On a recent holiday I read one of the latest book or Robert Kiyosaki, Why the Rich are Getting Richer. This is a reminder of the points taught in Roberts bestselling book, Rich Dad Poor Dad. For those that are not familiar this book the story behind the book is of Roberts Poor Dad, who was his own father, a hardworking, well educated person who always said study hard, get a good job, work hard, pay off your debt and save for retirement. Roberts Rich Dad is his best friend’s father who he started learning from at the age of 11. His Rich Dad was an entrepreneur and taught Robert and his own son about Money.
A major theme of the book is that we are not teaching financial education in our schools or homes. All people need to learn financial literacy, that is what will make you financial independent in the long term and understand what wealth really is and how to make money over time.
Most people wonder, how do I can become financially literate? Like all skills it is about learning skills by practice and trial. Then it is about applying all you have learnt to the real thing. It may be that you try and fail, but importantly that you try again. Like any skill to achieve you must first attempt.
Many of the lessons that Robert learnt from his Rich Dad were learnt by practicing and in his case, this was from playing Monopoly. Go to your cupboard and most of us will find a game of Monopoly in our homes. This allowed Robert, his best friend and Rich Dad to practice being entrepreneurs. It is about buying investments in land, building a green house, then another, then when you have fours houses building a red hotel. All the time charging rent to those that land on your property. The bit of Monopoly many of us don’t do is flip the property card and mortgage land, which allows us to borrow and grow faster.
Any investing you do you need to learn about that investment type, the pros and cons of the investment. Another great book is The Richest Man in Babylon, by George Samuel Clason. I can remember a chapter of this book focusing on only taking advice from experts in the field. Seek out those that have either already had experience in investing or have expert knowledge of that area. A modern-day warning with regards to this is the use of the internet. Just because you read it on the internet does not mean it is correct, but a smart person will learn to look beyond the guff and lies and find the truth.
The books written by Robert Kiyosaki cover many topics. Many of his thought some may not agree with but look beyond that and learn from the lessons. Probably the biggest thing to take is don’t wait too long to become financially literate. This does not mean you have to be a financial planner or Accountant. But understand money and what assets are. Also start discussing financial matter with your kids, in simple terms when younger and expand as they get older. Get your Monopoly board game and start playing with your kids, when making financial investments let your kids know about your decisions.
For more information certainly find a copy of Rich Dad Poor Dad or google search Robert Kiyosaki. There are huge amounts of information on him and his thoughts and ideas. From this make your own path. For those that are over Monopoly consider Roberts own Cashflow board game, which Robert and his wife created to teach financial literacy.
