231. “Our $200k in crypto is gone. Now we live with his mom.”

Money For Couples with Ramit Sethi

Ramit Sethi

Relationships, Society & Culture, Investing, Business

4.6 • 3.1K Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2025

⏱️ 100 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Angela (31) and David (34) thought they’d built a future on $200,000 in crypto. Instead, they lost it all—and now they’re living in David’s childhood home with his mom. Angela dreams of traveling to Colombia to be with family, while David quietly panics about their finances. She sees every course and trip as a step toward freedom, but he sees their savings shrinking with no plan in sight. With only $4,000 in the bank and a 5-year-old to support, can they stop improvising and finally create a stable financial life of their own? In this episode we uncover: • How David blew through $200,000 in crypto • Living rent-free with David’s mom • The “get rich quick” approach to debt: bankruptcy talk, unrealistic timelines, and skipped planning • Why improvising instead of planning is their default financial strategy • A $3,000 retreat vs. moving out: how conflicting priorities reveal deeper issues • The moment they see the truth in their spending • How David’s mom ended up in credit card debt from supporting them • Angela’s scarcity and rescue narratives from childhood • Why David avoids stress and Angela absorbs it • The cost of being “Dreamers” (big visions with no real plan) • Signs their daughter is already noticing financial stress Chapters: (00:00:00) “We have no space to breathe” (00:25:05) Ramit breaks down their numbers (00:35:12) “Our vision isn’t aligned to our actions” (00:52:42) “Like mother, like daughter” (01:03:09) “Do you want major changes or minor changes?” (01:15:26) “We’ve never created a plan” (01:36:53) Where are they now? Angela and David’s follow-ups This episode is brought to you by: Trust & Will | Protect what matters most in minutes at https://trustandwill.com/ramit and get 10% off plus free shipping. Wildgrain | Get $30 off the first box - PLUS free Croissants in every box at https://wildgrain.com/ramit SonderMind | Go to https://sondermind.com to get matched with the right therapist in less than a week Gelt | Book a tax consultation with Gelt at https://joingelt.com/ramit. As a member of my community, you can skip the waitlist DeleteMe | If you want to get your personal information removed from the web, go to https://joindeleteme.com/ramit for 20% off Links mentioned in this episode • If you want help with your finances, join my Money Coaching program at https://iwt.com/moneycoaching Connect with Ramit • Get my new book, Money For Couples • Get Money Coaching with Ramit • Download the Conscious Spending Plan • Listen to my book—now on Audible • Get my New York Times best-selling book • Get my no-numbers journal • Other episodes • Instagram • Twitter • YouTube If you and your partner have a money issue and you want my help, I occasionally select a couple to work with, free of charge. Apply for my help here.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Are you worried about your parents getting older? What if they haven't saved enough for retirement?
0:05.2	What if they expect help, but they're not willing to talk about it right now? Or what if they
0:10.6	want to move in with you? This October 27th, I'm co-hosting a special online event just for you.
0:17.7	It's called Money for Aging Parents, and I'll be joined by Beth Pinsker, Market Watch
0:23.0	Retirement columnist, and certified financial planner to cover these tough conversations
0:28.1	that are so often avoided. We're going to talk about how to find out what your parents
0:32.6	have actually saved, how to talk about expectations without guilt, and how to set boundaries before it becomes a
0:40.5	crisis. This event is free for members of my money coaching program, which also has tons of amazing
0:47.0	live events like this coming up. You get access to a library of all past calls, by the way.
0:52.8	So if you want to join this special Money for Aging Parents event,
0:57.1	plus get access to a community of like-minded people
1:00.6	who are living their rich life, you should join Money Coaching today.
1:04.0	Go to Iwt.com slash money coaching to join right now.
1:08.5	I will see you there.
1:09.6	I went through $200,000 of cryptocurrency, and I treated it as income instead of going out and finding a job because my head was in the clouds.
1:18.5	There's no coherence between what we say we want and what we're actually doing.
1:23.3	For the entirety of last year, my mother was paying all of our expenses.
1:27.0	She's supported us so much to the point where she's put herself in a financially difficult position.
1:32.1	You don't think it's interesting to have a mechanical engineering degree and be living with your mom
1:36.0	who is now in $90,000 of credit card debt from supporting you?
1:39.9	No, I said, I don't.
1:41.3	These things feel like we're failing.
	...

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