Wisdom of Rich Dad

By Jason Alderman
 

Have you tried helping your children with their homework lately? It’s amazing how much information they’re able to absorb. But some would say we’re doing our kids a disservice by not emphasizing more strongly a critical part of growing up – personal financial management skills.

Four out of five high school seniors have never taken a personal financial management class, yet they’ll soon be asked to balance a checkbook, file taxes and manage credit cards – if they aren’t already doing so.

An intense dialog currently is taking place in state legislatures and school boards around the country over whether financial literacy curriculum should be mandated for students, and if so, what specifically should be taught. Already, several states have adopted a variety of measures, including establishing high school graduation requirements for financial literacy education.

There’s no shortage of evidence that our kids need help: According to the most recent biannual survey of high school seniors conducted by the non-profit JumpStart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, fewer than one-quarter of high school seniors understand that savings account interest may be taxable. In addition, roughly 60 percent don’t realize they could lose their health insurance if their parents become unemployed, and nearly a third think the U.S. has a 6 percent national sales tax.

Meanwhile, the debate on how to fix this looming financial illiteracy crisis is growing. On May 1, 2007, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (part of the U.S. Federal Reserve System, or “the Fed”) and Visa USA will co-host a free, two-hour online forum that brings together leading educators, policy makers and representatives from the non-profit and private sectors to discuss the issue of financial literacy.

The Financial Literacy and Education Summit 2007 will be simulcast live from Chicago over the Internet from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., Central Time, and then available afterward for viewing at any time online. During the summit, panel members will discuss national frameworks for financial literacy education and the challenges of promoting financial education on a national level.
One key discussion topic will be, should financial literacy programs for students be mandated and if so, who should oversee these requirements – the federal government, the states or individual school districts? Other potential topics likely will include:

• Who should decide what students should be taught and what constitutes financial literacy?
• How would we measure whether students have sufficient knowledge and skills to take individual responsibility for their personal economic well-being?
• Who would pay to develop curriculum, textbooks and other materials?
• What additional training would teachers require?
• How would financial literacy courses be fit into already full class schedules?

The second portion of the forum will bring together experienced financial education advocates from the non-profit and private sectors, educators and other practitioners to share different classroom education approaches currently being used, showing how they have succeeded and why.

To participate in this free Financial Literacy and Education Summit, go to www.practicalmoneyskills.com/summit2007 and pre-register.

Take the time to listen in on this critical dialogue around an issue that is so vital to our children’s – and our own – personal financial health and stability.
 

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Jason Alderman directs the Practical Money Skills for Life program for Visa USA.

Part 3 of the interview of Robert Kiyosaki company’s Chief Communication Officer, Philip Lechter.

Part 2 of the interview of Rich Dad Company’s Chief Communication Officer, Philip Lechter.

During Robert Kiyosaki’s turbulent entrepreneurial ups and downs, he went to a bar one night and met Kim, the woman who would become his wife. (He had been married once before, but only for a few months. “It’s best to know when to cut your losses,” he points out.)

Born and raised in New Jersey, Kim moved to Oregon with her family at the age of 14. In high school she went on a trip with her family to Hawaii, and decided that the luckiest people in the world lived there. When the time came to choose a college, she chose the University of Hawaii and stayed in the islands after graduating to work in advertising.

Five years into her career, she met Robert. “On our first date,” she recalls, “Robert said, ‘What do you want to do with your life?’ I said I wanted my own business. A month later we started our first business together. We designed a logo and had it embroidered on shirts and jackets and then marketed them throughout the United States .”

Financial success remained elusive, however. “Robert and I met in February of ’84,” explains Kim. “We moved to California to start a new business at the end of that year. 1985 was what I call our ‘year from hell.’ We were broke. We were homeless for a short time. We slept in the car. We really struggled. But we were determined that we would start a successful business together.

“Looking back, I’ll have to admit I’m glad we went through it. I don’t ever want to go through it again – thank you very much – but I’m glad it happened because now we know we can get through anything. The toughest part of that experience was that our self-esteem and confidence took such a hit. But to climb out of it made us so much stronger, individually and as a couple. In retrospect, it was a blessing.”

According to Kim, “Robert and I both say, ‘Number one, we’re best friends. Number two, we’re business partners. Number three, we’re husband and wife.’”

Many women hardly know what their husbands do, let alone take an active part in it. Kim is not one of these women.

“You see so many people who have no idea what their spouses are doing,” she observes. “I’ve seen so many couples grow apart. I knew that I wanted my life partner to also be my business partner. We both love business. So we also have an agreement that whenever we go to a seminar, we go together. Whenever we read a great book, we read it together. We want to make sure that we grow together. Being business partners and marriage partners does not work for everybody. But it definitely is what works best for us.”

You have seen a couple of videos of Robert Kiyosaki discussing about financial education, his books, his Cashflow game and even about his seminars.  

In this series of 8 video, we will hear from Phillip Lechter, who is the The Rich Dad Company’s Chief Communications Officer, where he shares his learnings and experience joining Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Company. 

I wouldn’t argue against the importance of financial literacy in achieving one’s financial success.  Robert Kiyosaki advocated that in his “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” book, and April is the National Financial Literacy Month in US.

With such high profile emphasis on the finanical literacy, it is no surprise to see that this being reported – to have law to make financial education mandatory in schools.    

Burlington, NC — By the time a student graduates from high school, he has had years of English and math. But what about learning to balance a checkbook?

A new law would change that, and a local state senator is trying to make sure it begins.  State Sen. Kay Hagan sees debt as a huge problem. By teaching students at a young age how to be responsible with money, Hagan hopes to stop any potential problems before they start.

To view the video of this whole report, click on the image below.  It will launched the video on your media player.