7 Action Steps From Robert Kiyosaki

Many people accuse Robert Kiyosaki of being very short on specifics.

They read “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” or “Cashflow Quadrant” or any of his books, and end up saying, “Okay, but what do I DO?”

In fact Kiyosaki does have, in amongst all the stories and general information, some very specific bits of advice.

[Caveat Emptor: Financial decisions must be tailored to your specific circumstances, so here at CarefulCash I'm not even going to try and give you financial advice. What you do with this information, or any other on this blog, is totally your responsibilty.]

Below I have summarized 7 immediately actionable steps that Robert Kiyosaki has recommended in his books, tapes, interviews and videos.

1. Raise your Financial IQ

Kiyosaki’s says that if someone comes to him with $10,000 to invest and asks him what they should do, he will tell them to invest in their own financial education so they can answer the question for themselves. Kiyosaki’s books are now available in libraries, or can be ordered easily from Amazon etc. start by playing games so you can make lots and lots of mistakes without harming your bank account. Begin with Monopoly or you can play Robert Kiyosaki’s Cashflow 101 online for free

2. Buy physical bullion

ie Gold and especially Silver buy bullion or bullion coins you can hold in your hand -do NOT buy numismatics instead, ie only buy things that vary in price based on the bullion spot market priceMike Maloney, author of the Rich Dad’s Advisors: Guide to Investing In Gold and Silver: Protect Your Financial Future, has an excellent movie-length video and website www.GoldSilver.com where you can also buy gold and silver direct. Mike recommends also for international storage BullionVault and GoldMoney. But get educated. Kiyosaki is on record saying he believes physical silver bullion is the deal of a lifetime, and the only reason he is no longer buying is that he built his own large position over the past decade when silver was even cheaper. He still recommends silver (and gold) to those who do not yet have any, particular in preference to holding cash

3. Get rid of bad debt

bad debt is debt that takes money out of your pocketbuying a bigger home for a tax credit, or a negatively geared property are examples of bad debtso it most credit card debt

4. Stop buying ‘doodads’

doodads are non-essential items, from flashy cars to vacation homes to Espresso machinesthe goal is not to live within your means by depriving yourself of the good things in life, the goal is to expand your means so you can enjoy them without worrythe strategy is to buy doodads by first building assets to pay for them

5. Buy/build assets

assets are anything that put money INTO your pocketmoney in an interest-bearing account is an asset, but a poor one that probably won’t keep up with inflationas a better example, this CarefulCash website makes far more money than it costs me so it is an asset

6. Get a bookkeeper

this will give you extra discipline on your finances, so what you spend on a bookkeeper will more than likely come back to you quickly and with interestthis will also help you get more familiar with financial statements and raise your financial IQfor bonus points, make the accounts into the same structure as Robert describes in his Cashflow diagram

7. Start your own business

the Rich Dad formula is to build a business to create excess cashflow to invest into real estate and other assets. you can either start a regular business (for this I suggest reading “The 4-Hour Workweek“, but it’s not a Kiyosaki recommendation) or join with a network marketing company BUT make sure you understand Robert Kiyosaki’s wisdom on Network Marketing / Multi-Level Marketing. Here are two key quotes: “I do not recommend looking into a network marketing business primarily for the money.”

AND at the same time…

“If I had to do it all over again, rather than build an old-style type of business, I would have started building a network marketing business.”

From Robert Kiyosaki – “The Business School For Peopl Who Like Helping People“

Republished in 2010 as “The Business of the 21st Century“

If you want to succeed in MLM you can’t just focus on the money. You have to focus on educating yourself, and here is where you can accelerate your MLM marketing education.

Do you have any other specific, easily actionable, low-cost steps from what Robert Kiyosaki teaches? If so, then add them in the comments below.