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The Ultimate Guide to Making Money
Welcome…
By reading this Ultimate Guide you’re already taking the first steps on your journey to a Rich Life. This is only an introduction to the ideas and material you’ll find inside IWT.
I started this site in 2004 while I was studying technology and psychology at Stanford. I’ve spent the time since testing and honing my Rich Life systems on thousands of successful students.
At IWT you’ll learn –
Buy all the lattes you want. A $5 coffee is not going to change your financial life. But learning how to automatically invest, how to select the right asset allocation, and how to negotiate a $15,000 raise will. I believe in asking $30,000 questions, not $3 questions.
Your Rich Life is yours. A Rich Life can be picking up your kids everyday from school. Or buying a $1,000 cashmere sweater. It can be buying a round of drinks for your friends, or traveling for 8 weeks per year. You decide. Your Rich Life is yours
There’s a limit to how much you can cut, but no limit to how much you can earn. I have readers who earn $50,000/year and ones who earn $750,000/year. We’ve helped tens of thousands of people earn more money by negotiating their salaries, investing, and starting businesses.
Spend extravagantly on the things you love, as long as you cut costs mercilessly on the things you don’t. I don’t believe in cutting back on lattes. In fact, I want you to spend more on the things you love. What if you could double your spending on travel, or eating out, convenience, or charity? I call those Money Dials and I’ll show you how.
The 85% Solution: Getting started is more important than becoming an expert. You don’t need to be perfect to take control of your money. It’s OK to make mistakes. Get 85% of the way there and move on with your life.
Investing should be very boring—and very profitable—over the long term. I get more excited eating tacos than checking my investment returns.
You’re in control. This isn’t a Disney movie and nobody’s coming to rescue you. Fortunately, you can take control of your finances and build your Rich Life.
Money is political. You can simultaneously acknowledge personal responsibility and real systemic problems. This is a core part of the I Will Teach You To Be Rich philosophy. Housing is political. Healthcare is political. Voting rights are political. If you’re looking for bland tips on cutting coupons, this site is not for you.
I consider it a tragedy to live a smaller life than you have to. So many of us have been raised to believe that money is something to be scared of. We use phrases like “I’m not good with money” or “Money changes people.” Yes, money does change people. Money allowed me to dream bigger, to be more generous, and to be more adventurous. It can do the same for you.
A Rich Life is lived outside the spreadsheet. What’s the point of all this saving and investing if you’re simply going to wait until you’re 80 to live? No thanks. I believe that once you’ve set up your finances, you’ll see that the most important part of a Rich Life is outside the spreadsheet—it involves relationships, new experiences, and giving back. You earned it.
Welcome to your Rich Life journey, I’m excited to see what you do next.
— RAMIT
Do you want more from life — more money, more freedom, more security, and more time for the activities you love?
If you’re like me, hearing another expert tell you to save a few bucks by cutting back on lattes makes you want to jump out of a window. Please, stop with the frugality. Is saving a few bucks really going to change your life?
NO!
While you’re scrimping on the things you love, you see other people enjoying the financial freedom to do the things they love… and they never have to choose between paying bills, automatically saving for their future, or living a Rich Life.
If you’re ready to stop saying “no…no…no” and start living the life you want, you need to embrace this financial truth:
You can spend hours a week clipping coupons to save a few bucks…
…or you can negotiate ONE raise at your job that pays you thousands more a year for the rest of your life.
You can switch from two-ply to one-ply to save a few pennies…or you can use skills you already have to start making $1,000 a month on the side (or more).
Yes, making money is only one part of living a Rich Life, but it can help us do things we love and free us up to pursue our dreams.
I’ve spent over 10,000 hours and a million dollars discovering and refining the three best strategies for making extra money — and I’m going to walk you through them in this guide.
How to get the life you deserve
Some of us know we deserve a raise, but we don’t know how to ask for the money we should be getting, and we’re terrified of being shot down by the same boss who gives us our paycheck. If that’s you, I’ll show you exactly how to deal with fear and intimidation, and exactly what to say so your boss is excited to pay you more.
Want to diversify your income and make extra money on the side? I’ll guide you through the process, even if you don’t know how to start. Whether you have hundreds of ideas and don’t know which ones people will pay for — or have no ideas at all.
Do you dream of starting an online business and making money even when you aren’t working? I’ve launched almost a dozen successful products, and I would’ve given anything to have access to the strategies and secrets you’re going to learn now.
I’m happy to share some of the systems I spent over a million dollars developing so you can make more money — and slash your workload, save months or years of frustration, and skyrocket your success — much faster than you’d imagine. For FREE. Why? I give away 98% of my material, and I know that by helping you achieve Big Wins and making my free material better than anyone else’s paid products, you’ll join thousands of other readers who’ve gained so much that they became students for life.
What is this guide for?
Getting A Raise
If you want to ask for a raise and get paid what you deserve, I’ll reveal the strategies thousands of students have used to boost their income for life.
Making Extra Money
If you’d like to make more money on the side or online — but don’t know where to start — this guide is for you.
Building Your Income
If you’d like to build your income using skills you already have, I can help you get there.
It all starts with changing your psychology so it’s easier for you to succeed.
My team and I have spent over 10 years refining our money-making systems so you can get results faster. It won’t happen overnight, and it will take work (never trust someone who promises instant results without work)… but you’ll have the exact roadmap so you can quickly join thousands of students who’ve used my systems to learn how to make more money, get more freedom, and more fun for the rest of their lives.
How to develop a money mindset
I’ve never felt more invigorated and alive than I feel right now. And it’s not because I’m doing well financially (although that helps). It’s because I’ve made my living by helping other people earn more money, share their passions, and learn how to achieve mastery.
And it all started when I freed myself from the shackles of frugality.
How to get the life you deserve
Have you ever read a frugal living blog? Some of these people spend hours making their own laundry detergent and cutting coupons to save $10, maybe $20. They aren’t interested in making more money because they’ve found hundreds of ways to chip away at their “excess” spending.
People who live frugally will wait 5 months to check out a movie from the library so they can save a few bucks versus going to the theater. They pass up seeing the movie on opening night with their friends, then yell when their friends accidentally tell them a spoiler. Half a year later, they mention the movie over drinks. Crickets.
How Frugal People Behave
Going out to eat?
They recommend you skip the appetizer at your favorite restaurant, even though you’ve been salivating at the thought of that dish for days or weeks. You could put that money into your 401(k) instead.
At a bar with friends?
Say no to another round of drinks, they tell you. You shouldn’t even order a second drink — don’t you know they cost less money at home? And forget about buying a round for your friends and hanging out ‘til the bar closes, then taking a cab to the after party.
Is your house an Easy Bake Oven during the summer?
It’s not 90 degrees inside — yet. So make sure you carry the fan with you when you switch rooms because the air conditioning shouldn’t come on until there’s a heat alert.
Going shopping?
Spend half your Saturday driving around town to save $5 or $10 on groceries, and plan your shopping so you might save $1.50 on gas.
Planning a vacation?
One that’s filled with incredible memories that’ll make you smile a decade from now? You should stay at home instead. Or find a godawful plane ticket with 2 connecting flights so you’re exhausted when you arrive, then stay in a hotel in the boondocks and forget about the paragliding or fancy restaurant or night of partying you’ve been dreaming about since you were a teenager.
You can spend your life feeling disappointed when you have to say “no”…
No to exciting opportunities to explore the world, no to expensive things that make you happy, and no to the freedom to spend time with the people you love.
Or you can learn how to make more money, so you spend less time choosing how to spend your money and more time enjoying it.
And the best part is, there are proven ways to do it.
Just “trying harder” doesn’t work
Here’s what does…
Have you ever noticed that we make most of our really stupid decisions at the end of the day? If you’ve ever done something you regretted after going to the bar, watched YouTube videos instead of reading or actually talking to people, or eaten a late night bowl of ice cream when you’re trying to lose weight… you know how much of a struggle it is to do the right thing after you’ve spent an entire day trying not to screw up.
Researchers now know why this happens, and it isn’t your fault: Blame willpower.
Willpower is like a muscle. Each time you have to make a decision, you deplete some of your willpower. The more decisions you make about things like which groceries to buy, or whether to take a cab or save money by walking, the less willpower you’ll have for focusing on what’s really important.
This is crucial because the research shows that making more choices, like focusing on frugality, limits your ability to land the Big Wins that can dramatically change your life.
I’d like to show you how to “trick” your willpower so you can focus on making more money and never have to budget, give up things you love, or waste your energy on saving a few dollars.
I’m not going to give you a “Top 10” guide to making money or spoon-feed you motivational quotes about “following your passion.” Because if you’ve ever been to a motivational seminar and felt ready to take on the world — then fallen right back into a rut a week later — you’ll know that motivation doesn’t help us succeed, either.
Instead, you’re going to learn my systems — the exact action steps, word-for-word scripts, and other frameworks thousands of students have used to automate success.
You’ll discover how to make more money so you can live a Rich Life. You’ll stop worrying about bills and having to choose between things you love. You’ll start making more money and being free to enjoy more of your time with your family and friends.
And you’ll have the exact step-by-step plans to get Big Wins and start creating a life you only dreamed of.
Part 1 – How to ask for a raise and get paid what you deserve
Did you know that just one $5,000 raise, properly invested, can be worth $1 million over your career?
Aside from asking someone to marry you, chances are you’ll never have a more important conversation in your entire life.
Yet some people go through their entire lives trying to save pennies on meals, gas, and even things they love… and never know how to get paid what they’re really worth.
You’re going to show up to work anyway
Why not learn how to set up a 10-minute conversation with your boss that could add 7 figures to your lifetime income — and open the door to even more raises in the future?
But first, I want you to ask yourself a simple question:
How would getting a raise change your life?
- I’d have extra money to eat out, pay off debt, and do fun activities like traveling
- I’d feel more respected if I got paid what I’m worth
- I work hard, and it’d feel good knowing my boss values my hard work
- My parents, friends, and/or significant other would be proud of me
- I could automate my finances and pay off debts
- It’d be easier to provide for my family and save for kids and retirement, without sacrificing my quality of life
- I’m going to work anyway — I might as well get paid more for it
We all want to make what we deserve, but most of us don’t take action because we don’t know what to do, and we’re afraid of getting rejected by our bosses.
What your boss will never, ever tell you about raises
Have you ever heard this:
“Money’s tight this year, so raises will be limited.”
Most of us have. Still, you may have heard rumors that a few people you work with got big raises anyway. (You might even have a successful friend whose boss told them, “Don’t tell anyone else you got a raise this year. We don’t normally do this, and I don’t want to make the rest of the team feel like they got cheated.”)
What makes some employees special — seemingly immune to recessions, market changes, and pay freezes — and able to get big pay raises no matter what?
They weren’t “born” knowing exactly what to say to get bosses to open their wallets. They just knew they should start the conversation and studied how to ask for a raise. Meanwhile, most of us only dream of walking out of our boss’s office thousands of dollars richer.
And our bosses couldn’t be happier because most of us never ask for raises, even as we get better at our jobs and add more value.
Even fewer of us actually know what to say if we do ask for a raise
When we finally decide to assert ourselves and mention getting a raise, most of us put our foot right in our mouth: “It’s been a while since I got more money, and I think I deserve to get a raise. Is that something you can do?”
The answer: “There’s no room in the budget for that. Maybe next year will be better.”
It’s humiliating. We hang our heads in defeat and apologize for asking.
Meanwhile, management saves over a million dollars — of money that could’ve been, should’ve been ours.
Truth be told, every boss hates the idea of giving out raises. But when you make their lives easier and help the company, you’ll be in a perfect position to ask for — and get — the raise you deserve.
Why most people don’t get a raise
“I haven’t asked for a raise.”
Top Performers have invested a small amount of time preparing, so they’ll nail their meeting with the boss.
“I can’t negotiate”
“I don’t know how to get a raise”
“I asked for a raise once, and my boss told me ‘no”
They recognize that building basic negotiation skills and learning a few phrases to say are easy-to-build skills that’ll help them boost their earnings for the rest of their careers.
“I gave up when the boss told me there’s no room in the budget.”
Top Performers know that, unless your company is dying, there usually is room in the budget.
They know they’re delivering massive value to their companies, and they’re happy that more people don’t spend a few hours learning how to make it almost impossible for their bosses to say no… because they can get even bigger raises.
“I’ll ask later. Besides, if I just work harder, somebody upstairs will notice and shower me with extra money.”
If you work harder and deliver results, most bosses will notice. But Top Performers know they probably won’t get more money unless:
Bosses think they’re going to lose you to another company.
You know what to say to show them how badly they need you.
“I found this super-motivational blog post called ‘The Top 10 Ways to Get A Raise.’ I’ll just go tell my boss I should make more money.”
Many Top Performers have tried career “hacks” and blog posts… and failed. Then, they spent years testing action steps and systems.
I’ve tested this system with thousands of people, and I want to share it with you so you can avoid failures and succeed faster.
Case Study
“An automatic $5,000 raise in 6 months”
Luke W. used I Will Teach You To Be Rich (IWT) negotiating tactics to secure a big raise — stress-free. Here’s how he did it:
“Earlier this year, my former boss referred me to a small company looking for an accountant. I got a call from the company’s hiring manager to schedule an interview. In that same conversation she asked what I was looking for in terms of salary. I knew from Ramit’s advice that this was a trap.
The recruiter will always try to get you to say a number first, but you are under no obligation to say anything.
So when I responded, I flipped it around as if I was clueless as to what to ask for (which I was) and said ‘Hmmm… I haven’t given it much thought. What did you have in mind?’ I was preparing for her to strong arm me into saying a number. However, she was nice and gave me a figure; $35,000. My response (as if Ramit was talking to me in the other ear): ‘I think we’re in the right ballpark and we can work from that number.’
A few days later, I had the interview. The hiring manager wanted me to clarify my salary requirements. Again, I told her that we were in the right ‘ballpark’ with the $35K figure that she gave me, but then I asked, ‘How can we get to $40K?’ She said that she would give it consideration if I was offered the position.
A few hours later she called to offer me the job. She said they would start me out at $35K and after 6 months I would be given a performance review for an increase to $40K. Case Study “An automatic $5,000 raise in 6 months” Luke W. used I Will Teach You To Be Rich (IWT) negotiating tactics to secure a big raise — stressfree. Here’s how he did it: But again
But again, my IWT training kicked in and I asked for the 6 month salary review to be in writing. She accepted.
Five months of dutiful employment past, it was time for me to prepare for the ‘compensation discussion.’
I emailed my boss asking her when she would like to schedule the performance review/compensation discussion.
Within minutes, she wrote back saying it wasn’t necessary for us to meet…. they were going to go ahead with my raise as planned.
My first successful salary negotiation!”
Let’s break down how Luke got such massive results:
He knew what traps to avoid, like speaking first when you’re asked about salary
Often, we’re so eager to get the job, or earn just a little more than we’re making now, that we speak first… and rob ourselves of thousands of dollars a year.
Just by knowing what to say so the employer speaks first (“What did you have in mind, in terms of compensation?”) gives you tremendous power. Because now, you have some idea of the low end of what they’re willing to pay
If you’ve done your homework, you’ll know how much you should be earning in your field and geographic area — and whether the company you’re interviewing with is lowballing you. I’ll share some of the word-for-word scripts you can use to counter those tactics, too.
He used some of my most powerful word-for-word scripts
Interviews can be stressful because there’s so much on the line. When you come to the table knowing exactly how to answer questions and direct conversation, you won’t just say the right things — you’ll also gain the hiring director’s respect because you value yourself, are courteous, and come off as polished and in demand.
Want to nudge your boss or interviewer toward higher salary figures, without offending or being aggressive?
Here’s an easy-to-remember script thousands of students have used to earn thousands more in just minutes: “I think we’re in the right ballpark with that figure. How can we get to $X?”
He asked for a performance review to increase compensation… and got it in writing
When you ask for a performance review as a condition of employment, you’re already setting yourself apart from other job candidates. Most people are content to do “good enough” work to not get fired, or ask for a raise without showing they’ve made the company more money
You’re completely different: You want to prove you can help them reduce costs, eliminate headaches, or make more money, and then adjust your compensation to reflect how much you’ve helped them.
Of course, it’s always good to get this in writing because otherwise, people can forget, postpone the conversation, or decide it’ll happen “later.”
When you frontload the work and know exactly what to say, you gain power and control.
And when you have the ideal conversation already mapped out, you’re infinitely more likely to succeed.
