253. "I’m 53, exhausted, and still living paycheck to paycheck"
About this episode
Ramit Sethi discusses the financial struggles of Tania and Mike, a couple in their 50s, who are trapped in a debt cycle despite a high income.
Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You To Be Rich talks to Tania and Mike who are in their 50s, married 21 years, and earning over $225,000 a year. By most measures, they should be fine. But they’ve been trapped in the same debt cycle for two decades. Cashing out 401(k)s, borrowing from family, and digging themselves out only to fall right back in. Again and again. When Ramit opens their Conscious Spending Plan, the numbers are genuinely shocking. Fixed costs at 155%. Savings at 0%. Guilt-free spending at -73%. They are spending more than they make every single month and they have barely one month of savings to show for it. But the money isn’t even the most revealing part of this episode. Ramit works through the psychology behind the cycle, the “dreamer” pattern that keeps pulling them back in, and what it’s actually going to take for them to change together. In this episode we uncover: A $228K income with 155% fixed costs… How does that even happen? The parent-child dynamic Ramit identifies and why both of them are miserable because of it Mike’s $23,000 tractor purchase and the pattern behind it Why Tania has been a “money transcriptionist” instead of a money manager The “dreamer”…
More episodes of Money For Couples with Ramit Sethi
- 257. "We really want a house - but have $0 in savings"
- 256. "We moved abroad for fun. Now we can’t afford to leave"
- 255. "I’m 40 and work 2 jobs. How are we still broke?"
- 254. My $0 to $100k Playbook (full beginners guide)
- 252. "I’m 35, in debt, and spend everything I make"
- 251. "We own a $1M house but can’t pay for groceries"
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