Some “To Do’s” To Build Wealth (day44/365)

Last day of “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert T. Kiyosaki. A few last points.

Assess where you are at. If what you have been doing is not working, try something different.

Look for new ideas. Check out bookstores to find the book with the idea/s you need.

Get information/help from those who have done what you want to do.

Take classes, listen to CD’s. Learn as much as you can.

(Real Estate) Make lots of offers,counteroffers, negotiate, reject, accept. Play with them. Decline them if you don’t want the deal. (Make offer subject to approval of business partner – they don’t know the partner is your cat).

(Real Estate) Jog, walk, drive a certain area on a regular basis to watch out for long term “for sale” signs and changes in the neighbourhood. Talk to shop keepers etc to know what’s happening in the area.

(Real Estate) Buy at foreclosure department of bank, bankruptcy attorney’s office, courthouse steps.

(Real Estate) Find someone who wants to buy first – know what they’ll pay, then look for someone who wants to sell. Make your profit.

(Stocks) Buy when there is crash or correction, not when the stock market raises prices.

ACTION ALWAYS BEATS INACTION. Get in and have a go!

I encourage you also to put into action the things you are learning. Robert has produced a fabulous board game CASHFLOW 101 to make learning about finances and getting out of the ratrace fun. Have a look on his website www.cashflowtech.com

Get The Wealth Wheel Rolling (day43/365)

We have some more tips today from Robert T. Kiyosaki, “Rich Dad Poor Dad”.

Finding great asset building deals is a bit like learning to ride a bike. Once you’ve learned some things and practised, it’s easy. What we need to get through the wobbles with, is some determination.

# We need a reason greater than reality.

Do we have a positive mindset to take a step at a time and triumph at the end or is the road too hard with too many hills? Do we want to be financially free or will we settle for working in exchange for money til we drop?

#Choose daily.

We need to make the choice every day. We need to picture our future every day. We need to discipline ourselves every day. We need to educate ourselves every day.

#Choose friends carefully.

We need to choose friends who we can learn from. Learn sound financial practices, learn love, learn positive thinking and planning.

#Master a formula then learn a new one.

Study something, do it, perfect it, then move on to learning something new. The more we learn the faster we will find the formulas working for us.

#Pay yourself first.

There’s a lot to be said for self-discipline. We are always going to have bills, needs and wants and we can easily spend all our income on them. The discipline is to keep aside a portion (10% or more) of our income that is to only be used for purchasing wealth building assets. We will get creative to find enough income to pay for the bills etc.

#Pay your brokers well.

If they are getting paid a good commission, it means we are getting paid a great income.

#Be an Indian giver.

Get something for nothing. Use funds to invest. As this multiplies, withdraw the original amount and start another investment elsewhere.
Also look for deals that include something free ie. land, stocks, mini-storage, an office building etc.

#Assets buy luxuries.

Once assets have multiplied, then withdraw cash to purchase cars etc. (Don’t use your original income for liabilities)

#The Need for heroes.

Picture yourself as an investment guru as you make enquiries, deals, purchases. Find out how they operate and do the same.

#Teach and you shall receive.

Or, Give and you shall receive. Whenever you desire something, give what you want first and it will come back to you in plenty. Use it for love, money, friendship, a smile.

I hope you are learning as much as I am from this book. It’s one thing to learn, and quite another to discipline ourselves though isn’t it? Are you up to the challenge?

Overcoming Obstacles (day42/365)

Robert T. Kiyosaki identifies some obstacles to becoming financially independent in his book “Rich Dad Poor Dad”.

The following areas can be a problem if we don’t recognize them and act on them.

1/ FEAR

No-one wants to lose money but we need to take some risk to avail ourselves of the big winnings. If we use losing to inspire us we become stronger and more focused.

For those not wishing to take any financial risks, it is advised that you start saving very early in life.

2/ CYNICISM

We can listen to a never ending barage of negative “Chicken Littles” who have no knowledge of investing etc. or we can educate ourselves, analyse and see the opportunities that others have missed.

3/ LAZINESS

Someone with head down tail up, working overtime to earn money can easily neglect the need to build skills in acquiring an asset base to ensure future security.

We need to grow our mind in relation to “affording” things. We can say “I can’t afford that,” or the better option is to say “How can I afford that?” and make our minds work a little harder.

4/ HABITS

Financial MUST DO habit – Pay ourselves first. Put aside our savings for asset development. Yes bills will be there, but if there is not enough money left for that, our minds will get agitated and creative enough to find a way to earn some extra money to pay them.

5/ ARROGANCE

Ego plus ignorance = arrogance.

What we know makes us money. What we don’t know loses us money.

If we know we are ignorant in a subject, we need to find an expert in the field, read some books on the subject; do something to invest in ourselves and our future.

Invent Money, Don’t Work For It (day41/365)

Sounds interesting doesn’t it? Not to work for money I mean. See the points below that Robert T. Kiyosaki in his book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” has shared with us.

Lesson #5 Rich Invent Money

Pick a vehicle (eg. real estate, stock market) and learn everything you can about it. Take some action; learn some more along the way. Failure is part of the process of learning but get up and go again remembering the lessons you learn on the way.

“It is what you know that is your greatest wealth. It is what you do not know that is your greatest risk. There is always risk so learn to manage risk instead of avoiding it.”

Kiyosaki’s philosophy is to plant many seeds in the asset column.
When the assets are producing enough income you will no longer be living in fear of losing job. You will have choices in your life.

Lesson #6 Work to learn – Don’t work for money.

Obviously we have to work for money at some stage in our life before we have enough assets to provide ongoing income. The point is we need to be willing to learn lots of skills in the jobs we have to better our chances of success.

Remember accounting, investing, marketing and law are important to learn. Good management of cash flow, systems and people are an extension of that.

Learn to write, speak and negotiate. Learn to be a good student and a good teacher.

More good stuff tomorrow.

Business, Taxes, Corporations, Money (day40/365)

Are you ready for two more interesting lessons from “Rich Dad Poor Dad”, by Robert T. Kiyosaki?

Lesson #3 Mind your own business.

Keep your daytime job but start to buy real assets, not liabilities that have no real value (eg. a car that loses 25% value once it drives off the car lot)

Your business revolves around your asset column not your income column.

Assets would be:-
Businesses that are run by a manager. (If you have to work in it, it becomes a job, not a business.)
Stocks
Bonds
Mutual Funds
Income generating real estate
Notes (IOU’s)
Royalties from intellectual property – music, scripts, patents

Lesson #4 Avoid Taxes, Learn the power of Corporation.

Your financial IQ depends on:-
1. Your ability to read numbers ie accounting
2. Investment strategies
3. Understanding markets – supply and demand
4. The law (operate within the rules)

In a corporation you earn, spend, then pay tax. With regular job income you earn, pay taxes, and spend what is left. Corporations pay much less tax.

I hope you are finding this interesting. More tomorrow.