by Alexander Cain
As many high school students make their college decisions, the debate continues on the link between higher education and future success. While colleges may enable students to pursue rewarding careers, many graduates may still lack the financial literacy and knowledge to develop wealth. As author, Robert Kiyosaki, describes in his book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, higher education and a job don’t guarantee wealth. It’s the application of financial knowledge, which separates the wealthy from the lower class.
Robert Kiyosaki compares two case studies of financial knowledge through his two “dads”. The first being his Poor dad, his biological father who was a well-educated, highly paid government official and the other being his Rich dad, a close mentor who owned a successful business despite only having an 8th grade education.
Although the well-educated biological father had a high paying job, he was constantly struggling with debt and paying off most of his expenses. The business owner, however, developed a fortune allowing him to live comfortably and not be concerned with current expenses. This goes against common logic where job security and income are the key markers to wealth. As Kiyosaki illustrates through his two dads, income isn’t everything, it’s the approach to money and wealth that is life changing. Kiyosaki provides readers with 6 main lessons of the wealthy to help provide guidance.
Lesson One: The Rich Don’t Work for Money
There are two main emotions which can prevent people from developing wealth: fear and desire; fear of not being able to pay monthly expenses or fear of losing money keep many entrenched in the day-to-day work, preventing many from evaluating investments and other sources of income.
The desire to keep up appearances via buying expensive clothes or cars drives expenses so high that people have no choice but to stay focused on their jobs to maintain their lifestyle. Lesson one is all about understanding those two emotions and stopping them from hindering one’s success. The Rich Dad was more focused on ways of creating residual money, money that increases even if you don’t work, rather than waiting for the next job with a pay raise.
