Lecture Notes: Top 10 Rules for Success by Robert Kiyosaki

Introduction

• Speaker: Evan Carmichael
• Focus: Learning from Robert Kiyosaki's top 10 rules for success.
• Purpose: To motivate entrepreneurs and ambitious individuals by surrounding them with successful people’s philosophies.

Rule 1: Fail More

• Key Message: Increase your failure rate to handle fear and improve.
• Example: Kiyosaki's experience at Xerox where increasing failure rates improved sales performance.
• Lesson: Confront fears and the "wimp" inside to succeed.

Rule 2: Borrow and Buy Assets

• Insight: Banks encourage saving so they can lend your money multiple times.
• Strategy: Use debt to buy assets, not liabilities.
• Example: Kiyosaki borrowed $300 million to invest in real estate post-crash, becoming wealthy as interest rates decreased.
• Critical View: Question traditional advice of saving money and avoiding debt.

Rule 3: Keep Your Word

• Importance of Integrity: Trustworthiness is crucial for success.
• Advice: Actions and words must align.

Rule 4: Rewire Your Brain

• Tool: Created the cash flow board game to teach accounting through fun.
• Purpose: Rewire neural pathways to change financial thinking.
• Advice: Move beyond employee mindset by understanding economic opportunities.

Rule 5: Transform

• Concept: Embrace crisis as a chance to grow (metamorphosis).
• Analogy: Caterpillar to butterfly transformation.
• Advice: Use crises to become stronger and "anti-fragile."

Rule 6: Focus on Infinite Returns

• Goal: Achieve a state where you don’t need money due to infinite returns.
• Example: Writing a book and licensing it to generate immediate profit.
• Lesson: Challenge ingrained financial beliefs to unlock potential.

Rule 8: Use Tax Breaks

• Types of Income: Ordinary, portfolio, and passive.
• Advice: Avoid ordinary income taxes by focusing on passive income through strategic investments.
• Example: Tax incentives for providing housing and jobs.

Rule 9: Consider Currency

• Advice: Evaluate the currency you are saving in.
• Example: Preference for gold and silver due to lack of counterparty risk.
• Observation: US dollar is strong in a weak currency environment, but still flawed.

Rule 10: Understand the Game

• Education: Financial literacy is crucial to navigate the modern economy.
• Critique of 401ks: Viewed as susceptible to market fluctuations.
• Advice: Understand how market systems are rigged and protect yourself with knowledge.