Don't work for $, make $ work for you.

Me? Finance? *Aghast* Typically, I'd bolt for the nearest door at the mention of anything to do with finance or economics. However, my dad was in town recently - just for a day. It happens my brother and his wife had their second daughter on the same day he left for Melbourne, so he hot-footed it back to Singapore in a muddled rush, but not before leaving me a single pearl of wisdom - Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

Thus, coming from a person who generally avoids anything to do with money (I like living in my utopian la la land), I found this book persuasive and interesting enough to bury myself in for the entire length of reading digestion. After all, it isn't labelled an international best seller for nothing (Dare I quote? Over 1/2 a million sold!! the cover screams....).

Rich dad, Poor dad:
It's a book I trust you'll find interesting, because it transcends all educational paradigms of the previous century, from what your grandparents taught your parents, to what you were taught, and what you now teach your own children.

As a teenaged rebel (read: brat), with the usual bored expression you would love to slap off someone's face, I listened to my dad's advice on the importance of studying hard, getting that piece of paper from university and engaging myself in a professional career. Half-way there, and then I stumble onto this book which now tells me education isn't as importance as it seems. That I could make my millions without having to partake in the drudgery of the 9-5 rat-race! Mm, too tantalizing. The catch was you had to come from a wealthy background and have a big corporation to take over. My bubble burst. And so is yours, after reading that airy-fairy ludicrous description.

Seriously, now...
I wasn't completely off tangent in the above paragraph. What personal-finance author and lecturer Robert Kiyosaki is really trying to tell us is his own unique economic experience and perspectives through exposure to 2 different fathers, one rich, one poor - literally.

His own highly educated but financially unstable father, and the multimillionaire eighth-grade dropout father of his closest friend. Robert Kiyosaki expresses the type of advice both men advocated to him while growing up, and whose he eventually chose such that he was able to retire at age 47. The two differing analogies of monetary treatment are:

1. The poor and the middle class work for money
2. The rich have money work for them

It's a long read into the main points, but the basic message behind the text is a preach into the type of financial literacy that was never taught in schools. Highly insightful, there are some enlightening ideas which might make a difference to you and your children.

Are you in the rat race?
I'll take an extract most relevant and what I perceive to be important, and you decipher if it's the kind of information you've been looking for all your life.

If you look at the life of the average-educated, hard-working person, there is a similar path. The child is born and goes to school. The proud parents are excited because the child excels, gets fair to good grades, and is accepted into college.(This is where I am) The child graduates, maybe goes onto graduate school and then does exactly as programmed: looks for a safe, secure job and career. The child finds that job, maybe as a lawyer or doctor, or joins the Army or works for the government.

Generally the child begins to make money, credit cards start to arrive in mass, and the shopping begins. Having the money to burn, the child goes to places where other young people just like them hang out. They meet people, they date, and sometimes get married. Life is wonderful now, because both men and women work. Two incomes are bliss. They feel successful. their future is bright, and they decide to buy a car, a television, take vacations and have children. The happy bundle arrives. The demand for cash is enormous. The happy couple decide that their careers are vitally important and begin to work harder, seeking promotions and raises. The raises come, and so does another child and the need for a bigger house.

They work harder, become dedicated employees, even more dedicated. They go back to school to get specialized skills so they can earn more money. Maybe they take a second job. Their incomes go up, but so does the tax bracket they're in and the real estate taxes on their new large home, their social security taxes and all the other taxes. They get their large paycheck and wonder where all the money went. They buy some mutual funds and buy groceries with their credit card. Their children reach 5 or 6 years of age, and the need to save for college increases as well as the need to save for their retirement.

That happy couple, born 35 years ago, is now trapped in the Rat Race for the rest of their working days.

I can imagine that dismal portrayal of our working life fits the description of most working couples. A rather bleakly painted picture, but I'd rather know than not know if I am to go out into the working world a few years from now.

Conclusion
I thank my dad for dropping by to give me this one little gem of a book. Parents: If you're looking for an ideal gift to give your pre-adulthooders, this is it.