Money Lessons From Robert Kiyosaki
Heard of the book Rich Dad Poor Dad? The author of this book is Robert Toru Kiyosaki. Thanks to his financial knowledge, he has been able to come out of bankruptcy. Here is his story.
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Kiyosaki was born on the Hawaii Island, Hawaii in 1947. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Merchant Marine Academy in New York. He graduated in 1969 as a deck officer with a commission in the US Marine Corps. In 1972, during the Vietnam War, he served as a helicopter gunship pilot and earned an Air Medal. He then enrolled in a two-year MBA program at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
In 1977, Kiyosaki started a company called Rippers. This company sold nylon and Velcro surfer-style wallets. Even though the company received good press, it went bankrupt. He then started another company that sold T-shirts, hats and wallets. This company too went bankrupt in 1980. By 1985, Kiyosaki was homeless and was living out of his car.
Robert Kiyosaki co-founded the Excellerated Learning Institute. This was a business education company that taught entrepreneurship, investing, and social responsibility. He sold the company in 1994. In 1997,Robert Kiyosaki launchedCashflow Technologies Inc., a business and financial education company. This company owns and operates theRich Dad andCashflow brands. He got his big break when he wrote the motivational book on The book is on how his father had a Ph.D. but struggled with money his whole life but the father of Kiyosaki’s friend, who wasn’t educated, was a successful businessman. The book is on the lessons that Kiyosaki learned from his poor dad and his friend’s rich dad.
Kiyosaki couldn’t find publishers and he self-published 1,000 copies. Robert Kiyosaki used his connections in a multi-level marketing company to promote the book. After it did well, Warner Books published the book and it became a New York Times bestseller. Kiyosaki has published more books, created audio material and held seminars across the country. He has a website too. The site has helpful articles, videos and games. It also has information about personal finance coaching and workshops.
In 2012, his company Rich Global LLC went bankrupt.He had to pay a sum of $24 million to a company called Learning Annex for using their platform during his speaking engagements. Kiyosaki owns a number of oil drilling operations and oil wells in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. In 2013, he invested in three new oil wells and in late 2015, he amassed a portfolio of 400 privately controlled oil wells. Even after the last bankruptcy, Kiyosakireportedly has a net worth of around $80 million.
Koyosakihad published two books named ‘Why the Rich Are Getting Richer’ and ‘More Important Than Money: An Entrepreneur’s Team’in 2017. This was to mark the 20th anniversary of his book ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’.Kiyosaki has also created a board game called Cashflow 101. The game teaches people how to make money. The game is available online and as a phone app.
Here are the money lessons that you could learn from Robert Kiyosaki:
Gain Knowledge
One of Robert Kiyosaki’s biggest pieces of advice is that you need to learn about money. He says that the public school system does not put focus enough on the money. So, it is important that people learn how to manage their money. Kiyosaki recommends reading personal finance books and attending seminars or classes for learning about money.
Learning more about personal finance will help people manage their savings well. For example, many people are afraid to invest because they don’t know much about investments. Learning more about investment products, even if it is only basic facts, can give people the confidence necessary to take big financial decisions.
You can get financial knowledge by reading blog articles written by finance experts. You could also subscribe to financial newsletters and magazines. You could discuss investments with your family and friends to understand how they invest. You can try personal finance apps to help you manage your money. You could also stay in touch with finance experts on your professional network to get their advice on finance.
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Get More Cash Flows
Robert Kiyosaki’s Cashflow Quadrant talks about how to improve your cash flows. For this, he divides ways of making money into four. These are employment, self-employment, business and investing. He feels that one should work up the ladder to become an investor. If you can manage your money well as an employee and an employer, you can manage to do well as an investor.
The stakes become higher when you are an employer when compared to being an employee. Your business acumen will improve once you manage people and money. Then, you could become a businessman which will help you invest your money in your own business. Investing in one’s own business will help improve money management skills. Once you are able to put your money to good use in your business, you will become adept at making investments.
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What You Earn Doesn’t Matter
Robert Kiyosaki says that it doesn’t matter how much money you earn. What really matters is how much of that money you can keep. Even if you earn a six-figure monthly salary, you should be able to save at least in multiples of a thousand rupees, if not ten thousand. The higher you are spending, the poorer you might get in the long run. So, what matters is not how much you earn but how much you save. The more you save, the more you can invest.
Finance experts will tell you that you should save at least 30% of your salary every month. The higher the percentage of your savings, the more will be the income that you can earn from investing those savings. You may not be able to invest all that you save. However, you can invest at least most of what you save after you keep some cash for contingencies and monthly expenses.
Make Your Money Work
Kiyosaki believes that one can’t achieve financial independence by simply working hard and saving money. You need to make their money work for them. One must invest their money to earn a passive income. Passive income helps you during job loss or other situations where you might not have a monthly income. Kiyosakigives the example of renting out your property to earn income.
Kiyosaki advocates investing in real estate because he has invested in properties. However, one can make a passive income by investing in deposits and mutual funds. Bank deposits and corporate deposits provide monthly, quarterly and annual payouts. Mutual Funds provide dividends to investors. Having a passive income is important not only during retirement but also when you are working. The higher your passive income, the cushion you will have for your finances.
Try out these money lessons and see if they work for you. You can also read about how Virat Kohli invests his money and what you can learn from this captain of the Indian cricket teamTry The Virat Kohli Style Of Investing
