Tue 6 Mar 2007
Making Money (an MBA’s perspective)
Posted by me under money , MBA , business , educational , brief thoughts
A few days ago I blogged about the 400 richest Americans. Perhaps while reading that entry, you said to yourself, “I wouldn’t mind being rich!” Perhaps you envisioned, if only for a moment, how your life would change if your life was free from financial worries. Maybe you imagined the consequent big houses, or the luxury cars, or the fabulous vacations you might take. It’s not unlikely that in this daydream you saw yourself throwing outrageous parties where you mingled with crowds of the beautiful, the famous, the influential, and the decision makers of the world. And then, if my reader demographics are correct, you realized not only that you’re poor, but that it was time for fifth period physics class. Hello High School Students of Seattle Washington!
For some people (the Walton widow and the four Walton children), wealth came as a result of Daddy passing it along. For the rest of us, careful planning and work is required. It goes almost without saying that it is easier to make a million dollars once you already have a million, still, for us non-millionaires, there is hope. The big secret to financial success: you must make money while you sleep (Rich Dad/Poor Dad); that is, your money must work to make you more money. But how do you do that? How do you put your money to work? Here following are your options. Not all are created equal.
- 1. Savings account
- 2. CDs
- 3. Bonds
- 4. Stocks
- 5. Mutual funds
- 6. Start a business
- 7. Buy/sell real estate
- 8. License creative works (write a book (like “the Entrepreneur Story“), compose/play music, code software)
- 9. Rental properties
You should know that rich people have more opportunities: (because they are Accredited Investors)
- 1. Everything poor people can do PLUS:
- 2. Invest in companies and high return (and risk) ventures
Secrets to staying poor:
- 1. Join an MLM
- 2. Carry a balance on a credit card
- 3. Borrow money to buy something
- 4. Day trade
- 5. Gamble
- 6. Buy things on impulse
- 7. Have a negative savings rate
- 8. Buy new cars
- 9. Bad investments: baseball cards, diamonds, stamps, coins, other collectibles
- 10. Convince yourself that because “money can’t buy happiness”, that you’re better off without it.
- 11. Ask for donations on your website.
Further Reading
- The very rich in America: “The kind of money you cannot comprehend”
- The World’s Billionaires
- Almanac of American Wealth
How are you making money tonight while you sleep?
March 7th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Another secret to staying poor:
12. Buy expensive cell phones without warranties.
I average one cell phone a year.
March 7th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Ahhh, Charlotte, there is another..
13. Take girlfriend on expensive dates.
Now, granted, Ryan has said -nothing- about a date with you, but I can imagine he’s a big spender.. no?
–Will
March 7th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
the comment moderator would like to remind William to stay on topic.
March 8th, 2007 at 1:49 am
Help me out with your reference to “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. Are you endorsing it? It would seem odd if you were because Mr. Kiyosaki’s book business seems very interwoven with MLMs (he promotes MLMs in “Rich Dad” as a good way to get sales experience, MLMs promote his books at their “trade” conventions) which seems to conflict the #1 way of staying poor. Kiyosaki also gives conflicting, misinformed, and even unethical advice throughout “Rich Dad” which doesn’t seem to jive with the coherent, highly informed, and very ethical content provided at ryanbyrd.net.
With the reference about Seattle School District, I’m curious about your readership demographics. Perhaps you could post something about it.
March 8th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
David, you’re quite right in pointing out that Mr. Kiyosaki has whored himself out to any and every cause that would pay him a buck (financially a good idea, but ethically dubious.) Still, I don’t think it diminishes the value of his landmark book Rich Dad Poor Dad– it’s standard required reading for nearly every undergraduate business curriculum for a reason.
But that’s not all– did you see the recent collaboration between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kiyosaki? It’s a book called “Why We Want You to be Rich: Two Men - One Message.” In response, i’d like to write a book called, “Mr. Trump, you have the personality of a wet rag; most of your ventures have been miserable failures– will you please, please shut up!” ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump#Bankruptcy )