Put 10% of your money away each pay and do it consistently. This is not a rainy day account. No matter what life crisis decides to creep up and smack you in the face be sure you always put one-tenth of your earnings away.

This money is not to be spent, it must be invested. A good idea for those with an employer is to ask your payroll office to transfer a fixed (roughly 10%) amount into your saver account each pay. That way it goes unnoticed... by YOU

What happens?

Well, if you put $100 per week away in a regular savings account for 1 Year at 6% Interest you will have $5,357.91. Do that for 5 Years and you will have accumulated thanks to compound interest a whopping $30,308.82 !

Okay, is it possible to get rich from a compounding savings account? No.

$100 per week over 40 years at 6% return will compound to a total amount of $796,607. Having that invested will return $47,796 before tax. Yes, you can live a frugal life of that stream of income but how can we be rich? How can we live a life full of abundant wealth?

Apply Leverage

I bought my first property with a $1250 deposit, a steady job and a smile on my face. I leveraged that poultry sum to $125,000. That is leverage applied at 99%. Leverage is borrowing funds to buy an asset such as a house or shares. Simply put, make your money work for you.

Why is this better?

You can invest $1250 in an investment that returns 10% per year and have a return of $125. However, by applying leverage at 90% and we now have $125,000 invested. With a 10% return on the $125k we get a return of $12,500. If the interest and borrowing fees add up to 7% we would have a profit of 3% or $3750. Invest $1250 and get $125 or us leverage to invest $125,000 and get $3750.

You borrow to invest in an appreciating asset and get bigger returns. If the assets depreciates you get bigger losses. So do your research thoroughly and buy assets that will appreciate. Usually the higher the return the higher the risk. So invest in assets with an average return and amplify your results with leverage. Can we get richer faster than this? Yes - by increasing the amount you invest.

Spend Less and Invest More

Cut back on unnecessary spending. Shop for bargains, buy non-label clothing and downsize your SUV to a small car. Stop wasting time on your lunch break lining up to buy a chicken sandwich and spend that time at home in the morning making one quarter of the price. Do you really need that wall-sized plasma television or can you make do with a half-wall plasma?

The sales and marketing industry is very clever so the next time your strolling through your local markets and have an impulse urge to buy - STOP and THINK.

Plan when you need to buy your next big item such as your washing machine. Find the most cost-effective way of accessing a washine machine. You could research into leasing, using cash to bargain them down to cost price or go to your local laundrymat to use communal washers.

Yes, you will feel satisfaction walking out the store as the proud owner of your new toy but is it worth the cost? The cost of your financial freedom.

Robert Kiyosaki coined the term 'Doodad' for these wealth negating items. If it isn't a passive income generating asset then it is a Doodad. Stop wasting your money on them and start taking control of your financial future!

Invest More than 10%

Now that you have cut back on impulse buying and lavish spending put that money where it counts. Increase the amount you invest to 25%. If you put away $250 per week for 40 years at 6% with the glorious effects of compound interest you would have amassed $1,991,502 ! Now invest that and get a 6% income stream and before tax you would receive $119,490.

It is possible to invest 25% on a consistent basis which would lead quite a wealthy life in your later years.

Can you invest more? Maybe, you are struggling with investing 10% already. It's all about budgeting.

1. Sit down and work out the exact amount you earn after tax.
2. Invest 10%
3. Pay for your necessary expenses like food, transport, rent and utilities.
4. By now you may only have 20% left over. STOP and THINK. You can either buy yourself luxury items or re-invest this amount to live even wealthier later on in life. Remember the more you put away earlier in life the more effect compound interest will have.

There are many online compound interest calculators. Just go to your bank's website and look for savings calculator and enter the actual amount you have decided to invest each week. The variables you will need to enter [and the ones I used above] are the following:

• principal/starting amount  [$1]
• interest rate  [6%]
• contributions per month  [$1000]
• term [40 years]

Is that it?

No way. The above information is the basics. Pay yourself first by investing. Borrow to leverage your money to work harder. Cut back on frivolous spending and pump that into investing. What now?

Set Goals and Strive Towards Them

Have short and long term financial goals. This is my 1 year plan - I want to invest $200 per month into constant performing well managed blue chip managed fund returning 12%p.a. Meanwhile, any of my extra money I will put into my mortgage offset account which should according to my budget amount to $5200. Set goals that are challenging and definite - they will help motivate you when that Laser TV Wall Mount is advertised to the masses for 48 months interest free!

Make you goals and review them weekly. If your circumstances change modify your goals but keep them challenging. Be aggressive yet realistic with your investing goals. Read more on goal setting with the help of Napolean Hill.

You Must Keep Learning

No one cares about how much or how little you make from your investments. If they do then they are getting a commission. YOU must take full responsibility of your finances. Mind your own business! Closing your eyes and handing the money over to any managed fund or property investment trust is not the answer. Keep learning and researching on various investment vehicles. Keep looking at the figures and find out ways to make your investments more efficient. Cut the fat out the portfolio and turn it into a lean mean passive income machine by utilising your own ever growing library of knowledge.

On The Long Road to Riches

The average person works 50 years. From your first job to your last job put away at least 10% into investments. Be more aggressive to get greater long-term results. Borrow money to invest in conservative assets to utilise leverage. Set goals to stick with your long-term strategies. Keep learning because no-one else is going to look after your money better than you.

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki is aimed to motivate readers to increase their financial literacy. This first book in the successful Rich Dad series first published in 1997 and Kiyosaki hopes to impart financial wisdom through simply worded dialogues with ‘his real dad’ and ‘his rich dad’.

Robert Kiyosaki background before writing the Rich Dad series spans from joining the Marines as a pilot, to selling Xerox machines and to starting his own Velcro wallet company. No doubt his story is famous enough now for me not to bore you with specifics.

Kiyosaki raises important points in an easy to digest repetitive way. He does this by putting the reader in his shoes - A young kid growing up with a real father and his friend’s rich father. His poor father said and lived by the motto - study hard, get an education, get a safe secure job where the company will look after you, whereas his rich father would say - learn as much as you can, create your own assets to generate income.

He has decided to stick with six main points to reinforce and are delivered in lessons:

1. The Rich Don’t Work for Money - Not settling for a paycheck and a secure job but finding money making opportunities.
2. Why Teach Financial Literacy? - Kiyosaki clearly points out the basics such as knowing the difference between assets and liabilities through profit and loss/income statements and their rich/poor person derivatives.
3. Mind Your Own Business - Managing your personal finances and acquiring income generating assets such as self-running businesses, stocks and positive income real estate.
4. The History of Taxes and The Power of Corporations - A simplified introduction to Kiyosaki’s cashflow quadrant, being an employee/employer pros/cons and protecting assets in a corporate entity.
5. The Rich Invent Money - Changing your mindset to tackle financial problems, for example, buying real estate with little money down.
6. Work to Learn - Don’t Work for Money - Kiyosaki reinforces that the education is archaeic, use work to get the skills and experience you need to become rich and avoid safe stable in your comfort-zone jobs.

Fear. Cynicism. Laziness. Bad Habits. Arrogance. Kiyosaki’s five obstacles to getting rich after you’ve learnt financial literacy. I particularly enjoyed this part of the book. “Unchecked doubt and fear creates a cynic. Cynics criticize, and winners analyze.” Basically this area of the book motivates you to achieve and help tackle doubts, criticism and fear you may encounter on the way.

Image source and interview with Robert.

Kiyosaki tends to quote both what his rich and poor dad would say and then let the reader stew on these as he reiterates them several times. It is a drawn out process but does tend to convey the message effectively. His language is simplistic and at the rare times where he does get financially technical he has both dads reiterating in even simpler words until the point is driven home. Whilst reading the Rich Dad series his in-depth quotations of entire conversations with both his Dad’s does become frustratingly monotonous but bearable.

The underlying financial theory is great but if you are looking for specifics look elsewhere. The main reason I would recommend you read this is changing your mindset. If you have read this far you must want a financial change in your life. Rich Dad Poor Dad helps give you the mindset to continually expand your knowledge and embrace opportunities when they arise.

I give this book 4.5 out of 5.

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