Most people drift through their 20s and 30s hoping money just figures itself out. It won't. And if you hit 40 without the proper checkpoints in place, you're going to feel it. Today I'm showing you how to take control of your money and build a rich life before you hit that milestone. Without deprivation, without guilt, and without budgeting every coffee. In fact, I'm going to say it. If you put these nine checkpoints in place, you will become richer than you ever thought possible. Let's start with our first one. Checkpoint number one, zero high interest debt. Let's get this out of the way first. If you're carrying debt above 6% interest, you are burning cash every single day. This isn't just about saving money. It's actually about getting unstuck. That debt is like a financial anchor. It holds you down. So your first job, cut the anchor. Here's what you do. List off every debt you've got. Credit card debt, student loans, mortgage, personal loan. Then find the APRs, those percentages you're paying that most people ignore. Tackle your debt using either the avalanche or snowball method. And whichever method you choose, do it aggressively. This is non-negotiable. You cannot build a rich life while dragging credit card debt behind you. And you will be shocked at how fast your money grows once this anchor is gone. Later in this video, you'll see how getting this part handled unlocks higher level moves, like investing and building your rich life. Checkpoint number two, have a bulletproof emergency fund. Real talk. If you lost your job today, how long could you stay afloat without panicking? Two weeks? A month? That's not a rich life. That's a financial house of cards. Your goal is to build six to 12 months of core expenses in an emergency fund. That includes rent or mortgage payments, transportation, groceries, and put that money in a boring high yield savings account. Not two weeks, not a month, six to 12 months of expenses. Now, I know most advice says three to six months is enough. And that might be true if your goal is just survival, but we're not playing just to survive. We are building stability, options, breathing room. That's what a rich life requires. And the psychological security of having that money, just sitting there protecting you like a financial moat, game changing. Let's move on. Checkpoint number three, reach full financial automation. Investing shouldn't feel like gambling. It should feel like breathing oxygen. Look at me. I didn't have to think about it. I just did it. It felt natural. That's how investing should feel. So the secret to getting rich is not about stock picks. It's not about crypto. It's definitely not day trading you TikTok freaks. It's boring, automated, consistent investing. Now here's your checklist. Contribute at least 10% of your income to investments. Max out your Roth IRA and 401k if you can. Automate your monthly investments. Do not rely on willpower. You shouldn't be sitting there, "Oh, I got to try to invest." No, you invest like I breathe. And every December, increase your contributions by 1%. So if you're investing 7% this year in December, you increase that to 8%. That's it. Simple, repeatable, powerful. That is how real wealth is built. Not checking your bank account every time you order pad thai. "Oh, am I going to make it? I don't know. Hope I do." Not panicking when an unexpected bill comes in. Automation means you've already planned for those things ahead of time. Checkpoint number four, reach career mastery. This one's huge. Your income is your most powerful wealth building tool. So I want you to treat it that way. Start getting really good at your job. Let me stop you right there. I know what you're thinking. "Oh, Ramit Sethi, capitalist sycophant. I can't believe he's telling me to work for the man." Do you freaking understand that the majority of millionaires in America made it from having a nice stable salary and then investing their money in low cost investments. They didn't win an insurance settlement. They didn't pick a lottery ticket. They literally had a nine to five job and they took part of that money and invested. That's why it makes a lot of sense for you to pay attention to your career and build the skill of increasing your income. People should be lining up to work with you. Your boss should dread the idea of you quitting. And if that sounds unrealistic or makes you roll your eyes, then maybe this is the actual advice you should take right now. Building your career is a skill. If you want to make more, improve your career skills. And by the way, if you don't love your job, start figuring out what you would love. Here's how. Talk to 10 people who love what they do and they're paid well. Get really curious. Ask them smart questions about their career path and then set up five informational interviews with somebody 10 or 20 years ahead of you. Say, "Look, I'm curious about your career path. It sounds so interesting. I'd love to ask you a few questions." Now, when was the last time you did this instead of going online and complaining about inflation? You can do this. I believe in taking control of the things we can control. So do it this month. This one habit of taking control of your career path will completely change your financial trajectory. Quick pause. If you are finding this helpful, hit subscribe. This is the kind of advice I give on this channel. I'm telling it to you straight. No BS advice on how to make more money and how to use your money to live a rich life. And I have a lot more coming your way. Checkpoint number five, you know your number and your why. Hey, what's your number? What number in the bank is enough for you? Is it a million dollars in savings? Two million, five million? Okay, but why? Why do you want that number? Do you want to retire early? You want a boat? Truly rich people know their number and they know their why. I'll tell you what, the idea of owning a boat is a special vision of hell for me. Oh, Ramit Sethi gets to go on this dinghy where it's super salty and I'm seasick within five minutes. Who the f*** wants to pay all kinds of money for that? No, thank you. But that's just a great reminder of how your rich life is yours and mine involves zero boats. This is important to know what your rich life is because if you don't know what that money is for, then you are simply wasting your life chasing a number. It's so one dimensional. Like all you can see is black and white. You're like a cartoon character. Oh, I want 1.6 million dollars. And I go, oh, that's an interesting number. What for? I don't know. 1.6, 1.6, 1.6. What the f*** is the money for? What is that money going to allow you to do? You're going to travel two months a year without worrying about paying bills? Are you going to tip and donate to charity generously? Are you going to stay at beautiful hotels like Amman Oberoi? All of those are fine. That's what we are really after here. Not a number in a spreadsheet, but much deeper than that. A rich life vision. That is your why. And that's what all this is building towards. It's the same approach my team uses to make great content. We plan for what we want first, and then we know why we care about certain topics. And then we figure out the timeline to get it done. We've been able to create faster with the help of Dropbox, this video's sponsor. Dropbox is a work tool that accelerates creative and marketing workflows, keeps files secure, and allows seamless collaboration. My podcast team uses it all the time. We use Zoom to record 10 plus calls per week, including screening interviews with potential guests, and then brainstorming for each episode. Since our video calls are automatically saved to Dropbox, the whole team can easily access the interview footage, decide which guests are a good fit, and share the footage with our production team to edit each episode. This saves us a ton of time. Here's some other features that my team likes. You can sync your content across devices quickly, so your team is always working with the latest assets in real time, no outdated versions, and you can focus on your work without interruption. With the Smart Move feature, you can tidy up loose files by automatically moving them into suggested folders in one click. Also, you can effortlessly share large videos and files up to 250 gigs with a single link using Dropbox Transfer. Anyone you share with can download them no Dropbox account needed. And with new AI-powered tools like Dropbox Dash, your team can quickly find and organize content across all of your apps, then work with AI-powered tools to write, analyze, and summarize content all in one place. Try today and see how Dropbox can help your team create faster. You can sign up using my link. I'll leave it in the description box below. Thanks again to Dropbox for sponsoring this video. Now, checkpoint number six, have a shared financial dashboard. You know, most couples wait until there is a problem to talk about money. Very few are sitting down proactively. Hey, let's take a look at the numbers. Let's discuss what's coming down next month. No, they just wait. I can't believe you bought that many potatoes. Do not be that couple. Start those conversations now and importantly, make them visible. This checkpoint is about creating a shared system where you both know your income, your spending, your debt, your investments, and what you are working towards together. When you do this, it's going to be much easier to be on the same page and you're going to find your partner actually wants to be involved with the money. Here's how you do it. Schedule your monthly money talks. You can use the actual word for word agenda from my Money for Couples book so that you know exactly what to say. Next, use a shared spreadsheet, dashboard, or app for your key numbers. You can download my conscious spending plan in the description below. Get the template for free. And finally, review your rich life goals and your progress as a team. That means these meetings are actually fun because you get to talk about an amazing trip or a new couch you're going to buy or some class you're sending your kids to. That's what money is for. Also, I want to point out that if one of you is handling all the money, if you're the money person, that's a big no-no. It's a recipe for resentment. If you happen to get hit by a bus one day, you're going to leave your grieving family not even sure where the money is. Can you imagine you're sitting there roasting in hell, flames all over you, and you're looking up at your grieving spouse and they're like, "Fidelity.com, where's the password?" And then they're looking up at heaven as if you're going to reassure them. You're not in heaven. You didn't share your financial goals together. That's why you're roasting down below. Well, anyway, I don't know if I'm the only one sweating in here, but that got a little morbid. Listen up. You don't need to be a finance nerd, but you both do need to be involved with the finances. This isn't just something that's nice to have. Your finances are a system that can actually bring you together. And when you have that system working smoothly, you're talking every month. This avoids years of miscommunication and frustration. Remember, you choose. Money can be a source of conflict or a tool to build the life that you both want. You choose. Checkpoint number seven, you've created your no list. Does anyone else enjoy saying no as much as I do? Well, let me share why. This one is underrated and honestly is one of the most powerful moves you can make towards building your rich life. You don't have to care about everything. In my twenties, I shared an apartment because I wanted to live in an awesome neighborhood. I didn't care about fancy clothes. I didn't care about fancy watches. So I didn't spend any money on those things. Now in my forties, my priorities have evolved. I still spend intentionally, but I spend differently. You'll notice I don't care about watches still, but I do care about other things now. And that's the point. The things you like today, you're allowed to change your mind tomorrow. So this checkpoint is about clarity. It's about knowing what doesn't matter to you. Here's what you need to do. Write down three things you don't care about spending money on. Okay? Then write three things you want to spend money on unapologetically. That's your no list. Now let me give you a quick word of caution here. I know what a bunch of you nerds are about to do right now. I don't care about owning my own spacecraft. Yeah. I don't think any of you are at risk of accidentally tripping and falling and buying a $70 million space rocket. Okay. Get real. I don't think I need my own private jet. My friend, you flew Spirit Airlines last weekend. Okay. Nobody thinks you're about to get a private jet. Be real with the things you actually don't care about. And if we're really being honest, you should take a look at your actual spending and be like, "Holy s***, I actually don't care about this thing I'm currently spending money on. So why am I doing it?" Once you know what is not part of your rich life, then you can cut those things without guilt, and you can actually redirect that money to the things you actually love. This single list can save you tens of thousands of dollars, and it can free you from years of internal money drama. And the best part, your no list evolves as you do. Checkpoint number eight, a simplified credit card assortment. You don't need nine credit cards and a spreadsheet to manage all of them. Okay. Well, hey everybody, today I'm going to Costco. And so when I'm in Costco, I need to make sure I get 3.5% cash back, but then when I'm buying the Wonder Bread, that's only 1.5% cash back. So I'm going to swap this card out, but for the first $60, I'll use that card. But then this, because then I can get lounge access. Get a f***ing life. This is a waste of time and it's causing you to play small. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life optimizing a spreadsheet of cash back rewards? All right, here's what you need to do. Keep one to two solid rewards cards. I made a video on my specific favorite cards, including the ones that I use. I'll link it for you in the description below. Cancel those junk cards, including those predatory f***ing credit cards with 30% plus APRs that you got from Gap and Kohl's to get $10 off a sub par pair of jeans. And then monitor your APRs or your interest rates like a hawk while you're paying off debt. For those of you who are debt-free, good job. And also your APRs don't really matter when you pay your bill in full every month. Remember, a simplified wallet is a richer wallet. In other words, if I ever meet you, I'm not going to say hello. I'm not going to say my name is Ramit. I'm going to say pull out your wallet and show me what you have in there. If you pull out a fat George Costanza wallet that has 13 credit cards, okay, and you go look for me, I'm optimizing. I get a total average value of 2.6% cashback. I'm literally going to turn and walk away. We will never speak. Checkpoint number nine, have your financial vision in place. Now your rich life vision will evolve. What you want in your 30s will almost certainly shift in your 40s. And that is a good thing. The goal is not to create a plan that's in concrete, locked in forever. It's to create a direction, something to aim towards and to update it as you grow. So I recommend you revisit your rich life vision once a year. And you can ask yourself these three questions. What do I want more of in this coming year? What doesn't matter to me anymore? What do I want less of? And finally, what's next? That's what money gives you options for your rich life. Now these nine checkpoints are your roadmap. They're not about guilt. They're about alignment. If you're under 40, start working on these now. And if you're over 40, don't worry, you're not behind. You've just been operating to this point without a roadmap. Now you have one. So I recommend you start today. And if you want to start with the most important one, how to talk about money with your partner, watch this video next.