I often feel like we were never taught how to handle money and our finances when we were in school. After I started my first job and started getting paychecks (the joy), it was easy to get excited and splurge. But of course, there are rent, utilities, electricity, groceries, and many other bills to consider and now that I think about it, I wish we were taught more about money while in school. I understand that it can be a sensitive topic, but if you're interested in personal finance, Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad is a good starting point. I don't agree with everything but I did learn a lot.
Highlights:
Most people went to school and never learned how money works, so they spend their lives working for money.
Money only accentuates the cash flow pattern running in your head.
We are taught to play it safe and avoid risk.
Typically, our only source of income is our paycheck so our livelihood becomes entirely dependent on our employers.
Concentrate your efforts on buying income-generating assets. Keep liabilities and expenses down so more money is available to continue pouring into the asset column.
The investment is not risky for the financially literate.
Wealth is a person’s ability to survive so many number of days forward. If I stopped working today, how long could I survive? If you quit your job today, will you be able to cover your monthly expenses with the cash flow from your assets?
A problem with school is that you often become what you study. The mistake in becoming what you study is that too many people forget to mind their own business. They spend their lives minding someone else’s business and making that person rich.
Someone’s net worth is often “worth less” than they think.
If you don’t love it, you won’t take care of it. For instance, with real estate, if you don’t love buildings and land, you shouldn’t buy it because you won’t look after it.
Accounting: This is a vital skill if you want to build an empire. The ability to read and understand financial statements allows you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of any business.
Investing: It’s the science of money making money. It involves strategy but also the creative side of your brain.
Understanding markets: It’s the science of supply and demand. You need to know the technical aspects of the market, which are emotion-driven, in addition to the fundamental or economic aspects of an investment. Does an investment make sense or does it not make sense based on current market conditions?
Most teachers lack real-world experience - they have not done what they teach. They haven’t actually experienced what they teach, made mistakes, learned from those mistakes, and applied what they’ve learned as they continue to practice and get better and better.
Workers work hard enough to not be fired, and owners pay just enough so that workers won’t quit.
The most important specialized skills are sales and marketing. The ability to sell - to communicate with and to another human being - is the base skill of personal success.
Whenever you find yourself avoiding something you know you should be doing, then the only thing to ask yourself is, “What’s in it for me?”
When people ask Kiyosaki what is his reason for wanting to be rich, he tells them that it’s the combination of deep emotional wants and don’t wants.
Invest first in education. In reality, the only real asset you have is your mind.
Pay yourself first.
When you come up short, let the pressure build and don’t dip into your savings or investments. Use the pressure to inspire your financial genius to come up with new ways of making more money.
Learn to have money work hard for you, and your life will be easier and happier. Today, don’t play it safe. Play it smart.
Most people don’t know that it’s their emotions that are doing the thinking.
*As always, I take no credit.
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