1927: David Bach, Author of The Automatic Millionaire, 20 Years Later. Why the System Still Works

**Farnoosh Torabi** (0:00)
So Money Episode 1927, David Bach is back, the author of The Automatic Millionaire, 20 Years Later, Why the System Still Works in Today's Economy.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:12)
You're listening to So Money with award-winning money guru, Farnoosh Torabi. Each day, get a 30-minute dose of financial inspiration from the world's top business minds, authors, influencers, and from Farnoosh yourself. Looking for ways to save on gas or double your double coupons? Sorry, you're in the wrong place. Seeking profound ways to live a richer, happier life? Welcome to So Money.

**David Bach** (0:38)
Yes, things are more expensive. Yes, with inflation is harder. Yes, health care is more expensive. We can go on and on about all the problems that exist today. The reality of life is this. Nobody's coming to save you financially. You are going to have to save yourself financially, and it's going to get worse, not better. We live in an automatic economy right now. Let me say that one more time.
We are living in an automatic economy. That economy today is making you automatically rich because you use the technology and the tools to build wealth automatically, or it is making you automatically poor because you have signed up and given people access to your income where you're paying everybody else automatically. So the key is the way your money flows. It has to flow to you first.

**Farnoosh Torabi** (1:23)
Welcome to So Money, everybody.
So I have a confession to make, okay? For the past 20 years, there's been one book, not 10, not 8, just one book that has never left my bookshelf. Through all my moves, through going from Manhattan to Brooklyn to now Montclair, The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach has been a mainstay. It's dog-eared, it's highlighted, it's coffee-stained, and if I'm being honest, it's one of the books that's helped me fall in love with personal finance all the way back when I began working as a journalist. You might remember watching David on Oprah like me and my mom, explaining how ordinary people became millionaires on modest salaries simply by paying themselves first. I was hooked. I became what I like to call an Automatic Millionaire Disciple. And that simple idea of how you can automate your financial life so you don't have to rely on your willpower changed the way I thought about money forever. And when you ever hear me talk about the power of automating your finances, you can thank David. Now two decades later, David has updated his classic for a new generation. The 20th anniversary edition of The Automatic Millionaire doesn't just refresh the math or modernize the tools, although it does that beautifully. It also reflects a shift in our times. We're living through economic uncertainty, rapid technological changes, and a growing desire for purpose and peace, mental health, not just wealth. So get ready. I'm thrilled to welcome David Bach, who helped me launch this podcast 10 years ago, believe it or not, as one of my first guests. He's back on the show to talk about his timeless system and how it's evolved, why automation still works better than discipline, and how his own life, now living in Italy, raising two sons on the cusp of adulthood, has shaped the way he defines freedom and finishing rich. David Bach, welcome.

**David Bach** (3:19)
Wow. I'm choked up with your introduction. And for podcast, a lot of times, you don't actually get to hear the introduction. You guys taped this another time.

**Farnoosh Torabi** (3:25)
I never let my guest hear the intro.

**David Bach** (3:28)
That was a beautiful thing to take in right now. So thank you, Farnoosh. I'm really blown away. Oh my God, David. And it's crazy how fast time goes by because we were just talking about the fact that we met in New York 1

**Farnoosh Torabi** (3:39)
In 2004?

**David Bach** (3:41)
So like I had done Oprah, you called me, it came out. And for those who don't know New York 1, it's like the local New York show here that everybody actually watched that show. I don't know if the show is still on.

**Farnoosh Torabi** (3:50)
The network is still there. I don't think my little segment has appeared anymore, but a lot of the folks I work with are still there. It is just class act.

**David Bach** (3:59)
I know. We did our segment together. And New York, one of those cities, when you walk through the city, people stop you because they see you on there. To be here 20 years later, and I can't believe your podcast was already 10 years ago.

**Farnoosh Torabi** (4:09)
I know. I can't believe The Automatic Millionaire celebrating 20 years. Take me back to the moment when it was just an idea, a seed of an idea perhaps in your head, and then to where you're on Oprah and you're selling millions of copies. At what point did you realize, I'm onto something here with this thesis?