Monday, June 16, 2008

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Richard Kiyosaki upon my friend's advice about three years ago. He had just started a blast-freezing services business for his dad, finished paying for a condo unit that he was about to rent out, and was thinking of entering the taxi business. I was still a student working as part time call center agent who dreamed of becoming an academic, not of getting rich.

I finally got to read the book several months after that. I remember feeling hopeful that I can leave behind the call center job that had, at that point, driven me to despair. I didn't even feel like I was in a rat race. I felt I was at a dead end.

The simple lesson I learned from Kiyosaki is the difference between an asset and a liability. Assets bring money; liabilities take away money. This is the main reason I don't plan to buy a house or a car anytime soon because they are both liabilities. This is also the reason why my wife and I worked hard to get out of debt, stick to a budget, save money, and start investing. We are not, by any means, rich yet. Nor have we even started any business like my friend. Yet Kiyosaki, simply by saying it was possible and laying out a simple and sensible plan to get there, has put us inexorably on the path to prosperity.

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