One dad would say, âThe love of money is the root of all evil.â The other said, âThe lack of money is the root of all evil.â
Broke is temporary. Poor is eternal.â
Chapter 1: The Rich Don’t Work for Money
Most people want everyone else in the world to change but themselves. Let me tell you, itâs easier to change yourself than everyone else.
When a person says, âI need to find a job,â itâs most likely an emotion doing the thinking. Fear of not having money generates that thought. You feel the fear so they go to work, hoping that money will soothe the fear.
Thinking that a job makes you secure is lying to yourself. Thatâs cruel, and thatâs the trap I want you to avoid.
Some call it greed, but I prefer desire. Itâs perfectly normal to desire something better, prettier, more fun, or exciting. Yes, and as you get older, your toys get more expensiveâa new car, a boat, and a big house to impress your friends.
all too often business schools train employees to become sophisticated bean-counters. Heaven forbid a bean-counter takes over a business. All they do is look at the numbers, fire people, and kill the business. I know this because I hire bean-counters. All they think about is cutting costs and raising prices, which cause more problems.
Chapter 2: Why Teach Finance Literacy?
Employees make their business owner or the shareholders rich, not themselves.
Wealth is a personâs ability to survive so many number of days forwardâor, if I stopped working today, how long could I survive? Wealth is the measure of the cash flow from the asset column compared with the expense column.
An asset is something that puts money in my pocket. A liability is something that takes money out of my pocket. I grow richer with more and more income from sources other than my physical labor.
Chapter 3: Mind Your Own Business?
Most people work for everyone but themselves. They work first for the owners of the company, then for the government through taxes, and finally for the bank that owns their mortgage.
Many people will simply have nothing at the end of their working days to show for their efforts.
Businesses that do not require my presence I own them, but they are managed or run by other people. If I have to work there, itâs not a business. It becomes my job. Business revolves around your asset column, not your income column.
The main reason most people are not rich is because they are terrified of losing. Winners are not afraid of losing.
The single most powerful asset we all have is our mind.
Your business revolves around your asset column, not your income column.
Once a dollar goes into your asset column, it becomes your employee. The best thing about money is that it works 24 hours a day and can work for generations.
Chapter 4: The History of Taxes and Corporations
Chapter 5: The Rich Invent Money
If you can grasp the idea that money is not real, you will grow richer faster.
Time is one of your greatest assets.
Chapter 6: Work to Learn – Don’t Work for Money
Financial intelligence is a synergy of accounting, investing, marketing, and law.
When it comes to money, the only skill most people know is to work hard.
Once people are trapped in the lifelong process of bill-paying, they become like those little hamsters running around in those metal wheels.
âWhere is this daily activity taking you?â
Unless a person is used to changing, itâs hard to change.
Life is much like going to the gym. The most painful part is deciding to go.
If most of you can cook a better hamburger, how come McDonaldâs makes more money than you?â The answer is obvious: McDonaldâs is excellent at business systems. The reason so many talented people are poor is because they focus on building a better hamburger and know little to nothing about business systems. The world is filled with talented poor people. All too often, theyâre poor or struggle financially or earn less than they are capable of. They focus on perfecting their skills at building a better hamburger rather than the skills of selling and delivering the hamburger.
The more specialized you become, the more you are trapped and dependent on that specialty.
The main management skills needed for successful businesses are: 1.âManagement of cash flow 2.âManagement of systems 3.âManagement of people.
The three most important management skills necessary to start your own business are management of: 1.âCash flow 2.âPeople 3.âPersonal time
Chapter 7: Overcoming Obstacles
stacking the asset column is easy. Itâs really a low-aptitude game. It doesnât take much education. Fifth-grade math will do. But building your asset column is a game in which attitude plays a major role. It takes guts, patience, and a great attitude toward failure.
I have found that many people use arrogance to try to hide their own ignorance. I often meet people who are too busy to take care of their wealth. And there are people too busy to take care of their health. The cause is the same.
Chapter 8: Getting Started
itâs easier to find a job and work for money.
Invest first in education. In reality, the only real asset you have is your mind. Most people simply buy investments rather than first investing in learning about investing. 90 percent of the population buys TV sets, and only about 10 percent buy business books. I go to seminars. I like it when they are at least two days long because I like to immerse myself in a subject. I am always shocked at people who buy stocks or real estate, but never invest in their greatest asset, their mind.
I have expensive attorneys, accountants, real estate brokers, and stockbrokers. Why? Because if, and I do mean if, the people are professionals, their services should make you money.
Many people only manage people they feel smarter than and they have power over. Many middle managers remain middle managers, failing to get promoted, because they know how to work with people below them, but not with people above them. The real skill is to manage and reward the people who are smarter than you in some technical area.
Whenever you feel short or in need of something, give what you want first and it will come back in buckets. That is true for money, a smile, love, or friendship. Whenever I feel that people arenât smiling at me, I simply begin smiling and saying hello.
Chapter 9: Still Want More? Here are some To Do’s
Stop doing what youâre doing. In other words, take a break and assess what is working and what is not working. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Find someone who has done what you want to do.
When the supermarket has a sale, say on toilet paper, the consumer runs in and stocks up. But when the housing or stock market has a sale, most often called a crash. When the supermarket raises its prices, the consumer shops somewhere else. But when housing or the stock market raise their prices, the same consumer often rushes in and starts buying. Profits are made in the buying, not in the selling.