Rating (5 Rising Suns is a must read - 1 Rising Sun is low interest in reading)
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Review
This book is a must read for all who believe that “Knowledge is Power.” However, the author, Robert Kiyosaki suggests that the correct statement should be: “Knowledge is Potential Power.”
Kiyosaki describes life from the perspective of both an educational influence, his father was a PhD and Superintendent of Education, and a financial influence, his best friend’s father, who dropped out of school at the age of 13, became one of the wealthiest men in Hawaii. Along with his best friend, Kiyosaki had the opportunity to put both theories into action to create financial independence.
Kiyosaki demonstates through both stories and their outcome, how the current educational system fails to teach young people how to keep their money once they get it. As a young boy, Kiyosaki started a business with very little and with the help of both fathers. As a result, he was able to see the benefits of education and its solid, safe and dependable future along with the importance of being able to put education into action, follow through with, and use that education to build and take risks. Kiyosaki also proves that it doesn’t really take money to make money, IF you are willing to take risks and “think outside the box”.
Kiyosaki provides a vague yet detailed plan to follow, but one needs to be able to pick out the messages through thought, a burning desire, faith, and persistence. To the casual reader this book might seem like a pie in the sky theory. However, for anyone who is willing to put this theory into absolute action and follow through with it, it could prove to be the impetuous for financial security for retirement or whatever else you can dream of. If you are not ready to be called to action, you might be after reading this book.
Kiyosaki suggests several additional books to his readers, such as Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill, Retire Young Retire Rich and CASHFLOW Quadrant, both by Robert Kiyosaki, and Over the Top by Zig Ziglar to name a few. Some of the books from the authors list are to intended to develop and excite the desire for knowledge, and some to expand on the financial intelligence of the reader.
In addition, Kiyosaki has also developed several board games for the education of those of us who wish to learn the basics about cash flow and income statements and be able to learn how to distinguish the difference between an asset and a liability. He even has a children’s form of the game designed to teach our children some of the lessons that are not taught in the schools. However, they are all a bit pricey.
Summary of Main Points
Reading this book seems to lead one to six basic lessons which help to challenge your financial literacy:
* The Rich Don’t Work for Money - This lesson centers on showing you how to get money to work for you instead.
* Teaching Financial Literacy - This lesson focus is on learning the difference between an asset and liability and between income and expenses.
* Mind Your Own Business – Financial struggle is often directly the result of people working all their life for someone else, and having nothing at the end of their working days.
* Lean about Taxes and the Power of Corporations – It is the knowledge of the power of the legal structure of the corporation that really gives the rich a vast advantage over the poor and middle class. Financial IQ also includes Accounting, Investing and understanding the markets.
* The Rich Invent Money – One must learn to be bold, take risks and to let their genius convert that fear into power and brilliance. Most people when talking about money usually just prefer to play it safe.
* Work to Learn – Don’t Work for Money – Work for what you will learn, not for what you will earn. Most people work to get a secure job and working for pay and benefits that reward them in the short term, but is often disastrous in the long run.
Once people have become financially literate, they need to become financially independent. There are many obstacles but many ways to overcome them. Most people, however, feel that it’s easier to find a job and work for the money, and spend it, and when they run short, they can always borrow more. One needs to awaken the sleeping financial genius within us and call upon it to start working for you.
Call To Action
There are some basic guidelines to follow to get started developing your own powers which only you have control over.
* Master a formula and then learn a new one. Learn quickly and master a new skill. In today’s world, it’s not so much what you know anymore that counts, it is how fast you learn.
* Pay yourself first. This reflects the power of self-discipline. It is the hardest to master but is the number 1 delineating factor between the rich, the poor and the middle class.
* Pay your brokers well. If you pay for good advice and the professionals make money, the more you make. Information is priceless.
* Getting something or nothing. The sophisticated investor’s first question is, “How fast do I get my money back?” What is their piece of the action. That is why the return is so important.
* Teach and you shall receive – The power of giving. The more sincerely you can teach those who want to learn, the more you will learn as well. If you want to learn about money, teach it to someone else.
* The most important thing to keep in mind is that you need to take a break and really look at what is working and what is not. Look for new ideas and investing ideas. Read books, listen to tapes, and take classes. Find someone who has done what you want to do, and ask for tips or for little tricks of the trade. It might seem like a lot of work at first but if you start small, go to seminars, and focus, it is said to get easier. Learn not to play it safe, play it smart.
