Читать книгу Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens - Robert T. Kiyosaki - Страница 7

Introduction

YOUR JOURNEY TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM BEGINS HERE

Take This Quiz

Do you sometimes feel that what you’re learning in school has nothing to do with your life?

Yes ___ No ___

Do you feel that school’s not really preparing you for the real world?

Yes ___ No ___

When you want to buy something that’s important to you, do your parents usually say they can’t afford it?

Yes ___ No ___

Do you secretly worry that you won’t be able to live the way you want when you’re out on your own?

Yes ___ No ___

Do you really want to learn about money, but no one talks about it around your house or at school?

Yes ___ No ___

If you answered “yes” to two or more of these questions, this book is for you. I struggled with these situations when I was growing up. I didn’t always do well in school. I nearly had to repeat the tenth grade. Now I lead exactly the life I want—a life that includes complete financial freedom.

You may already be struggling to achieve financial freedom and independence in all parts of your life. Even though you might not have to pay rent or put gas in your family’s car, there’s a chance that you’re already thinking about ways to afford your social life.

You may already be saving for something big, like a new computer or a car. If that’s the case, this book will help you make your money grow faster and you’ll get what you want sooner. You may be struggling to figure out how to pay the high price of going to the movies once a week, or buying CDs, or buying a gift for someone special.

Or, maybe you’re one of the many teens whose income is actually necessary because your parents aren’t able to provide for the whole family. Many adults learned old-fashioned rules for financial security and then were surprised—and defeated—when the rules changed. Unfortunately, many of their children are also suffering as a result.

Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens: The Secrets About Money—That You Don’t Learn in School! covers some really important things I learned when I was growing up. My father taught me to get my education through schoolwork. The father of my best friend Mike gave me a job and taught me about another type of education, one I learned in the real world.

I learned a lot from both dads. They each believed in education but had completely different views on money. One cared about money a lot (Mike’s dad) and one didn’t care very much about money at all (my dad). One worried about never having enough money (my dad). One thought about money and how to achieve power over it (Mike’s dad).

My dad was highly educated, but even so, he used to say that he’d never be rich. He said, “Money doesn’t matter.” Mike’s dad said, “Money is power.” My dad always struggled to make ends meet. Mike’s dad always had plenty of money. I needed them both to get where I am today. They taught me that there are many ways to be rich. Education is one way to be rich. Financial wealth is another way to be rich.

Rich Dad Poor Dad

In my career I’ve made enough money in business, real estate, and in paper assets to retire early and fully enjoy the great things life has to offer. I’ve also written a number of books. My first one, called Rich Dad Poor Dad, was about my own personal financial education. In the book, I called my real dad “poor dad,” and I called Mike’s dad “rich dad.” In labeling them this way, I wasn’t criticizing either one of them. I was just making a dramatic point about the different ways people think about money and the goals they set.

Rich dad always told me, “If you want to do something—and you think you can—chances are, you’ll get it done.” Rich dad always thought he could be rich, and he did get rich. Rich Dad Poor Dad was written to help people who really want to be rich to achieve their financial goals. The book caught on and became very popular. In the book, I offer some views about money that are different from what everyone is used to hearing, but that reflects the realities of today’s changing economy—and the messages make sense to people of all kinds of backgrounds and experiences.

Now I travel and share the messages in Rich Dad Poor Dad and the other books I’ve written since then. People often come up to me with questions about how to teach their own kids about money, and so I wrote the book Rich Kid Smart Kid to help parents do just that. Now I’ve decided to write a book especially for teens, and you’re holding it in your hands.

Congratulations for picking up this book! Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens will teach you one of the most important subjects that isn’t being taught in school: financial literacy. When people talk about literacy, they usually mean knowing how to read well. There’s more to the story though. Literacy is about being good at something. I would say it’s about being able to speak the language of a certain field. Talking about money requires a whole new language. This book will help you become fluent in the language of money.

There are a lot of ways to be good at something. Being good at money doesn’t always come easily. It’s something you have to learn and practice. You may study economics in school, or even learn how to balance a checkbook in math class, but that’s probably about the extent of financial education in school. And much of what’s taught is theoretical instead of a real vocabulary for real-life situations. School is often about studying instead of practicing.

This book will pick up where school leaves off. It’ll give you the language and understanding you need to feel confident about taking charge of your financial life, whether that means starting your own business or just being able to hold your own in a conversation with someone who might become your financial mentor—your own “rich dad.” While some of your friends might be logging major couch time in front of the TV, getting nowhere, you may very well find yourself updating your financial statement, following your stocks online, or brainstorming about business ideas with other friends who, like you, want to own assets instead of liabilities.

Are you nodding your head yes? Or are you saying, “Huh?” to the terms I just mentioned? No matter how much or how little you know this minute, by the time you finish this book, you’ll be able to speak the language of money more fluently. You’ll begin to understand how money works and how it can work for you. Your journey to financial literacy starts right here, right now.

I actually started to learn about money when I was just nine years old, when Mike’s dad, my rich dad, became my mentor. Now I’ll share with you what rich dad taught me.

Thinking in Numbers

There are other books that tell you in detail how to open a bank account, balance a checkbook, check a stock price, or get a car loan. But they don’t tell you how to think about money. Adults often view money as a “necessary evil”—something needed to pay bills, to count and recount, to obsess and worry about. There just never seems to be enough of it. But like it or not, money is something that will always be in your life, so you need to be comfortable with it—not afraid of it like so many adults are. If you’re educated about how money works, you gain power over it and can begin building wealth.

Financial literacy allows you to not fear money matters, and to see the real value of money. True wealth goes way beyond and is measured by more than cash. Success in life is more than financial success. This is what I learned when I was growing up, and it’s my mission to teach this message to as many young people as I can so that the next generations will be responsible and knowledgeable—and powerful—when it comes to money.

School Is Just the Beginning

Unless you’re planning to become a doctor or lawyer or go into a profession that requires a special degree, you may not need to go to any formal training programs after high school or college to earn money if you look for great learning opportunities in a job. In fact, you can be paid to learn in the real world instead of paying high tuition fees to learn in a classroom setting. Your financial education will train you on the job.

Am I saying that education isn’t important? Not at all. Education is the foundation of success. I’m saying that school is just one place to learn. We go to school to learn scholastic skills and professional skills. For the most part, we learn financial skills out in the real world.

Remember when you were first learning to ride a bike? Chances are, you started with training wheels and then one day you were ready for a two-wheeler. Perhaps someone held the bike for you until you felt steady—and then let go. You might have wobbled a few times or even fallen off once or twice. But most likely, you got back on the bike and tried until you finally learned to balance, through trial and error and brain power.

Wouldn’t it be funny if your parents had taken you to a special bike-riding school? It would have been a waste of their money. There are things you learn in school and other things you learn in life—like how to walk, tie your shoes, ride a bike, and most things that have to do with money.

A new type of education is what I’m talking about. The best doctor in the world might have a great medical education, but not know anything when it comes to finances. He or she might save a life on the operating table, but have trouble running an office that makes money.

Amazing, isn’t it, to think that you might be getting knowledge that your doctor, or your parents, might not have? Now that’s power!