Money For Couples with Ramit Sethi

Ramit unpacks what happens when a couple earns more than $1 million a year but still feels like they’re living month to month, and how a lifestyle built around family, community, and tradition can become almost impossible to afford.

Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You to Be Rich talks with Margo and Kevin, 42 and 52, who live in Brooklyn with their five children. They take home around $600,000 a year and have approximately $11 million in assets, yet only around $50,000 in savings. Once Ramit uncovers expenses missing from their original plan, including private school tuition and summer camps, their fixed costs climb above 100% of their take-home pay, revealing that they’re spending more than they make every month.

Their biggest challenge isn’t simply earning more money. Kevin has taken on most of the finances while Margo has had limited visibility into their overall financial picture, and neither of them has a clear picture of where their money is actually going. Ramit helps them confront how community norms and family traditions shape what they see as non-negotiable, and the difficult choices they may need to make around private school, their homes, their children, and the lifestyle they’ve built.

In this episode, we uncover:

How a couple earning over $1 million a year can still live month to month

Why they describe themselves as “rich poor people”

How missing expenses push their fixed costs above 100% of their take-home pay

Why $160K in tuition and camps completely changes their financial picture

How a $400K–$500K mold crisis wiped out much of their financial cushion

Why they have $11 million in assets but only around $50K in savings

Why Kevin manages most of the money while Margo has limited visibility into their finances

How childhood money lessons shaped their “earn more, spend more” cycle

How community and tradition shape their spending

Why they may need to make major changes to their homes, education costs, and spending to finally start saving and investing

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Introduction

(00:02:00) Why they call themselves “rich poor people”

(00:25:00) Ramit opens up their numbers

(00:43:00) The hidden expenses pushing them over 100%

(01:06:00) How their childhoods shaped their money habits

(01:11:00) How community and tradition shape their spending

(01:15:00) They finally confront what has to change

(01:33:00) Why $11M in assets still leaves them cash poor

(01:36:00) Private school, their homes, and the difficult decisions ahead

(01:58:00) Follow-ups

💡 RAMIT’S PODCAST NEWSLETTER • I share new ways to think about money every Saturday. Get the emails here: https://iwt.com/podcastnewsletter

🙌 GET HELP FROM RAMIT SETHI

• Order my new book: Money for Couples: https://iwt.com/moneyforcouples

• Take control of your money with the Conscious Spending Plan: https://iwt.com/csp

• Optimize your credit cards with the 1st chapter of my book: https://iwt.com/chapter1-pod

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Connect with Ramit:

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Download the Conscious Spending Plan

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Ramit unpacks how to manage money as a couple after a job loss and what happens when one partner carries most of the financial responsibility while the other starts stepping back.

Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You to Be Rich talks with Isabelle and Ryan, 37 and 40, who have been married for 12 years and have a four-year-old daughter. After Ryan was laid off from his $150,000 software engineering job, Isabelle became the sole earner. They have around $1.2 million in assets and an $800,000 net worth, but two mortgages and fixed costs at 83% of their income have left them trying to figure out how to manage their money on one income.

Their biggest challenge isn’t simply how to budget or save money. Isabelle manages most of their financial planning and decision-making, while Ryan struggles with money anxiety, guilt around spending, and feeling shut down when he tries to get involved. Ramit helps them understand how childhood scarcity shaped their relationship with money, how to communicate about finances without falling into a parent-child dynamic, and how reducing their fixed expenses could give them more freedom to actually enjoy the money they’ve built.

In this episode, we uncover:

How to manage money as a couple after a job loss

How to budget on one income without letting financial anxiety take over

Why Isabelle feels exhausted managing their financial future

Why Ryan feels guilty spending money despite their $800K net worth

How a $3,000 espresso machine exposes his money anxiety

Why their fixed costs have reached 83% of their income

How two mortgages are putting pressure on their monthly budget

How childhood scarcity shaped their relationship with money

Why their dynamic has started to feel like a parent-child relationship

How clear money rules and lower fixed expenses could help them become a team

Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction

(02:00) Why Isabelle feels responsible for their financial future

(04:00) The purchase that exposes Ryan’s money anxiety

(09:50) How losing his $150K job changed their roles

(39:00) Ramit opens up their numbers

(48:00) Why they’re paying two mortgages

(01:04:00) How childhood scarcity shaped their money dynamic

(01:23:00) The parent-child dynamic they’ve fallen into

(01:38:00) Ryan and Isabelle make a new financial plan

(02:07:00) Follow-ups

💡 RAMIT’S PODCAST NEWSLETTER

• I share new ways to think about money every Saturday. Get the emails here: https://iwt.com/podcastnewsletter

🙌 GET HELP FROM RAMIT SETHI

• Order my new book: Money for Couples: https://iwt.com/moneyforcouples

• Take control of your money with the Conscious Spending Plan: https://iwt.com/csp

• Optimize your credit cards with the 1st chapter of my book: https://iwt.com/chapter1-pod

• Join my Rich Life: Road to $100K program: https://iwt.com/100k

• Listen to my book — now on Audible: https://amzn.to/48zko28

🤳 CONNECT WITH RAMIT SETHI

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ramit/

• X: https://twitter.com/ramit

✅ SUBSCRIBE SO YOU DON’T MISS ANY EPISODES https://youtube.com/user/ramitsethi/featured/

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Connect with Ramit:

Get my new book, Money For Couples

Get Money Coaching with Ramit

Download the Conscious Spending Plan

Listen to my book—now on Audible

Get my New York Times best-selling book

Get my no-numbers journal

Other episodes

Instagram

Twitter

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Apply to be coached for free on this podcast at https://iwt.com/apply

Ramit unpacks how to stop overspending, take control of your money as a couple, and prepare financially for starting a family.

Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You to Be Rich talks with Grace and Chris, who are 30 and 29 and have been married for six months. They have around $119,500 invested and unusually low housing costs, yet their finances feel chaotic and unstable. They spend more than they make, struggle to understand where the money goes, and have never had a substantive conversation about money as a couple.

The deeper problem is the dynamic they’ve fallen into. Grace handles most of the money while Chris takes a back seat, and both avoid the uncomfortable conversations they know they need to have. With children now part of their near-term plans, Ramit pushes them to confront where their habits came from and what has to change before the stakes get even higher.

In this episode, we uncover:

Why Grace feels like she’s managing their money alone

How Chris’s avoidance keeps the same cycle going

Why “we’ll figure it out later” keeps costing them

How a $100 weekend budget disappeared at a baseball game

Why 108% fixed costs are only part of the problem

How Amazon, eating out, and social spending keep slipping through the cracks

How inheritance, a mortgage-free home, and family support shaped their relationship with money

How their childhoods taught them to avoid talking about money

Why starting a family makes their financial situation more urgent

How they can finally start making financial decisions as a team

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Introduction

(00:02:36) “I’m crying for help on a sinking ship”

(00:16:53) The baseball game that exposes their money dynamic

(00:24:22) Ramit opens up their numbers

(00:40:37) Where their $119K investments came from

(00:47:40) What their childhoods taught them about money

(00:56:46) They’ve never defined their Rich Life

(01:04:04) What happens if nothing changes?

(01:18:32) Can they make the next 15 months work?

(01:31:43) Follow-ups

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Got a money question you’ve always wanted to ask me?

Join me live on September 17th for “Why Your Budget Keeps Failing.” I’ll show you how to build a Conscious Spending Plan and answer your questions live. Join me: https://iwt.com/budget

Ever wondered what recruiters actually think when they see your application?

On September 16th, Google recruiter Nicky Slavich will reveal what makes recruiters keep reading and when to apply even if you’re underqualified. RSVP free: https://iwt.com/expertsession

Connect with Ramit:

Get my new book, Money For Couples

Get Money Coaching with Ramit

Download the Conscious Spending Plan

Listen to my book—now on Audible

Get my New York Times best-selling book

Get my no-numbers journal

Other episodes

Instagram

Twitter

YouTube

Apply to be coached for free on this podcast at https://iwt.com/apply

Ramit unpacks whether Randy can move toward marriage while Mack brings $100,000 of debt into their future together and whether that debt could become a problem they both have to live with.

Randy and Mack are in their early 30s, and are talking seriously about marriage. But their financial lives look completely different. Randy has a net worth of around $102,000, while Mack is at roughly negative $56,000, largely because of $100,000 of debt. Randy feels increasingly “handcuffed” by what that debt means for their future, while Mack worries that he has gone from being supported to becoming a problem to solve.

Ramit quickly discovers that the real issue is not simply the debt. Mack already has an aggressive payoff plan that could make him debt-free in under four years. The deeper problem is trust, avoidance, and the way they manage money as a couple. Ramit helps them rethink their 50/50 split, build a more equitable system, and create a plan where Mack takes ownership of his debt while they start making financial decisions as a team.

In this episode, we uncover:

Why Randy feels “handcuffed” by Mack’s financial situation as they discuss marriage

How a couple earning $309,000 ended up with radically different financial lives

How Mack accumulated $100,000 of debt

Why Randy’s fixed costs are 47% while Mack’s are 87%

Why Mack avoids money even though he manages large budgets professionally

How Mack’s debt went from his problem to their problem

Why Ramit thinks Mack’s debt payoff plan is actually a strong one

The hidden trust issue underneath their arguments about money

Why splitting their shared expenses 50/50 no longer works

How they can become debt-free in under four years while still saving, investing, and enjoying life

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Introduction

(00:02:53) Randy feels “handcuffed” by Mack’s debt

(00:23:20) Their numbers reveal a huge financial divide

(00:34:47) How Mack accumulated $100K of debt

(00:43:08) Mack’s debt payoff plan surprises Ramit

(00:53:35) How their childhoods shaped their money beliefs

(01:06:43) The real issue underneath the debt: trust

(01:10:43) Building their shared Rich Life

(01:15:58) Why splitting everything 50/50 no longer works

(01:31:32) Follow-ups: what changed after the conversation

This episode is brought to you by:

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Got a money question you’ve always wanted to ask me? Join me live on September 17th for “Why Your Budget Keeps Failing.” I’ll show you how to build a Conscious Spending Plan and answer your questions live. Join me: https://iwt.com/budget

Ever wondered what recruiters actually think when they see your application? On September 16th, Google recruiter Nicky Slavich will reveal what makes recruiters keep reading and when to apply even if you’re underqualified. RSVP free: https://iwt.com/expertsession

Connect with Ramit:

• Get my new book, Money For Couples

• Join my Rich Life: Road to $100K program

• Download the Conscious Spending Plan

• Listen to my book—now on Audible

• Get my New York Times best-selling book

• Get my no-numbers journal

• Other episodes

• Instagram

• Twitter

• YouTube

Apply to be coached for free on this podcast at https://iwt.com/apply

Ramit unpacks how resentment, unequal workloads, and conflicting ideas about money can push a marriage to breaking point, even when the numbers suggest a couple should be doing well.

Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You To Be Rich speaks with Lauren and Robert, a married couple who have spent years building resentment around work, spending, and who carries the financial load. Lauren works three jobs, often 55–60 hours a week, while managing most of their finances. Robert, a retired Navy veteran who once believed retirement meant he wouldn’t need to work again, has recently returned to work.

On paper, they’re doing better than they think, but they have just $24,000 in savings, around $70,000 in debt, fixed costs at 81%, and almost nothing currently being directed toward savings or investments. Along the way, a $700,000 inheritance, a $40,000 pool scam, a $3,200 bounce house, and a $150,000 pool became major sources of conflict.

Lauren believes Robert needs to earn more. Robert feels like his opinion often doesn’t matter because Lauren earns more. But Ramit quickly discovers that more income isn’t going to solve what’s happening between them. Their resentment has reached the point where they’ve talked about divorce. To move forward, they’ll need to stop keeping score, create a shared vision for their money, and learn how to operate as a team.

A special thanks to DeleteMe for sponsoring this episode. Get 20% off all consumer plans when you go to https://joindeleteme.com/ramit and use promo code RAMIT at checkout.

In this episode, we uncover:

Why Lauren feels like she’s been carrying the financial weight for years

Why Robert believed retirement meant he wouldn’t need to work again

How a $700,000 inheritance shaped the life they built together

Why a second $150,000 pool became a major source of conflict

Why Robert feels like saying “no” rarely changes the outcome

Why Lauren struggles to say no to herself and their children

Why Ramit tells them Robert earning more money won’t fix the real problem

Why they earn more than they realized but still barely save or invest

How Robert’s childhood shaped his views on work, scarcity, and spending

How Ramit helps them rebuild their financial system around partnership

Whether Lauren and Robert can stop keeping score and start acting like a team

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Introduction

(00:05:09) Lauren receives a $700,000 inheritance

(00:19:00) When the resentment started building

(00:31:59) Ramit reviews their financial numbers

(00:37:06) Why they’re barely saving or investing

(00:50:40) Lauren has been managing the money alone

(00:56:31) They’ve never created a shared financial vision

(01:03:41) Ramit changes how they talk about money

(01:24:39) What their retirement could actually look like

(01:27:21) Rebuilding their Conscious Spending Plan

(01:35:26) Lauren and Robert’s follow-up

This episode is brought to you by:

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If you’re ready to stop putting off your money goals, Road to $100K gives you a step-by-step plan to reach your first $100,000, focus on what matters, and accelerate your timeline while building your Rich Life. Join Road to $100K at https://iwt.com/100K

Connect with Ramit

• Get my new book, Money For Couples

• Join my Rich Life: Road to $100K program

• Download the Conscious Spending Plan

• Listen to my book—now on Audible

• Get my New York Times best-selling book

• Get my no-numbers journal

• Other episodes

• Instagram

• Twitter

• YouTube

Apply to be coached for free on this podcast at https://iwt.com/apply