It is encouraging that Netflix has dedicated eight episodes to a series around personal finance. How to Get Rich is hosted Ramik Sethi, the author of I Will Teach You To Be Rich; the show follows from what he has penned down in his book, plus his experience with helping Americans lead ‘their RICH life’.
Early into the show, it’s clear that How To Get Rich is not about being wealthy in the traditional sense of having uncountable money. Rather, the idea of being ‘rich’ lies more in the life goals that one lists as a priority; identifying what makes life fulfilling. This idea steers away from chasing money and hankering for the highest yielding investment choices. Ultimately, the show is not just about money, it’s really about transforming one’s relationship with money.
What works
In the series, Sethi works with three individuals and five couples around their money goals. He begins with the monochrome bank account details, trying to find as many shades in the numbers as he can, in order to piece together some impression of the life that these individuals are leading. It’s then followed by an in-person meeting.
Sethi then goes on to have detailed conversations with them, a kind of personal-finance audit. He works with them to arrive at the core of the problem that they were facing, with the help of self-designed tools (I Will Teach You To Be Rich – The Journal) and spreadsheets.
In all eight cases, it becomes apparent that the problem is not the lack of money, it’s more about behaviour and attitudes which need to be altered. All of them are working their way through some hitherto unspoken damage from their money decisions.
Sethi encourages his clients to recognize the role of communication, especially amongst couples, when it comes to money. The hesitance to talk about personal money, he believes, drives erroneous decisions and which often people try to hide. This behaviour goes on to negatively impact not just one’s self-confidence but also their relationships. Sethi’s focus on looking beyond the numbers and spreadsheets to find value in life, is powerful and a great insight into human behaviour and insecurities.
It also shows us that once convinced, people will work towards transforming behaviour.
For the most part, Sethi, gets his clients to do the hard work around finding clarity, building awareness and finally changing behaviour. The episodes showcase people from varied walks of life, with different money circumstances, but all struggling to move forward in the direction they would like to. Then individual stories are wrapped up after there has been some progress in the right direction; the outcomes are ongoing with a recognition that the process to build long term wealth takes time.
What doesn’t
It’s unclear what formal qualification Sethi has in personal finance/finance, we are not introduced to any, other than his writing. Giving advice on investments and managing money is formally in the domain of financial advisers. While the competence of all advisers is not guaranteed, Sethi emphasizes on how advisers can charge too much by working on a percentage fee and warns against it. It leaves one wanting for a disclaimer around his own qualification to recommend products and financial reorganization.
At times, Sethi gets a bit aggressive and judgmental about money decisions that his clients are making and can be quite prescriptive, rather than waiting for them to come up with a solution. A few times across episodes we hear people saying ‘Ramit said I should do ….’. This could be a slippery slope; when money solutions are prescribed rather than resolved by individuals themselves, it’s easier to slip back into self-limiting behaviours over time, which is what Sethi is trying to fix.
He also comes across as contradictory in the way he approaches issues of different clients. With Sophina, a gymnast who is struggling with her choice of recently having spent a lot of money buying a condo, he nudges and waits patiently while she arrives at a decision on whether or not to reverse the condo purchase. On the other hand, with millionaire Nathalie, who wants to set up her own restaurant, he does get impatient and comes across as pushy in telling her to consider staying on rent rather than buying a smaller house. Nathalie is an example of a client who limited her sessions and didn’t buy into all that Sethi was trying to drive, one wonders if his aggression brought on an early exit?
Towards the end of Episode 5, Sethi admits that he is criticized for seeming biased against home ownership and clarifies that it is not the case. Which comes across as a bit defensive, since, at the same time he talks about living outside the spreadsheet and defining your own unique ‘rich’ life. He seems unwilling to give much room for that when it comes to home ownership.
In Episode 7, we see him talking about how to get a job or switch careers and that’s a bit confusing as it drifts away from his proclaimed area of expertise.
Ramit Sethi's formal qualifications to give personal finance advice aren't clearly specified in the show. (Screen grab/Netflix)
Is it worth a binge?
Overall, if you are someone who struggles with money anxieties or are unsure about what’s driving those money decisions which don’t seem to add any value to your life; if you are confused about how to invest or where all your money goes by month end, this is a show that will help you realize that there is more to your problem than just the numbers. It will nudge you to look deeper and perhaps seek out some help from a professional coach or an adviser who can sort through your money dilemmas.
What it won’t do is make you flush with money or even shell out ideas around how you can increase the rate of return on your investments.
After all, there is no magic wand, everything begins and ends with your own unique money behaviour and how that impacts your life’s outcomes.
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