Chapter 6 Lesson Three: Focus on Your Career

In 1974, McDonald's founder Ray.Crocker, was invited to Austin to speak to the MBA class at Texas State University, a good friend of mine, Keith.Cunningham is a student in this class.After a rousing lecture, the students asked Ray if they would join them for a beer at their hangout, and Ray happily accepted. When the group got their beers, Ray asked: Can anyone tell me what I do?Everyone laughed at the time, Keith said: Most MBA students thought Ray was joking.Seeing that no one answered his question, Lei asked again: What do you think I can do?The students laughed again, and the last bold student called out: Ray, everyone knows you make hamburgers.

Ray laughed: I expected you to say that.He stopped laughing and said quickly: Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not actually in the hamburger business, my real business is real estate. Keith said Ray took a long time to explain what he said.In Ray's long-term business plan, the basic business will be to sell each branch of McDonald's to various partners. He has always attached great importance to the location of each branch, because he knows that real estate and location will be the most important factors for the success of each branch. factors, while at the same time, when Ray implements his plan, those who buy the branch will also pay to buy the branch land from the McDonald's group.

McDonald's is already the largest real estate company in the world today, and the real estate it owns even exceeds that of the Catholic Church.Today, McDonald's already owns some of the most valuable street corner and intersection prime locations in the United States and elsewhere in the world. Keith said that was the most important lesson of his life.Today, Keith owns the car wash, but his most important business is running the car wash real estate. In the previous lesson, we showed that most people work for someone other than themselves, first for the boss of the company, then for the government, and finally for the bank to pay off the loan.

When I was a kid, there was no McDonald's near my house.However, my rich dad taught Mike and me as much as Ray.Crocker taught the same course taught to MBA students at Texas State University, which is the third secret to getting rich. Secret No. 3: Focus on your career.People with financial problems are often people who have worked for others their entire lives, and many are left with nothing when they stop working. Our current education system enables today's young people to learn a skill and get a good job, and their life will revolve around a salary or as I said earlier an item of income.After learning certain skills, they will go to higher-level schools to develop their professional abilities. They will be trained as engineers, scientists, cooks, police officers, artists, writers, etc. These vocational skills enable them to join the labor force and contribute to money. while working.

Note that there is a huge difference between your job and your career.I often ask some people: what is your career?They will say: I am a bank clerk.Then I asked him if he owned a bank, and they often replied: No, I work there. In this example they confuse their profession with their career, they can be bankers but they should still have their own career.thunder.Crocker was clear about the distinction between his profession and his career, which was always the same: a businessman.He sold milk churns before moving on to selling hamburgers, and his business was amassing income-generating properties.

The problem with school is that it often turns you into the person you are majoring in.If you study cooking, you will become a cook; if you study law, you will become a lawyer; if you study automation, you will become a mechanic.The dire consequence of becoming what you study is that so many people forget to focus on their own careers and spend their lives focusing on and making other people rich. For financial security, people need to focus on their careers.Your business revolves around your assets, not your income.As stated before, rule number one is to know the difference between assets and liabilities, and to buy assets.The rich are concerned with their assets while others are concerned with their income.

That's why we hear all the time: I need a raise, I wish I could get a promotion, I'm going to go back to school to get a better paying job, I'm going to work extra hours, maybe I can work two jobs work, I'm quitting in two weeks because I found a better paying job, etc. In some ways, these are smart ideas.But if you listen to Ray.If you use Crocker, you will find that you still haven't paid attention to your own career, and these thoughts still revolve around salary income.You can only achieve true financial security when you use your increased income to purchase income-generating assets.

The basic reason most poor or middle class people are financially conservative is this: I can't take risks, which means they have little financial knowledge, they have to be attached to a job, they have to play it safe. When the recession inevitably comes, millions of workers find their supposed greatest asset, their house, about to eat them alive!Because the house costs money every month.Cars, another of their assets, are also eating up their lives.A golf club that was bought for a thousand dollars and left in the garage is now worth less than a thousand dollars.Without job security, they lose their livelihood.What they think of as assets won't get them through financial crisis.

I guess most of us have filled out a credit application form to a bank to get a loan to buy a house or a car.It's very interesting to look at what's called net worth, and it's interesting because our bank accounting practices allow people to count houses and cars as assets. One day, trying to get a loan, since my financial situation seemed to be in bad shape, I bought new golf clubs, an art collection, stereo, phone, Armani suits, watches, shoes, and other personal items to increase The number of asset parties. In the end my loan application was rejected because I invested too much in real estate.The credit committee doesn't like me getting income from real estate investments, they just want to know why I don't have a regular job that pays a salary.Nor do they ask where Armani suits, golf clubs or art collections come from.Life is harsh when you're not up to par.

Every time I hear someone say their net worth is a million dollars or a hundred thousand dollars or whatever, it scares me a bit.A major reason is that net worth is not an exact thing, and not only that, but when you start selling assets, you even have to pay taxes on the resulting income. So many people with insufficient income are more likely to be in financial distress.To raise cash, they had to sell assets.First, the selling price of their personal assets is only a small part of the amount listed on their balance sheet; second, if there is a profit, they have to pay taxes, which means that every time they sell it, the government will take their proceeds. Take a share, reducing the cash available to help them out of debt.That's why I say someone's net worth is much less than they think they are.

Focus on your own business and get on with your day-to-day work.Instead of going into debt or buying personal items that are worthless once you take them home and use them, you can buy real estate.Once you pull a new car out of the lot, you've lost 25% of the car's value.A car isn't really an asset, even if your bank manager tells you to list it under assets.A $400 new golf club was only worth $150 when I used it once. For adults, keeping expenses low, borrowing less and working hard will help you build a solid asset base.For young people who do not yet own their own homes, parents should teach them the difference between assets and liabilities before leaving home, getting married, buying a home, having children, placing bets on risky financial transactions, or being attached to It is very important to build a solid equity base before working and taking out a loan to buy anything.I have seen many young couples who, because they do not know the difference between assets and liabilities, soon after marriage, fall into a lifestyle in which they cannot escape debt for most of the years. For most, it's when the youngest child leaves home that parents realize they haven't prepared enough for retirement.Then their own parents fell ill, and they found themselves with new burdens. So, what assets should you or your kids acquire?In my opinion, real assets can be divided into the following categories: one.A business that can function without my presence.I own them but they are run and managed by someone else.If I have to work there, it's not my business but my vocation; two.stock; three.bond; Four.Mutual Fund; five.income-generating real estate; six.Notes (IOUs); seven.Patent rights such as music, manuscripts, patents; eight.Anything else that has value, generates income, or has the potential to increase in value and has a good market for circulation. As a kid, my educated dad encouraged me to get a secure job, and my rich dad encouraged me to start acquiring assets that I loved because if you don't love it, you don't care about it.I buy real estate because I like buildings and land, I like buying them, I can look at them all day long, and when something goes wrong, it won't be so bad that I don't like real estate anymore.But for those who already hate real estate, investing in real estate is obviously not a good idea. I like stocks of small companies, especially startups, because I am an entrepreneur rather than an employee.I also have fond memories of working in large organizations in my early years, such as Standard Oil of California, the US Marine Corps, and Xerox.But I know I'm not a company guy. I like to start companies but not run them, so the stocks I buy are all small companies.Sometimes I've even started small companies myself and taken them public, making fortunes out of new stock offerings.I love this game.Many people are afraid of small, unknown companies.Consider them risky.Small companies are risky, but if you love what you invest in, understand it and understand the rules of the game, the risk will be reduced.For small companies, my investment strategy is: get rid of them within one year.On the other hand, my real estate investment strategy is to start a small business and grow it a little bit. If conditions permit, I will sell it as late as possible. The advantage of this is that I can postpone the payment of income tax, so that the assets may increase dramatically.I usually hold real estate for more than seven years. Over the years, even when I was in the Marine Corps and working at Xerox, I started doing what my rich dad advised me to do.I work, but I also keep an eye on my business, and I keep my assets very active by buying and selling small company stocks and real estate.Rich dad always emphasized financial literacy, saying that the more you know about accounting and cash management, the better you can do investment analysis and start building your own business. I don't encourage people who don't want to start their own companies to do so, and I don't want everyone to run companies.Sometimes, though, when people can't find work, starting a business is the answer, but it's not always successful: nine out of 10 new businesses fail within five years, and those that survive the first five years Again, nine out of ten companies end up going out of business.So only do what I suggest if you really want to own your own company.Otherwise, focus on your career while continuing to work. When I say focus on your career, I mean build your own strong assets.Think about it, once a dollar lands in your asset item, it becomes your employee. The best thing about money is making it work 24 hours a day and serving your generations.Remember: be a hard working employee, secure your job, but keep building your asset list. When your cash flow increases, you can buy some luxury goods, one important difference is that the rich buy luxury goods last, while the poor and middle class buy things first such as big houses, jewelry, leather clothes, gemstones, yachts, etc. Luxury because they want to look rich.They do appear to be rich, but in reality they are trapped in a loan trap.Those who have always had money, those who have been able to be rich for a long time, build their assets first and then use the income generated by the assets to buy luxury goods, the poor and middle class use their hard-earned money and will to leave to their children The inheritance buys luxury goods. True luxury is the reward for investing and accumulating real assets.For example, when my wife and I got extra income from buying and selling houses, she went and bought a Mercedes, it wasn't to add to her job or take a risk.However, she waited four years before her real estate investment appreciated and eventually enough cash flowed in enough to buy the car. The luxury was indeed a bonus, because it proved that she knew how to increase her assets, and that car meant more to her than just a car, but meant she could use her financial knowledge to get it. What most people do is impulsively use the loan to buy a new car or other luxuries, and they're probably bored, so expect something new.Buying luxury goods with a loan will make people give up that thing sooner or later, because the debt to buy luxury goods is a big burden. After you've taken the time and invested in building your business, you're ready to tap into the amazing secret, Biggest Secret of the Rich.This secret paves the way to riches, with rewards at the end of the road for your time and diligent attention to your own business.