Thursday, August 12, 2010

Financial IQ: Review of Rich Dad Poor Dad - Part 2 of 4

Lesson 2: Why Teach Financial Literacy?
They don’t teach this at school.
The growing gap between rich and poor is rooted in the antiquated educational system. The system trains people to be good employees, and not employers. The obsolete school system also fails to provide young people with basic financial skills rich people use to grow their wealth.
Know your options and use this knowledge to build a formidable asset column. In an age of instant millionaires it really isn’t about how much money you make, it’s about how much you keep, and how many generations you can keep it.

Steps to get out of the proverbial rat race:
1. First, understand the difference between an asset and a liability.

AssetsLiabilities
Real EstateMortgages
StocksConsumer Loans
BondsCredit Cards
Notes
Intellectual Property


The poor have day-to-day expenses, the middle class purchase liabilities that they think are assets (i.e., a home or a car), and the rich build a solid base of income-generating assets.
The middle class finds itself in a constant state of financial struggle. Their primary income is wages, as wages increase, so do their taxes. Expenses increase as wages increase. Hence the phrase “the rat race.” They treat their home as their primary asset instead of investing in incomegenerating assets.

The rich get richer because they keep acquiring more assets and investments to generate more income, which far exceeds their expenses.

Reasons why the home is not an asset but a liability:
1. People work almost all their lives to pay off a home (30-year loans)
2. Maintenance and utilities expenses.
3. Property tax
4. House values can depreciate.
5. Instead of investing in income-earning assets, your money goes out to
payments for the house.

Your losses:
1. Time that could have been used to grow value in other assets.
2. Capital which could have been invested rather than paying home-related
expenses
3. Education that makes you a Sophisticated investor
If you want to buy a house, first generate the cash flow by acquiring
assets, which bring income to pay for it.
Examples of real assets are:

  1. Apartments for rent
  2. Real estate
  3. Businesses that do not require your physical presence. You hire managers.

Average time of holding on to an asset before selling it for a higher value:
1 year

  • Stocks (Startups and small companies are good investments)
  • Bonds
  • Mutual funds

7 years

  • Real estate
  • Notes (IOUs)
  • Royalties on intellectual property
  • Valuables that produce income or appreciate


In summary, the key steps to getting out of the rat race are the ff:

  1. Understand the difference between an asset and a liability.
  2. Concentrate your efforts on buying income-earning assets.
  3. Focus on keeping liabilities and expenses at a minimum.
  4. Mind your own business.

Lesson 3: Mind Your Own Business
KEEP YOUR DAY JOB BUT START MINDING YOUR OWN BUSINESS.
Kiyosaki sold photocopiers on commission at Xerox. With his earnings he purchased real estate. In 3 years’ time his real estate income was far greater than his earnings at Xerox. He then left the company to mind his own business full time. He knew that in order to get out of the rat race fast, he needed to work harder, sell more copiers and mind his own business.
Don’t spend all your wages. Build a good portfolio of assets and you can spend later when these assets bring you greater income.

http://www.richdad.com/store/ProductDetail.aspx?id=2

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