Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Cash flow 101 and 202

Cashflow 101 is a didactic game designed by investor, businessman, and self-help author Robert Kiyosaki to serve as a tool for learning basic financial strategies and accounting principals. Cashflow 101 is the first of several games created by Kiyosaki to reinforce the information in his books.

The board has two tracks: A “Rat Race” small circle where you only roll one die to advance, and a “Fast Track” where you roll two dice to advance. In the Rat Race you get paid for passing your Paycheck space, and then draw from one of four decks of cards depending on which space you’ve landed. Some of the deals are good, others are bad. Your main problem here is a shortage of cash. In the Fast Track your main problem is an excess of cash and finding investments to sink it into before you lose it to lawsuits, divorce or tax audits.

The heart of the game though are the player sheets where players learn how to fill out a financial statement. Players choose from a variety of starting careers (Truck Driver, Mechanic, Lawyer, Airline Pilot, etc.) and fill out their financial sheets appropriately. As they land cards and invest in different deals they dutifully log each change to their financial sheets as well. After a few games most people end up using the same financial sheets to fill out their own personal information.

With each card event the drawing player may buy at that price, but all players may sell at that price. Also, players may make co-investments with the drawing player or even buy the deal from him if they agree. Player deals are encouraged.

The game with few players is heavily biased towards real estate. With 5-6 players the cards are being drawn fast enough that the part time businesses pay off as well.

CASHFLOW 202 teaches you the advanced business and investing techniques used by technical investors by adding volatility to the game. It teaches the advanced investment techniques of “short-selling stock”, “put-options”, “call-options”, “straddles” and real estate exchanges.

You must have CASHFLOW 101 in order to play CASHFLOW 202.

Monday, July 2, 2007

Rich dad poor Dad

Personal-finance author and lecturer Robert Kiyosaki developed his unique economic perspective through exposure to a pair of disparate influences: his own highly educated but fiscally unstable father, and the multimillionaire eighth-grade dropout father of his closest friend. The lifelong monetary problems experienced by his “poor dad” (whose weekly paychecks, while respectable, were never quite sufficient to meet family needs) pounded home the counterpoint communicated by his “rich dad” (that “the poor and the middle class work for money,” but “the rich have money work for them”). Taking that message to heart, Kiyosaki was able to retire at 47. Rich Dad, Poor Dad, written with consultant and CPA Sharon L. Lechter, lays out his the philosophy behind his relationship with money. Although Kiyosaki can take a frustratingly long time to make his points, his book nonetheless compellingly advocates for the type of “financial literacy” that’s never taught in schools. Based on the principle that income-generating assets always provide healthier bottom-line results than even the best of traditional jobs, it explains how those assets might be acquired so that the jobs can eventually be shed

RDPD

Retire young retire rich

ryrrThose of you who know me know that I believe it’s important for us, as a vegan community, to increase our personal wealth so we can use it to make positive changes in the world. I don’t mean for us to be capitalistic, greedy, sell outs; but think what you could do for the vegan movement if you had millions of dollars to donate. Think of the vegan businesses you could support. Think of being able to donate vegan foods to victims of disasters instead of sending them just your blood. I have been reading Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad” series for several years and are well on our way to achieving the kind of personal wealth that can make a real difference in the vegan movement. So it was with great interest that I received the fifth book in the series, Retire Young, Retire Rich. Not just a reiteration of the stories and advice from the first few books, this book reveals more of Kiyosaki’s personal story. He talks about changing one’s context to be ready to be wealthy. He talks about the mistakes he made and how to avoid them. And best of all, he spells out the best ways to make passive income (the key to retiring young and rich.)If you agree with my reasoning, read on.

Why we want you to be Rich

Robert and Donald finally collaborate their rich minds and produce the quintessential end all and be all book of how to become rich. Unfortunately, it seems the Trumpster spent very little time investing in this latest work. Spouting off the typical nuanced cliches, you can be rich, you must love what you do, bla bla bla. I hate to be a cynic, I love Trump, but like most of his previous works it is unsubstantive and provide no roadmaps to actual wealth. Kiyosaki provides more intimate knowledge on the elusive roadmap, buttressing this with charts and life experiences of triumph and failure. This book proves more ra ra cheerleading than actual substance on becoming wealthy. They lambast poor victims of an increasingly entitled generation and the perils of an inevitably bankrupt social welfare treasury. Trump had even the gall to express his pity on the thousands of schmucks who had paid good hard money at the Chicago annex to just sit there for and listen to him ramble on how to become like him. From someone who read most Kiyosaki books, you will find more useful info in some of the other less popular books when he writes on specific components of how he made his money. For the price it might be worth it, but isnt designed to be that book to make you rich. Instead, they discuss more of the WHY you should be rich rather than the how.

Own Your Own Corporation- by Rober t kiyosaki

Money matters-Own Your Own Corporation reveals the legal secrets and strategies that the rich have used for generations to run their businesses and protect their assets. Written in a clear and easily understandable style, Own Your Own Corporation provides the necessary knowledge to save thousands of dollars in taxes and protect your family assets from the attacks of creditors.

Own Your Own Corporation illustrates how to:
• Select the best entity for your own personal strategy
• Maximize the incredible benefits of a C corporation
• Use corporations for asset protection and tax savings
• Raise money for your new venture
• Use employment agreements for your benefit
• Easily prepare and maintain corporate records

CASHFLOW for Kids


Discover CASHFLOW for Kids, a fun game created to teach your child the subjects of money and investing. A family’s attitude about money is a powerful influence on a child from a very early age. The more your children play CASHFLOW for Kids at Home, the higher their financial IQ will become.

Cashflow Quadrant

cashflow
The Cashflow Quadrant is the follow-up guide to finding the financial fast track that best works for you. It reveals the strategies necessary for moving beyond just job security to greater financial security by generating wealth from four selective financial quadrants.
The core idea in this series is that being an investor or business owner gives one more freedom and a higher upside than being someone else’s employee or being an owner-operator of a business. With vivid personal stories, the authors show that many people, including the author’s “poor” dad (an educational administrator), choose working for others because of insecurity or misguided trust in organizations. One builds true financial freedom by accumulating assets that make money.