WHY TEACH FINANCIAL LITERACY? – RICH DAD POOR DAD

If we see many of the richest people have failed and died in a poorer life. What happened to them? What can be the true reason?

If we have a Money without proper financial intelligence then it will sooner or later find a way to go away from us. It is not always important to make huge money but important is to learn how to keep money with us. If we make huge money and does not able to keep it with us then that is of no use.

“Rich people acquire assets. The poor and middle class acquire liabilities that they think are assets,” said rich dad.

We must have to understand the difference between assets and liability for getting rich.

What we need to understand for understanding assets and liability are – An asset puts money in my pocket.  A liability takes money out of my pocket.

As our income increases, similarly, our expense increases or might be increased higher than income. This will further increase our liability side such as mortgages, credit cards payments, etc. We go for the shopping, we make shopping with full of credit card, we extend our loan for 30 years to make yearly lower payments. And these all keep pushing us to the rat race. These liabilities make us helpless to continue with the rate race. But when we look for the cash flow pattern of a rich person then the rich person has many assets which help to manage all the expenses and also has multiple income streams. Creating multiple assets only help a person to become a rich person.

A person can be highly educated, professionally successful, and financially illiterate.

We keep on repeating the same mistakes again and again – get a secured job, work hard to get a good paycheck, diversify, our house is an asset, our house is our biggest investment, don’t make a mistake, don’t take a risk etc.

Fear of sports, relationships, getting socialize, career, business, money and all these attract us to play in the safe. We start evolving ourselves, outlook our fear and look inside to find out our wisdom. Our education system is designed in such a way that we get trapped into many of the fears. Schools teach us to study well, get good grades, get a good job. Does it solve our actual problems? When I look back and think then I got an answer that they produce me as a good employee but where are the good money handling skills, skill to engage money to work for myself, skill to become an employer? I have to build all these by myself and if we think calmly then similar has happened with the majority of us.

The mindset of the majority of us in the society is led us towards a safer zone which creates a distance. This mindset creates distance between rich mindset people and poor mindset people, between us and the majority of society. The same I have observed in my life. I always remain a bright student during my studies because I always taught in a way that I have to get a good grade and get a good, secure job. Though many of my family members are engaged in the business. I never have forced to do what everyone else said, I have a freedom of decision but I cannot get escape from the mindset of everyone and engage into the biggest mistake with accepting that common mindset. I have always told to my professor that one day I will become a successful businessman but my mindset was not suitable for that decision. My mindset is of getting safer and secure, fear of losing paycheck due to struggle in past. I experience that struggle with the proper mindset can build us stronger but struggle with a poor mindset builds us weaker. So that as I keep on achieving my different dreams but get distance from original dreams of becoming independent, freedom of time and getting financial freedom. I am telling this from my experience that, it is much difficult for us to change our mindset. It took a tremendous time for me. I suggest it to everyone that we should get out of the trapped from such fears in our early life, else we have to suffer a lot and have to do a tough fight with ourselves to get proper mindset.

I have discussed in the previous chapter that we should use emotion to favour our financial decision. But we get much emotional when it comes to making a financial decision. Especially house, I have a personal experience regarding it. All of my relatives forced to sell off my old house and moved to the bigger house by taking a huge loan for 20 years. In our society, the house is our status symbol, good big house for welcoming society people, proof of getting more wealthier (as we get wealthier, we have to move from old smaller house to new bigger house), proof that we are working with a good paycheck,  getting lots of hate & humiliation if not upgrading your house, vehicles, lifestyle with an upgraded paycheck. But no one guides an investment, how to make extra money which can support cash outflows, they advise how to stay with rat race only.

We should buy a house but first, we need to create an asset which supports the cash outflows due to purchase of a new house.

Why rich get richer? The answer is into the above image. Rich having a more asset than liabilities which generates enough cash flow to support all expenses and left with huge for reinvesting it for an asset. This process helps them to grows their assets and income from assets. Such activities led to make them richer.

Opposite activities performed by the poor and middle-class people. And that brings them down more and more. Also, keep them into the rat race. This class only has one source of income and that is salary. So, for increasing their income they have to be strongly performed into the rat race. Poor and middle-class people are taking the major risk by playing safer and not taking a risk.

People attract towards the products which seem to be safer to them. If we want to sell any of the products to the people then show it as a safer product, everyone stands into the queue to purchase it.

Mr Fuller has defined wealth – Wealth is a person’s ability to survive so many numbers of days forward—or, if I stopped working today, how long could I survive?

When we have a lesser expense, lesser liabilities compared to the income and assets then obviously we will survive for a longer period. Else, we will go out of the game soon. Similarly, we can compare with the companies in which we want to invest.

Disclosure – Companies mentioned in the article are just for an example & educational purpose. It is not a buy/sell/ hold recommendation. 

Read for more detail: Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach their Kids About Money that the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!

08 – ONCE A DARLING, NOW AN EVIL

The eighth part of Series “Once a darling, now an evil”. This series is based on the companies which were once upon a time darling of the market and now, it has wiped out the majority of all those gains. I am trying to put some of the number-crunching facts by which we have identified ongoing issues in the companies and have saved our wealth.

I am starting this part with one of the company in the business of technology infrastructure management services which has an all-time high price of ~Rs.1221 in 2010 and now last traded price at Rs.0.90.

On the first instance this company having huge sales and profit growth. This creates a temptation to buy with missing out of the opportunity. But after the series of articles, we know to not get tempted with sales & PAT growth.

So, we go deeper ….

Controlled debtor days, good fixed assets turnover ratio, high return ratios. Now, no chance to not getting tempted.

I would like to go further detail of it.

The company continuously having a lower CFO compared to PAT. Also, when we take cumulative CFO V/S cumulative PAT then it was Rs.182 cr of CCFO v/s Rs.422 cr of CPAT. So that company able to generate good profit with good growth but that does not able to convert into the cashflow.

Now, we check the tax rates then as per Cashflow its lower tax rate compared to the income statement which creates a cautious sign. It may be possible that profit has been artificially boosted.

If we look at the common size balance sheet then the majority part of the assets side was other assets which have receivables are most but what others? Is this a manufacturing company or a finance company where fixed assets are lower and other assets are higher?

We can see that changes in reserves are higher than changes in PAT. So again, look it as a suspicious. Because when a company pay a dividend from profit then reserve gets reduce and not pay dividend then remain the same. But here it’s increasing.

Now if we look at the FY10 and FY09 reserve constitute then ~Rs.10 cr has increased in securities premium which is due to amalgamation, the capital reserve has increased of ~Rs.9 cr, the general reserve has increased of ~Rs.19 cr and P&L account has increased of ~Rs.59 cr. Such kind of difference was there in all of the years, this creates a question that every year company is getting involved in the M&A or issuing new shares? previous annual reports not available.

Don’t just get blinded with growth & few numbers but focus on cash which is real & every possible aspect.

Disclosure – Companies mentioned in the article are just for an example & educational purpose. It is not a buy/sell/ hold recommendation.

The rich don’t work for money – 01 – Rich Dad Poor Dad

We need to get aware of finance and without awareness of finance, we cannot develop our investment career. We never get financial education from school, colleges, or from family and that has created many mental blocks among us. If we want to complete our financial journey successfully then we must have to learn about finance.

I am going to start with the series on “Rich Dad Poor Dad” for learning about finance and get succeed in our personal finance. This success will lead us towards success in the investment journey.

Rich becomes richer and the poor become poorer is due to the concepts for money taught by our family, community, educational systems. We do not learn about the financial programming and mindset from the school so that high graded students also remain poorer with financial skills.

When we do a physical exercise to enhance our health and similarly, we need to perform a mental exercise to enhance our wealth. Both things are essential to us.

How we think, what is our mindset that is going to makes a huge difference to our life.

Education is important but not for getting good grades to get a good job but for making it possible that money works for us. Financial education is more important rather than money. The money will come and goes but education remains forever with us.

We need to work for what we want to achieve. We never have to give up to make money. We do not understand the difference between being rich or looking rich. We believe that those who have a nice house, a nice car, expensive smartphones, expensive gadgets, branded clothes, etc. Those are actually rich. But is it?

What happens when a car, house, gadgets all are from the company where a person works and has to leave when no longer continues to be work there. Do we still consider them a rich person?

Opportunities will come and go but we should pursue a skill to make a decision. Many times, we have to leave leisure activities to work hard on making money.

As I have mentioned every time that we can learn many things from our surroundings. We can learn from life, from our mistakes, from nature and the mistakes of others, etc. For learning, it is never essential to have a classroom lecture.

Many of us have an option to give up or learn something from life. If we give up then we keep blaming others for our situation in life. And if we choose to learn then we keep learning from life and move on. If we blame others for the problems then we work on changing them and does not aware that we are a problem, we need to change ourselves. It is easy to change ourselves rather than change others.

When we decide to give up then we play life safely, saving money for some unforeseen events, and died a boring life. We want to win but fear of losing is quite strong on us that keeps us pushing to play safe.

If we found that our job, lower pay is the problem then either we choose to fight or choose to quit it. But this does not solve our actual problems. We cannot able to learn something. We quit from one place to another and then to another for just getting a small paycheck. Get frustrated at one place and then at another place for some small incremental paycheck. For our lower pay, we are responsible. Our fear of losing is responsible. So, we have a question that what will solve our problem? The answer is experience and learning on finances.

Rich dad explained this point of view over and over, which I call lesson number one:  The poor and the middle-class work for money. The rich have money work for them.

Always money cannot solve the problem. Many of the people engaged in more debt as they get more money. This does not solve the problem but enhances it to a more critical level. To solve a problem, we require to have a financial education rather than have more money.

We have always something in our life that cannot be bought and there is something which can be bought. Now, it depends on which one is stronger.

Most of us have our price which is paid to us by the job in the form of a paycheck. This price is mainly due to the fear of remain without money and greed for buying many things from that money. The pattern of get up, go to work, pay bills; get up, go to work, pay bills. This is called a rat race by the author. We are lying feeling to ourselves about the running into the rat race. Our fear led us to keep on working, paying bills, and working again. Our fear and worrying keep on raising with time and more money also do not reduce our fear. We become more fearful while we have more money rather when we were poor. With an increased level of money, our Fear of losing it keeps on rising.

We have an endless desire which also pushes us to work for the money. Our desire to buy a car, big house, latest gadgets, etc. Money can give us the joy of purchasing these items but that joy lives for a short period. Then again, another desire arises and we have to work for it, it also lives for short term and then again, another desire.

We should focus on our emotions, accept the truth, and use emotion to work towards our favor rather than work against us.

Disclosure – Companies mentioned in the article are just for an example & educational purpose. It is not a buy/sell/ hold recommendation. 

Read for more detail: Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach their Kids About Money that the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!

07 -ONCE A DARLING, NOW AN EVIL

The seven-part of Series “Once a darling, now an evil”. This series is based on the companies which were once upon a time darling of the market and now, it has wiped out the majority of all those gains. I am trying to put some of the number-crunching facts by which we have identified ongoing issues in the companies and have saved our wealth.

I am starting this part with one of the company is trading in a broad range of steel products which has an all-time high price of ~Rs.307 in 2011 and now last traded price at Rs.0.36.

On the first instance this company having huge sales and profit growth. This creates a temptation to buy with missing out of the opportunity.

Also, when we look at the debtor days then….

Reducing… good…

But don’t forget to look cash flow statement….

The company continuously having a negative CFO.

Don’t just get blinded with growth but focus on cash which is real.

Disclosure – Companies mentioned in the article are just for an example & educational purpose. It is not a buy/sell/ hold recommendation.