You too can be Rich- We want you to be Rich! Just buy our book!

[new2bjj]

I think another thing that people should look at is the amount of bad financial information out there- guys like Jim Cramer, Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, Suzie Orman, et al. Why I think this is fitting is because many people, and a great number of Martial Artists that don't have schools, have no kind of plan for retirement or owning a home, etc. Then, they get around to it, and they read one of these guys books! They'd almost be better off just coasting as they were- instead, they try to save what little they have to get rich- if they just take this seminar and buy these tapes and sign up for- well, you get the picture. It's very hard to beat the SP500 index, but these guys assure you that you can- better than Warren Buffet (Kiyosaki/Trump claim this in their latest pile of **** "We want you to be Rich"). Guess what? Guy's like Trump don't want anyone to be rich but them, so they can show off all day, and now that some of their investments aren't panning out (Kiyosaki actually can't even provide any details of more than 2 or 3 small rentals he has owned, unlike Trump) they need to supplement their income with book sales. Got to john T. Reed's website- johntreed.com, for an expose of some of the financial Guru's out there. And get yourself some good books- "the Truth About you money" by Ric Edelman or "Buckets of money" by Ray Lucia. I felt obligated to put this on after I saw my poor boxing coach scratching off Lotto tickets, and told he me that he spent $50.00 per month on them. He didn't now what an IRA or Mutual Fund was. Now, I know of two people that won the Lotto- I just know a million more that are slowing going broke. Anyway, just a heads up, as they are going to dismantle Social Security and companies are trying to default on people's pensions. You're on your own, brothers and sisters.

[Jadonblade]

These people need....... Peter Lynch!



Good read.

[Frank White]

I've bought some of these type of books. Not so much for how-to-get-rich, but for money management and real estate. I grew up poor, so I never learned how to deal with these 'problems'. Most of the books I found seem to be full of ****. The real estate and mortgage books have been helpful, especially in a market of predatory lenders. And anything by Ralph Nader is good.

I remember you stating a while back what you get yearly from investing, I was impressed. I bought a house last year, and a IRA 5 years ago. I havent seen jack on either, so I'm going to invest in my wifes business this year (plus it will keep her busy).

I'll tell you, since dealing with some of these legitimate businesspeople, I have alot more respect for 'criminals'.

[new2bjj]

I've bought some of these type of books. Not so much for how-to-get-rich, but for money management and real estate. I grew up poor, so I never learned how to deal with these 'problems'. Most of the books I found seem to be full of ****. The real estate and mortgage books have been helpful, especially in a market of predatory lenders. And anything by Ralph Nader is good.

I remember you stating a while back what you get yearly from investing, I was impressed. I bought a house last year, and a IRA 5 years ago. I havent seen jack on either, so I'm going to invest in my wifes business this year (plus it will keep her busy).

I'll tell you, since dealing with some of these legitimate businesspeople, I have alot more respect for 'criminals'.

Most people I know that have money, and I live in San Ramon and workout in Blackhawk (don't look at me, I bought a fixer upper and came here for my kid's schools) get the money form a business, not "investing". Investing is how the reasonably grow the money that they SAVE. The key to wealth is SAVING and investing, not knowing a "hot tip" or "flipping Houses". Invest in your wife business. if it's a good one, it'll make you more than most stocks will, and you can get various tax benefits from it. Just so you know, most of the wealthy guys I meet are cheapskate business owners, with only one or two extravagent things. I know a guy with $10 million or some ungodly amount in Real Estate, that drives a beat up Lexus, and his next car is going to be a Toyota. Read the johntreed.com stuff- he's cynical as hell, but he speaks the truth about money. And that WAS my rate of return- it could all turn to **** for a couple of years with this coming recession, so you just dollar cost average- every month you can. You'll buy a bunch of shares cheap, not when the market is soaring.

[Frank White]

I blame the 'flipping houses' television shows for the real estate markets problems. I also wonder how much the media plays into a bad economy. For instance, if the papers say the markets bad, so everyone stops spending money (to save because 'the markets bad'), then no one else is making any money, and the market BECOMES bad. Though I dont know why they would do this, but it could be because [ insert federal reserve conspiracy here ].

[new2bjj]

It's primarily greed and impatience that screws up markets- both from rich and not so rich, and the working poor. The rich can never get enough, and the middle class keeps trying to look rich, when they don't have enough money to do it- so they charge it! The working poor tries to look "middle class" and they charge it! Then, the super rich use credit to buy up companies- how? They charge it and sell loans that people can't actually pay. And people lie to get those loans. Then, well, some one has to pay the bill. That's where the problem is- people jack up the "value" (price) to things, without adding any real value (improvements). Too much credit, not enough savings- then the economy starts to depend on unsustainable growth/consumption, and you got problems.

[Poop Loops]

I'm fucking awesome with math until it comes to money. Then it all just goes to hell.

[JohnnyCache]

As a person with very little firsthand knowledge, what's actually wrong with these books?

[Arhetton]

I liked the principles in kiyosaki's book, the stories in it sometimes seemed a little stupid or exagerated

Rich Dad, Poor Dad is Robert Kiyosaki's first best-selling book. It advocates financial independence through investing, real estate, owning businesses, and the use of finance protection tactics.

Among some of the book's topics are:

the value of financial intelligence
that corporations spend first, then pay taxes, while individuals must pay taxes first
that corporations are artificial entities that anyone can use, but the poor usually don't know how

Kiyosaki says the rich think differently in how they define simple words like assets and wealth, and how they fund their luxuries. He explains that he defines an asset as any item which produces income (such as rental property,stocks or bonds), and a liability as anything which produces expense (such as one's own home, new widescreen TV, exercise machine, new garden tractor, motorcycle, computers, processed foods, swing sets, barbecue grill, tools, letting your property rundown and a new car every two years).

No one disputes that the rich buy "income-producing assets". Kiyosaki argues that the poor buy worthless items that they think are assets, which clearly do not earn anything, and may have no market value.

According to Kiyosaki, wealth is measured as the number of days the income from your assets will sustain you, and financial independence is achieved when your monthly income from assets exceeds your monthly expenses. Each dad had a different way of teaching their sons.

The most central element stressed by Kiyosaki is the advocacy of owning the system or means of production, rather than being an employee of someone else.

Some advice given in the book is thought to be poor or even dangerous by other investors. For example, Kiyosaki advocates focusing on a few "good investments" rather than diversifying. He also downplays the importance of traditional education. John T. Reed, an outspoken critic of Robert Kiyosaki, says "Rich Dad, Poor Dad contains much wrong advice, much bad advice, some dangerous advice, and virtually no good advice." He also states: ""Rich Dad, Poor Dad is one of the dumbest financial advice books I have ever read. It contains many factual errors and numerous extremely unlikely accounts of events that supposedly occurred," Kiyosaki has provided a rebuttal to many of Reed's statements.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_dad_poor_dad

[SFGOON]

DO you know the real trick to beating the S&P?

Insider trading. Proceed with caution.