is better than waiting until you have a lot to contribute.
Most people are stuck not because they are financially illiterate but because they don’t want to feel uncomfortable.
The people that Ramit encounters usually know what’s wrong with their financial situation.
They also know how to fix it.
But why are they not doing anything about it?
Because it’s uncomfortable to change their spending habits.
It’s uncomfortable to not want the material things that everyone buys.
It’s uncomfortable to find money-making opportunities that will change their lives.
If you want to change your financial situation, you have to do things that will make you feel uncomfortable.
Money should not be a prerequisite for having a rich life.
You can live a rich life today if you stop associating a “rich life” with numbers.
The problem in today’s world is that people glorify money because of materialism. It has become the greatest tool in having a rich life — and we often forget the more important things in life.
If you value money more than the other richness of life, you’ll always keep wanting for more.
More Frome Me
If you liked this post, consider subscribing to my page (for FREE). This will also give you access to my exclusive content (and gifts 🎁).
If you need help starting your online writing business, book a FREE call with me.
