Monday, July 10, 2006

Rich Dad Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki

A better name for this book could have been " Money lessons for dummies"

I heard about this book from a colleague and I just happened to stumble upon this book on a roadside bookseller.But when I started I was like a child glued to cartoon network .
I just could not part from the book(until a felt asleep with the book in my hand and my eyes/mouth wide open) This book is author's story on how he and his friend learn ways to make money(legally) from friend's father. Robert's dad is a teacher by profession and like many of us considers going after money too cheap. As a result he ends up paying most of his salary to govt as taxes and levies. He is an educated man but a financial illiterate(refered to as Poor dad). Robert's friend Michael's dad is a business man . A school dropout but a person who has studied life and its rules(Rich Dad). He teaches both of these guys some of the basic rules which many of us know but ne'er bothered to understand them. A simple thing is when we get our first pay cheque, most of us will go to buy a new car/bigger house/clothes and in most of such cases we will end up getting this on loans from bank. This will thus become a permamnent means of cash outflow from our pay cheque.On top of it we will be paying taxes/maintainence charges which will make us even more poorer than we were before we had got this thing.The next time we get a hike, we sell our old car and get a bigger better car,ofcourse again on loan. This continues and he tags this condition as RAT RACE. People running in morning to there office because they are so much dependent on there sole source of income that they can't afford to lose it. They do not know how to pay for there credit card dues incase they do not get a month's salary. And frankly speaking I am one of these guys who would be spending every single peny without realising its worth before it become too late.
A quote I remembered " When money comes it comes along with the greed and stupidity. But when it goes it slaps you right on your face"

The author advices the readers to use the money to create money and then use the created money to get you worldly comforts.He mentions that you should now your profession in and out to identify an oppurtunity and get benefitted from it. But you need not rush to get rich. Understand the market(in whatever domain you are), analyse the condition , observe the movements and only when you feel confident start investing. And always start small. The author retiered from his full time employment at the age of 47. That does not mean he is not doing anything . But he is out of the RAT RACE for long and is pursuing what he wants to do.

On a whole a must to have book if you want to learn about practicality of life and do not want to die while paying taxes to government only. The book can be termed as bible of present times. Something you can refer to whenever you find yourself in a strange kind of situation.

Thanks to my friend who told me about this book

chalo