Ramit Sethi would kill me if he knew how my own dithering and futzing are preventing me from taking the first-place trophy in the Personal Finance Derby.
That’s me in the back, not taking the lead.
Sethi, author of I Will Teach You to Be Rich, which I have for the past 5 weeks taken as my money-management manifesto, rightly points out that nothing should stand in the way of 
young people’s accumulation of wealth right this minute. As Sethi puts it so convincingly, “…there’s not going to be a magic day when you win a million dollars or ‘have enough time’ to figure out your finances. You said that three years ago! Managing your money has to be a priority if you ever want to be in a better situation than you are today.”
But, Ramit, I must pause here and plead my case. I’m going to an OUT-OF-TOWN WEDDING this weekend and I had planned to make the necessary preparations last weekend but then there was a HURRICANE and the ENTIRE NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC TRANSIT SYSTEM WAS SHUT DOWN, so I couldn’t leave my borough, which resulted in my scrambling this week to buy shoes, handbag, etc., all while balancing a jam-packed work/social/class schedule. (I’m currently taking a class in improv comedy.)
My cousin and his fiancée. They look so happy, how could you NOT drop everything else in your life in anticipation of their nuptials?!
So, Ramit, can I please get a mulligan this week? I know I just took one in Week 4, but it’s SUMMER and the past month has been an endless string of celebrations and hurrying to wring the season of every last drop of frivolity. Plus–and I know this will come as a shock–I’m human, and I sometimes put things off. But if you’ll give me a free pass this week, I promise I’ll even read Chapter 6 (The Myth of Financial Expertise) on the bus ride to Boston.
OK? Great. Here comes the bride! (And her soon-to-be cousin-in-law, aka me, aka the future Unsinkable Molly Brown* of her era.)
*Remember Molly Brown, the character played by Kathy Bates in Titanic? The loud, brash-but-endearing one who was the object of sneers from the other first-class passengers because she possessed “new” money, as opposed to a giant inheritance? That’s going to be me. And you better believe that I’ll lend Jack Dawson a tux when the times comes.
No Comments