Rich Family, Poor Family - A VOICE FROM AMERICA by Ernie D. Delfin

In the mid ’70s, there was a popular mini-series called Rich Man, Poor Man, starring Peter Strauss and Nick Nolte. When I saw it then, I never entertained any serious socio-economic analyses of the two men’s traits in that movie. Last month, however, after reading a New York Times bestseller with a similar same title, Rich Dad, Poor Dad and its sequel CashFlow Quadrant (written by a Hawaiian-born Japanese American, Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter, CPA) I became nostalgic and memories of both sad and happy experiences of my boyhood years in the farmtown of Manaoag, Pangasinan, 10,000 miles away, came to mind. Many books like them have titillated my mind to empathize with almost every person around me. I now understand the difference between the paradigms of the rich and the poor.

As an avid observer of the metamorphosis of many family’s histories over the last generation or two, I feel I can now fathom why American families, especially the Filipino-American families, are either rich or poor. The school system is flawed when it comes to what is truly important curricula which will prepare students for a more prosperous, financially rewarding, and fulfilled life after school. Many students graduate with degrees but most graduates generally become the employees or subordinates of drop out students like Bill Gates of the giant Microsoft. I remember former Speaker Manny Villar’s address at the LA Philippine Consulate in L.A. last year when he humorously said that the top A students get their Ph.D.s and remain in the university to teach while the C students drop out and go into business. Then, the A students who populate the faculty of the university often write and invite the former C students for endowments, grants and donations to maintain their alma mater. Funny, But true.

Many highly educated people like lawyers, doctors, CPAs or engineers like the uneducated poor have also succumbed to becoming financial slaves of modern day slave owner owners, a.k.a. credit cards or financing institutions. Because of the gravity of credit and financial obligations, people are working longer hours just to pay their bills and stay afloat. Two or three decades ago, we thought that with the advent of computers we would be working less but that did not happen. Longer family leisure time that we used to dream about has not yet materialized!

What makes the rich rich and the poor poor? The way they view, treat, manage, handle and utilize money as a result of their family’s (cultural) upbringing is the number one culprit. Our kids learn by osmosis from their environment. Our parents have influenced us greatly, both positively and negatively. Those early financial affairs and habits that I was exposed during my growing up years certainly influenced me, until one day in my adult life when I decided to consciously make the gargantuan effort necessary to break that economic bondage of being poor, a legacy given to my generation without my consent. Money discussions like how my parents could afford to send six children through high school, much less to college, were always challenging topics until after we finished college.

In both poor and rich communities, he who has the gold makes the rules. The poor families almost always spend their money for consumables (living expenses), whereas the rich families spend for their consumables but still have some money left to acquire assets that will become their passive slaves 24 hours a day. The habits of the real rich, however, are even more radical and different. They do not spend their money right away. Like Arkagg in the classic book, The Richest Man of Babylon (by George Classen), the rich pay themselves first, investing in assets that produce the money to pay for their consumables and luxuries .

According to Drs. Stanley and Danko, authors of the best selling The Millionaire Next Door, most millionaires do not even buy brand new cars but slightly pre-owned (the p.c. word for "used") cars, neither do they live in extravagant fabulous homes. Their lifestyles are not really the Hollywood version of the rich and famous. Their status as millionaires is known only by their accountant, banker, their financial advisor or stock broker.

In the 21st century, getting that bachelor’s degree or even a graduate degree is no longer a guarantee that one will become rich. Sharon L. Lecter, CPA, the co-author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad says, "I love my children and want to ensure they get the best education possible! Traditional schooling, while very important, is no longer enough. We all need to understand money and how it works." The book author, Robert Kiyosaki, who teaches people to be millionaires...that’s why they call him the millionaire school teacher, opines: "The main reason people struggle financially is because they have spent years in school but learned nothing about money. The result is that people learn to work for money...but never learn to have money work for them."

How true! Looking back, even graduates of the best schools in Manila (and also in the US!) were conditioned by their parents, elders or professors that they should have good grades so that they could get good paying jobs (someone satirically defined JOB as Journey Of the Broke). In the Philippine society, once you’ve graduated from college and got employed by any of the established companies like Meralco, San Miguel, PAL, Bank of the Philippine Islands or foreign companies or government agencies like the US Embassy or the Central Bank, you are considered successful and have "arrived." But it could mean that your first employer after school may be the first and last employer of your working life! In America, it is said that a professional person would have at least five to seven employers during his lifetime. For entrepreneurs and business-owners like me, however, we will never work for anybody again.

I recommend Rich Dad, Poor Dad and CashFlow Quadrant for every family who is serious about changing their economic/financial situation. It will debunk a lot of myths like the belief that you need to earn high income to become rich. It will also challenge the statement that your house is an asset. It will show parents why they can’t rely on the school system to teach their kids about money. It is an honest-to-goodness narration of how two middle income families handle money and finances. The Rich Dad managed money differently not for the instant gratification but for more lasting rewards of being able to acquire assets to provide the cashflow necessary to become totally financially independent. This easy-to-read book is about taking back the personal responsibility for your own financial affairs and improving your own wealth by mastering the handling of money. The message for their book is clear: Take responsibility of your finances or take orders all your life. You are either a master of money or a slave to it. Once you read these two books, understand and live the hidden message, the financial genius in you will be awakened.

In my business and in dealing with different kinds of clientele, I have learned plenty. I have witnessed the deportment and habits of both poor and rich people, especially as to how they treat and value time. Poor people tend to forget or simply do not value their appointments. Rich people value your time as well as theirs. There is 90 percent likelihood that the poor man will not show up for his appointment whereas the rich man has only 10 percent chance that he will not.

As an inducement to read and learn more about the Rich Dads, here are the 10 Steps as a process to develop your God-given powers to become rich (Chapter 9):

• You need a reason greater than reality: the power of the spirit.

• You need to choose daily: the power of choice.

• You need to choose friends (let me also add good books) carefully: the power of association.

• You need to master a formula and then learn a new one: the power of learning quickly.

• You need to pay yourself first: the power of self-discipline

• You need to pay your brokers well: the power of good advice

• You need to become an "Indian giver": the power of getting something for nothing.

•You need to understand that Assets Buy Luxuries: the power of focus.

• You need to have your own Heroes: the power of "myths" or role models.

• You need to teach and give in order that you shall receive: the power of giving.

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While we are on the topic of becoming rich, there seems to be a healthy trend in America in the last decade. Women as financial experts, authors and teachers are becoming more and more popular. Financially-oriented books by authors like Suze Orman (The Courage to be Rich) Mary Hunt (Debt Proof Living and the Financially Confident Woman), Jean Chatzky (Talking Money), Mary Modall (Now or Never), Ruth Ross, Ph. D. (Prosperity: A Woman’s Guide to Achieving Spirituality, Financial and Emotional Abundance), Adeline Yen Mah (Watching the Tree), Mary Lou Retton (Gateway to Happiness), Deborah Rosado Shaw (Dream Big), Daria Dolan (Smart Money: How to be your own Financial Manager), Diane Pearl (The Smart Woman’s Guide to Spending, Saving and Managing Money) and Danielle Kennedy (Double your Income in Real Estate) are in the best-sellers sections of major bookstores. The authors are also in high demand for TV or radio interviews, and speaking engagements. The more they give, talk or write, the richer they become. Even in the traditionally male-dominated stock brokerage or the entire financial services industry like mortgage banking and insurance and mutual funds, more and more women are joining in.

To inspire other women students in business, I have now about a dozen women registered representatives or agents in my Premier Financial Group whose earnings are above average. They can convert some complex financial mumbo-jumbo into easily understood lingo for the average clients. They can connect with clients faster and smoother. They can be better teachers and communicators especially if they capitalize that on womanly charm and innate intuition, which in some male lingo is called "flirtations."

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It is this writer’s hope in this millennium that more people, men and women, take the road that is less traveled because that is where paradise and life’s fulfillments are found. The kite only soars if it flies against the wind, my father used to tell me. That is also true in the financial and economic quadrants of our lives. To do something or to do nothing is a decision. The things you do now have a definite and direct impact on what happens next. Therefore, ACT NOW because yesterday is gone (forgive ourselves) tomorrow is yet to come (dream big) and you can just live in the present. Today is the greatest PRESENT we have from the Lord. We must thank Him as we must make the most of it today not tomorrow.

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Of all the news stories that have reached my table these last few weeks that terribly bothered me was the one regarding an interview with one of the 11 "JOSE COHORTS" senators, the famous sharp-tongued lady Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago. If it is true that she mocked and humiliated the entire Filipino people who are not as highly educated as she with those very ugly, uncouth words and adjectives describing her kapwa Filipinos in a TV (I-Witness) interview, then, I must challenge all decent and thinking Filipinos, especially those in our homeland, to give her what she really deserves in the May 200l election: ZERO VOTES from all thinking Filipinos. I believe that people like her should not thrive in any civil society. She does not deserve any sympathy or vote from any decent and literate Filipino. She does not deserve to be an elected government official, not even a barangay captain, much less a Senator! If I can just buy a human eraser, I would donate one dozen for her to a dozen people who are able and willing to receive such a magic eraser. I am mad as hell just reading those e-mails of transcripts how she insulted Filipinos, and that still includes me!

To prove that she is wrong in her description of the Filipino people, please DO NOT ELECT HER to have another term as a senator. If she still wins, then, I would have second thoughts that she might be right. Dear kababayans who are registered to vote and still have that Filipino pride, like Lapu-Lapu, Mabini, Bonifacio or Rizal, PROVE TO THE WORLD that she is totally on the wrong side by your landslide NEGATIVE VOTE FOR MIRIAM SANTIAGO. We cannot tolerate any more insults, any more crazy outbursts, and humiliation from her.

Let the May election prove who is in the right: the Filipino voters or Miriam Santiago?

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The writer can be reached at: [email protected] or [email protected]. Readers can visit his websites: http://www.progressivetimes.com and http://www.katipunan-usa.org.