Money Expert Reacts to Caleb Hammer's WILDEST Financial Audits

I’m putting Caleb Hammer’s viral money advice under the microscope. Is he giving real, actionable tips? Or is he just berating his guests for entertainment?

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Ramit Sethi is the host of Netflix’s “How To Get Rich” and New York Times bestselling author of “I Will Teach You To Be Rich.”

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[ramitsethi]

It's quite amazing how many commenters genuiely believe that if you're poor or middle class, you deserve to be shamed, ridiculed, and yelled at. One commenter wrote, "With Caleb, it tends to be younger lower income people who need to be screamed at."

I strongly disagree. Lower-income people do not need to be screamed at. The fact that so many people believe behavior change happens through being screamed at reveals so much about American culture.

This deeply held belief shows up in many ways, like Republicans who demand restrictions on how poor people spend government assistance, but would never dream of doing the same for rich people who get billions of dollars in tax breaks.

If there's anyone who should be shamed, it's the very people who believe that poor people deserve to be screamed at and reprimanded. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

[JamesGillenIII-qqui]

The four levels of Youtube Financial University.

1. Caleb Hammer - Wakes you up to realize your bad spending habits
2. Dave Ramsey - Understanding debt
3. Money Guy Show - Learning what order and how much to prioritize your savings for the future
4. Ramit - Teaches you money psychology and how to have a better relationship/conversation about and with money

There's levels to the game baby.

Each of these channels are so helpful in one way or another. Thank you!

[Carol_in_Colorado]

I found Caleb before finding you and he’s helped our family a lot! We now have 401Ks set up, an emergency fund, and have had 2 debt free Christmases. My husband and I watch both you and Caleb now and it helps keep us on track a lot.

You’re different, and that’s okay.

[Kiratail]

Less than two minutes of watching Caleb Hammer and Ramit is yelling like him

[SmallWorldColumbus]

Different approaches for different folks. After watching Caleb, I paid off 10k in CC debt. He was the one who truly got me to understand interest. Caleb deals mostly with lower to average income singles while Ramit does wealthier couples. I'm single so my behaviour and accountability rests entirely in my hands. Caleb may yell and roast, but guests know what they are signing up for. I personally require a kick in the pants to change or see that a habit truly is egregious

[HW-zv]

Caleb was a gateway to watching you, money guys, and a couple other financial creators. And as for him not knowing how to cook, maybe, but he provides all guests with a step-by-step meal plan and budget based on the local TX grocery stores. So he puts his money where is mouth is in that aspect. He does go too far on some videos but his formula is doing good for many. And a little bit of entertaining, too.

[S_nkitty]

As someone who was being stupid with the money just a couple months ago since I found Caleb’s channel it’s changed my entire financial outlook. I bought your book a year ago and it was great information but sometimes I need that Caleb type approach to get myself into gear and actually move on all the laid out plans I was able to make thanks to your book.

[marshallwhite]

You missed a great opportunity to spotlight the one guest Caleb had on who was a serial gambler who name-dropped Ramit and used the "Live your Rich Life" mantra the completely wrong way 💀

[AAG]

5:24 I don’t think this is as black and white as you are saying. Some people need tough talk while some don’t. That doesn’t mean one is better than the other.

[racer]

I watch Ramit, Money Guy's, and Caleb Hammer for different reasons. Money Guys for general financial and investment advice, Ramit for couples financial advice, and Caleb Hammer for entertainment.

[thegamingcaffe]

This is why both Ramit and Caleb are needed. Ramit is for emotionally mature adults who can accept accountability and make change. Caleb scoops up all of the rest.

[sarah]

I think Ramit forgets the guests he has and the guests Caleb has are VERY different. All of Ramits guests make over like $200k a year household income and accidentally overspent on their kitchen reno. Caleb’s guests are unemployed, steal money from their grandma, dodge calls from the IRS, and have $600k in money mart loans.

[callmezars_]

I love Caleb’s channel as well as yours. What I’ll say is that In clips it seems like Caleb is yelling for clicks, but in full episodes he’s truly dissecting the outrageous excuses many use. Most of these clips he’s yelling in, he’s using the exact words the guests JUST used 😂 It would’ve been great to see you react to a full episode to really get the scope of what he’s doing.

[LRIR]

For someone like me, that made so many mistakes -out of pure ignorance and unwillingness to learn- Caleb's style of "tough love" worked like a charm. There are still times when I feel like making a stupid purchase and I hear Caleb yelling at me, so I just calm down and back off. Or I hear Ramsey's "you can't afford it, you're broke".

So it works, even if it's mostly entertainment content. :)

[myronvenero]

Your guests are very different on each of your shows.

Sethi: smart guests with high income just want some psychological advice about money

Caleb: delulu young person who walks dogs 3x week making $3k per month wants to fly to Bali every 3 months.

[megandtigg]

I used to watch Caleb back when he first started, spoke calmly to people, and helped them plan out how to pay off their debt. After he started getting aggressive and belittling his guests, I had to stop watching. It just felt too mean, and since he stopped doing the planning part, it didn't seem helpful anymore.

So I switched to Ramit (and The Money Guys)! I cannot begin to describe how insightful Ramit's videos are and how much I can learn from the things he talks about with the guests on his show. You can see how much he actually cares about helping people, even just from the way he interacts with them - honest and truthful but with respect. He gets the point across without demeaning them or making them feel stupid. I'm excited to share Ramit's videos with my younger cousins and family, so we can all build rich AND financially secure lives!

This is the content we need in the world - people building people up. I hope that Caleb watches this video, feels that defensiveness rising in his chest, acknowledges it, and opens himself up to learn something. I'm positive there's a way for him to get back to the unique and helpful videos he used to make and still succeed as a business. He just has to be willing to do some introspection and decide what he wants his legacy to be.

The impact you have on the world matters. I thank you, Ramit, for being a truly positive impact and for trying to open others' eyes, whether you're always successful or not!

[shadowkat]

While the selection of clips may not show it, Caleb does actually ask a lot of questions of his guests, he does differentiate between the person and the behavior being "dumb", he does have a cookbook and meal prep budget he puts out there, he has budgeting, debt, and investment courses. He claims that the average guest pays off something like $8k-$10k within something like 6mo-12mo of coming on the show. He has discord servers where he and his team stays in contact with former guests and supports their journey. He's often connecting guests with free resources including therapy, financial advisors, certifications, etc. He has an onboarding process so that guests know what they're getting into, and he gets their explicit consent to "throw jabs". Often, it seems like he even has them approve the thumbnails. Many people in the comments share how his videos have opened their eyes to their own debt and spending habits and helped them to improve their financial situations. While I don't agree with all of Caleb's methods, I don't think Ramit has enough context from just these few clips for some of the criticism he shares.

[jonkuderer]

You watch Caleb to for the reality check.

You watch Ramsey to get our of debt and spending in check.

You watch Ramit after getting a grasp on money and want to live life to the fullest.

[carriestryker]

Ramit got ragebaited by his own team 😂

Been waiting for Ramit to do a commentary on Caleb's videos for a while!

Caleb's early videos were much better. They've gotten a little too mean for my tastes the last 6 months or so.

However! I 100% want Ramit to do a full watchthrough and comemntary on the "bandana" guy's 2 videos. The dude was absolutely terrifying.

[RaspberryRetrograde]

I think to Ramit's guests are generally higher income couples whose struggle is identifying a shared financial future and thus live a life of contradictions. They say they want x but do y. Calebs guests are young, lower income people with low levels of financial literacy living excessively outside their means. He reminds me if a slightly more lenient Dave Ramsey. The goal is to get people to understand how not to lose all their money. Ramit wants people to connect with their money and indeed build their rich life.