By Cameron Huddleston
GOBankingRates.com.
Robert Kiyosaki is one of the best-known names in personal finance largely due to the success of his book “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” in which he wrote that workers won’t get rich toiling away at conventional 9-to-5 jobs.
His advice continues to resonate, so GOBankingRates has once again selected him as a finalist in its 2015 Best Money Expert competition. As part of this year’s competition, Kiyosaki was asked to share his best money tip for 2016.
“Don’t wait for the government, a financial advisor or your boss to take care of you,” he said. “You must take control of your finances. You must get financially educated. Take responsibility for your life and your future.”
Here are five of Kiyosaki’s best money tips of all time, selected to help you take control of your finances as you head into the new year.
FINANCIAL EDUCATION: THE KEY TO WEALTH
Kiyosaki has said that his true passion is teaching. He created a board game and financial education company to teach people about money management. The board game is designed to simulate real-life financial strategies and scenarios.
“Financial education and getting smarter with your money is always a great way to prepare for the future, whatever it holds, good and bad, and hedge against all the unexpected speed bumps on the road to financial freedom,” Kiyosaki told GOBankingRates.
TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR FINANCES
No one cares as much about your financial security as you do. So Kiyosaki’s advice is to “take responsibility for your finances or take orders all your life.”
He added: “You’re either a master of money or a slave to it.”
PAY YOURSELF FIRST
Budgeting isn’t only about paying the bills. It’s also about paying yourself first by socking away money routinely.
“When Kim and I were first married, we committed to making our investing an expense in our budget,” Kiyosaki wrote on his blog. “Each month, we paid ourselves through our expense column the money we needed to save up for and purchase assets that would provide us cash flow. This was an example of an expense that made us rich.”
HAVE A CONTINGENCY PLAN
In the event of a job loss, decrease in income, medical emergency or other unexpected situation, it’s important to have a contingency plan and cash reserves to cover expenses, he said.
“Setbacks often leave us reeling since they’re often unexpected and can involve high emotion. And when emotion goes up, intelligence goes down,” Kiyosaki said. “I try to step back, calm my emotions and ask myself: What’s the lesson here? What can I learn from this? How can I be better prepared in the future?”
SPEND ON ASSETS, NOT LIABILITIES
To get ahead financially, Kiyosaki recommended that you spend money on assets that generate wealth such as real estate. You can’t grow your wealth if you’re spending it on cars, clothes and vacations.
Yet, Kiyosaki said that people should not consider their house an asset, even when it’s paid off. “The home that I live in still costs me money every month for utilities, taxes, insurance (and) maintenance,” he said in a published interview.
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Cameron Huddleston writes for GOBankingRates.com, a leading portal for personal finance news and features, offering visitors the latest information on everything from interest rates to strategies on saving money, managing a budget and getting out of debt.
