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Introduction: Rich Dad Poor Dad
My poor dad would say, “I’m not interested in money,” or “Money doesn’t matter.” My rich dad always said, “Money is power.”
Chapter One: Lesson 1: The Rich Don’T Work For Money
“Life pushes all of us around. Some people give up and others fight. A few learn the lesson and move on. They welcome life pushing them around. To these few people, it means they need and want to learn something.
Stop blaming me and thinking I’m the problem. If you think I’m the problem, then you have to change me. If you realize that you’re the problem, then you can change yourself, learn something, and grow wiser.
they feel the fear of not having money. They don’t confront it logically.
“I’ve met so many people who say, ‘Oh, I’m not interested in money.’ Yet they’ll work at a job for eight hours a day. That’s a denial of truth.
It’s just like the picture of a donkey dragging a cart with its owner dangling a carrot just in front of its nose. The donkey’s owner may be going where he wants to, but the donkey is chasing an illusion.
Chapter Two: Lesson 2: Why Teach Financial Literacy?
Accounting is possibly the most confusing, boring subject in the world, but if you want to be rich long-term, it could be the most important subject.
An asset is something that puts money in my pocket. A liability is something that takes money out of my pocket.
If your pattern is to spend everything you get, most likely an increase in cash will just result in an increase in spending.
According to psychiatrists, the fear of public speaking is caused by the fear of ostracism, the fear of standing out, the fear of criticism, the fear of ridicule, and the fear of being an outcast.
The greatest losses of all are those from missed opportunities. If all your money is tied up in your house, you may be forced to work harder because your money continues blowing out of the expense column, instead of adding to the asset column—the
Their expenses tend to increase in proportion to their salary increase: hence, the phrase “the Rat Race.”
Chapter Three: Lesson 3: Mind Your Own Business
The rich focus on their asset columns, while everyone else focuses on their income statements.
Businesses that do not require my presence I own them, but they are managed or run by other people. If I have to work there, it’s not a business. It becomes my job.
Chapter Four: Lesson 4: The History Of Taxes And The Power Of Corporations
A corporation is merely a legal document that creates a legal body without a soul. Using it, the wealth of the rich was once again protected. It was popular because the income-tax rate of a corporation is less than the individual income-tax rates. In addition, certain expenses could be paid by a corporation with pre-tax dollars.
Employees earn and get taxed, and they try to live on what is left. A corporation earns, spends everything it can, and is taxed on anything that is left.
Chapter Five: Lesson 5: The Rich Invent Money
they blame technology or the economy or their boss. Sadly, they fail to realize that they might be the problem. Old ideas are their biggest liability.
games reflect behavior. They are instant feedback systems. Instead of the teacher lecturing you, the game is giving you a personalized lecture, one that is custom-made just for you.
The market goes up and comes down. Economies improve and crash. The world is always handing you opportunities of a lifetime, every day of your life, but all too often we fail to see them. But they are there. And the more the world changes and the more technology changes, the more opportunities there will be to allow you and your family to be financially secure for generations to come.
I constantly encourage people to invest more in their financial education than in stocks, real estate, or other markets. The smarter you are, the better chance you have of beating the odds.
Chapter Six: Lesson 6: Work To Learn—Don’T Work For Money
Often I recommend joining a network-marketing company, also called multilevel marketing, if they want to learn sales skills. Some of these companies have excellent training programs that help people get over their fear of failure and rejection, which are the main reasons people are unsuccessful.
Life is much like going to the gym. The most painful part is deciding to go. Once you get past that, it’s easy. There have been many days I have dreaded going to the gym, but once I am there and in motion, it is a pleasure. After the workout is over, I am always glad I talked myself into going.
I know of no other skills to be more important than selling and marketing.
Chapter Seven: Overcoming Obstacles
The fear of losing money is real. Everyone has it. Even the rich. But it’s not having fear that is the problem. It’s how you handle fear. It’s how you handle losing.
for most people, the reason they don’t win financially is because the pain of losing money is far greater than the joy of being rich.
“Texans don’t bury their failures. They get inspired by them. They take their failures and turn them into rallying cries. Failure inspires Texans to become winners.
For winners, losing inspires them. For losers, losing defeats them.
Failure inspires winners. And failure defeats losers.
They hate losing, so they know that losing will only inspire them to become better. There is a big difference between hating losing and being afraid to lose.
you must first be focused, not balanced. If you look at any successful person, at the start they were not balanced. Balanced people go nowhere.
Nobody has to tell them. Deep down they know. In fact, if you remind them, they often respond with anger or irritation.
what is the cure for laziness? The answer is—a little greed.
He believed that the words “I can’t afford it” shut down your brain. It didn’t have to think anymore. “How can I afford it?” opened up the brain and forced it to think and search for answers. But most importantly, he felt the words, “I can’t afford it,” were a lie. And the human spirit knows it. “The human spirit is very, very powerful,” he would say. “It knows it can do anything.” By having a lazy mind that says, “I can’t afford it,” a war breaks out inside you. Your spirit is angry, and your lazy mind must defend its lie.
Without that little greed, the desire to have something better, progress is not made. Our world progresses because we all desire a better life.
Eleanor Roosevelt said it best: “Do what you feel in your heart to be right—for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.”
after paying myself, the pressure to pay my taxes and the other creditors is so great that it forces me to seek other forms of income. The pressure to pay becomes my motivation.
Chapter Eight: Getting Started
our culture has educated us into believing that the love of money is the root of all evil.
Having no money should not be an excuse to not learn.
the only real asset you have is your mind,
I go to seminars. I like it when they are at least two days long because I like to immerse myself in a subject.
I would say that one of the hardest things about wealth-building is to be true to yourself and to be willing to not go along with the crowd. This is because, in the market, it is usually the crowd that shows up late that is slaughtered.
I have attended classes designed for derivative traders, commodity option traders, and chaologists.
Other people pay for my liabilities. They’re called tenants.
if a person was rich, that person was providing something that other people wanted.
Chapter Nine: Still Want More? Here Are Some To Do’S
• Find someone who has done what you want to do. Take them to lunch and ask them for tips and tricks of the trade. As for 16 percent tax-lien certificates, I went to the county tax office and found the government employee who worked in that office.
deals. • Take classes, read, and attend seminars. I search newspapers and the Internet for new and interesting classes, many of which are free or inexpensive.
It is rare that a seller asks a price that is less than something is worth. Moral of the story: Make offers.
I always make offers with escape clauses. In real estate, I make an offer with language that details “subject-to” contingencies, such as the approval of a business partner. Never specify who the business partner is. Most people don’t know that my partner is my cat. If they accept the offer, and I don’t want the deal, I call home and speak to my cat.
Action always beats inaction.