Something for Nothing

An article was forwarded to me by a colleague about a company going bankrupt.  The company, Rich Global LLC, was the publisher of the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad a popular book written by Robert Kiyosaki.   In the book Kiyosaki shared, in the words of Fortune magazine, the

“secret money-making strategies of the wealthy with his wage slave readers. The tips ran the gamut from ridiculous to illegal and downright hurtful and included advocating for insider trading, arguing for the purchase of multiple real estate properties with little or no money down and telling followers they could purchase stocks on margin via unfunded brokerage accounts.”

 

The Tip for this week is that many people bought into the hype and questionable practices included in the book.  Most importantly, the book almost idolizes “passive income” – income you receive for owning things and doing nothing productive to increase the wealth of the nation.  Well, please excuse my old fashioned values where I believe that the greatest asset we own is our human capital.  Moreover, our human capital is the only capital that we can control. By making investments in our human capital, we can earn greater incomes.  That income does allow us to save and invest but it is the wise man who continues to work, to make a positive contribution to society, and to increase the national product of our country.  When we all do this, we are all better off.

 

This episode in my life reminds me of a song entitled Something for Nothing by Rush.  The words of the song are below and you may read more about the bankruptcy of a modern day seller of blue sky here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/helaineolen/2012/10/10/rich-dad-poor-dad-bankrupt-dad/ .

Something for Nothing

by Rush

 

Waiting for the winds of change
To sweep the clouds away
Waiting for the rainbow's end
To cast its gold your way
Countless ways
You pass the days

Waiting for someone to call
And turn your world around
Looking for an answer
To the question you have found
Looking for
An open door

You don't get something for nothing
You can't have freedom for free
You won't get wise
With the sleep still in your eyes
No matter what your dreams might be

What you own is your own kingdom
What you do is your own glory
What you love is your own power
What you live is your own story
In your head is the answer
Let it guide you along
Let your heart be the anchor
And the beat of your own song

You don't get something for nothing
You can't have freedom for free
You won't get wise
With the sleep still in your eyes
No matter what your dreams might be