Assets and Liabilities
I recently finished reading Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing, the follow-up to Rich Dad Poor Dad that provides an in depth look into the worlds of business and investing. The book provides substantial and valuable insight into not only the philosophies of the rich, but specific practices and tools to use as well. I highly recommend this book to those who wish to change their way of thinking and move toward a life of financial freedom and independence.
One of the greatest lessons I learned from Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing is that you do not have to acquire assets through purchasing them. You should, in fact, learn how to create your own assets. This got me thinking of my own assets and liabilities on my own personal financial statement. My assets column doesn’t really have anything in it, and while I stared at that blank column, I felt absolutely worthless.
So, I decided to start thinking about the potential assets I could create and how I could turn the ideas into realities, no matter how crazy or outlandish they seemed. I also found during this process that I do have assets now that I should list. I started filling my assets column and it now looks like this:
Education – knowledge of international relations, conflict resolution, and development
Passion
Work ethic
Perseverance
Creativity
PSNM (Poor Student No More)
The first five are not putting money into my pocket as of now, but I always want to remember what my REAL assets are. Those characteristics will be the driving force behind my financial success.
My suggestion is to look at your personal financial statement at least once per month and each time, have a short brainstorming session in which you write down ideas for creating assets. Most importantly, you do not need an already existing amount of money to transfer ideas into tangible assets. Use your intellect, experience, creativity and character to find a way to make it happen.
My liabilities column heavily outweighs my assets column in terms of monetary value, but I know that this is only temporary. Don’t sell yourself short and realize what your true assets are – then take it and run with it.
My goal by May 2010 – grow my assets column bigger than my liabilities.
By: Jess Shorland