This is a book which i heard about reading in my first job at infosys. But like many other nerds or other 'worker' people, i neglected the advice thinking i hate finance. At 37, when i just happened to pick this from a footpath and read it recently, i realized what a waste of 15 years had been.
This is a MUST READ book for any human being who makes a living. It should be rather part of school curriculums so that so many lives can be saved. You must be wondering about the hyperbole, but here is what it is about -
"Poor ppl work for money, and rich ppl make thier money work". Now, you must have been intrigued. Yes, the book unveils a thinking around finance principles needed for a healthy life. It talks about assests and liablities, cash flows, income and expense but in a manner that a layman can understand.
I would just mention a few key points from the book that might make you pick it up if you havent -
1. Poor ppl work for money, and rich ppl make thier money work.
2. Poor ppl look at expensive things and say, i cant afford it. Rich ppl look at same things and say, how can i afford it.
3. Poor ppl look at the biggest thing in thier life - house, as an asset, rich understand that its a liability.
4. Poor ppl work day in day out to increase thier active income of salary while rich work on thier passive incomes ( stocks, bonds, real estate etc).
5. Poor ppl first pay thier bills and taxes and then pay themselves. Rich ppl first pay themselves and push themselves to then pay the bills and taxes.
6. Poor ppl understand that the only way to realise thier dreams is through harder education and then job labour giving higher salary, thus perpetual rat race. Rich ppl know that rats race and hence to not to become a rat means financial freedom, and hence dreams.
7. Savers are loosers, Investors are winners. Savers are risk averse, investors are opportunity makers.
8. Winning at financial game is - Its not how much money u make, its about how much u keep.
9. The rich buy assets. The poor only have expnses. The middle class buy liabilities they think are assets.
10. The rich focus on thier asset columns while everyone else focus on thier income statements.
11. The biggest asset we all have is our mind. If it is trained well, it can create enormous wealth.
12. Failures inspires winners. Failure defeats losers.
13. Find a reason to be rich greater than reality - the power of spirit.
14. Make daily choices.
15. Choose friends carefully, birds of same feather, flock together.
16. Learn new formulas quickly and keep up with the times.
17. Pay yourself first. Focus on cash flow, people and personal time.
18. Be an indian giver - the power of getting sth for nothing.
19. Use assets to buy luxuries. Eg if u want to buy a car, invest into sth which can get u a car rather than create a liability thru a car loan.
20. Power of giving, spread the knowledge, make others rich and you shall recieve in kind.
Amazing book, read it asap, the earlier the better. And a great word of admiration to Mr Robert Kiyosaki for spreading such vast knowledge to people.
