When the first edition of I Will Teach You to Be Rich was published in 2009, the US was reeling from the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and the subsequent Great Recession. From 2007 to 2008, the stock market experienced its most severe crash since the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929, caused by the collapse of the US housing market and, consequently, mortgage-backed bank securities. Leading up to this crash, banks had been selling mortgage loans to people who did not have qualifying credit scores because they could charge these people exorbitant interest rates. Enough of these loans were made that when these people defaulted on their loans, the mortgages and investments attached to them lost their value. As a result, banks that were the pillars of the American economy lost huge amounts of money. Lehman Brothers, for example, had to declare bankruptcy. The collapse of American banks led to a worldwide banking crisis. The US government offered bailouts to banks to keep the economy afloat, but individuals suffered huge financial strains. People lost their homes and jobs and saw their retirement accounts evaporate.

Sethi’s book reflects this historical and economic context in his skepticism regarding conventional financial institutions like big banks and wealth managers.