{
  "id": 7545670,
  "title": "Ramit Sethi's first scholarship was $2K and he put it in the stock market. Here's the simple lesson he learned",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/ramit-sethis-first-scholarship-was-2k-and-he-put-it-in-the-stock",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-15T11:45:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Finance",
    "slug": "yahoo-finance",
    "url": "https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/ramit-sethis-first-scholarship-2k-114500607.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ramit Sethi, renowned for his wealth-building advice, learned a crucial investment lesson the hard way at age 14. Having earned a $2,000 scholarship, he impulsively invested the money in the stock market, only to lose half of it within months. This experience, though painful, ignited his desire to understand investing better. Sethi realized that investing was more than just picking popular companies and dumping money into them. New investors often treat the market like a lottery, chasing quick gains instead of focusing on long-term growth. Long-term compounding, rather than quick profits, is the secret weapon that Sethi emphasizes. He started investing young and witnessed how small amounts could grow over time due to compounding. Sethi encourages people to cut back on large expenses first, rather than focusing on minor frugal cuts. He believes that addressing major financial questions like savings, investments, and financial alignment with a partner is more impactful. For first-time investors, having an emergency fund and avoiding high-interest debt is crucial before considering investments like an S&P 500 index fund, which has historically delivered strong returns.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}