Many people ask us the same question – What is wealth? Not surprisingly, they want to know what it means to them. Some want to know if their ideas are truly wealth, and the others want to know how to make good money, without having to spend a lot of money at the same time. In both cases, the answers may not be what you expect.
Basically, to build wealth over time, you must do three things: earn, save and invest. Before you can start to save or invest, however, you must have a solid long-term source of passive income that is enough to have some leftover after you have covered your other needs and debts. There are literally hundreds of ideas and concepts on how to generate income. These ideas range from being an online blogger, to being an online auctioneer, to starting a home based business. To simplify things, I’ll give you a few simple ideas on how to become rich, or at least make some money – literally pull out of your wallet!
The first option for those who aren’t very savvy in saving or investing, is Robert Kiyosaki’s Personal Capital. This program focuses on putting together some basic investments, like mutual funds, and then creating and maintaining a portfolio of investments to grow your capital. It is important to remember, though, that Kiyosaki recommends Mutual Funds and stocks as part of a portfolio and never says that you should avoid bonds or real estate altogether. Still, if you aren’t already familiar with these concepts, this might consider a great class for beginners.
The next option is called Building Wealth from Scratch and is recommended for people who are somewhat more knowledgeable with money and investing. Again, this book offers only a very basic overview of the topic, but this is an excellent starting point if you’re looking for a more in depth education. The author will take you through a step-by-step process on building wealth from scratch, teaching you about risk factors, investing strategies, and the importance of diversification. This program will definitely teach you a lot more about how you can go about creating wealth than just saving it, and if you are willing to put in the effort to learn, Kiyosaki will provide you with a blueprint that you can follow. As far as investment strategies go, this book does not offer much, so if you’re a beginner, this isn’t the one for you.
For more experienced investors, and those who feel that they have more knowledge and ability in determining how to invest for growth, Robert Kiyosaki advocates building wealth through stock markets. The book, called Rich Dad, Poor Dad, focuses on creating a foundation of stocks and bonds by purchasing low and selling high at higher prices. Although he will discuss various methods on how to do this, what really gets his target audience’s attention is his claim that you don’t need much to achieve sufficient wealth, nor do you need a lot to start building wealth. To start with, he will strongly encourage you to invest in yourself and your future. By investing in yourself and your future, he means that you should have enough money saved for retirement, health insurance, and a home, and then you should have investments that will allow you to enjoy all of these things for the rest of your life.
Kiyosaki also recommends having at least one investment product, preferably two, so that you have multiple options in case one doesn’t work out. In addition to having a number of investments, Kiyosaki says you should have at least two: one for “safe” investments, and one for growth-oriented investments such as stocks and bonds. He further recommends that you take time in deciding what products you should invest in, and he also stresses the importance of diversification, so that you won’t risk everything you have put into your portfolio. As with the stock market, Kiyosaki says that if you want your money to do well and grow, then you must be willing to invest in safe investments like the stock market and bonds, and you should avoid making risky investments like real estate, bonds, commodities, and money futures. While he admits there are risks involved in the stock market, Kiyosaki emphasizes that you should minimize them as much as possible by diversifying and putting some of your money into growth-oriented investments.
Kiyosaki also recommends not being content to just put your money in the stock market or other growth oriented investments and simply wait for your money to do well. Instead, he says you should use leverage (a term which he defines as having four or more times your initial investment) to finance your investments and make your wealth grow. Leverage comes from your ability to increase your investments with just a little additional capital, without having to pay high rates of interest and with very little upkeep required on your part. For example, if you have two hundred thousand dollars at your disposal, and you want to invest it in stocks, then you could buy fifty shares for eight hundred dollars each. Of course, in order to leverage such a large amount of money, you would have to have thousands of dollars at your disposal.
Kiyosaki also recommends other ways of creating wealth, such as purchasing art, paying for a vacation, and buying a new car. He believes that by taking all these different steps, one can make large improvements in his or her financial situation and in turn improve his or her lifestyle. He further explains that these lifestyle changes are important for creating wealth because they allow the average person to live beyond his means and to pursue luxurious and non-affordable pleasures. However, most people do not have the time and the discipline to implement these methods and end up relying on credit cards and their loans. Robert Kiyosaki’s book is therefore a valuable guide for people who are determined to create wealth and live beyond their means.
