Ramit Sethi: How To Become Rich on a Low Salary

Kristopher Kane

Sun, Apr 13, 2025, 10:01 AM 5 min read

Many people see financial prosperity as an unattainable dream reserved only for those born into affluent families or lucky and talented enough to attain fantastic six-figure jobs. In a YouTube video, Ramit Sethi said, “The majority of millionaires are first-generation wealthy.”

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What does that mean for you, and what are your chances of reaching that lofty financial milestone? According to Sethi, “You don’t have to depend on having wealthy parents in order to become a millionaire.”

Sethi emphasized that even those who didn’t come from a wealthy background or attend an elite university can still take charge of your financial future. He introduced the concept of “three levers,” empowering factors that you can use to steer your wealth-creation journey.

There are three primary levers in Sethi’s example: the duration of your investment, the quantity invested and the returns you see on those investments.

Time can be a powerful ally in the wealth-creation process. Sethi used the analogy of a snowball rolling down a hill — the further it rolls, the larger it gets. The longer you invest, the greater the potential of your investments due to compound interest. By making time your ally, you can make even modest investments grow into substantial sums, giving you the push you need toward a brighter financial future.

Sethi explained the hypothetical case of someone earning $50,000 a year. If that person is diligent enough to set aside 15% of their salary, that adds up to $7,500 each year. After investing this sum annually for 30 years, they could have an impressive $750,000 in their account. Let that snowball roll for four more years, and they’ll likely hit the coveted million-dollar mark.

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What’s also striking about this wealth accumulation process is that “million dollar milestones” aren’t solely dependent on substantial salary increments. Naturally, as your salary increases over time, so too does your potential for investing greater amounts. Sethi is quick to point out that you shouldn’t wait for that big promotion or some other boost to your income before investing — even without these somewhat predictable increments in earned wealth, your initial investments can grow into a significant amount of money from compound interest and persistence alone.