Top book authors on happiness & surviving a stock market crash

Thanks to National Book Store’s Xandra Ramos-Padilla for inviting me to two separate interviews with world-famous bestselling book authors Andrew Matthews of Being Happy and Robert Kiyosaki of Rich Dad Poor Dad. Even before meeting them I had already bought and read their very interesting books!

Matthews, who’s Australian, is not only the successful author of self-help books Being Happy, Making Friends and Follow Your Heart, which have collectively sold over seven million copies in 42 languages, his new book How Life Works has become another runaway No. 1 bestseller. Apart from writing well for all audiences, Matthews is also a New York-trained visual artist who used to do paintings and portraits. He also speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese, which he learned in Singapore.

Matthews told me something that really struck me: “A lot of people wrongly think that success will make you happy. Actually, happiness will make you successful. Richard Branson was happy before he was successful. Yusain Bolt, the runner, was happy before he was successful. Love your work; love what you do.”

Andrew Matthews’ tipson how to be happy

1. Happiness is a decision, a choice we make. Matthews says, “The thing which surprised me, I was figuring out before why are certain people happy despite having been through tragedies, after the loss of loved ones and other problems. I realized that happiness is a choice; it is a commitment you make. Example: Look for good things in your friends, family, your work. We’re not taught that as kids. It’s not an easy choice, but nevertheless it is important.”

2. Look for good things. Matthews said, “Develop a habit of looking for good things in your family, in your job, in everything. When you wake up every morning, ask: ‘Why am I happy today?’ For example, if you’re in the airport and you just missed your flight, instead of getting frustrated, look for one good thing from this. If one breaks a leg, look for one good thing there; maybe you’d be happy because you can have time to watch movies.”

3. Live in the present. “So many people are not happy because they are either regretting the past or fearing the future,” Matthews says. “In my latest book entitled How Life Works, please read chapter 24 which is about ‘living in the now.’”

Robert Kiyosaki on how to benefit from a stock market crash

Ramos-Padilla introduced Robert Kiyosaki as the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, “the No. 1 personal finance book of all time” that has challenged and changed the way millions of people worldwide think about money. He said that he has been visiting the Philippines since 1966, that he loves Filipino foods like adobo and pancit noodles. He said that he’s an ethnic Japanese who grew up in Hawaii, which is very similar to the Philippines in terms of being tropical and made up of islands.

Kiyosaki made a fearless forecast that the New Year, 2016, will usher in a “big crash” in what he thinks is the overpriced “bubble” of stock markets worldwide. He pointed out the economic recession in Japan, the economic slowdowns in Europe and even in the rising economy of China, therefore everyone else — including the Philippines — will be adversely affected.

How to prepare and still benefit during his predicted stock market fall? Kiyosaki gives the following advice:

1. Develop your skills. “A stock market crash is good, if you have the skill set,” Kiyosaki says. “If markets crash, they’ll come down like a rock.”

2. Be prepared. Kiyosaki said he is not investing in the stock market now because of his belief that it will crash big next year.

3. Look for bargains in assets. “Ordinary people shop for bargains in cars, clothes, etc., in order to save money,” notes Kiyosaki. “Rich people always are looking for bargains in assets to become richer. I personally just bought a hotel and a 600-unit real estate (property).”

4.  Don’t look for comfort; look for challenges. Kiyosaki said, “Ordinary people want comfort in life; I want challenges. That is the reason I don’t want to retire, because doing business is so exciting. My friend and book co-author Donald Trump, we both agree on this: ‘Retire and you expire.’ Look at Trump, he doesn’t need to run for president of the United States, but what he wants is the challenge.”

5. Invest in technology. “Regardless of what business you’re in, you have to be in technology,” Kiyosaki says. “I recently hired a new company president who is 39 years old and he grew up in technology. Whatever business we’re in, we need to be in technology. I’ve spent millions of dollars to make my old company into a new, technologically updated company and our revenues have grown bigger ever since.”

When I asked Kiyosaki who his “rich dad” is (I read that he is the father of his childhood friend and schoolmate in Hawaii), he replied: “My rich dad requested me before to never mention his name. He died 30 years ago. It’s possible in a couple of years, I and his son might come out with a new book about his life and thoughts entitled Rich Dad Revealed. My real dad was an academic, a Japanese PhD graduate of Stanford and he was poor, while this rich dad of mine was an entrepreneur, he’s Chinese. If you go to Hawaii’s Waikiki beach and look from the Hilton there, he owned a lot of land there.”

On Donald Trump as the possible US President

Kiyosaki added: “All of us Japanese, Chinese, Filipinos and others went to Hawaii as slaves or workers in the pineapple and sugar plantations. The novelist James Michener wrote about this. I remember seeing this picture before of the early Japanese going to school, but the smart Chinese married the Hawaiian girl and bought the lands… It’s almost the same thing with my country, the US: our politicians are leading us into wars like the loss before in Vietnam, then the Middle East. While the US is bombing or making wars, the smart Chinese are making friends and doing business. Look, they’re now building a big road between Peru and Argentina; they’re also building a new canal across Nicaragua to cut short the travel time for commerce. The Chinese are doing smart things, while the US is not doing smart things.”

I asked Kiyosaki about his controversial friend Donald Trump, and if he’d make a good president of the US next year. He replied, “Among our presidential candidates in the US, Donald Trump is the only candidate who can handle trade. We in the US have had bad trade agreements, which Trump will and can renegotiate. If the Mexicans don’t build a wall, he’ll renegotiate our trade agreement with them. Trump is a good and talented entrepreneur, although he’s kind of a rude guy. I also fear for his life. Donald Trump is a great guy, and he’s the most qualified leader to become the next president of the US. He’s very smart, straightforward.”

On the state of the US economy now, Kiyosaki said, “The US started this global economic downturn… Barack Obama says US unemployment is five percent… I think it is 19 or 20 percent. In America today, if you have a job for one day, you’re not statistically included as ‘unemployed.’ Nothing has changed since 2007; the only thing which has changed is how we use derivatives. Our countries — your country and my country — are led by crooks, by highly educated poor people.”

Any other advice? Kiyosaki said without mincing words: “Some people think that money or the love of money is the root of all evil; it’s ignorance. Stupidity is the root of all evil. Let us teach kids the right ideas about money. Money is not evil, it’s corruption, and you know it. There’s still a lot of corruption.”

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