The Great Misunderstanding

The Great Misunderstanding in our money world is thinking something is an asset when it is actually a liability. Liabilities cause recurring expenses like monthly instalments, interests, repair, maintenance, insurance, taxes and depreciation.

Most people suffer financially when they buy liabilities and think that they are assets. This minor oversight causes a lifetime of financial struggle. Just because something is listed under the asset column does not make it an asset. Don't feel bad. Many adults including very qualified professionals always get asset and liability wrong! This is because the accepted method of accounting allows liabilities to be listed under the asset column.

Before we can be rich we have to be financially skillful. Understanding accounting is part of financial skill. With this skill you can create your own luck.

One who cannot read a financial statement will have the least money and the biggest financial problems. An average investor cannot distinguish between a security and an asset. Don't be average.

Your money life will spin out of control if you have nothing under the asset column, huge liabilities and many items under the expenses columns.

Mistaking a liability for an asset may cause a lifetime of financial struggle.

Edgewater

In 1923 a group of America's greatest leaders and richest businessmen held a meeting at Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. Among them were:-

Charles Schwab, head of the largest independent steel company
Samuel Insull, president of the world's largest utility
Howard Hopson, head of the largest gas company
Ivar Kreuger, president of the International Match Co., one of the world's largest companies at that time
Leon Frazier, president of the Bank of International Settlements
Richard Whitney, president of the New York Stock Exchange
Arthur Cotton and Jesse Livermore, two of the biggest stock speculators
Albert Fall, member of President Harding's cabinet

Twenty-five years later, nine of them (all listed above) ended up as follows:-

Charles Schwab died penniless after living for five years on borrowed money
Samuel Insull died broke living in a foreign land
Ivar Kreuger and Arthur Cotton also died broke
Howard Hopson went insane
Richard Whitney and Albert Fall were just released from prison
Leon Frazier and Jesse Livermore committed suicide

No one can really say what happened to those men. If you look at the date of the meeting it was in 1923, just before the market crash and the Great Depression in 1929. We suspect that it had a great impact on these men's lives.

We believe that it is possible that these rich and powerful people may at the same time lack financial intelligence. And money without financial intelligence is money soon gone. - Rich Dad

It is not how much you make, it is how much you keep.

90/10 Rule of Success

90/10 Rule of Success: In any field, less than 10% of people will excel.
- Andrew Chia

Observe the fields of study, sports, money-making or even hobbies and you will find that this is not far from the truth. Understanding this rule will encourage us to strive to be among the 10% who succeed. It will also guard us against complacency as we will not want to be among the 90% who fail.

Rich Dad's 90/10 Rule says that 10% of the people had 90% of the money. Wall Street Journal (13th September 1999 issue) says that 90% of all corporate shares in America are held by 10% of the people.

In the United States, statistics show that 90 out of 100 businesses fail within the first 5 years. 9 out of the remaining 10 fail in the next 5 years.

Thought making money is easy? Now you know the odds. Take up the challenge. Go for it. Make a commitment not to stop learning something new about making money each day.

Be amongst the 10% who succeed.

Be Hungry!

All of us want to be rich. But before we get down to seriously learning about money we need to understand the first criteria for success in any endeavor, that is, hunger. Hunger creates the passion essential to produce excellence in any field, be it studies, sports, business or simply hobbies.

Do the following statements echo what is in your heart?

I hate being poor.
I hate being ashamed of being poor.
I hate being forced to work all my life.
I hate not being able to do what I want.
I hate not being able to buy what I want.
I hate not being able to go where I want.

I love being rich.
I love being proud of being rich.
I love to be free to do my hobbies.
I love being able to help my loved ones.
I love being able to buy what I want.
I love being able to go wherever I want.

We cannot tell anyone how to get rich if they do not know why they want to get rich.

Hunger creates the passion needed for success.

Women Don't Need Men

Women today either marry late or they don't marry at all. Statistics from many countries especially developed countries like Singapore show that many women marry after their thirties compared to the early twenties or even in their teens less than half a century ago.

The world today is very different compared to yesterday. For example, yesterday only straight sex is acceptable. Today we can hardly keep track of the variations. We not only have heterosexual but homosexual, bisexual, transexual, transvestite, gay, lesbian, pondan, bapuk, hermaphrodite and many others. All are clamouring for acceptance and recognition. The world has since been more understanding and tolerant to other sexual inclinations.

Not only the marriage age has gone up but the divorce rate also has shot up. In America, at least one third on all marriages ends up in divorce courts. (Some say the actual figure is as high as 50%). In fact there is a standing joke that says that marriage is the present tense of divorce.

Woman today are also different from her sisters of yesterday. Yesterday she can accept her man having affairs. In China for example, a wealthy man can have "three wives and four concubines". It is perfectly acceptable. Today, she says, "over my dead body".

Women of yesterday are not independent. They depend entirely on their husband for their livelihood. One of the main factors is education. Women were not given the chance to go to school. They are therefore not able to command jobs and earn high income. They have to stay at home and answer to every beck and call of their husband.

Today, women are educated, can command a good job and earn enough to support themselves. In some cases they even earn more than their husband. They are now independent. That's why today they do not need to get married for economic reasons. They do not need to put up with all the "nonsense" by their husband.

In Asia, a lot of women nowadays do not even get married because of many stories by their friends who have less than a fairy-tale ending with their spouses.

Men therefore have to work double hard to win the hand of their dream lovers. They are now less of the weaker sex compared to before.

Difference Between Man and Woman

Men are generally more promiscuous than women. A visit to Adultfriender, the largest adult social networking site in the world started in 1996, reveals that there are 90 men looking for women but only 10 women looking for men. At last count (June 2008) Adultfriender has more than 24 million members.

Why is this so? The logical explanation is that it is nature's way of propagating the human race. If we use a little bit of our imagination we can see that men need to be more horny. If the situation is reversed, the world today would have a population of only 0.7 billion instead of 7 billion. I cannot expound more on this because it would be crude.

Most men can love a few women at the same time. They don't see anything wrong as they have lots of love to give. They can spend the time and money on the women that they love. However, most men marry only one woman and they don't have affairs. This does not mean they don't love many women. Maybe they just can't afford the time and the money.

Some men love only one woman; usually their wife.

Some men sleep with many women but they love none of them. They just need to fulfill their lust. It doesn't mean anything more.

When man looks upon the woman for the first time, they just only think about sleeping with her. They may or may not fall in love with her later. Men think about sex every six seconds. When a man says, "Can I buy you a drink?" he means can I have sex with you.

Most women love only one man; usually their husband. They feel bad if they love another man other than their husband. Women are generally faithful. Furthermore, they are more sensitive to other people's opinion. They are afraid of other people calling them a slut. Therefore, they cannot tolerate if their man love another woman. Just as every woman must not cheat on their husband, so every man also must not cheat on their wife.

Some women love more than one man. They have affairs with other men; sometimes other women's husband. They don't mind because they have enough love and time for another man other than their husband.

Some women sleep with many men but they also love none of them. They just need to fulfill their lust. It doesn't mean anything more.

A woman usually falls in love with guys who are kind, gentle, loving and considerate. Even though they also think about sex, they put love first. When a woman says, "Can I buy you a drink?" she means can I buy you a drink.

If a couple is aware of the above differences they can communicate better. For example, the Clintons are understanding about each others sexual needs and are more tolerant. Otherwise, couples will need to carefully hide their true feelings from their partner.


Improving Your Vocabulary

A kid asked his father, "Dad, what's the difference between confident and confidential?" The father replied, "You are my son, that I'm confident. You see your friend over there? He's also my son. That's confidential."

Your thoughts

Positive thoughts always