Rich Dad, Poor Dad

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Just finished reading a borrowed copy. There are three things that made my juices flowing.

1. Do not say "I can't afford it." Instead, ask "How can I afford it?"
2. Be an "Indian Giver."
3. Assets buy luxuries.

Mr. Robert Kiyosaki advises us to stop saying "I can't afford it." when seeing items that we want to have or actvities that we want to do. This statement stops a person's thinking process. It's a dead end. Unlike asking "How can I afford it?," it makes a person think of ways on how to acquire these things.

Be an Indian Giver means getting something from nothing.It's not stealing, cheating or anything bad like that. It means investing your money, letting it grow for a period of time and then pulling out your initial investment, leaving your gains in the investment. For example, Mr. Kiyosaki said in investing in stocks, with the guidance of a broker, he buys stock of a company. After a week or a month, when stock prices move up, he pulls the initial amount while leaving his profit in the stock market. Regardless whether the prices fluctuate, he's not worried since he got his shares for free, so to speak. He got his initial investment money and has left the profit to grow and work for him. Now it got me thinking that I should also have that principle in investing. I have to have earned my initial capital and let the profit work for me. I can use the capital in another investment. Ka-ching!

Assets buy luxuries. I like nice things. I like new clothes though I seldom buy. I love to buy books. I want to travel and eat. Mr. Kiyosaki teaches us to use our assets, not our savings, when buying things that we WANT. We have to plump up our assets first before buying any luxury. If I get a windfall such as a bonus, 13th month pay, leave conversion, etc., I shouldn't go to the mall and buy whatever things I've been fantasizing about. I have to invest the money and when I get 100% profit from my investment, then that is the time to buy my luxury. Sounds difficult right? Well it is. That's why we go back to the "How can I afford it?" mantra.

Reviewing this post showed me that these three things are tied up together. :)