ROBERT KIYOSAKI AND THE ART OF FEARLESS LIVING
by Steve Osborne
Robert Kiyosaki loves success. But he’s not afraid of failure. He loves the benefits of wealth. But he’s not afraid of being broke.
Today, he is a
poster child for success. Confident, energized and excited to be alive, he
lives with his wife Kim in a beautiful
But Robert hasn’t always been rich and successful. As recently as 1985 he was broke and homeless.
“Kim and I lived in a car for two or three weeks,” he explains. “We ran out of money.”
Most people would be devastated by such traumatic circumstances. What effect did it have on Robert? “Not much,” he says simply. “I’d been without money three times before that. I don’t have the same fear most people have. I don’t like being out of money, but I’m not afraid of it. It’s really not that bad. It’s just uncomfortable.
Another thing Robert is not afraid of: economic downturns. “I like it when the bubble bursts,” he says. “That’s when it’s easy to get rich. That’s when bad investors lose their properties and good investors buy them. If you’re a smart investor, it shouldn’t matter whether the times are good or bad.”
For Robert Kiyosaki, fearlessness is a success strategy .
Early Adventures
He learned a lot
about fear and fearlessness in Viet Nam. He went there twice. His first visit was in 1966 during his four years
as a student at the Merchant Marine Academy in
The second time
Robert went to
His belief did not last long. He saw many terrible things there. “But the hardest part was the realization that we shouldn’t have been there – that we were lied to,” he says. “I realized that what I was reading in the papers wasn’t really happening. They elevated the enemy body counts to make the American public think we were winning. But of course they didn’t say how many of those bodies were women and children. And they kept talking about winning the hearts and minds of the people. But I noticed that when you shoot somebody’s father or husband or kid, you don’t win their hearts and minds.
“So I almost stopped being a Marine out there. I just couldn’t do it anymore. I don’t regret going. It was a good learning experience for me and I have tremendous respect for the Marine Corps. But I went from someone who was pro-war to someone who was very anti-war.”
After completing his six-year obligation as an officer and pilot in the Marine Corps, Robert returned to the States and went to work as a salesman for Xerox. His object was not to climb the corporate ladder – he had to be an entrepreneur – but to learn how to sell. He learned well and became a top salesman. After four years with Xerox he quit to devote himself full-time to entrepreneurship.
His first
success was building a company that produced nylon and Velcro “surfer”
wallets. The product, which was manufactured in
“I saw what we were doing to the children in those factories,” he recalls, “and once again, like in Viet Nam, I lost my fire. I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t get rich at the expense of those kids. I have a conscience. So we stopped our operations there. We did our best to manufacture in the United States again, but the laws were not set up for us to win here. I didn’t want to manufacture overseas and I couldn’t afford to manufacture in the States.”
The company limped along, heading downhill. Twice, Robert went broke with it. Although he did not go bankrupt, at one point he was about $850,000 in debt.
Friend. Business Partner. Wife.
During Robert’s turbulent entrepreneurial ups and downs, he went to a bar one night and met Kim, the woman who would become his wife. (He had been married once before, but only for a few months. “It’s best to know when to cut your losses,” he points out.)
Born and raised
in
Five years into
her career, she met Robert. “On our first date,” she recalls,
“Robert said, ‘What do you want to do with your life?’ I said I
wanted my own business. A month later we started our first business
together. We designed a logo and had it embroidered on shirts and jackets
and then marketed them throughout the
Financial success remained elusive, however. “Robert and I met in February of ’84,” explains Kim. “We moved to California to start a new business at the end of that year. 1985 was what I call our ‘year from hell.’ We were broke. We were homeless for a short time. We slept in the car. We really struggled. But we were determined that we would start a successful business together.
“Looking back, I’ll have to admit I’m glad we went through it. I don’t ever want to go through it again – thank you very much – but I’m glad it happened because now we know we can get through anything. The toughest part of that experience was that our self-esteem and confidence took such a hit. But to climb out of it made us so much stronger, individually and as a couple. In retrospect, it was a blessing.”
According to Kim, “Robert and I both say, ‘Number one, we’re best friends. Number two, we’re business partners. Number three, we’re husband and wife.’”
Many women hardly know what their husbands do, let alone take an active part in it. Kim is not one of these women. “You see so many people who have no idea what their spouses are doing,” she observes. “I’ve seen so many couples grow apart. I knew that I wanted my life partner to also be my business partner. We both love business. So we also have an agreement that whenever we go to a seminar, we go together. Whenever we read a great book, we read it together. We want to make sure that we grow together. Being business partners and marriage partners does not work for everybody. But it definitely is what works best for us.”
Redesigning
a Life
Robert and Kim
fought their way back. They made smart real estate investments. They
started an education company on the side, through which Robert taught
entrepreneurship. (“I didn’t realize I was a teacher,” he admits.)
Robert and Kim
moved to
That’s how Robert came to retire at a ranch in the Arizona mountains at the age of 47.
He didn’t like retirement, however. Rather than watch television and play golf, he used his time in the mountains to design the rest of his life. “That was the halfway point of my life,” he explains. “I had the achieved the dream – I was retired and didn’t have to work anymore. But I felt unsettled. Everybody thinks retirement is a lot of fun. It’s actually boring.”
He must not have let himself be bored for long, because by the time he came down from the mountain in 1996, he had started a gold mine, a silver mine and an oil company – all of which “hit” and all of which generated fortunes in and of themselves – adding to his real estate wealth. Plus, he had the completed text for a book (Rich Dad Poor Dad) and sketches for a board game designed to help people learn how to invest (cashflow® 101).
“I worked very hard in retirement,” he says. “But I was working to build assets. I wasn’t working for a paycheck. There’s a very big difference.”
With his book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, which he wrote with Sharon L. Lechter, C.P.A., the Kiyosaki name became a household word. But it didn’t happen overnight. About a dozen literary agents and publishers rejected the manuscript. According to Robert: “They wanted me to rewrite it and make changes, but I said ‘That’s exactly the way it is.’ They said, ‘But you can’t write!’ I said, ‘So what?’”
Robert decided
to self-publish 1,000 copies of his book. He managed to place a dozen
copies in a gas station and car wash in
The rest is history. Rich Dad Poor Dad has spawned a series of a dozen other books by Robert, with total sales currently at about 25 million copies. The Rich Dad series has been translated into 45 languages and is available in 90 countries. Rich Dad Poor Dad ranks as the longest-running bestseller on all four of the lists that report to Publisher’s Weekly: The New York Times, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
The cashflow® 101 game has also become a hit. A reported 1,600 cashflow clubs have cropped up around the country. People get together and play the game, and in the process, learn about investing.
In
the “
According to Mona Gambetta, who has worked for Robert for over five years, “He is one of the most energetic and productive people I know. I think part of that is that he seems to be doing what he’s meant to be doing – he’s in the right place.”
Is Robert fulfilling his mission in life? “It seems that way,” he says thoughtfully. “There’s too much magic for it not to be that way.
That’s not to say challenges do not arise. “One year ago, The Rich Dad Company was going downhill,” Robert admits. “I had hired a lot of corporate people. But corporate guys are not entrepreneurs. They raised salaries, had meetings all day and didn’t do the work. The company was going bust so I got rid of them last September and turned the company around. I’m much happier now.”
Buying
a Lifestyle
Money can buy a lot of things. What has it bought Robert Kiyosaki? “Lifestyle,” he says. “I like my lifestyle. It’s much better than being poor.”
Robert’s
definition of a good lifestyle does not include laziness. He typically
gets up at
His other
businesses, including real estate investing, demand time, too. Plus, he
and Kim are often pulled into a grueling travel schedule, speaking,
teaching (he has performed live at Madison
“We thrive on
all the activity,” says Kim. “When you’re winning, it’s fun. And Rich
Dad is doing phenomenally well. As long as we keep winning we’re
going to keep going. It’s not the money that drives us anymore. I
don’t mean to be flippant, but it’s a game. Of course, there are times
when we’re so exhausted we decide to take some time off. Next month
we’re going to our house in
Exercise helps the Kiyosakis keep up with their demanding schedule. Not long ago, Robert started working with a trainer who put him on an intense exercise schedule and a strict eating regimen. Kim confides that Robert has lost 55 pounds in the past year.
For mental exercise, Robert reads. “I put together study groups and we study books in depth,” he explains.
What does Robert enjoy doing when he’s not working? “Working!” he says. “I have the luxury of having enough money that I don’t have to work. But I’ve already retired once and I hated it. So I work at what I love doing. I’m working with Donald Trump, Magic Johnson … my work is my fun.”
Robert enjoys the rewards of his work. He likes fast cars and nice surroundings. He loves the luxury of not having to fly commercially when he travels, flying in a private plane instead.
The
Essential Kiyosaki
In the final analysis, Robert Kiyosaki eludes analysis.
He has overcome the personal fears that hamper most people’s success, yet he is worried about the financial future of his fellow Americans. He prizes his freedom, yet embraces a schedule that would wear most people out in a matter of days. He enjoys the things money can buy, but does not make money his goal. According to those closest to him, he is powerful yet humble, incredibly energetic yet soft-spoken, a hard-headed businessman yet surprisingly generous and kind.
Robert’s own analysis of himself is far more simple. “I love what I do and I make a lot of money doing it,” he says. “I tell people things they don’t otherwise hear. Not everybody agrees with me but at least I give them another point of view. And I practice what I preach.”
Perhaps he’s not that complicated after all.
# # #
Meet the Rich
Woman
Robert is not the only successful writer in the family. Kim’s new book, Rich Woman, was recently launched in San Francisco at one of their educational mega-events with Donald Trump. The book, which will soon be in book stores, is currently available at The Rich Dad Organization’s Web site (www.richdad.com) and on the new Rich Woman Web site (www.richwoman.com).
“The subtitle is ‘Because I Hate Being Told What to Do,’ ” laughs Kim. “And it’s true. That characteristic of mine was one of the things that made me realize that I needed to go into business for myself.
The storyline is about Kim and five girlfriends who all started their careers at about the same time in Honolulu. They lose touch but get back together for a reunion 20 years later. “The common denominator among my five friends is that none of them have control over their financial lives,” Kim explains. “It’s a book about these different woman, all from very different backgrounds, and how they take financial control of their lives.”
These woman are composite characters, drawn from women Kim has known.
“It was startling to read the statistics, such as the fact that 47 percent of women over the age of 50 are single, and one out of two marriages end in divorce,” Kim states. “For whatever reason, women are all of a sudden finding themselves on their own and having to take care of their financial wellbeing. Too many of them are not prepared. I used to think it was a good idea for women to learn how to invest. But now I know it’s essential for women to take control of their financial lives. That’s why I wrote the book.”
CREL: You have predicted that the real estate bubble is going to burst. Should investors be worried?
KIYOSAKI: If they’re worried it means they’re not good investors. If they’re good investors, it doesn’t make a difference if the market goes up or down. The only people who should be nervous are flippers, and I don’t consider that investing. I consider that trading. When I buy a property, I make money whether the market goes up or down. When the rental market was bad about three years ago because everybody was buying houses with nothing down, that’s when we bought more apartments.
CREL: What’s going to happen to the economy in the next three to five years?
KIYOSAKI: Oil is going to go past $100 a barrel. It’s a supply and demand issue. For some people it’s going to be the worst of times and for smart investors it’s going to be the best of times. The people who will be hurt will be those with investment properties far out of town that are not generating a cash flow, because commuting is going to be very expensive. So right now, if you have any investments that are not really solid, dump them as fast as you can and buy something better or pay down your debt so you have more equity. If investors don’t watch it in the next three to five years, they might be people without houses, like I was at one time
CREL: What should investors avoid in the near future?
KIYOSAKI: Don’t flip properties. It’s tough to flip them right now. Also, don’t believe what they tell you about saving money. It’s the riskiest of all investments. Gold was about $250 an ounce in 1996 when I bought my gold mine. Today gold is $600 an ounce. That means the dollar has lost over 50 percent of its buying power in the last 10 years when compared to gold. And it’s going to get worse. The Federal Reserve has the audacity to tell us inflation is low, when the price of oil and gold and housing have all gone through the roof. Finally, I would dump mutual funds. If interest rates and the price of oil keep going up, the stock markets are going to crash.
CREL: What will it take to be financially secure in the coming years?
KIYOSAKI: You must become financially literate. And stop taking financial advice from poor people! Most real estate brokers and stock brokers are not rich. Many are broke. Most of them don’t study. Yet people take their financial advice. Most school teachers are not rich. Yet students listen to them when they tell them to get good grades and then get a good job with benefits. That’s why most Americans are struggling financially.
CREL: Kim, is it more difficult for a woman to succeed in real estate than a man?
KIM: A lot of women have asked me how I deal with being a woman in a man’s world. Actually, it’s never been an issue. The real estate market doesn’t care if you’re a man or a woman. It only cares about how smart you are with your money. Most of the people I deal with in real estate are men, but I’ve never felt any kind of prejudice or discounting because I’m a woman. Besides, I think women make fantastic real estate investors. Women in general are nurturers. That’s part of what makes them so successful.
CREL: Kim, what’s it like to live with Robert?
KIM: It’s not boring. Robert pushes me beyond where I think I can go – like coming out with my book and speaking at large events. He’s my biggest supporter and fan. When I first started investing, he said, “Now that you understand small apartment buildings, what’s the next challenge for you?” He encourages me and pushes me to go beyond. That’s what he does with himself.
(Copyright 2006 by OsborneWriter.com. All rights reserved.)
