CASHFLOW

Have you ever encountered

a board game

that actually speaks of life circumstances

in a sureal way,

its elements can be used in real life?

Living pay check to pay check, always wanting a higher salary to make ends meet, always worried that your pay check is never enough and you can't save up because there's too many things to pay? Then CASHFLOW might just help you sort out a way for you to think otherwise.

With technology on steroids nowadays, it's huge effort to detach to a comfortable lifestyle of getting away from your android for a whole afternoon to "truly" connect to where you are and who you are with at the present. But here I tell you is something worthwhile of your time, most especially if you are planning to retire earlier than 60 years old.

With a purpose of financially educating the world, Robert Kiosaki had created a board game that could actually teach its players the importance of MONEY. I'm pretty sure we all have our own perception of what it's for. But it feels good when you are "financially literate".

After reading his book, RICH DAD POOR DAD, the co-publisher of the book, Sharon Lechter, wrote on its introduction that she was on the verge of finding a way of understanding her son when he said, "Is having a good life due to just by going to school and earning good grades? There's got to be another way. Surely having a stable life is not solely dependent on graduating with flying colours and landing a good job." She was stressed out and was finding this situation very frustrating. In her pursuit of the "other way" herself, she had come across this Monopoly like type of board game called Cashflow. Her husband had encouraged her to partake as a guinea pig of the creator to determine loopholes in the game. It was the answer she was looking for.

In life, there are 3 types of education, according to Robert Kiyosaki, there's:
1. ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE - this is gained in school as we were taught of how to read and write, add and subtract, basically, the fundamentals that we need.

2. PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE - this is the specialty you gain when you finish as a bachelor. When you pursue further knowledge in a certain subject, and you become an expert out of it, the knowledge that you gained falls here.

3. FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE is an understanding of the knowledge that you need to obtain to keep and maintain a lifelong security in terms of finances. This is the knowledge that only life and experience can teach. If you'd notice it, this type cannot be learned in school. Or in school alone for that matter.

You might ask, economics is being taught in school. Correct. But, it doesn't actually give you such awareness of why you should buy assets instead of gadgets and what are the reasons behind the huge gap between the poor and the upper rich. Moreover, it doesn't teach you what the basic laws of money are in which the secrets of the rich revolve in.

Well, here's an education made fun! The objective of the game is to get out of the rat race and experience how being an investor feels like theoretically.

What does it mean when I say, get out of the rat race !

If you'd look at the diagram on the left, a rat never stops running on the wheel. If I'd put a stationary cheese affront, the more it'd run like crazy. You, seeing the situation outside the box, know that the rat can never get the cheese. Now, let's have an open mind as I compare the majority of the working force to it.

An employed citizen goes to work, doing his best to keep his job and if possible doing extensive work to earn extra or to get a promotion. When he gets home, his day ends there and his earning power also stops. Meaning, when he doesn't work, he doesn't earn. He thinks that some changes will happen once he gets promoted but actually, it's just putting you to a bigger wheel for another longer race that just makes you more tied up and disables you to attaining financial freedom.

Now, let's look at what financial freedom means.

A T. Harv Eker Quote defined financial freedom simply as the "ability to live the lifestyle you desire without working or relying on anybody for money to sustain it". Who wouldn't want that?

So in order to win the game, Cashflow emphasises the importance of saving, earning passive income (income other than your current job), investing and reinvesting. It even follows an income statement wherein after you choose your random job, you have to balance out your income with your expenditures. There are some elements of surprise where you get a baby, you get laid off and a lot more. Now, a lot of us are in denial that we need some financial education. Well, in general, in order to resolve a problem is admitting that you have one. Answer the question in this diagram and you'd know what I'm saying.

Get out of it fast!

Well, this diagram actually shows a person who's tied up with his job for 40 years. His day pretty much goes about the same. He goes to work, then comes home and then watches TV for entertainment. Would you want to live such boring lifestyle? Of course not!

At first, learning the mechanics of the game was a work up. But as I played CASHFLOW 101 over and over, I tried to adopt some of the game's principles to win, into my own real life. And I never realised that I'd be bored with the mere fact of landing on to collecting my paycheck after knowing how to earn passive income in the game. When we started, nobody could get out of the rat race. Now, one of my friends can actually get out of the game in 20 minutes.

The beauty of it is that you can get out of the game anytime if you have to do something. And then just list down your investments and money at hand then just continue it whenever. It doesn't matter where your rat is at because it's just basically landing on the same thing again anyway. It is indeed a very smart game because the tool being used as per financial statement can even be used in real life.

For the people who are aiming to achieving financial freedom, you might want to give this a try. It is worth of your time and it will teach you a lot.

Financial statement being used in the game

Related posts:

1. A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL STOCK INVESTING WITH THE EIP COL EASY INVESTMENT PROGRAM - interested in buying stocks in the Philippines? Here's the broker, COL Financial, ready to cater and give you the best advices and deals.

2. 10 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT HONG KONG - Here are some of the advantages Hong Kong has that's why it's best to invest here.

3. RICH DAD POOR DAD - was written by Robert Kiosaki who also was the creator of the game, Cashflow.

RICH DAD POOR DAD

"The antidote to fear is knowledge."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

You may be indecisive in making your chess pieces move when it comes to investments. But deep inside, you know you need to do this. Let me break it up to you. The best investment you could ever do, is to invest in yourself. There are a lot of tools that are ready for us to choose from. There are mutual funds, stocks, insurances. But like any other tool, it's always smart to get hold of the teaching manual. Here is a book that is best for you to start with.

Rich Dad Poor Dad is a book about a man who was trained to understand how to make money work for him at a very young age.  The good news is, he is not hesitant at all to share the secret of the rich people since he aims to financially educate as many as he can. The rest of the details is up for you to discover but for my #fabfindFriday, I recommend this to all adults who are wary of what are the fundamentals in becoming financially literate. In this book lies a great driving force that is empowering enough for you to be confident in taking responsibility of your finances and that is the knowledge that you didn't realise you needed from Day 1.

Let me tell you something about the author, Robert Kiosaki is an entrepreneur, investor, financial advisor, financial literacy activist, radio personality and is a financial c
ommentator on Yahoo. He's basically a millionaire, a financial advisor turned spiritual, that encourages everybody to wake up and be able to manage life's most in demand form of security, MONEY.

Robert Kiosaki,
a 4th generation Japanese American
that was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii

Things I learned in this book:

1. The difference between assets and liabilities. - Very very important piece of information. Why? Besides your job that brings in cash flow every month, earning while you're sleeping puts more excitement to it. You see, assets, being anything that puts money in your pocket, are now my aim. I would have to say this to myself every time I am in a shopping dilemma, whether what I am about to buy is need or a want, "Buy assets, not gadgets." Liabilities, on the other hand, are those that take money "out" of your pocket. Usually, having a house, purchasing a car and hoarding on jewelries are treated as an investment, after reading this book, rethink again. Because for all you know, maybe the mortgage for the house, the registration plus gas plus parking space (if you're in HK is much more expensive than rent) for the car and depreciating jewelries (such as diamonds) maybe just fall into under liabilities.

2. The equation: 

Salary - Savings = Expenses

Any book about financial education would present this golden rule. It is the holy grail of "staying" rich. We have to remember that our hard earned salary are due to us being hard working. So why not pay yourself first (put away something for your investments, assets and retirement) then consider the expenses. Change your usual way of paying the bills first before paying yourself. Try it for a year and you'll be surprised with the outcome. In addition, don't save to just get it as it matures. Go for savings plans that would earn you interest more than the bank and more than the inflation rate. You would understand what I'm saying more if you read this book.

3. That money can buy happiness.

I realised that that statement actually is true after all because the way it's being used, money is just a tool. It didn't say Money is happiness. Money ables you to meet ends.

Every month, there are bills to pay. Whether you are rich or poor you have monthly expenses. Imagine if these bills would pile up let's say 3 months. I doubt it if you're not going to be stressed out because you cannot pay. Make it pile for 6 months, I don't think you'd be able to go out of your house, you feel so ashamed to show your face. Make it a year, I think that's one of the reasons people commit suicide. And if you die, with that much debt, do you think the ones who are still living would be happy? Let's say your family? That they had to deal with what you left? Ladies and gentlemen, there's nobody exempted from dying. It is just right for you to be ready with things that are out of our control. Shit happens. Divorce, Death and Downsizing, which means before you get too comfortable, you should be open to the fact that you can't be assured of having the job that you have now FOREVER. So, why not make money work for you in the sense that it secures your monthly needs? How long would you be able to afford unemployment keeping up with the same lifestyle you have while you still had the job? If your cash-flow is greater than that of your monthly expenses, then you are one step closer to financial freedom. So to those that disagrees with me, that money can buy happiness, perhaps you don't know how to use money wisely and as to how it's supposed to be used.

4. Truly rich means being able to give.

Donation jars take approximately
1 and a half year before getting filled up each time.

I also know a Philippine evangelist named Bo Sanchez and I continuously keep myself abreast of his teachings. I got hold of his advocacy in imparting financial education to the Filipinos, most specifically to the masses, to eradicate the habit of crab mentality and to help out the poor and the middle class to attain richness. He is an evangelist turned financial advocate while Robert Kiosaki is a financial advocate turned spiritual. Meaning, for the truly rich men, they understand that there's no contentment in being rich alone, in having so much money yet, living without purpose. If you are able to help other people and if you are able to make them become responsible of their own riches, then, there lies the reality behind being "truly" rich. There's no point in keeping the knowledge about investments and the advantage in having passive income a secret. With that being said, there's no point in staying financially ignorant too. So, as you pay it forward, enlightenment happens.

5. Choose your friends wisely.

With that much enlightenment, you would be excited every day every night to start what you think you should've started doing already a year ago, a couple of years ago, or 8 years ago (in my case) and you'll start talking about it nonstop. You get so driven, you want as much friends, loved ones and family to get enlightened at the same time. Don't take this against me but I realised it's not that easy to share what you know because they'd either think that you're a know-it-all or that you've become a worshipper of money. Some closed minded people would even answer, "I don't need anybody to tell me how to save." or "I don't have that much to save because I can't barely make it every month." I tell you, I know a lot of people who dress up so nicely, complete with accessories and the latest gadget to complete their style but their savings are zero. To make it worst, it may be negative since they are living with debts.

Somebody once told me, you would know when a person gets enlightened when that person couldn't stop talking about an idea. I am now blogging a lot of ideas about money because I have been opened up to an affordable, achievable and attainable form of investment and I'd like to impart what I know to my readers. In my experience, encouraging a person to embrace the idea of investing for unexpected situations that may arise anytime (death, divorce, downsizing) is like encouraging somebody to believe in your religion. It's funny but it does feel this way. Some friends who actually got money, love talking about the subject. Because they learn from each other. But for those that actually don't, and are not saving, they find the topic of money rude and disrespectful. You don't have to push the idea. Just find the group that actually has the underlying reason why they're doing this. They wouldn't be there if their aspiration is not as big as yours. Have the information readily available and just cater to those who are ready to do what really works for them.

Check out this book for this is worth your time. Trust me.

Related posts:

1. HOW FINANCIALLY RICH ARE YOU?  - 6 steps on how to assess your financial status.

2. A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL STOCK INVESTING WITH THE EIP COL INVESTING EASY INVESTMENT PROGRAM - a brokerage company that may help Filipinos own some shares of most sought after companies in the Philippines.

3. THE PARABLE OF THE WEEDS - God gave us talents to help us attain richness that would enable us live sufficiently.