Money For Couples with Ramit Sethi

Chris and Camilla are 33 and 31 and they make almost $300k collectively living in a high cost of living area. They recently bought a vacation home, like everyone on TikTok tells you to do.  Surprise, surprise—there’s no fairytale ending here, no mounds of passive income, no soaring property values or slam dunk investments. They thought they’d cash in on a hot market. But with the slow season appro...

Jan and Emily are in their thirties and recently bought a house. During the sales process, Emily discovered a $100k loan that Jan had taken out without her knowledge. To make matters worse, Jan admits he didn’t really have a plan on how to use this money to benefit their lives. Emily is the higher earner and lets Jan manage their money, adding to the feeling of betrayal that she keeps buried under...

Jim and Kasey are 45 and 41 with 5 young kids. They’ve been married for 18 years. But they admit that they don’t even know how they’ve made it this long with the serious communication problems in their relationship—specifically as they relate to money. Kasey goes about her life avoiding money, mostly unaware that they’re dipping into their savings each month to get by—even though Jim got a big rai...

Beth and John are worth about $800k combined. They came to me a month before their wedding—in fact, by the time this goes live, they’re husband and wife (hopefully). The trouble is that they’ve never really talked about money, that she’s afraid of being a deadbeat partner… and they both want a prenup. Now, it’s a little too late for a prenup, but we can help them in other ways. The big day, loomin...

Connie and Wes have severe gender expectations. Connie desperately wants Wes to be the “man” in the relationship and pay for dinner. But when he tries, she scolds him to save for the future instead. This toxic dynamic is made worse by what we last heard in part 1… Connie’s net worth is—get this—over $6 million! Can someone who’s making over $200k a month ever feel in balance with a partner bringin...

Connie and Wes have been dating for a year—but they have some very serious issues with how they see money, both individually and as a couple. The story to keep in mind: Connie’s mom earned considerably more money than her dad, but he always paid for family meals. Fairytales like this complicate how we deal with money later in life. As such, the power of archaic and illogical gender roles is the bi...

After talking to 60+ couples, Ramit reveals the #1 money issue that people deal with: feeling guilty. From what you heard as a child about money… to not being able to enjoy a vacation as an adult, Ramit breaks down the concept. Listen in as Ramit goes through his tactical approach to end money guilt and shame — once and for all. Want to dive in yourself? Download the Conscious Spending Plan, for f...

Amy and Andre are 42 and 34 respectively. They make $140k a year, but they admit they’re often waiting for payday. They’re buried in debt and can’t seem to make any progress, which is bringing serious anxiety and stress into their lives. Their biggest issue? Their fixed costs sit at 92% of their total income. We uncover all kinds of solutions as to how they might address this problem, but they str...

In part two of Tom and Julie’s conversation, they start to see their reality for what it is—Julie may not have long to live, but she’s still working and is afraid to spend their millions on making memories with their young kids. After a double lung transplant in 2020, she’s healthy—but odds are not in her favor for a long retirement. Julie admits that, if she were counseling a friend, she’d tell t...

Today’s conversation will shock you—point blank. Tom and Julie are in their early fifties and have two school-aged kids. Both are savvy with their investments, and they’ve amassed a $12 million dollar net worth in the process. But Julie’s still working. She thinks of the income as an added layer of safety and security in their lives—but at their level of wealth, they’re making more in interest tha...

Georgia and James bring a different problem to the table than we’re used to hearing about. In this one, we zoom in on where, exactly, their net worth has come from… and the real risks of these decisions. Having done well in the real estate market, Georgia and James just closed on a fourth property. The glaring issue is that they’re all located in the same neighborhood, amping up the risk of this i...

This week’s conversation brings a slightly different perspective to the table. Michelle and Eric are in their fifties and are terrified that they’ve waited too long to invest for retirement. They’ve bickered about money for twenty-five years, narrowing their window of opportunity and adding a ton of personal baggage into the equation. Usually, part of the solution for most people is long-term inve...

Rebecca and Joe have two young kids, and a third is on the way. They are renting at the moment and love the neighborhood they live in—but they both think they need more space to match their growing family. Should they keep renting? Buy a home? Move in with his parents? Their lease is up soon and the pressure is on (or so they think). To complicate things, we find out that their fixed costs, alone,...

Michelle and Dan are in their early thirties, and from the outside, they look like they’re in a great place financially. They make $225,000 annually, and they’ve saved $200,000 already. So, why do they feel so much dread, confusion, and fear about their money? Their philosophy has always been to save as much as possible… so they’re afraid to spend or invest. But they don’t realize how much they’re...

Personal finance can seem complicated, but most issues are linked back to two core influences—how people think and feel about money. Where they land on those scales has a wide range of possible manifestations (skimping on frozen berries, anyone?).  One year into the podcast, and a handful of these themes have become very clear. Tune in to this special solo episode as Ramit breaks them down. Check...

Last week, in part one of my conversation with Austin and Annie, we got deeply personal about their upbringings and the invisible scripts they picked up as kids. I learned that they were passing bad money habits to their young daughter—continuing a cycle of generational poverty.  Today, my goal is to move them out of that cycle by getting tactical with how they can turn things around. They’re youn...

Annie and Austin were both raised without knowing where their next meal would come from. They came to me looking for a way to break the relentless chain of generational poverty that they’ve experienced… and that they fear they’re passing on to their two young children. The good news is that it’s not too late for them, or anyone, to start making the right decisions and move toward a Rich Life they...

Lisa and Jeff are in their forties and have a blended household. They had about a $300k net worth before they were awarded a $1.275M settlement in January of this year. What’s important isn’t the details of the settlement, but that they don’t know what to do with it. She doesn’t trust him—and for good reason. He opens lines of credit and makes secret purchases while also refusing to participate in...

Katie and Cal are in their mid-twenties and, after moving around a bit, they live back home in Alaska with their young children. They bring in about $100k a year and have a good chunk of debt, about $25k of that they transferred to Katie’s mom for a better interest rate—a move which has hopelessly entangled her in their finances. What do you do when a family member who means well (they all do) ove...

In part 2 of Elena and Eric’s story, we learn about the deep emotional ties that Elena associates with the condo that’s draining their savings account—and why she’s so anxious about outside opinions in the event they decide to sell it.  To recap, they’re 25 and make $160k/year combined. They love to go to music festivals and bought a condo (with a down payment gift from their parents) about seven...

Elena and Eric are both 25. They live in Toronto, and they make $160k as a household. They love going to EDM festivals and spend thousands of dollars every year traveling to them—it’s their Rich Life! The problem is that they also own a condo that’s draining their savings at a rate of $2k every month. They’ll be broke in two years. Before this call, Elena and Eric made a pact that they would NOT c...

Kara and Sean make $150k annually, with $100k of that coming from Kara’s salary in healthcare. They have a baby daughter, and Kara would like to take a step back in her career in order to spend more time with her. The problem is, Sean’s happily (and hopelessly) stuck in a dead-end job. What do you do when one partner is passive when it comes to money? It’s so easy to make things personal, to escal...

Ashley and Charles are in their early forties and have been married for six years. Together, they have five children from previous relationships. They live in a high-cost-of-living area—but, collectively, they earn over half a million dollars per year. Because of Charles's investments and stock options, their income feels erratic, and Ashley is having a hard time making sense of it all. Ashley nee...

Carolyn and Gavin have been married for ten years. They have three small children and bring in about $130k annually—with a healthy $500k in investments. So what’s the problem? Once we look closer, specifically at their obsession with money mechanics, we see a deeper issue. They learned these bad habits as members of the FIRE community, a lifestyle they’ve left behind but that continues to haunt th...

Sarah earns more than Andrew. They’re unmarried but imagine a future together, or would like to. The problem is that Andrew’s existing money scripts (and $65k in debt) have him frozen—unable to spend but also unwilling to seriously plan a way out. She wants to spend money on things like vacations, but he doesn’t feel like he can afford to spend. To make things worse, he feels terrible about money...