Mustachian vs Ramitant – Opposing pathways to Financial Independence

We all know that investing is a critical component in working toward financial independence. All that saving is not going to add to much, if you’re not putting those savings to work for you while you sleep. So that much we can agree upon.

But the philosophies of getting those savings can differ. And none so personified than 2 bigwigs in the FIRE community, represented by Mr. Money Mustache Pete Adeney, and Ramit Sethi.

Who is Mr. Money Mustache

Mr. Money Mustache is Pete Adeney, a Canadian born software engineer who retired in 2005 at the ripe old age of 30. He achieved this remarkable feat by maximising his savings and spending only a tiny amount of his salary, and consistently investing the rest, mainly on index funds.

He blogs at mrmoneymustache.com, and firmly believes in the 4% rule. His work on his blog has gained him a huge (in the PF world) following, and they call themselves Mustachians. His Facebook page currently has over 100k followers.

Philosophy: Spend way less. Save way more. Invest it all. He often blogs about frugality and simple living, anti-consumerism, car costs, DIY, bicycling.

Who is Ramit Sethi

Best known for his 2009 book “I will Teach you to be Rich” (which was also recently updated in 2019), and his website of the same name, Ramit is another big name in the personal finance space, with a vastly different approach to getting rich.

He blogs at iwillteachyoutoberich.com and also believes in investing in the stock market as a primary driver of compounding your wealth.

The core difference in philosophy is that while Mustachians primarily optimise their savings rate, Ramitants (OK, I coined this. Will it be a thing?) core believe is that the upside of income is unlimited. When you optimise for savings, you’re limited to 100% of what you earn. When you optimise for maximising income, that upper limit is then blown away.

Subscribing to Ramit, you will learn various strategies to:

• Negotiate a raise
• Get a promotion
• Earn an additional $1000 per month or more with a side gig
• Define your “rich life”, and work toward living it

Philosophy: Focus on opening up/increasing income, automate savings into investments, don’t worry about that latte.

The Latte Factor

Mustachians say meal prep! Ditch that latte! Bike everywhere! I think it’s cute, and probably do-able under certain circumstances and cities. I live in Singapore (legit world’s most expensive city in the world, 2019) with 2 young kids.

Our temperatures range from ‘way too fucking hot’ and ‘are you kidding me right now’. So yes, I have a car (gasp!), and I love my morning coffees. So I have to say, I’m definitely leaning more toward a Ramitant philosophical perspective, and working on ways to give myself upside on the income front.

MrMoneyMustache and Ramit Sethi run-ins

Here’s MMM’s review of Ramit Sethi’s book.

Here’s my conclusion. Both are great dudes, with different philosophies and methods to, in the end, living their dream life the way they want to be, without having to worry about money.

It doesn’t matter where you stand, because at the end of the day, what truly matters is that you’re able to design for, and live, the way you want to, be more present, and spend more time with the family, without money matters weighing on your mind.

So, read up on both of them, take what you will from either, and start financing up!