Becoming Financially Literate

The key to riches is to become financially literate.depth into them and they will in turn lead to you to
That was one of the messages I got from Robertother subjects area. You can learn at your own pace
Kiyosaki's book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad".through the subject materials and you will be amazed
Financial literacy does not automatically guarantee thatat how much knowledge you have picked up after a
you will be rich, but the lack of financial knowledgewhile.
does gurantee that you are unlikely to reach yourDo not worry if you did not get good grades as a
financial success. Being finanically literate definitelystudent in school. School grades do not matter. Do not
helps in making better judgements in making financialworry that you are way pass your prime. Your age
decisions , and therefore enhances your chance ofdoes not matter. Do worry that your financial situation.
success and make the path to your finance goalColonel Sanders was 66 of age, and broke when he
smoother and swifter.started Kentucky Fried Chicken. What really matters is
Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad in "Rich Dad, Poor Dad"whether you have the desire to learn and educate
book, understood this very well and tried to exposeyourself.
Robert Kiyosaki to financial principles to build up hisHow can you go about being financially literate? You
financial literacy at a young age.can do so by opening both your eyes and ears and
Robert Kiyosaki described wealth building like building aalso your mind to the vast information around you.
building. Both require strong foundation. While theYour learning materials include not only financial subject
foundation of a building is made from cement andtextbooks or formal educational courses from
steel, the foundation of wealth building is financialinstitutions. They can be also seminars or talks
literacy. If you want to build a 80 storey building, youorganized by community services or financial
need to dig deep and pour in a strong foundation.organizations.
Similarly, if you want to build wealth and hold on toThey can be financial books and periodicals found in
them, you need a strong foundation in financial literacy.the libraries or your local bookstores. They can be the
If not, it would like trying to build a 80 storey building onfinancial magazines like Forbes, Business Weeks and
10 inch slab, and ended up with a learning tower ofnewspapers such as Wall Street Journal. They can be
debt.the business page or money page on your local
To be financially literate requires certain level ofnewspaper.
proficiency in these areas such as:They can be finanical news broadcasts on the radio or
- economics,TV. They can even be the conversations between
- investing,your colleagues or your neighbour, talking about
- accounting,personal taxes! And of course, the Internet, where you
- taxes,easily get tons of information, both from authority sites
- money managementas well as from personal sites.
- and even business building.If you truly want to accelerate your learning to
All these are not easy subjects to master and requirebecome financial literacy, you should find yourself a
time and effort to accumulate the knowledge.mentor. Find someone who is successful who can give
However, it is not next to impossible. Do not be frightenyou timely financial advices based on the experiences
off by the level of difficulty in mastering them. It'she had. Someone who had gone down the path
possible if you choose to do so.before and someone whom you think you can model
Start off with something simple or something whichafter.
you are already familiar with. For example, you mayLastly, remember to learn and apply. Financial literacy
have heard of the terms balance sheet or assetshas no value if you don't put it to good use.
verus liabilities. You can begin from there, learn more in