Do you work for money?

If you are doing a job, let me ask you what motivates you to work? Will you work for less money than what you are getting now?

Of course, your answer would be No.

Why we should not go chase ? Here we get the answer from must read book for personal finance: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

Below is one page summary of the book.

We work because the fear of being without money motivates us to work hard, and then once we get the salary, greed or desire makes us think about all the wonderful things money can buy.

The pattern of getting up, going to work, paying EMIs, and repeat the cycle. If we get an offer of more money (raise in a salary) and we continue the cycle by increasing our spending. This is nothing but Rat Race. We get a few more money in hand and again, the emotions of joy, desire, and greed take over. We think more money will solve our problem, smoothen our life or calm the fear. We become a slave of money.

Can we break the rate race by being rich or saving lots of money? 

Although the rich have money, they amass more money because of either fear or desire.

They have fear, fear of being poor. A few people desire money for the joy they think it can buy. But the joy that money brings is often short-lived, and they soon need more money for more joy and more security. They too become a slave of money.

We are being controlled by two emotions: Fear & Greed. 

To spend life living in fear, never exploring the dreams, is cruel. To work hard for money, thinking that it will buy the things that will make us happy is also cruel. Thinking that a job makes you secure is lying to yourself. That’s the trap we all need to avoid.  

So, what’re the Solutions?  

Seeing What Others Miss

We have to learn to use emotions in our favor, not against us. We need to understand the true power of money, instead of being afraid of it. Our brain will show us ways of making money far beyond what our employer could ever pay us. We never see the opportunities to make money in other ways because we’re looking for money and security, so that’s all we get. The moment we see one opportunity, we’ll see them for the rest of our life and we’ll avoid one of life’s biggest traps, working for money.

We do not need to work for money. Money must work for us.

“L”(earning) before “Earning” 

Always remember: Work to learn, not work for money. We are always one skill away from great wealth. What it means is that we need only to learn and master one more skill. Our income would jump exponentially. We always should seek the job for what we’ll learn, more than what we’ll earn.

If we think about the future, we’ll get serious about learning. If we think about salary and raise, we’ll be serious about earning.  

How money can work for us? 

We must understand the difference between both the side of the balance sheet; Assets and Liabilities.  

An asset puts money in our pocket. Examples of assets are Stocks, Bonds, Real Estate, Properties, etc. Investment in stocks gives us income in form of a dividend, Real Estate or properties give us rental income. Bonds give us interest income.     

A liability takes money out of our pocket. A few examples of liabilities are home loans, credit cards, and all types of loans. We have to pay interest on these loans which reduces money from our pocket.

We must save the money and buy assets. We must focus on our asset column; income will automatically be taken care of by assets.  

We can keep our job but we must buy income-generating assets. Our focus must to keep expenses low, reduce liabilities, and diligently build a base of solid assets. 

True luxury is a reward for investing in and developing a real asset, not buying BMW.

Managing our Emotions 

It’s easy to control our desires but not fear. Let’s learn to manage fear.  

We all have a fear of losing money. For most people, the reason they don’t win financially is that the pain of losing money is far greater than the joy of being rich. In other words, everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die. There’s no happy loser but when it comes to money, winning means being unafraid to lose. Take a loss and make it a big win. The mentality to lose gives the courage to take a risk, the courage to cross a line when others backed out. Failure inspires winners. Failure defeats losers. Courage comes at an early stage of life. Always start early. Start investing today. Build the assets today.

Benefits of Starting Early 

Time is the most powerful weapon in investing. You can read my blog where I’ve explained here

I’d recommend you to read the book: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

So, it’s my 1st blog on a book summary. I’ve tried to keep it as short as possible. Hope you learnt something new or feel like revisited the book (if already read). I’ll keep posting summary of best investment books. Next one to be on “Little book that builds wealth” by Pat Dorsey with examples of Indian companies .

Thanks for reading. Stay Invested. Stay Happy.