Robert Kiyosaki’s and My View
As a young working person in the 1990s and early part of 2000, I was told to start a pension. My financial advisors, accountants, FSAs, etc kept telling me to put my money in a pension fund!
I never fell for this notion (I found it so absurd if not meaningless), even the fact that I was being told by my financial advisors that the Government will put some money towards my pension, if I put some money towards it. This NEVER EVER appealed to me and I always thought that the best way of creating a pension fund would be to invest in bricks and mortar.
Buying Property and getting income cash flow now and in future was going to be my pension.
Why would I take out a portion of my income to go into a Pension Fund that I could access when I was in my 60s and have aboslutely no control over its growth. I found this very foolish and I naturally felt, for some unknown reason (The Law of Attraction may be) to find a way of creating my own pension. I always, always had an interest in property and I thought this is my way!
Sorry to digress on the above. Now moving back to Robert Kiyosaki. I first read Robert Kiyosaki’s book 9 years ago and realised that this is what I was already doing on a small scale with a challenging life. At least I knew that this was the right thing to do, no one taught me to follow this path, I did it naturally (please do not think I am bragging, I am not) and reading a book such as this, only confirmed my beliefs.
At the same time. I really wanted to get out of the rat race especially the commuting, even though I enjoyed working and living in the City (London), I loved my job and I loved my work colleagues and I loved working in the Square Mile. This was a dream as a child and no doubt many young adults have the same dream and can relate to this.
I did become a very good high income earner but I still did not like the thought of trading so much of my time for money. Whilst working for 9 years in the City, I decided that the chance for me to stop was when I start my family. Before I stopped working in the City, I started thinking that when I stop working, I really want to be achieving a level of income where I can live comfortably while raising a young family.
As a woman, a mother, a carer, my life compared to Robert Kiyosaki’s was different in respect of the fact that I am a woman. Most men (not all) can detach themselves from their kids and family and focus on making money, achieving goals at a much faster rate than mothers of young kids or even older ones. Life does not get any easier, the older your children get (if you have them).
Anyway, what the sole objective of my Blog Post is that while you are working in your early years (if you so choose to) think about other ways of making money so that you find ways of thinking like me and Robert Kiyosaki’s thinking and finding ways of “my money working hard for me and not me working hard for my money”
I really wanted to create a lasting wealth and increase my financial strength year after year, so that I had my money working hard for me and not the other way around if I so wanted. My financial strengh has been a slow one, but this is because of the challenges in my life. Anyone, without these challenges, will undoubtedly do much better than me and a a faster pace.
I would have personally carried on working by choice, but my cirmstances had changed in a way that it was better for me to not go back to the rat race and to focus on my special needs child. If I had not thought and planned ahead, I would not have been able to do this and would have been forced to go back to the rat race.
I would really like to quote the following email that was recently sent to me (20/05/10) and I will just quote all that was written:
Here we share the wisdom of Rich Dad from Robert Kiyosaki. Learn the first 5 Rich Dad secrets you never knew!
Step 1: Decide to Be Rich
Robert sat quietly that night and his lessons began all over again. He could hear his rich dad talking. “The only difference between the rich, poor and middle class,” he said, “is the kind of lifestyle they want. You don?t have to be psychic to tell a person?s future. If you listen to the words a person uses, they will tell you their future.”
Rich Dad believed that words were a person’s most important tool. He constantly reminded Robert to watch the words he spoke, simply because he believed that the words you speak and the words you think ultimately become the world you live in.
So that night, Robert remembered Rich Dad reminding me to listen to different people?s words. He noticed that poor people often said:
“I just want enough money to pay the bills.”
“I need a few dollars to get to the next pay day.”
People who used words such as these, often focused only on financial survival. Rich Dad often referred to these people as “poor” people, because they were poor managers of money.
So a person who thought or spoke words such as these was constantly fighting for financial survival, regardless of how much money they made.
The middle class used different words because they had different ideas about how to use their money:
“Our home is our most important asset and our largest single investment.”
“We’re setting a few dollars aside every month, so we can afford the down payment on our dream home.”
“We’re saving money for our children’s college education and our retirement.”
Robert noticed that the middle class focused on comfort. That is why so many of them say, “I don’t want to be rich. I just want to be comfortable.”
That night, Robert recalled the words his Rich Dad’s rich friends used:
“How did you finance your shopping center? Did you syndicate it with a joint venture partnership or did you go to a hard money lender for the interim money?”
“My underwriter has a new private placement, pre-IPO offering. Do you want a position in it?”
“I bought the shares through my corporation because the long-term tax consequences are better.”
The rich used the vocabulary found in the asset column. Rich Dad said, “The rich are rich because they are not focused on day-to-day short-term survival, or the expense column as the poor are. Nor are the rich focused on comfort and the acquisition of liabilities using credit, as the middle class is.
The rich are rich because they focus on the long-term acquisition of assets… assets such as stocks, bonds, businesses and income producing real estate. Many times the rich will forsake meals, a steady pay check, a vacation, or the comfort of a nice home, to build or acquire real assets.”
So decide to be rich, even if you are broke and penniless today. In Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert wrote of the difference between being poor and being broke.
Poor is a state of mind where thoughts such as “I can?t afford it” or “Live below your means” come from.
Being poor is eternal but being broke is temporary.
Step 2: Decide What Kind of Money Problems You Want
There are only two kinds of money problems: not enough money or too much money. Unfortunately, the kind of money problem most people know is not enough money.
Rich Dad stressed that his son Mike and Robert must not only know how to make money but what to do with the money they made.
Rich Dad said, “Most people know how to work for money, but they do not know how to have people and money work for them.” So he taught both of them how to plan on having too much money.
He said, “If you want to be rich, you must make sure your excess money creates more excess money. You must know what to do with your excess money before it gets to you. Most people, when they receive any excess money, spend it foolishly or just park it in the bank.”
So decide what kind of money problems you want.
Step 3: Write Your Plan and Follow It
After choosing between being rich, poor or middle class, and then choosing between too much money or too little money, it?s time to write your plan.
If you have chosen to be rich, even though you are broke today, and have decided to have the problem of too much money, read on. If you do not plan to be rich or to have too much money, then you need not read any further.
Rich Dad?s plan started with a few basic goals:
1. Change the characteristic of your income. Start a part-time business.
2. Change the characteristic of your expenses. Convert personal expenses into business expenses.
3. Place your business inside a legal entity.
4. Have your business buy your assets.
5. Harness the power of reinvesting.
Therefore, decide on what you want to do now and plan for your future and ensure that your excess money creates more excess money for you.
One pillar or way to making money is through property.
To Your Success
Sofina Khan
