4 Green Houses, 1 Red Hotel

Still remember the very popular game we used to play when we're young? Monopoly game~ in which you kept on buying 4 green houses, sold them off & purchased a red hotel! By just keeping this simple formula would get you to be a winner or 'Millionaire' in the game.
You know what? This simple formula is absolutely applicable in the real life! Buy a few small houses one at a time, sell them off at the right timing, then purchase a big house or hotel! It's just as simple as it is!
Life is just like a game! Definitely there's gain & loss sometime, though it's just part of the game! Do enjoy it! Be one who loves this game! Once you love it, naturally you'll be good at it! =)

Recommended game to enhance your financial intelligence: Rich Dad Cashflow 101



Source: Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom

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FOCUS!!!

One of the better definition I learned from Robert for the word "focus" is using the word as an acronym.
F = Follow
O = One
C = Course
U = Until
S = Successful
I find it very useful & motivational for myself whereby I always think of this whenever I face some roadblocks in the path of building my multiple sources of income. Whatever you're doing currently, do it PERSISTENTLY until you're SUCCESSFUL no matter you're interested with it! I'm saying merely do one thing at a time but not multiple things simultaneously. If you're doing property investment, then JUST property investment. If you're doing internet marketing, then JUST internet marketing. Only after you succeed with what you're doing now, then decide if it's the path you should pursue or explore others. You can't FOCUS on different things concurrently in a sense that you want to be successful with all of them!
Donald Trump always mentions, NEVER GIVE UP! Don't simply make assumption such as 'it's not working'...'I knew I shouldn't have done this'...'it's only wasting my time'...etc etc... STOP! Believe in yourself! You can always make it!

Source: Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men - One Message

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Making the Most of Your Money Now

Consumers Union named Making the Most of Your Money the best personal finance book on the market. Now Jane Bryant Quinn's bestseller has been completely revised and updated for 2010 and beyond. America's most trusted financial adviser, who helped millions of readers meet their goals in the 1990s, has done it again -- providing a guide to financial recovery, independence, and success in the new economy.
Getting your financial life on track and keeping it there -- nothing is more important to your family and you. This proven, comprehensive guidebook steers you around the risks and helps you make smart and profitable decisions at every stage of your life. Are you single, married, or divorced? A parent with a paycheck or a parent at home? Getting your first job or well along in your career? Helping your kids in college or your parents in their older age? Planning for retirement? Already retired and worried about how to make your money last? You'll find ideas to help you build your financial security here.
Jane Bryant Quinn answers more questions more completely than any other personal-finance author on the market today. You'll reach for this book again and again as your life changes and new financial decisions arise. Here are just a few of the important subjects she examines:

• Setting priorities during and after a financial setback, and bouncing back
• Getting the most out of a bank while avoiding fees
• Credit card and debit card secrets that will save you money
• Family matters -- talking money before marriage and mediating claims during divorce
• Cutting the cost of student debt, and finding schools that will offer big "merit" scholarships to your child
• The simplest ways of pulling yourself out of debt
• Why it's so important to jump on the automatic-savings bandwagon
• Buying a house, selling one, or trying to rent your home when buyers aren't around
• Why credit scores are more important than ever, plus tips on keeping yours in the range most attractive to lenders
• Investing made easy -- mutual funds that are tailor-made for your future retirement
• What every investor needs to know about building wealth
• How an "investment policy" helps you make wise decisions in any market
• The essential tax-deferred retirement plans, from 401(k)s to Individual Retirement Accounts -- and how to manage them
• How to invest in real estate at a bargain price (and how to spot something that looks like a bargain but isn't)
• Eleven ways of keeping a steady income while you're retired, even after a stock market crash
• Financial planning -- what it means, how you do it, and where to find good planners

Page by page, Quinn leads you through the pros and cons of every decision, to help you make the choice that will suit you best. This is the single personal-finance book that no family should be without.

Source: Making the Most of Your Money Now: The Classic Bestseller Completely Revised for the New Economy

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The 2 Things you Invest

There are only 2 things you can invest: TIME & MONEY. Though most of the people only invest on money, that's why they always lose their money.
What exactly is to invest on TIME? It means investing your own time on raising your FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE! Go obtain as much as financial education as you can! Let me show you how Robert basically distinguishes investing time & investing money:

• Non-Investor: Invests NO time, Invests NO money --> No financial education

• Passive-Investor: Invests NO time, Invests money --> No financial education

• Active-Investor: Invests time, Invests money --> LOTS of financial education

Those who have no or very little financial education will find that investing is very risky, because they don't know anything about it & get advices from the so called 'financial experts' who have very little financial education & experience. Do you realize that it takes more time to become a licensed massage therapist than it takes to become a financial adviser? Bet you can see the picture now.
Can you find 4 to 10 hours a week that you can spend on your financial education? Chances are you can! The only question is: Will you?

Source: Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men - One Message

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The Answer: Grow Any Business, Achieve Financial Freedom, and Live an Extraordinary Life

Review

"This book is a masterpiece! I couldn't stop reading it. It is by far the best book I have ever read on how to use the law of attraction and the latest breakthroughs in neuroscience to quantum leap the growth of any business. It is now required reading for all my staff and students." --Jack Canfield, co-author of The Success Principles and co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series

"The Answer is absolutely a must read for anyone interested in a new and much higher level of prosperity. John and Murray have helped me more than triple my business income and they can do the same for you. I highly recommend it."--Dharma Singh Khalsa, MD, America's #1 Brain Longevity Specialist

"A brilliant formula for growing any business and living an extraordinary life - entrepreneurial wisdom embodied in a proactive, balanced approach to living. A must read!"--Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness

"Everyone wants the answers to life's probing questions, particularly of business, financial freedom and how to make your life a masterpiece. My friends John and Murray have made their lives masterpieces and share from deep profound insight how you can make yours the same or even better." -- Mark Victor Hansen, co-creator, #1 New York Times bestselling series Chicken Soup for the Soul ®, co-author, Cracking the Millionaire Code and The One Minute Millionaire

"If you really want to attract and make things happen faster in your business and life, read The Answer now! John Assaraf and Murray Smith will put you on the road to riches as fast as anyone I know. Read it and give a copy to your best friend." -- Bob Proctor, of The Secret and author of You Were Born Rich

"This book does not hold anything back. It's got it all. How to THINK like someone who should be wealthy and then how to back it up with killer growth strategies backed by step-by-step plans for super growth. A must read for any CEO serious about amassing a fortune." -- Chet Holmes, bestselling author of The Ultimate Sales Machine

"There are great books on the unlimited power of our minds to co-create the circumstances of our dreams. There are even more books on business development and the management of those dreams. What makes The Answer so remarkable is that finally both dimensions have been wonderfully explained and integrated into what is destined to be the 'how to' book of the century. Read and win!" -- Ian Percy, author Infinite Possibilities - Make Your Life a Masterpiece.

"This book is the first AND ONLY one I've seen that teaches you how to harness all three of the laws of attraction; gestation AND action together, to make extraordinary things start happening in your business right away! John and Murray have packaged a lifetime of highly result-certain expertise into this content-rich book. If you business isn't living up to your vision, this is the one book and philosophy of predictable, unstoppable growth that you need to read, learn...and do!" --Jay Abraham, Marketing Guru

"The Answer is inspiring. It motivates you to go after the grandest version of the greatest life and business you ever envisioned for yourself with the knowledge that it is absolutely possible. The Answer gives you the tools to change your life. This is one of the most exciting books I have ever read."-- Suzanne Somers

Product Description

A key team member behind The Secret and his business partner offer the specific tools and mental strategies to help readers leap ahead in any career or business venture and achieve major financial success.

In this visionary work, New York Times bestselling author John Assaraf and business guru Murray Smith reinvent the business book for the twenty-first century. Two of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world, they combine forces to bring their special insights and techniques together in a revolutionary guide for success in the modern business environment.
Assaraf and Smith know how to minimize risk and maximize success, and The Answer provides a framework for sharing their wisdom, experience, and skills with the millions of people who want to accomplish their own dreams in life. Using cutting-edge research into brain science and quantum physics, they show how readers can actually rewire their brains for success and create the kind of extraordinary lives they want. By teaching readers how to attract and use newly discovered "uncommon" senses to achieve business success, the authors demonstrate the beliefs, habits, thoughts, and actions that they have used to build eighteen multimillion-dollar companies.
Any reader who follows this step-by-step process to build his or her career will experience an enormous life transformation and reach an exceptional level of living.

Source: The Answer: Grow Any Business, Achieve Financial Freedom, and Live an Extraordinary Life

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3 Reasons of Investing

People usually invests for 3 main reasons which are:

1. securities
2. comforts
3. wealth

How you choose to prioritize them determines your life path in the future. It also reviews a person's value in terms of needs.
Most of the middle class people would put securities or comforts to come 1st then only wealth, whereby they always think of getting a good & secured job, buying big house & car to get into a comfortable life, do some savings & investments in mutual funds. However, frankly speaking that there's no such thing as secured job nowadays! The company keeps you if you do perform well or perhaps vice versa!
As a matter of fact, rich people always puts wealth to come first, once you've built up your wealth, naturally your securities & comforts will come in no time~ So, how would you like to prioritize them? It's always your choice & decision to make!

Source: Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in, That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!

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Personal Finance for Dummies

Amazon.com Review
This book cuts through the hype and jargon, giving you the real story on credit cards, savings, taxes, real estate, spending reduction, mutual funds, retirement, and insurance -- all in a fun and easy-to-understand style. Also recommends the best financial products to meet your specific needs.

Review

...by far the best book I have read on financial planning. -- Althea Thomson, PBS Nightly Business Report

Product Description

The flood of financial information and products can be overwhelming. This valuable guide cuts through the hype and jargon, giving you the real story on credit cards, savings, taxes, real estate, spending reduction, mutual funds, retirement, insurance, and much more--all in a fun and easy-to-understand style. The book also recommends the best financial products to meet your specific needs.

From the Publisher

With more than one million copies of previous editions in print, Personal Finance For Dummies is the #1 bestselling ...For Dummies consumer title ever. 

From the Back Cover 
Helps you improve your credit score
"Detailed, action-oriented advice . . . A standout personal finance primer."
—Kristin Davis, Kiplinger's Personal Finance
Need help planning your financial future? You're in luck! This practical guide has been updated to cover college saving options, credit issues, and new tax and bankruptcy laws. You'll also find ways to request and review your credit report. Take control of your finances — so you can live better, spend more wisely, and survive economic downturns.
Praise for Personal Finance For Dummies
". . . provides tremendous insight and guidance into the world of investing and other money issues."
—PBS Nightly Business Report
"Tyson doesn't tell you what to do or consider doing without explaining the hows and whys — and the booby traps to avoid — in plain English."
—Chicago Tribune
"Smart advice. . . . Rewards your candor with advice and comfort."
—Newsweek
Discover how to

• Set priorities and stick to them
• Avoid identity theft and scams
• Make smart investments
• Protect what you've earned
• Identify the best resources 

Source: Personal Finance for Dummies

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6 Ways To Make People Like You

Rule 1: Become genuinely interested in other people.
Rule 2: Smile
Rule 3: Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
Rule 4: Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
Rule 5: Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
Rule 6: Make the other person feel important --- and do it sincerely.



Source: How to Win Friends and Influence People

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Winners take CONTROL

Why does most of the people think that investing is risky? Mainly because they have no power of control on it. As if driving a car, you need:

1. Steering wheel
2. Brakes
3. Gas pedal
4. Gear shift
5. Driver's license
6. Insurance

Ask yourself, would you drive a car without a steering wheel? It's definitely risky without it as you wouldn't have control on the car itself. Same thing happens to entrepreneurs & real estate investors, you need to be in control in:

1. Income
2. Expense
3. Asset
4. Liability
5. Management
6. Insurance

Financial education will give you the knowledge of controlling these 6 factors. The more financially educated you become, the more control you have!

Source: Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men - One Message

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Think Big

Don't limit yourself. In other words, think BIG. Thinking small when you can be thinking big is definitely limiting your potential. People are capable of doing great things, but not if they don't envision great things being done. You don't have to waste time working your way up to the top when you can start there in your mind.
I remember the old saying "It's lonely at the top." I don't agree. It was probably said by someone who didn't want any competition. I'm secure enough in my success to welcome competition, so I don't mind telling you that being at the top is a great feeling. Thinking big can get you there.
Here's how. We all start with small steps. The point is to get us up to the big steps we're all capable of taking. Would you be satisfied taking baby steps throughout your childhood? Would you be thrilled to be crawling when everyone else is already walking? I don't think so. We start small, but we move on. People like challenges. It's our nature. Keep in sync with that basic premise and you will begin moving forward with the momentum necessary for great achievement. Know that it is a natural progression, not some wild scheme from out of nowhere.
We have to learn to walk before we can start sprinting. But that's no reason not to contemplate sprinting even from day one. Apply that to your thoughts, and understand how your mind reveals the future to you. Do you have big plans or small plans? If all you can see on your agenda are small plans, ask yourself why. Then begin to expand your horizons. Sometimes we have to recognize our own smallness of mind before we can do anything about it.
Another way to move forward in a big way is to concentrate on managing your future, not your past. I've seen a lot of people waste a lot of time by dwelling on the past. Learn from the past, but don't stay there. You have to keep the momentum going; keep moving forward, not backwards. Don't focus on the problem when you should be looking at the solution.
Einstein said imagination is more important than knowledge. Easy for him to say, you might think. What he meant, though, was that without imagination and the ability to visualize possibilities, what would be the point of great knowledge? Knowledge is power, unless you choose not to use it. Knowledge is also the foundation of many great enterprises. Put imagination and knowledge together and in no time you'll have something plenty big in your think big tank.
Take the time to think, but don't risk wasting your time. Think Big.

Source:  www.trumpuniversity.com

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What Is The Federal Reserve Bank?

This is an educational video created by the Federal Reserve Bank to explain what they do. The Federal Reserve is the Central Bank of the United States of America.

What Is The Federal Reserve Bank? / Educational Video. Public domain video. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Where the Bankers Bank. "We all know what this is ... it's money. And people like you use money every day ... We all know how to spend money. That's easy. But do you know where it comes from? Or for that matter, what happens to it after you spend it?" These questions and more are answered in WHERE THE BANKERS BANK. Created by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the video takes you on a guided tour of one of the 12 District banks that make up the Federal Reserve System, our nation's central bank. WHERE THE BANKERS BANK was created to accompany THE MONEY TREE, an instruction unit produced by the St. Louis Federal Reserve and the MIssouri Council on Economic Education at the Universities of Missouri-St. Louis and Columbia. THE MONEY TREE is an educator's guide to teaching money and banking concepts. Producer: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Creative Commons license: Public Domain The Federal Reserve System (also the Federal Reserve; informally The Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. Created in 1913 by the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act (signed by Woodrow Wilson), it is a quasi-public (government entity with private components) banking system that comprises the presidentially appointed Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C.; the Federal Open Market Committee; twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks located in major cities throughout the nation acting as fiscal agents for the U.S. Treasury, each with its own nine-member board of directors; numerous other private U.S. member banks, which subscribe to required amounts of non-transferable stock in their regional Federal Reserve Banks; and various advisory councils. Since February 2006, Ben Bernanke serves as the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Donald Kohn is the current Vice Chairman (Term: June 2006 - June 2010).

Source: www.squido.com

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The Shrinking MIDDLE Class

The rich are getting richer, and everyone else is getting poorer. The world economies are heading into 2-class societies: the rich and the poor....
In other words, the middle class is being wiped out!!! Today in Japan, you are either rich or poor. The same thing is happening in many other countries.
Question: Why is this happening?

1. Value of the dollar falling
2. National debt increasing
3. Baby boomers starting to retire
4. Oil prices rising
5. Gap increasing between the rich and everyone else
6. Wages decreasing
7. Jobs being exported
8. Social Security and Medicare going bankrupt
9. Savings being wiped out
10. Lack of financial education being taught

No panic! In case you're in the middle class right now, still you can CHOOSE to be RICH! What we need to do is learn to take care of ourselves financially. In order to do that, we should start raising our Financial IQ~

Source: Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men - One Message

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Cashflow Quadrant

All of our incomes can be divided into 4 quadrants as shown.
E - employees
S - self employed/specialists (doctor, lawyer)
   - superman (they always do all the things by themselves :p)
   - small business owners
B - big business owners (a system)
I - investors

Heard about 90/10 rule? 10% of the populations own 90% of the $ while 90% of the populations own the rest. Obviously the 10% is come from the right hand side of the quadrants which are 'B' & 'I'.
Hence should you wanna be rich or achieve financial freedom, you gotta do the 'shift'! Shift to the right hand side quadrants!
If it's not now, then when will it be? Not asking you to quit your job immediately, but it's harmless to build up your MULTIPLE sources of income from other quadrants right? Bet you get exactly what I mean.

Source: Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not! (Miniature Edition)

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Assets vs Liabilities

Is your car an asset? How about your fancy boat? or even your home? Your banker might say these are your assets, but you yourself shouldn't take it as one! Because they're all LIABILITIES!
Per what rich dad said, asset is the one who feeds you while liability is the one who eats you if you stop working tomorrow. Literally, the former puts $ into your pocket while the latter takes $ out instead.
You pay monthly installment & maintenance for your home, whereby it takes out $ from your pocket, hence it's a liability. Well, you could say that some appreciation on your house can gain you some $ when you sell it. YES definitely it could be your ASSET someday! It only happens when you sell it though. But in case you own a rental property which is giving you monthly positive cash flow, then no doubt it's definitely a valuable asset for you!

Source: Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not! (Miniature Edition)

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Can Obama save the world?

The main campaign slogan of President Barack Obama was, Change We Can Believe In. Given that slogan, we must ask a question: "Why did President Obama hire many of the same people who worked in the Clinton administration?" That doesn't seem like change. It seems like status quo.
One reason why President Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. said almost the same words, that a bailout would save the economy and never happen again, is because they're elected to protect the system --- not fix it. Could one reason why President Obama hired virtually the same financial team from the Clinton administration be because he is interested in protecting the same system --- a system to make the rich get even richer? Only time will tell.
  
The roots of the crisis

 

In 1913, the creation of Federal Reserve System granted the very rich of the world the power to control the money supply of the U.S. and fulfill the spirit of Rothschild's sentiments. Many people don't know or understand that the Federal Reserve System is not a government institution or a bank, nor does it have any reserves. Rather, it is a banking cartel run by some of the most powerful men in the financial world. The creation of the Fed was basically a license to print money.

How does this affect me?

In the big picture of personal finance, there are 3 financial forces that cause most people to work hard yet struggle financially. They are:

1. Taxes
2. Debt 
3. Inflation

Source: Rich Dad's Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money

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The root of all evil

Is the love of money the root of all evil? Or, is the ignorance of money the root of all evil? What did you learn about money in school? Have you ever wondered why our school systems do not teach us about money - if anything - about money? Is the lack of financial education in our schools simply an oversight by our educational leaders? Or is it part of a larger conspiracy?

Changing the rules of money
In 1971, President Richard Nixon changed the rules of money. He severed the U.S. dollar's relationship with gold. Thanks to this change, inflation took off.

What can I do?
OLD RULES:  

1. Save money
2. Diversify

NEW RULES:

1. Spend, don't save
2. Control & focus your money

Source: Rich Dad's Conspiracy of the Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money

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Henry Paulson Discusses Financial Crisis, New Book: Video

Henry Paulson, former U.S. Treasury secretary and author of "On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System," talks with Bloomberg's Peter Cook about the financial crisis and the government's response. Paulson said the U.S. was "very close" to financial and economic collapse in 2008 that could have led to an unemployment rate of 25 percent. (This is an excerpt of the full interview. Source: Bloomberg)

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Welcome~

Welcome to my blog! If you're here to discover which book you should read to enhance your financial education, this is the place! I recommend some of the financial books I've read & summarize them here. Feel free to leave your comments!

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