Answer extracted from the Your Next Dollar: Money Management for High Earners podcast — listen to the full episode below.
Should books and coaching have zero budget limits for high earners?
Books and coaching should have zero budget restrictions when they promise genuine learning or solve specific problems. The real shift is reframing the question: instead of asking whether a coach is worth $2,000, ask yourself whether you are worth $2,000 to improve—a mindset change that can unlock transformative breakthroughs in fitness, mental health, or business.
The strategy is straightforward. Reading one book every week, the host maintains an infinite budget for books that deliver value, treating them as investments rather than expenses. When a book solves a problem or teaches something actionable, the cost becomes irrelevant compared to the payoff.
For coaching, the principle is identical. Minor tweaks from a coach can unlock breakthroughs that accelerate growth tremendously. A fitness coach costing $2,000 over a couple of months, for example, isn't an outlay to minimize—it's a tool to transform. The same logic applies to business coaches, mental health professionals, or any expert who addresses a real gap in your knowledge or performance.
As Ryan Sterling explains in the episode, the art of high-earner spending is aligning your budget with your values and growth priorities. When books and coaching directly serve those priorities, they deserve to be treated separately from traditional discretionary budgets—not capped, but evaluated purely on whether they deliver results.
"Emotions are the number one eroder of wealth over time. Having somebody in your corner that can check you on your own blind spots is invaluable."
Ryan Sterling — CEO of NerdWallet Wealth Partners and co-host of Your Next Dollar. With two decades in financial advisory, Sterling works with high-earning clients on wealth management, employee equity, and financial planning, providing quarterly guidance that has helped thousands restructure their spending and investment strategies around their true values.
This perspective dissolves the guilt many high earners feel about spending on education and coaching. Instead of viewing a $2,000 coach or a $30 book through the lens of "Can I afford this?"—the better question becomes "Will this accelerate my progress?"—and as discussed at length in this podcast, the answer for genuine, high-ROI learning tools is almost always yes.
For deeper context on how high earners should structure their entire spending philosophy and which other splurges deliver real value, listen to the full episode on Listenly.
See also
How should high earners approach outsourcing professional services like accounting?
Even small outsourced tasks are worth paying for if they eliminate mental friction and decision fatigue. Ryan Sterling paid his accountant $100 to handle a five-minute tax notice, and his CPA found $5,000 in tax savings in the first year.
What are the most valuable ways to buy back your time as your income increases?
Hiring professional services like landscaping and pool care is highly cost-effective for buying back time. Lawn care costs $75 per month and reclaims five hours every single week—20 hours every month.
Should you invest money instead of paying cash for a car if you can get 0% or 1% financing?
Even with 0% or 1% financing, you must factor in the vehicle's depreciation. The real cost of the vehicle over its useful life, combined with depreciation, often exceeds the benefit of keeping money invested.