continue to blindly turn their money over to “experts” they do not know to manage it for them. They seem to have the “buy, hold, and pray” investing strategy. I wish them luck, especially in this volatile and unpredictable world. To me, turning your money over to total strangers is very, very risky.
Andy states, “Risk is the lack of control.” This book gives investors like you and me more control in a market that often seems out of control.
If it’s time for you to reduce your risk by taking more control of your money, the wisdom in this book is priceless.
The Best News
There is an old saying that goes, “The bull goes up by the stairs and the bear goes out the window.”
That means, bull markets are slowing going up and bear markets come down like a rock.
This is good news for people who are both fundamental and technical investors because they know how to make money regardless of whether markets are going up or down.
The best news of all is this: If you are prepared, educated, and experienced, the next time the market crashes—and most investors are praying the bull goes back up the stairs—you may be making your fastest fortune ever, as the bear leaps out of the window yet again.
Simply said, as you read this book, you are holding your financial future in your hands.
Good luck,
Robert Kiyosaki
It was many years ago that I first picked up the book Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. In that book, I found the teacher and coach I’d been looking for.
Now, I don’t come from Wall Street. It’s a nice enough place to visit, but I don’t want to live there. I sure don’t want to work there. I’m like Robert; I don’t want to work as an employee.
I don’t come from college, either. I’m a broken-down basketball player who got a scholarship not because I was some kind of elite athlete but because I could foul. But I knew enough to learn from my coach. And what I learned was how to study the fundamentals from someone who knew more than I did, practice in the real world, and keep my skills sharp by putting them into play. But most importantly, I learned how to win. I took a few classes too—though not enough to get a degree. I left just a few credit hours shy of my degree. I never did learn much sitting in a classroom.
After college, I discovered there wasn’t a lot of room in the workforce or the NBA for an ex-college athlete with bad knees and an attitude about punching a time clock.
Thank goodness.
Like most people, I was taught my whole life that I needed to go to school and get good grades so I could get a high-paying job. If I’d been good at that—at going to school, showing up every day just because it was expected, taking tests, repeating whatever the teachers had to say whether or not it made sense—maybe I would’ve gotten straight As and found that high-paying job. But I wasn’t, and I didn’t.
Growing up, I struggled with my seeming inability to toe the line and do what was expected. But now, as the economy has collapsed and those “good” jobs have dried up, as all those people who were trained to do what someone else told them are waiting around for someone new to come along to tell them what to do next, I find myself grateful for my struggles.
From the very beginning, I found I didn’t value what I was told I should value. I didn’t value just getting good grades. I wanted to understand the subjects that interested me. I didn’t value being in class if I saw an opportunity to do something more interesting. I didn’t value a degree in a subject that was assigned to me by a counselor who saw me as no more than a dumb jock.
Later, after I was out of school and happily married with a great little family to support, I didn’t value financial advisers who wanted to charge me for stock tips and one-size-fits-all advice. I didn’t value money plans designed to make me dependent on someone else’s knowledge.
I didn’t understand then that there was any other way to make it in the world. I didn’t have a rich dad. I didn’t have a mentor to show me the way. It was reading Robert’s books that made me realize there was a whole movement in the financial industry of other people who shared my values. And you know what? They were getting rich off those values. I’d found my team.
Starting out it seemed unlikely for me to speak knowledgeably on any topic, let alone paper assets, but today I’m Robert’s paper asset Advisor, and I’ve embarked on a path to never stop learning—and never stop teaching. I don’t want anyone else to feel that frustration of knowing that the way the world tries to teach us isn’t right but not knowing any alternative.
Mastering the Fundamentals
I got my basketball scholarship because I could foul, sure. I’m a big guy, and even now, even in a pickup game on a Saturday, guys feel it when I set a pick. But I guarantee you I never would’ve survived playing in college without knowing the fundamentals. My coach never tolerated lazy players. We all ran drills, we all showed up for practice, we all ran full-court, with sore knees or swollen ankles, during overtime or extra points, through bad calls or lucky breaks, on home court or away, whether we were stars or players no one recognized. We all knew every play, every drill, every strength and weakness of every opponent. When it came to hoops, we were all serious students.
I’m a serious student when it comes to money. I will never stop learning. I will always be passionate; I will always be engaged; I will always be active. I will never be an expert. In fact, now that I’m a serious student, I don’t want to be an expert. An expert is supposed to know everything. As soon as I think I know everything, I will stop learning. I never want to stop learning now. I have finally realized what a real education is all about.
My hope is that this book becomes part of your ongoing education. It’s written with the assumption that you are familiar with books such as Rich Dad Poor Dad and Rich Dad’s CASHFLOW Quadrant. Like all books in the Rich Dad Advisor series, it is written to help you increase your financial education. This is the Rich Dad Mission: to elevate the financial well being of humanity. I hope it inspires you to become or continue to be a serious student, the same way Robert’s books have inspired me.
Fundamentals
I’m all about the fundamentals. While I like understanding the high-end topics and can happily spend days studying the most esoteric concept, going down the rabbit-hole of economic theory, history, geopolitics, and socioeconomic analysis, I always start by breaking everything down into the fundamentals. My college counselor would’ve told you it was the jock in me. (He didn’t think I was very bright and liked to talk to me in a way that always let me know it). My wife says I’m a natural-born teacher, and I’ve got 15 years of teaching successful workshops to give her that impression. My sons say it’s because I speak cartoon and can make anything sound funny. Whatever the reason, I like to reduce difficult subjects to their simplest building blocks.
I’ll be doing that in this book too. I will introduce you to my 4 Pillars of Investing. The 4 Pillars are the basic building blocks to all investing. Once you’ve mastered them, you will find everything you do is based on one of these four vital areas of study. Let me make it simple for you. It’s how I learned. And if I could learn it…well, just ask that college counselor.
As we go along through the book, we’ll build on each pillar. You’ll
