Читать книгу Why "A" Students Work for "C" Students and Why "B" Students Work for the Government - Robert T. Kiyosaki - Страница 16
ОглавлениеThere are many reasons why the role of parents in a child’s life has taken on a new and critical dimension. Few would argue with the fact that times have changed… and that, today, change is a constant in our lives. In most cases, and in my opinion, most of us are not changing with the times. The financial advice we got from our parents is old and outdated—obsolete in today’s world.
Making the Case
The Fairytale Is Over
Once upon a time, all a person had to do was go to school, get a job, work hard, and retire. Until a few years ago, the company you worked for took care of you when you retired… you received a paycheck and medical benefits for life. Today this is a fairytale.
Once upon a time, all a person had to do was buy a house, and the house went up in value. Homeowners got rich in their sleep. Many people could sell their home, some even pocketing a small fortune to sustain them through retirement, downsize to a smaller house, and live happily ever after. Today this is a fairytale.
Once upon a time, the United States was the richest country in the world. Today this is a fairytale.
Once upon a time, the U.S. dollar was as good as gold. Today this is a fairytale.
Once upon a time, all a person had to do was go to college and they were virtually assured of earning more money than those who did not graduate from college. Today this is a fairytale.
In 2007, the subprime mortgage market collapsed, and the biggest financial disaster in history began. The fairytale is now a nightmare. And the nightmare is not over… yet.
Out of fear, millions of parents continue to advise their children, “Go to school and get a college degree so you can get a high-paying job.” Panicked parents recite this mantra in spite of the fact that unemployment is high among young people, even those with college degrees. Many college graduates, unable to find work, go on to graduate school for advanced degrees. They then leave school even deeper in student-loan debt, still searching for that elusive high-paying job.
Education Gets More Expensive
As prices around the world collapsed, why did the cost of education go up?
• In 2006, home prices in the United States averaged $230,000. By 2011, home prices had fallen 26 percent, to an average of $170,000.
As home prices fell, the price of a college education rose by 4.6 percent between 2006 and 2007 to an average of $22,218.
• On October 9, 2007, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an all-time high of 14,164. By March of 2009, the Dow had fallen over 50 percent to 6,469.
As the stock market crashed between 2007 and 2008, college tuition rose by 5.9 percent to a new average of $23,712.
• In July of 2008, oil hit a peak of $147 a barrel and crashed to about $40 a barrel before recovering.
As oil prices were falling between 2008 and 2009, college tuition rose 6.2 percent to $25,177.
In 2011, college loan debt surpassed credit card debt for the first time—over $1 trillion in the United States alone.
Unforgivable Debt
Today, thousands of highly educated students leave school strapped with student loans, the worst possible debt of all. Student loans are the worst form of debt because student loans can never be forgiven, or discharged. With most other types of debt, like a home mortgage or credit card debt, a person can declare bankruptcy and the loans are wiped out. That’s not the case with student loans. Even if a student dies, his or her parents are on the hook for repayment of the loan, if they were co-signers, as many are.
The Clock Is Ticking
Once a student graduates, the interest clock begins ticking and interest starts to accrue. Rather than get richer after leaving school, millions become poorer, going deeper in debt as interest on the original school loan starts to pile up.
A student loan can negatively affect the student for life. A student loan can affect the home a student buys (if they can afford one), the quality of life for their family (if they can afford a family), and their hopes for a secure retirement (if they are able to retire).
For many, a student loan will be the proverbial albatross around their neck… for life.
What’s a College Education Worth?
For the first time in history, people are questioning the value of a college education. A few will even say that the ROI (Return On Investment) of a college education is not worth the investment.
Between 2006 and 2007, the median starting salary for college graduates in America was $30,000. Between 2009 and 2011 it had fallen to $27,000.
The Unemployment Crisis
Youth unemployment is an international crisis, a problem that has led to the “Arab Spring,” “Occupy Wall Street,” and other gatherings of unemployed youth.
In 2012, as the Presidential campaign heated up, both political candidates promised to bring jobs back to America. How can that happen when American factory workers earn between $125 to $200 a day, once benefits are factored in? Many workers in low-wage countries earn just $2 a day.
Future Shock
For the first time in America, many believe their children will not do better financially than their parents.
Even China is having problems with low-wage countries. It’s estimated that there are dozens of countries in which workers’ wages are even lower than those in China. You do not need to be a math professor to know that factories follow low-wage workers, and $2 a day is less than $200 a day.
On November 5, 2012, Time magazine published this piece by Peter Gumbel:
Why the U.S. Has a Worse Youth Unemployment Problem than Europe.
The latest unemployment statistics released this week on both sides of the Atlantic show that the number of jobless is continuing to rise in Europe far above the rate in the U.S., and the picture is especially bleak for young Europeans under the age of 25. In the 27 E.U. nations as a whole, the youth unemployment rate rose to 22.8% in September, up from 21.7% the previous year. In Greece and Spain, that proportion is over 50%. In the U.S., meanwhile, the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged in October, at 7.9%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced Nov. 2. And the U.S. rate of unemployment among young people under 25 was 16%.
But such statistics are rather misleading because they don’t tell the whole story. They don’t include the millions of youngsters who are not in the labor market because they are continuing with their education or are engaged in training programs. If you take those young people into account, the picture is still grim everywhere, but the U.S. actually comes off as having a worse youth unemployment problem than Europe.
Education is becoming more important than ever. Our schools provide the important function of training skilled workers to support the economy. For example, schools train doctors, accountants, lawyers, engineers, teachers, social workers, mechanics, construction workers, cooks, police officers, and military personnel, who are all essential to a civilized society.
Yet, as the global economy contracts, how many of these people, educated or uneducated, will find jobs? In April of 2012, less than 50 percent of America’s graduating class was able to find meaningful employment. Many found jobs, but are underemployed.
The question is: What kind of education is important?
And why do we keep saying to our kids, “Go to school to get a high-paying job,” when jobs keep migrating to lower-wage countries? Why become an accountant or attorney when technology makes it possible to hire accountants and attorneys in lower-wage countries? Why talk about job security when advances in technology make some jobs obsolete? And, just as important: Why is there so little, if any, financial education taught in our schools?
Top of the Food Chain
Most parents want their child to have a good education for a secure future. They want their child to make it to the top of the food chain. Most parents dread the thought of their child toiling at a menial job, underemployed, earning low wages, paying higher and higher taxes, and battling inflation all their lives.
Many parents hope a sound education will put their child at the top of the class or the leader of the pack—possibly a doctor, lawyer, or CEO.
The Sales Pitch
The sales pitch from the schools is:
“You must finish school.”
“You must have a college degree.”
“If you do not finish school, you will not be successful in life.”
The following are 50 people who did not finish school, but let that stop them. They made it to the top.
| 1. George Washington | President of the United States |
| 2. Abraham Lincoln | President of the United States |
| 3. Harry Truman | President of the United States |
| 4. Grover Cleveland | President of the United States |
| 5. Zachary Taylor | President of the United States |
| 6. Andrew Johnson | President of the United States |
| 7. John Glenn | Astronaut, U.S. Senator |
| 8. Barry Goldwater | U.S. Senator |
| 9. Benjamin Franklin | U.S. Ambassador |
| 10. Winston Churchill | Prime Minister of England |
| 11. John Major | Prime Minister of England |
| 12. Robert Frost | Poet |
| 13. Florence Nightingale | Nurse |
| 14. Buckminster Fuller | Futurist and Inventor |
| 15. George Eastman | Founder of Eastman Kodak |
| 16. Ray Kroc | Founder of McDonald’s |
| 17. Dave Thomas | Founder of Wendy’s |
| 18. Ralph Lauren | Fashion designer and Entrepreneur |
| 19. Doris Lessing | Nobel Prize recipient in Literature |
| 20. George Bernard Shaw | Playwright |
| 21. Peter Jennings | News anchor for ABC |
| 22. Christopher Columbus | Explorer |
| 23. TD Jakes | Pastor |
| 24. Joel Osteen | Pastor |
| 25. John D. Rockefeller | Founder of Standard Oil |
| 26. Karl Rove | Presidential advisor |
| 27. Ted Turner | Founder of CNN |
| 28. Quentin Tarantino | Movie director |
| 29. Peter Jackson | Movie director (Lord of the Rings) |
| 30. Mark Twain | Author |
| 31. Leon Uris | Author |
| 32. Carl Bernstein | Washington Post reporter |
| 33. Carly Fiorina | CEO of Hewlett Packard |
| 34. Charles Dickens | Author |
| 35. Andrew Carnegie | Industrialist |
| 36. William Faulkner | Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winner |
| 37. Li Ka Shing | Wealthiest man in Asia |
| 38. Richard Branson | Founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways and Virgin Records |
| 39. Enzo Ferrari | Founder of Ferrari |
| 40. Henry Ford | Founder of Ford Motor Company |
| 41. J. Paul Getty | Founder of Getty Oil |
| 42. Jack London | Author |
| 43. Larry Ellison | Founder of Oracle |
| 44. Tom Anderson | Founder of My Space |
| 45. Mark Zuckerberg | Founder of Facebook |
| 46. Steve Jobs | Founder of Apple |
| 47. Steve Wozniak | Founder of Apple |
| 48. Bill Gates | Founder of Microsoft |
| 49. Paul Allen | Founder of Microsoft |
| 50. Ringo Starr | Beatle |
Stay in School
I’m not suggesting that kids should drop out of school, or that school is not important. Education is very important. The question is: What kind of education? And where will your child’s education take them? Will your child’s education prepare them for their future? Will a good education help your child’s financial security in a world with less and less security?
This book is about the education not taught in schools. It’s about putting your child on a path where they won’t need a job or a government pension to feel secure. It’s about getting to the top, rather than working for those at the top.
This book is about capitalism. It will explain why some of the greatest business leaders of our time never finished school. Notable examples are Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg. In this book, you will find out what these entrepreneurs know—and why they left school.
The Future of Education
Once upon a time, all a child had to do was focus on two types of education. They were:
1. Academic Education: This education supports the general skills of learning how to read, write, and solve math problems. This is an extremely important education.
2. Professional Education: This education provides more specialized skills to earn a living. The top students, the “A” students, become doctors, accountants, engineers, lawyers, or business executives. Other schools at this level are trade schools for students who want to become mechanics, construction workers, cooks, nurses, secretaries, and computer programmers.
What was missing?
3. Financial Education: This is the level of education not found in our school system. This is the education of the future. Again, we advise kids to go to school to get a job and work for money, yet we teach them little or nothing about money.
The statistics tell a sad and sobering story: While 90 percent of students want to learn more about money, 80 percent of teachers do not feel comfortable teaching the subject. Someday, financial education will be part of the curriculum of all schools, but not in the near future.
My Story
My financial education began when I was nine years old. It began with my rich dad. He was not my real dad, but my best friend’s father. And he used the game of Monopoly® as an educational tool, and we would play the game for hours after school.
When I got home, my real dad, the one I call my poor dad, would ask, “What have you been doing all day?”
When I replied, “Playing Monopoly,” he would say, “Stop wasting your time with that silly game. You should be at home studying, doing your homework. If you don’t do your homework, you won’t get good grades, you won’t get into a good college, and you won’t get a good job.” Since I never achieved good grades—I was the eternal “C” student—my poor dad and I had this discussion on a regular basis.
My best friend Mike was rich dad’s son. We went to a school for rich kids. The good news was: we were poor kids. (My Rich dad was not yet rich… and my poor dad was successful, but never rich.) This caused rich dad to step up our financial education by playing Monopoly with us on a regular basis. He wanted us to become smarter, and richer, than the rich kids.
One day he took his son and me on a “field trip.” Rather than go to a museum or an art gallery, he took us to see his “green houses,” his rental properties. That was when I realized that rich dad was playing Monopoly… in real life. “One day,” he said, “these green houses will become my big red hotel.”
When I returned home and told my dad that rich dad was playing Monopoly in real life, my dad laughed. He thought the idea was ridiculous. His advice was to stop wasting my time with games and do my homework.
At that time, my dad was the head of education for the Big Island of Hawaii. A few years later, he would reach the top of the state education system and become the Superintendent of Education for the entire state.
My poor dad was an “A” student, class valedictorian, and class president. He loved school. He graduated with a four-year degree from the University of Hawaii in only two years. He also attended Stanford University, the University of Chicago, and Northwestern University.
My rich dad never even finished the eighth grade, because his father died so he had to take over the family business. Although his formal education was limited, he would eventually become one of the richest men in Hawaii. When I was 19, rich dad purchased his “red hotel” right on Waikiki Beach. In 10 years, his “little green houses” had become a giant “red hotel.”
At the time, I did not realize how profoundly the game of Monopoly and my rich dad’s education would change the direction of my life. Rich dad was using a game—Monopoly—to train me to think like a capitalist.
My poor dad and my rich dad were polar opposites. Both were very good men, but they never did see eye to eye. Their differences erupted when I was about 10 years old. My poor dad was not happy when I told him I had accompanied my rich dad to collect rents from his tenants in his “green houses.” My poor dad did not like the idea of me collecting rent. He was very upset. So was my mother. They thought it was a cruel lesson for a 10-year-old boy. To me, it was an eye-opening lesson about real life.
Later I would learn why my mom and dad were so upset. We were renters. They too had a landlord knocking on our door to collect the rent. A few years later, when I was in junior high, they finally saved enough money to buy a home.
My Unfair Advantage
A formal education was important to both dads. Both dads expected their sons to go on to college, and we did. Rich dad’s son graduated from the University of Hawaii, running his father’s business between classes.
My father did not have the money to pay for my college education. Once I graduated from high school, I knew I was on my own. That inspired me to apply to the military academies. Although my grades were horrible, my SAT scores were decent and I was a pretty good football player. I received two Congressional nominations—one to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in Maryland, and the other to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point in New York. I accepted the appointment to Kings Point and graduated in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science degree.
Looking back, I can see how my time with rich dad gave me an unfair advantage in life, especially when it came to money. Between the ages of nine and 18, until I left for school in New York, I spent one or two days a week after school and two Saturdays every month working for free for rich dad. If you have read Rich Dad Poor Dad, you know how this disturbed my poor dad. My poor dad believed that my rich dad was exploiting us because he was not paying us. Being a member of the teachers union, I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear my poor dad muttering about “child labor laws.”
Rich dad never paid his son or me because he was training us to be capitalists. He did not pay us because he did not want to train us to be employees who worked for money. He was training us to be employers… entrepreneurs, capitalists who had OPT (Other People’s Talents) and OPM (Other People’s Money) working for them.
Rich Dad Lesson
“Games are better teachers than teachers.”
Obviously, rich dad’s ideas about “work to learn, not to earn” angered my poor dad, who was more of a socialist than a capitalist.
Pictured on the following page is the Cone of Learning developed by Dr. Edgar Dale, a professor of education. Dr. Dale (1900–1985) received his doctorate degree from the University of Chicago and taught for years at Ohio State University.
Source: Cone of Learning adapted from Dale, (1969)
Reprinted with Permission. The original work has been modified.
According to Dr. Dale, my rich dad’s use of Monopoly as a teaching tool, and then taking us to collect rent, was a very effective way of teaching his son and me about money.
Question: Does this mean that reading and lectures are not important?
Answer: No, at least not for me. The game of Monopoly inspired me to learn more. Today I read more, study more, and attend classes more because the game, the simulations of real life experiences, inspired me to want learn more.
Although I am a poor and slow reader, I plow through complex financial and business books few people would choose to read. I credit the game of Monopoly for giving me a solid foundation upon which to build my real-world education.
Entrepreneurship
Dr. Frank Luntz’s book, What American’s Really Want… Really reported that those surveyed:
• 81% say universities and high schools should actively develop entrepreneurial skills in students
• 77% say the state and federal governments should encourage people to be entrepreneurs
• 70% say the success and health of our economy depend upon it
More importantly, I learned more, retained more, and wanted to learn more from the experience of Monopoly as a kid and applying what I was learning to collecting rent for rich dad. These lessons are locked in my brain. While I have a Bachelor of Science degree from a great school, I do not remember much of what I learned during those four years. For example, I remember taking three years of calculus, but I could not solve a math problem using calculus today. As the saying goes, “Use it or lose it.” I would need calculus if I were a rocket scientist, but I do not need calculus to be rich. Elementary level math—addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division—will do.
In 1984, my wife Kim and I founded a financial education company with offices in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, and Malaysia. We taught investing and entrepreneurship using games and simulations. Learning was fun and exciting.
In 1994, we retired. Kim was 37, and I was 47. We retired on the passive income, the cash flow, that we received from our investments. Like rich dad, we were playing Monopoly in real life. And we still do today. And following the crash of 2007, our income (cash flow) went up as asset prices fell. Knowing how to do well even in a crash or in turbulent markets is an essential aspect of financial education.
In 1996, Kim and I founded The Rich Dad Company. The Rich Dad Company produces financial education products such as the board games CASHFLOW® 101, CASHFLOW® 202, and CASHFLOW® for Kids. Board games are great ways for families to learn together.
We also have an expanding line of electronic games for mobile devices and tablets. Our electronic products will be supported by on-line curriculum and assessment tools… so you can grade yourself, correct, learn, and improve.
In 1956, when Mike and I were nine years old, rich dad began teaching us financial and entrepreneurial skills using games and simulations. Rich dad was ahead of his time and that gave us an unfair advantage over our classmates.
Action Step for Parents
Take time to discuss money and the role it plays in life
Unfortunately, in many homes, there is little discussion or conversation about money. And when there is, it’s often an argument.
As a young boy, I have painful memories of the fights between my mom and dad over money. No matter how much money my dad earned, we never had enough money. Rather than discuss money, my mom and dad—the two people I loved most—only fought about money. My rich dad, on the other hand, spent hours discussing real money problems. Today, I carry my rich dad’s discussions into my own marriage. Rather than fight about money, Kim and I openly discuss our money problems.
Once you establish the ritual of your family Wealth Education Nights make it a time to discuss real life money problems when they occur in the course of everyday life. Talk about the problems and challenges, what caused them, and how you’ll solve them.
Invest the time to make your home to be a place of discussion rather arguments about money.
