Ramit Sethi: Yes, You Can Still Be Rich

Very unimpressed with this advice

None of this is new (all basic advice that has been retreaded over-and-over for decades). I'm roughly the same age as the author and have found very little value in this.

First...

"As young people, we don't pay attention to our money." WRONG. You can't generalize across all young people. I've been paying close and careful attention to my money since I was in high school and many other kids are and have been doing the same. Some people may fall into this category, but not all.

On his point about encouraging people to continue investing even after the market has lost 50%. This is obvious. Stocks are far cheaper than they've been in years. Of course you should continue dollar cost averaging in (maxing out a 401(k) would be ideal). Plenty of talking heads have already covered this over-and-over.

"There are functional and structural differences between us and Japan, but without getting too deeply into that, what strongly effects my belief going forward is what happened in the past. The past doesn't predict the future, but it gives us a fairly accurate view of what's likely to happen. Whether it returns 6 percent or 8 percent -- we can split hairs over that..." This is such a backward statement that I don't even know where to begin. First, please enlighten us on the structural differences between us and Japan? That's important, and glossing over it is a disservice to readers. And saying the past doesn't predict the future but then contradicting yourself right after by saying it gives us a fairly accurate view? WRONG. The past can form our expectations of the future, but an accurate view? Absolutely not. The possibility that the market will stagnate for years is very real. That's why it's considered high risk.

"If you don't, where do you put your money? If you only put it in a savings account

, it's not going to give you the returns you need to live on." Yes, but it will guarantee no losses. I invest heavily in the markets (and hope in the long-term they will provide strong returns), but the potential for high returns comes with potential for huge losses. A savings accounts offers small returns but a guarantee of no downside. The possibility exists that you'll lose in the markets. Saying flippantly that it will "give you the returns you need to live on," is quite an assumption.

This advice is all simplistic, trite, and generally unactionable. I will certainly not be purchasing this book. Maybe one day Ramit will be among the likes of Suze Orman and Jim Cramer, both of whom often give poor advice, don't follow their own, and gloss over important details...but they sure know how to make money by pretending they can make you money too!

Skeptic of VA @ Mar 31, 2009 19:31:52 PM