Ramit Sethi

So I do a little compound interest calculation for them and I tell them how much they're going to have.

And sometimes they are shocked because the number, if you compound over 10, 20, 30, 40 years, that number becomes quite large.

And they realize through more discussion that this argument they have about who spent too much at Target is completely...

absurd when you're talking about having that kind of retirement.

There are psychological dynamics.

There are gender dynamics, cultural dynamics at play.

It is the most fascinating part of what I do.

So Target is actually a very real example.

It's very common that usually in a heterosexual relationship,

The wife will go to Target, and it's almost a running joke that she will go in with the intention to spend $50 and come out having spent $250.

This is actually a meme online.

Ha ha ha, I spent $250.

And that produces a lot of conflict.

Several reasons.

One, the husband, who's often not involved in the daily tracking of anything or knowledge of what's being spent, he just looks at a number and goes, why did you do that?

The person who spends the money, in this case, wife, becomes quite defensive.

What do you mean?

I'm out here going shopping every day, taking care of things.

And so now we have an entrenched conflict where there is no understanding of the dollars or the vision, just why'd you do that?

And it reverses