Wisdom of Rich Dad

Many Americans aren’t going to end up with money to retire on. These days, it’s a sad fact. Instead of complaining about that reality (and the injustice of it all) the best action someone who wants to retire can do is simply make sure they aren’t the average American. They need to take steps to make sure they will have the income to enjoy their retirement and be able to pay their bills, including their ever-increasing medical-bills.

The most effective way to avoid being one of these Americans who wind up working at some remedial job through their retirement, based on the opinion of Robert Kiyosoki, author of the “Rich Dad Poor Dad” book series, is to invest in real estate.

Buying investment property is an excellent way for people to prepare for our retirement because it supplies a great benefit called “passive income”. After someone has done the preliminary work, passive income keeps coming in without a lot of effort. A typical worker gets paid only for the time he puts in.

A real estate investor, after developing her system, makes money for keeping it running. And keeping it running, if she been very clever about it, will involve paying his employees to do the job of checking up on them every now and then.

A best thing about passive income (such as from investment properties) is, the more time the investor keeps them, the more ROI they should make for him/her, with less and less effort on the investor’s part. It’s the nearest thing to magic we will ever find in the world of finances.

It sounds attractive, but one should never simply take the plunge without looking first. Although it is all very learnable, there’s quite a bit to learn when you are thinking about real estate investing – things like comprehending economics and the laws related to real estate.

The most important concept to understand, however, is one’s own personal limitations. The person who knows where to locate the information she wants is much better off than the person who remembers tons of facts and formulas around in his/her memory.

In the book “Cash Flow Quadrant,” Robert Kiyosaki teaches newbie investors to raise their income as well as their knowledge. Mr. Kiyosaki writes of creating a business system that will set up and left alone, freeing up the owner to move on to the next deal instead of spending all his/her time babysitting his/her business. The next step is to continue that real estate education and start to look around for specialists to employ and property to acquire.

Robert Kiyosaki also refers to this change as moving from one part of the cash-flow-quadrant to the next. He emphasizes that, the 1st step someone needs to take toward transforming his or her life is changing the thinking process. If a person changes the way he thinks about money, then he will wind up in a much better position to change his relationship with it.

The way people think determines the actions they take throughout the day, and those actions determine the level of their success. The main value of studying books like Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” series – brings you closer to a new paradigm about things. When investors see how easily it is to establish new skills and acquire better knowledge, they are virtually impossible to stop.

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When we hear the word money, what comes to mind — savings in banks, investment in mutual funds, investment in equity, investment in real estate, investment in antiques?

In my opinion, it is a combination of all. Investment gurus call it the ‘diversification of portfolio’.

We learn the discipline to manage money effectively outside the classrooms. It reminds me of an old incident.

Once, almost 20 years ago, I visited my friend and we were busy talking when her young son entered happily, showing his mom a $100 note gifted by his granny. All he wanted to do with it is buy chocolate.

His mother explained to him that chocolates are unhealthy and he should do something else with the note, preferably put it in his piggy bank. Reluctantly, he agreed.

A few months later, I happened to visit her again. That day she was busy with her son, helping him open his piggy bank, overloaded with coins and notes. They both counted them and were delighted that the total was beyond their expectations.

Again this time as a responsible mother, she advised him to put this fund into a savings account. She taught him to fill up the deposit slip. The boy tried, but could not. So his mom filled the slip and he left for the bank along with an office help.

Years rolled by, and his mom is now proud of his saving habits. However, the amount is earning interest only in the bank. “To save must be a habit of childhood, but to invest must be the habit of adulthood.” My friend, as a responsible mother, could reach only her son’s childhood and not beyond.

What is the count of your investment portfolios? Are you working for money or is money working for you?

“The poor and the middle-class work for money. The rich get the money to work for them”- Robert Kiyosaki, the author of Rich dad poor dad said in the book. It’s generally seen that many people have the habit of switching off their minds when it comes to money matters. People in the other category have a habit of exercising their minds when it comes to money.

The difference depends on many criteria. It doesn’t matter if the child doesn’t listen to you, or doesn’t obey you. The child always observes you.

Since childhood, we listen to and observe many things in our parents, teachers, friends and others. This plays a vital role in developing our thinking patterns.

I will explain two different thinking patterns by picking up some of the effective sentences from Rich dad poor dad.

Generally, we veer towards high returns with low risk. We often fear taking risks, but always expect to have high returns.

So to overcome our fears, it’s advisable not to have all eggs in one basket, but to diversify the investment to different avenues, so as to benefit in times of inflation, interest rate changes or market volatility.

Our thinking patterns depend upon our age, sex, goals and objectives, risk appetite, future needs etc. With a simple thinking pattern, people can accumulate money, whereas a dynamic thinking pattern leads to generation of wealth.

One survey conducted in the US revealed the fact that only 4% of the population was confident of the future financial security of self and family as they had generated enough wealth. More than 60% of the population has to work part-time even after retirement.

It’s best to have financial independence and financial literacy. As per a recent survey, almost 50% of our population is young, that is, in the age group of 15-35 years. The Indian working population is increasing. Hence, with a proper financial literacy we can enhance our economic growth.

Chhaya Kothari

~ Robert Kiyosaki

As we all know, the world changed drastically on Sept. 11, 2001, when the twin towers of the World Trade Center fell.

This year, on the eve of Sept. 11, the twin towers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac crumbled. Then, on Sept. 15, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch disappeared. Actually, that was a triple-tower collapse if you count AIG.

In a few years, the biggest pair of towers will collapse: Social Security and Medicare. Even today, they’re looking shaky. How many ground zeros can we as people, a nation, and a world withstand before we admit something is very wrong with our global financial systems? What will it take to wake us up?

Government Can’t Fix It

Personally, I believe the biggest it’s a problem that so many Americans are looking to this year’s presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, to save our financial system. How did we become so financially weak that we surrender our economic independence to politicians? Where does it say in the Constitution that the government should solve our financial problems?

And why have so many people throughout the world come to expect financial life-support from their political leaders? It seems most people will vote for anyone who promises a chicken in every pot and a guaranteed mortgage payment.

We’re in the midst of a problem neither candidate can solve: A lack of comprehensive financial education in our school systems. What else explains the economic blunders committed by our political and financial leaders? Or why so many consumers are in debt up to their eyeballs? Or why millions of people expect a quick government fix of some kind?

Under Water

A few months ago, a friend of mine from Hawaii asked me if I wanted to buy his new powerboat with twin motors. Apparently, in late 2007, he purchased it brand new for approximately $85,000. His plan was to refinance his house when it appreciated in value and use the difference to pay for the boat.

Failing to obtain new financing, he called to ask me if I would buy the boat from him — just take over the payments and it was mine. I passed, and the bank eventually repossessed his boat. Later, his wife called to tell me he’s now having problems making his mortgage payments. Apparently, my friend planned to pay for his house the same way he planned on paying for the boat, by refinancing his debt.

I mention this story because it illustrates the problem Obama or McCain face: Limited financial education and diminished financial common sense. Apparently, my and the nation’s business leaders all went to same school of finance.

If you want to know why the towers of American capitalism are crumbling, I recommend reading “The Creature from Jekyll Island” by G. Edward Griffin. It’s not an easy book to find, but once you start reading it’s to put down. In fact, in many ways it’s a murder mystery about the financial “murder” of the middle class.

A very important lesson in the book is how political leaders use financial spin to deceive the public. The very, very rich use the system to legally steal from the rest of us by appealing to our sense of patriotism. When our leaders say, “We’re bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because we want to protect the American people,” they really mean “We’re saving our rich friends.”

All the bankers and politicians have to do is wave the red, white, and blue, play a few bars of “Yankee Doodle,” and the masses get teary-eyed and pledge greater allegiance to legalized robbery. Yes, it’s true that ignorance is bliss — but ignorance is also expensive, and it cost us our freedom.

Freedom at Peril

A bailout can be different things. First, printing more money is a kind of bailout that leads to higher inflation. Rather than protecting people, it makes life for the poor and middle class more expensive. The other kind of bailout is protection for our rich and incompetent friends. If you or I fail at business, we fail. If we cheat and fail, we go to jail. But if you’re rich and politically connected, your incompetence may be protected by a government bailout.

As a former Marine and a Vietnam War veteran, it saddens me to see some of the freedoms I thought I went to war to protect being stolen from us by bankers and politicians. Unfortunately, few Americans know the difference between the words “nationalize” and “socialize.” Socialize means we turn more of our personal powers over to Big Brother, not free enterprise. It means we as a people grow weaker and need a higher power — the same power that got us into this mess — to protect us.

In short, when the towers of Fannie, Freddie, Merrill, Lehman, and AIG came crashing down, more came down than just money. What we’re losing is the very freedom this country was founded on, and what most of the world yearns for.

Robert Kiyosaki’s bestseller, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, has helped millions to create roadmaps to their financial goals. Central to his series is the notion of open-mindedness. Instead of sizing up a situation and saying, “I can’t afford that,” he suggests saying, “How can I afford that?” By reshaping the idea into an open-ended question, creativity is stimulated, which leads to inspiration.

Here’s a list of critical thoughts and their positive replacements. I hope these help to prime your mind for money-making thoughts.

Instead of saying:

• We can’t afford it.That’s too expensive.
• I don’t have enough money.
• I’ll never be able to afford that.
• That’s a waste of money.
• It’s too late to get started.
• I’m not good with numbers or investing.
• It’s too risky.
• I really want to get that!

Replace with:

• How can we afford it?Where can I get that for less?
• How can I make more money?
• When will I be able to afford that?
• How can I make that productive?
• How can we let another day go by?
• Where can I learn more?
• What could reduce the risk?
• Do I really need that?

As open-ended thinking becomes more natural for you, you’ll also find yourself better able to help clients who have critical objections. Plus, the difference in this kind of thinking is tremendous. If you aren’t already quieting your critic, you’ll find that these suggestions bring excitement into your daily life.

Consider writing out this list, and adding to it when you discover new negative thoughts. Invent positive replacements, and write those down, too. Review the list frequently, and practice!

The New York Times has an article that tells the story of Diane McLeod and her insurmountable debt. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/business/20debt

Even though she’s going through foreclosure on her home, she’s still getting credit card offers from “Urban Bank!”

With the aftermath of the sub-prime crash still wreaking havoc, Americans are finding themselves in very uncomfortable debt positions. The blog post on the Consumerist asks, ‘What happened to our values?’

I don’t think it’s a question of values, I think it’s a question of education. Students graduate high school without the slightest idea of what awaits them in terms of credit and debt. Most of them don’t even know what an income statement or balance sheet is. Why do we have such a financially illiterate populace here in the U.S. and what can be done about it?