In 1995, I was interviewed by a Singapore newspaper.

The young female reporter arrived on time and the interview started immediately.

We sat in the lobby of a luxury hotel,

sipping coffee and discussing the purpose of my visit to Singapore.

I stood on the podium with Zig Ziglar.

He talked about motives,

and I talked about “The Secrets of the Rich.”

The female reporter says one day,

I will be a bestselling author like you.

I have read some of your articles and find them very interesting.

She has a strong and clear writing style.

Her articles are very popular with readers.

I replied, “Your writing style is very good.

What kept you from achieving your dream?”

The girl said: “It seems that my works are not reaching everyone.

Everyone said my novels were great, but nothing happened.

That’s why I kept my job as a journalist.

At least there’s something to pay the bill.

Do you have any advice for me?

I excitedly said,

“Yes. In Singapore I have a friend who runs a business school.

He conducts sales training for many leading companies in Singapore.

I think if you attend one of his classes,

you’ll boost your career a lot.”

“You mean I have to go to that school to learn how to sell books?”

the girl asked sharply, I nodded.

“Are you kidding?”

I shook my head.

At this point I feel bouncing.

The girl felt offended and I wish I hadn’t said anything.

“I have a bachelor’s degree in English Literature.

Why do I have to learn how to be a bookseller?

I am a professional.

I went to school and was trained for a career so that I wouldn’t have to be a salesman.

I hate sales people.

All they want is money.”

The girl angrily gathered the papers.

The interview ended.

On the Coffee Table is one of the best-selling books I’ve written.

I picked it up with the girl’s note in the blotting pad.

I showed her the note: “What do you see?”

The girl looked down in confusion: “What?”

I purposely pointed to her note.

On the piece of paper she wrote:

“Robert Kiyosaki, bestselling author…”

“It says I’m a ‘bestselling author’, not a ‘best author’.”

Immediately the girl opened her eyes wide,

and listened to me attentively.

“I am a bad writer.

She is a great writer.

I learned how to trade.

She has a bachelor’s degree.

Put those two things together and you’ll be the best-written book author,

and the “best-selling author”.

Anger flashed in the girl’s eyes:

“I will never humble myself to learn how to sell.

People like you don’t write anything.

I’m a professional writer and you’re a salesman…”

And the girl hurried away…

The world is full of talented, intelligent,

well educated and gifted people.

We see them every day because they are all around us.

But the sad truth is that having great talent alone is not enough.

I am often amazed at the meager salaries that so many talented people earn.

I’ve heard that less than 5% of Americans earn more than $100,000 a year.

I have met brilliant people, highly educated but earning less than $20,000 a year.

A business consultant who specializes in commercial medicine told me that there are many doctors,

dentists, and medical practitioners who are struggling financially.

Before that, I thought while they were graduating,

money must have started pouring in.

This business mentor said,

“A talent alone does not come with a great fortune.”

I have said before that financial intelligence is a combination of accounting,

investing, markets and law.

Combining these four technical skills, making money will be much easier.

However, when it comes to money,

the only skill most people know is just working hard!

A classic example of skill matching is the young reporter I talked about at the beginning of the article.

If she diligently learned more sales and marketing skills,

her income would skyrocket.

If I were her, I would take a few more copywriting and sales courses.

Then, instead of working for the newspaper,

I would find work in advertising agencies.

Even if her income is cut,

she will still learn how to communicate with the “shortcuts” used in successful commercials.

She should also take the time to research relationships with others publicity,

a pretty important skill.

She would learn how to make millions of dollars in free advertising.

And in the evenings and weekends,

she could spend writing her great novel.

When it’s done, she’ll be able to sell the book faster,

and after a short while, she can become a “best-selling author.”

When I released the book “If you want to be rich and happy

If you are happy, don’t go to school?”

one publisher suggested that I change the title to”Educational Economics”.

I told them that, with such a title,

I would only sell two books:

one for my friends and one for my family.

I chose the nasty title.

If you want to be rich and happy,

don’t go to school?

because I knew it would appeal to the public.

So I chose a title that would get me on television,

I was simply ready to argue with them.

A lot of people thought I was like a fruitcake for flies, but the book still sold well.

When I graduated from the American Maritime Trade Institute in 1969,

my highly educated father was very happy.

The California Standard Oil Company hired me as a seaman for oil tankers.

I’m the third mate, and my salary is lower than my colleagues,

but that’s okay with my first real job after graduation.

My starting salary is $42,000 a year including overtime,

and I was only assigned to work for seven months.

I have five months of rest. If I wanted to,

I could go to Vietnam with a affiliated shipping company

and it would be easy to double my salary instead of taking a 5 month vacation.

I had a huge career ahead of me,

but after six months with the company,

I quit my job and joined the Marine Corps to learn how to fly.

The highly educated father was very angry.

And rich dad congratulated me,

because he thought that “You need to know a little bit of everything.”

That’s why over the years I worked in different parts of rich dad’s company.

At one time I worked in the accounting department.

Although I may not be able to become a good accountant,

he still wanted me to learn by absorbing slowly.

Rich dad knew that I would learn the “jargon”

and be able to see what was important and what wasn’t.

I also work as a waiter and a construction worker,

as well as in sales,

reservations, and marketing.

Rich dad is “preparing” for Mike and me.

That’s why he insisted that we be present at his meetings with bankers,

lawyers, accountants and brokers,

he wanted us to know a little bit about everything. aspect of his empire.

When I resigned from my high-paying job at Standard Oil,

my highly educated father had a frank conversation with me.

He was bewildered, not understanding

why I decided to leave a high-paying, profitable career so big, so much rest time and so many advancement opportunities.

I couldn’t explain it to him no matter how hard I tried.

My logic doesn’t match your logic. Another big problem, my logic is rich dad logic.

Job security is everything to the highly educated father.

And learning is everything for rich dad

My highly educated father thought I went to school to learn to be a marine officer.

Rich dad knew that I went to school to learn about international trade.

As a student, I studied cargo handling,

piloting cargo ships, tankers and passenger ships to the Far East and South Pacific.

Rich dad emphasized that I should stay in the Pacific instead of sailing to Europe

because he knows that the emerging countries are Asian countries, not Europe.

While my classmates were busy participating in the Student Union,

I was learning how to do business,

learning about the types and cultures of Japan, Taiwan, Thailand,

Singapore, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. ,

Korea, Tahiti, Samoa and the Philippines…

Thanks to those studies, I quickly grew up.

The highly educated father just didn’t understand

why I decided to quit my job to join the Marine Corps.

I told him I wanted to learn to fly,

but really I wanted to learn how to lead an organization.

Rich dad explained that the hardest thing about running a company is managing people.

He served three years in the army,

and my educated father was exempt from the draft.

Rich dad taught me the value of learning how to lead people in dangerous situations.

“Leadership is the next thing you need to learn,” he said.

“If you’re not a good leader, you’ll be sold behind,

and it’s the same in business.”

In 1973, I returned from Vietnam and resigned from my job,

even though I enjoyed flying.

I’m looking for a job at Xerox Corps. I’m here for a reason,

not a profit.

I am a timid person and the thought of having to go into sales is the most horrible problem in the world. I joined Xerox

because it had one of the best sales training programs in America.

Rich dad was very proud of me,

and highly educated dad was embarrassed.

As a mind worker,

he thought salespeople were of the lower class.

I worked at Xerox for 4 years

until I overcame my fear of door to door knocking and being kicked out.

Having become one of the top five salespeople,

I quit my job and moved,

leaving behind a great career with a great company.

In 1977, I founded my first company.

Rich dad prepared Mike and I to take over companies.

So now I have to learn how to set them up and put them together.

My first product, a velcro nylon wallet,

was made in the Far East and shipped to a warehouse in New York,

near where I used to go to school.

Formal studies have been completed,

and now it is time for me to test my applicability.

If I fail, I will go bankrupt.

Rich dad thought it was best to go bankrupt before the age of 30.

His advice was: “You’ll still have time to stand up.”

On the night of my 30th birthday,

the first train left Korea for New York…

Today I still do business internationally.

And as rich dad encouraged me,

I’m always looking for emerging countries.

Currently my investment company is investing throughout South America,

Asia, Norway and Russia.

There’s an old saying: “Job stands for ‘Just Over Broke’.

” And unfortunately this statement holds true for millions of people.

Because the school doesn’t think that financial literacy is a worthwhile understanding,

most workers “live in misery in a vicious cycle of working and paying the bills.”

I also know another management theory that says:

“Workers who work hard won’t get fired,

and employers will just pay enough so that workers don’t quit.”

And if you look at the ratio In the salary ratio of most companies,

you will find that there is some truth in this statement.

The end result is that most workers never get far.

They did what they were taught:

“Find a secure job.”

Most workers are focused on working for pay

and rewards for short-term profits but long-term unhappiness.

Instead, I encourage young people to find work for what they have learned rather

than what they will earn.

Look down the path of the skills they want to acquire

before choosing a specialized career and before getting trapped in the “Rat Race”.

Once people are trapped in the lifelong process of paying bills they become like little hamsters running around on a metal wheel…

In the movie “Jerry Maguire” starring movie star Tom Cruise,

there are many good sayings.

But there is one sentence that I think is the most true.

That quote is in the scene where Tom is leaving the company.

He had just been fired and he asked the entire company,

“Who wants to come with me?”

And the whole scene froze in silence.

Only one woman said:

“I want to go too,

but I will be promoted in three months.”

This is probably the most honest quote throughout the movie.

That’s the kind of phrase people use to keep themselves working to pay their bills.

I know that my highly educated father always expected a raise every year,

and with each passing year he was disappointed.

So he goes back to school to learn new skills so he can get a raise,

but again he is disappointed.

When I talk to adults who want to make a lot of money,

I always encourage them to try a second job that can teach them a new skill.

Usually I encourage them to join a network advertising agency,

aka multi-level marketing, if they want to learn sales skills.

Some of these companies have excellent training programs

that help people overcome fear of failure and fear of rejection,

the main reasons people fail.

After all, learning is more valuable than money.

When I make these suggestions,

I often hear the answer:

That’s annoying or “I just want to do what I like.”

With the statement, “That’s so annoying,” I asked again:

“So you’d rather work all your life and give the government 50% of what you earn?”

As for the “I just want to do what I like” response,

I say, “I don’t like going to the gym,

but I have to because I want to be healthy and live a long life.”

Unfortunately, it is often difficult for older people to learn new things.

Unless one is used to changes, it is very difficult to change.

But for those who may be hesitant when it comes to learning something new,

I often encourage them:

Life is like going to the gym.

The hardest part was deciding to go.

Once you get over it, everything is easy.

A lot of days I get scared just thinking about going to the gym,

but once I’m there and starting to exercise,

it becomes a pleasure.

After practicing, I always feel happy

because I can do what I say.

Instead, if you are not willing to work to learn new things

and insist on cultivating a high level of expertise only in your field,

make sure the company where you are working is successfully organized.

Labor unions are dedicated to protecting professionals.

If I continued my flying career,

I would probably find a company with a strong pilot union.

Why? Because I would dedicate my life completely to learning a skill that is only valid in one area.

If I was pushed out of this industry,

my survival skills would be worthless in other professions.

An elderly pilot who is laid off,

with 100,000 hours of heavy transport flying,

making $150,000 a year,

will have a hard time finding a job with comparable pay in the education industry, for example,

because of the skills that come with them,

a paid pilot in the aviation industry is not important in another system, such as a school.

So from experience, “High expertise, big union.

That’s a very good thing to do.

When I ask students in the classes I teach:

“How many of you can do a job,

the hamburger is better than McDonald,s?”

Almost all the students raised their hands.

Then I asked,

“So if most of you can make better cakes,

why does Mcdonald’s make more money than you?”

The answer is obvious: McDonald’s has an excellent business system.

The reason most talented people suffer from poverty is

that they are so focused on making a good hamburger

that they know little or nothing about the business model.

The world is full of talented but poor people.

And very often, they are poor and struggle financially or can only earn less

than they can afford not because of what they know but

because of what they do not know.

They focus on perfecting the skills to make a delicious hamburger rather than selling and distributing that hamburger.

Mcdonald’s may not make the best cakes,

but they can sell and distribute the best average cakes.

Poor dad wanted me to become specialized.

That is his view on how to get paid more.

Even after the Hawaiian authorities said he would no longer work for the government,

my highly educated father continued to encourage me to specialize.

He then mentioned teachers’ unions,

which advocate for further protection of the rights of highly educated and skilled professionals.

We often argue with each other,

but I know you will never agree that it is over-specialization that has led to the demand for union protection.

He never understood that the more specialized you become,

the more likely you are to fall into the trap and become more dependent on it.

Rich dad advised Mike and I to prepare ourselves.

Many trading companies do the same.

They found bright young students in business school and began to “prepare” these people

to one day take over the company.

So these young employees are not specialized in chemistry in any one department,

they are moved from one department to another

to learn every aspect of the business system.

The rich often “prepare” their own children

or the children of others.

In this way, the child will gain a general knowledge of the business

and the interrelationships between different departments.

For generations born during the second world war,

switching from one company to another was considered a “bad thing!”

Today it is a wise thing to do company after company without looking for more specialization so why not look to learn rather than make money.

In the near future you will probably make less money,

but in the distant future,

you will be rewarded with large dividends.

The key management skills needed to achieve success are:

1. Cash rotation management.

2. Time management (including yourself and family time).

3. Work with wise people

The most important specialization skills are sales skills and market knowledge.

The ability to sell or the ability to communicate with others: a customer,

an employee, a boss, a spouse or even a child is a fundamental skill for personal success.

Communication skills such as writing,

speaking, and negotiation are essential to a successful life.

It’s a skill that I’m constantly working on,

taking courses or buying educational tapes to expand my knowledge.

Like I said, the harder and harder the highly educated father worked,

the more proficient he became.

And the more he specialized, the more traps he fell into.

Although his salary increased, his options were limited.

It was soon after leaving the government that he realized how vulnerable he really was on the job.

Just like a professional athlete suddenly injured or too old to play anymore.

The high paying position they once held is over,

and now have to use their limited abilities.

I suppose that’s why my highly educated father relied so much on the union.

Rich dad encouraged Mike and I to learn a little bit about each.

He encouraged us to work with people smarter than we were,

and to bring these smart people together as a team.

Today that is called the fusion of professions.

Today I can meet former teachers who make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

They do so much because they have specialized skills in their field as well as many other skills.

They can teach and also sell or market.

I know of no skill more important than sales and marketing.

These two skills are difficult to learn for most people mainly because they fear rejection.

The better you communicate, negotiate well,

and manage your fear of rejection, the easier life will be.

Technical specialization has its own strengths and weaknesses.

I have friends who are genius

but can’t communicate with others effectively and as a result make little money.

I advise them to just spend a year learning to sell!

even if they don’t earn any money,

they can still develop good communication skills.

And that is priceless.

Besides being a good student,

a good salesman and a great marketer,

we also need to be a good teacher and a good student.

To be truly rich, we need to know how to give and take.

In cases of financial or professional struggles,

people often neither give nor take.

I know many people who are poor just

because they are not a good student nor a good teacher.

Both of my fathers are generous people.

Both have instilled in me the habit of giving before receiving.

Teaching is a way of giving.

The more they give, the more they will receive.

But there is a clear difference in the way money is given.

Rich dad gave away a lot of money.

He gave to the church,

to charities, to practitioners.

He knew that in order to receive money you had to give money.

Giving money is a secret of most big rich families.

That’s why there are organizations like the Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

These organizations are designed to hold wealth and increase it and give it away forever.

My highly educated father always said,

“When I have a penny left over,

I give it all away.”

The trouble was, he never had any spare money.

So he tries to work hard to make a lot of money without focusing on the most important law of money:

Give and you will receive.

Instead, he believes, “Take and then give.”

In short, I studied both fathers.

Part of me is a core capitalist who loves the money game.

On the other hand,

I am a socially responsible teacher,

deeply concerned about the widening gap between yes and no.

Personally,

I think it is the archaic education system that is primarily responsible for this growing gap.