If you’ve saved $10,000, you’ve already done something many people never manage to do: Build consistency. According to a recent YouTube video from finance expert Ramit Sethi, author of “I Will Teach You To Be Rich,” $10,000 is the point where your focus in investing should shift from safety to intentional wealth building.
Here’s how Sethi would invest $10,000. See if you should follow his advice.
Why $10,000 Is a Turning Point for Investors
The fact is, if you’ve saved up $10,000, you are already ahead of a lot of people, Sethi said. “You’ve proven that you can save, you’ve built a system and now you are ready to make it work for you.”
It’s also far more money to work with than $1,000, which just gets some investors off the ground. “This is where you go from playing defense to playing offense,” he said.
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First Priority: Max Out Your 401(k) Employer Match
Earlier in the same video, Sethi talked about what someone should do once they’ve saved up $1,000, and his advice was to open a retirement account of some kind. At the $10,000 level, if you have a 401(k) with an employer match, there’s really only one right move, he insisted.
“Contribute enough to get the full employer match because that is free money.” If you don’t do that, he added, you’re essentially saying, “I don’t like free money.”
Knowing that some people skip this step makes him mad. After all, the opportunity cost can be substantial. He gave the example of someone earning $100,000. If their employer matches up to 3%, that’s $3,000 that is then automatically doubled to $6,000 saved in a single year.
Why Systems Matter More Than Market Timing at This Stage
No matter how much money or experience you have, there are two things not even the most seasoned investor can reliably do: time the market or consistently pick a magically producing stock.
Instead, at this stage, Sethi said you should be “learning to build that systematic approach.” That means managing multiple accounts, setting up automation and “ignoring the noise.” It’s not complicated or glamorous, either. “It’s actually boring,” he said.
No influencer, hot tip or other buzz should interfere with a tried-and-true strategy.
How To Use Rules To Turn $10K Into Long-Term Momentum
Investing works best when it becomes formulaic, Sethi argued; consistency comes from creating clear “rules for your money.” For instance, he has a rule around what to do with unexpected money, such as a tax refund or side income. In his case, 75% of that money goes straight into investments.
“Do you see that it is less about picking some random stock and more about building a powerful system?”
What Learning To Manage $10K Teaches You About Bigger Goals
If you can master consistency, rules and strategy at the $10,000 level, Sethi said, you’re laying the groundwork for much larger milestones, such as $100,000, $500,000 and beyond.
In reality, wealthy people aren’t using dramatically different investments, they just have more funds to use.
“So, if you think that wealthy people have access to these secret investments that get them 10 times the returns, you’re wrong,” he said. The best investments available to wealthy investors, he added, are almost always simple, low-cost index funds.
Whether you follow Sethi’s exact playbook or not, his $10,000 approach highlighted how much of investing success comes down to structure, repetition and staying out of your own way.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Here’s How Ramit Sethi Would Invest $10K — Should You Follow His Advice?
