| My parents' advice may have worked for people born before 1945, but it may be disastrous for those of us born into a rapidly changing worldNo longer can I simply say to my children, "Go to school, get good grades, and look for a safe, secure job
I knew I had to look for new ways to guide my children's education
As a mother as well as an accountant, I have been concerned by the lack of financial education our children receive in schoolMany of today's youth have credit cards before they leave high school, yet they have never had a course in money or how to invest it, let alone understand how compound interest works on credit cardsSimply put, without financial literacy and the knowledge of how money works, they are not prepared to face the world that awaits them, a world in which spending is emphasized over savings
When my oldest son became hopelessly in debt with his credit cards as a freshman in college, I not only helped him destroy the credit cards, but I also went in prada handbag search of a program that would help me educate my children on financial matters
One day last year, my husband called me from his office"I have someone I think you should meet," he said"His name is Robert KiyosakiHe's a businessman and investor, and he is here applying for a patent on an educational productI think it's what you have been looking for
Just What I Was Looking For
My husband, Mike, was so impressed with CASHFLOW, the new educational product that Robert Kiyosaki was developing, that he arranged for both of us to participate in a test of the prototypeBecause it was an educational game, I also asked my 19-year-old daughter, who was a freshman at a local university, if she would like to take part, and she agreed
About fifteen people, broken into three groups, participated in the testIt was the educational product I had been looking forBut it had a twist: It looked like a colorful Monopoly board with a giant well-dressed rat in the middleUnlike Monopoly, however, replica cartier watches there were two tracks: one inside and one outsideThe object of the game was to get out of the inside track-what Robert called the "Rat Race" and reach the outer track, or the "Fast Track As Robert put it, the Fast Track simulates how rich people play in real life
Robert then defined the "Rat Race" for us
"If you look at the life of the average-educated, hard-working person, there is a similar pathThe child is born and goes to schoolThe proud parents are excited because the child excels, gets fair to good grades, and is accepted into a collegeThe child graduates, maybe goes on to graduate school and then does exactly as programmed: looks for a safe, secure job or careerThe child finds that job, maybe as a doctor or a lawyer, or joins the Army or works for the governmentGenerally, the child begins to make money, credit cards start to arrive in mass, and the shopping begins, if it already hasn't
"Having money to burn, the child goes to places where other young people just like handbags louis vuitton them hang out, and they meet people, they date, and sometimes they get marriedLife is wonderful now, because today, both men and women workTwo incomes are blissThey feel successful, their future is bright, and they decide to buy a house, a car, a television, take vacations and have childrenThe happy bundle arrivesThe demand for cash is enormousThe happy couple decides that their careers are vitally important and begin to work harder, seeking promotions and raisesThe raises come, and so does another child and the need for a bigger houseThey work harder, become better employees, even more dedicatedThey go back to school to get more specialized skills so they can earn more moneyMaybe they take a second jobTheir incomes go up, but so does the tax bracket they're in and the real estate taxes on their new large home, and their Social Security taxes, and all the other taxesThey get their large paycheck and wonder where all the money wentThey buy some mutual funds and buy groceries knock off chanel watches with their credit cardThe children reach 5 or 6 years of age, and the need to save for college increases as well as the need to save for their retirement
"That happy couple, born 35 years ago, is now trapped in the Rat Race for the rest of their working daysThey work for the owners of their company, for the government paying taxes, and for the bank paying off a mortgage and credit cards
"Then, they advise their own children to `study hard, get good grades, and find a safe job or career' They learn nothing about money, except from those who profit from their na?et? and work hard all their livesThe process repeats into another hard-working generationThis is the `Rat Race'
The only way to get out of the "Rat Race" is to prove your proficiency at both accounting and investing, arguably two of the most difficult subjects to masterAs a trained CPA who once worked for a Big 8 accounting firm, I was surprised that Robert had made the learning of these two subjects both fun and balenciaga designer exciti |
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