How to Get Rich in the Philippines: Tips from the Netflix Show

Stop scrolling mindlessly through streaming apps because we have an excellent recommendation for your next Netflix binge. “How to Get Rich” is as drama-filled as your favorite reality show—and packed with useful tips and advice to help get your finances in shape, to boot!

Keep reading if you want to pick up some financial wisdom imparted by this new reality documentary series and learn how to get rich in the Philippines.

What is the Netflix Show How to Get Rich About?

Ramit Sethi is a New York Times bestselling author who teaches people how to live rich lives, in ways more than one. This money guru believes you can spend extravagantly on the things you love and cut costs on the things you don’t.

In the Netflix documentary series “How to Get Rich,” Ramit has six weeks to help people fix their money issues—from credit card debt, loans, investments, and retirement.

The people featured on the show face a variety of financial challenges and teeter on the verge of losing everything. To find the best solution and turn their finances around, Ramit takes a deep dive into their current finances and tries to understand their money psychology.

How to Get Rich in the Philippines: 10 Key Takeaways from the Netflix Series

How much money to be considered rich in the Philippines? According to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, you are considered "rich" if you earn at least ₱182,000 monthly. You fall under "high income" if you make ₱109,200 to ₱182,000, "upper middle income" if you take home ₱63,700 to ₱109,200, and “middle class” if you earn ₱63,700 to ₱109,200 each month.^[1]

If you want to join that group earning at least ₱182,000 monthly, here are some tips on how to become rich in the Philippines, based on the trending Netflix show.

✅ Design Your Rich Life

When you hear the word rich, what comes to mind? The main philosophy of the show “How to Get Rich” on Netflix is that you can define and design your own rich life.

In this eight-episode series, Ramit emphasizes that being rich can mean different things to different people.

According to Ramit, whether it’s owning a house or taking holidays whenever you want, everyone’s perception of a rich life is unique. Your life can be rich as long as you don’t base your decisions on what other people think.

For example, if your rich life entails renting instead of buying a studio apartment, it’s not a failure because renting is a good financial decision for you.

To visualize your rich life, you should also be comfortable talking about money. Start asking questions about money to better understand your relationship with it.

More importantly, combine your dreams of a rich life with intention and action.

✅ Simplify Your Finances

Curious to know how to be rich at a young age? First, organize your financial accounts so you know how your money flows.

Keep things simple. Start with one savings account and one checking account in your early twenties. This way, you won’t feel overwhelmed with too many accounts and wonder how they’ll all fit together.

Simplify and streamline all your loans, bank accounts, and credit cards. Devise a plan to pay them all off.

✅ Follow the Conscious Spending Plan

One of the biggest misconceptions about money is that you’ll automatically know how to manage it once you make a lot of it.

In the show, you’ll see people who earn hundreds of thousands or enjoy multiple income streams but still live paycheck to paycheck. That’s because they spend everything they make and don’t track where all their money goes. They operate on the belief that when you make a lot of money, the usual financial problems don’t apply.

If you want to know how to be a millionaire in the Philippines, take control of your spending and follow a conscious spending plan,^[2] which works by aligning your spending with what makes you happiest, then saving and investing your money simultaneously.

Decide on the amount of money you can spend so you can do so guilt-free. Then decide on how much to save and where you want it to go.

For example, if luxury bags or collectible sneakers are your passion, set a personal budget for them and stick to it. Don’t spend all your earnings because the rest should go toward paying your dues, savings, and investments.

✅ Don’t Let Your Credit Score Determine What You Do With Your Money

Do you often use your credit card until money picks back up and you can even out again? Do you always resort to short-term loans just to have money to spend?

These actions can negatively impact your credit score. And when you have poor credit, future lenders might impose higher interest fees on your loans.

To fix this, crunch the numbers and get honest about what your car, house, loans, or credit cards are costing you. If you realize you’re spending more than you make, spend less or make more money.

Don’t let interest rates and penalty charges balloon to an unmanageable number. Fix your poor credit by addressing your loans and paying off your credit cards. Your credit score will rise over time as you pay off everything on time every month.

✅ Don’t Ignore Your Debt

You might be able to hide from friends you borrowed money from, but you can’t walk away scot-free from debts from financial institutions. You’ll realize this when it’s time to buy a house or car and you can’t get approved for bigger loans.

But there’s a path to paying your debts and living a rich life. Start by talking to your lender.

Ask if they can help you refinance or bring your payments down. Doing so will save you thousands of pesos throughout the loan. Pay more than the minimum amount due if you have extra money.

But remember: you shouldn’t allow it to get to this point. Take your debts seriously. Pretending they don’t exist won’t make them go away.

✅ Make Sure You’re Really Ready to Buy a House

According to Ramit, you’re ready to buy a house if you plan to live in that location for at least ten years, save at least 20% for a down payment, and have a total housing cost (bills, repairs, etc.) less than 28% (the lower, the better) of your gross income.

That’s because the transaction costs are so enormous when you buy a house that you need ten years or more to spread those costs out.

In the show, we learn about Sophina’s condo purchase. It was a proud moment for her to have bought a home at such a young age. But something she thought was an excellent investment at first ended up eating up all her income—all because of the expenses of home ownership.

Ramit shares that home ownership is not always the best financial decision.

For instance, with renting, your rent is the maximum amount to pay. Just one sticker price and that’s it.

But when you buy a house, your mortgage is the minimum. It also comes with many phantom costs like interest, taxes, and maintenance fees.

So if renting a house is part of your vision of a rich life, never feel bad about it. Alternatively, if owning a home is, make sure you can afford it comfortably.

✅ Remember the Sunk Cost Fallacy

Let’s compare sunk cost with a bad relationship. You’ve already spent three years in that relationship, and you're hesitant to end things because of the time you invested in it.

Sunk costs are unrecoverable. The sunk cost fallacy is a psychological barrier that ties people to unsuccessful endeavors simply because they've already committed resources to it.^[3]

One of the critical things you must remember about how to be rich in the Philippines is always to look forward. Don’t dwell on the mistakes or money you spent. Don’t be afraid to start over. Learn from the experience and move on.

✅ Save and Invest Automatically

If you often wonder how to be a billionaire in the Philippines, one thing’s for certain. Billionaires don’t let their money sit and stagnate. They don’t put their heads in the sand and wait to magically become rich.

It’s not enough to save. Invest at least 10% of what you make in safe and sound investment instruments with good returns. You can invest more as you earn more.

✅ Avoid Get Rich Quick Schemes

How to get rich fast? Win the lotto jackpot or get a significant windfall. Other than that, you need to work for it.

Stop with the get-rich-quick schemes, gambling, and multi-level marketing. You’ll make little to no money, or even lose it.

Instead, invest in yourself or a business that will make you rich in the Philippines. In the show, Monique returned a luxury purse and instead used the money to rent a woodworking space to scale up her business. Now, she focuses on earning more and spending less.

✅ Money is Not the Most Important Thing in Life

Money is a constant worry for everyone, whether you have too little or too much. We’re so busy making money that we tend to forget the things that truly matter, like time with family and friends, peace of mind, and good health.

Don’t let the constant worry of what will happen in the future take over your life. Hustle hard, but live your rich life today, too, with the people who matter.

Final Thoughts

Getting rich in the Philippines may seem like a pipe dream for most. But countless rags-to-riches stories prove you can, so never let go of this financial goal. Start by understanding how you view money to master and change it if necessary.

“How to Get Rich”^[4]is currently streaming on Netflix in the Philippines. Prepare the snacks, bring out your pen and paper, or create a new spreadsheet on your computer because it will be an interesting and informative watch!

Sources:

^[1] ‘Upper middle class’ dream (Philippine Institute for Development Studies, 2023)
^[2] Conscious spending: The finance approach that’s both smart and fun (CNN, 2022)
^[3] What Is a Sunk Cost—and the Sunk Cost Fallacy? (Investopedia, 2023)
^[4] How to Get Rich (Netflix Philippines)

Live a Rich Life: This Netflix Show Tells You How

Rouselle Isla

What is the Netflix Show How to Get Rich About?