I was looking for something to listen to and came across Robert Kiyosaki‘s audio book – Increase Your Financial IQ. It was published in March 2008 and has some very good, current information. I highly recommend it. There was some important information in the first chapter that I want to share here.
In 1971 President Nixon took the US off the gold standard, which changed how our money works. Prior to 1971, the dollar was based on gold, which has intrinsic value. To save money was equal to saving gold, so it made sense to save money for retirement or college because it would hold value.
Since 1971, the dollar is no longer money because it doesn’t have any real value backing it. It is now a currency. The word “currency” comes from the same root as “current”, like an electric current or air current. Currents require movement for them to exist. Likewise, a currency requires movement for it to maintain value. As you can see from our current economy, as the movement of the dollar slows, the value of the dollar decreases and the economy suffers.
Historically, all currencies eventually go to zero.
Are you listening to those financial advisers who are telling people that they need to reduce their spending, pay off debt, and save for the future? If the value of our currency does go to zero, what will your savings be worth?
So, what do you do? How do you secure your financial future? I’m not a financial adviser, so I can’t tell you what to do. I can tell you what I’m doing though.
First, I’m listening to people like Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, Bob Proctor, and Loral Langemeier. They teach that a job is a lousy way to make money. Kiyosaki, in Rich Dad Poor Dad, said that a job is a good place to learn a new skill, then move one once it has been learned. The thing I like about these teachers is that they preach what they practice. They look for new sources of income and then use that income to buy more assets that generate even more income, and that is what they teach others to do.
Loral Langemeier, in her Millionaire Maker books and Cash Machine Workshops, teaches people how to build a business as an asset, and that’s what I am doing. To be an asset, the business has to generate a sustainable income. I am building my business in network marketing and affiliate marketing which means that I generate income by promoting products from other companies. That allows me to quickly start making money without the up-front costs of developing a new product.
Once I have a business that produces a steady stream of income, I can take that income to buy more assets that then generate more income. Those assets can be investments in other businesses, real estate, gold, gas, oil, or anything else that has a value and an income stream.
This plan doesn’t mean that you have to live without comforts. In Increase Your Financial IQ, Kiyosaki gives an example of how he bought an expensive luxury car. He took some money out from one of his assets and invested it so that it would make more money. He gave instructions to the person who managed the investment to let him know when it had increased to the point where he could afford the car, pay the fees for managing the investment, and still have the original value of the asset left over. It took some time to accomplish it, but the car was purchased without any money from his own pocket or by decreasing his net worth. That’s a pretty cool deal, huh?
To summarize, the dollar is a currency and all currencies throughout history have eventually failed. To keep our currency alive and maintain it’s value, it has to flow, which means that saving it in a bank account isn’t the right thing to do. A better way to prepare for your future is to convert your money to assets that maintain their value and generate an income of their own. One such asset is a properly structured business, which in my case is in network marketing.
Just as a reminder, I am NOT a financial adviser. Go check out the books by Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, and Loral Langemeier then find a good financial planner to help you decide what is best for you. Ask your financial planner if he or she is wealthy and if he or she got that way by doing what they are advising you to do. If they aren’t, then find another planner.
Wayne Woodworth
Network Marketing Entrepreneur
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