Part

It’s How You

Play the Game

If you want to achieve financial security, you’ll need to learn the game of money.
I learned the game of money from my rich dad. From my Rich Dad’s lessons I
created the board game CASHFLOW. This game teaches you financial skills
through fun, repetition, and action. It is so unique that it has been awarded
patents. It will challenge you, teach you, and require you to think like rich
people think. The people in this section describe their financial successes and
attribute those achievements to playing the CASHFLOW games.
These people discovered that unlike all kinds of other board games that can
be won only one way and only during the time in which the game is played,
CASHFLOW provided lessons that go long past the playing time. Every time
these people participated in the game not only did they increase their financial
skills they built up their confidence as well. Using the deal cards, they told me,
offered new ways to think about investments. The deal cards, which gave them
different options each time they played, provided information for starting
cashflow-producing investments.
For Ed and Terry Colman, who live in California, the deal cards that
motivated them were about real estate. Their journey to financial security will
likely strike a chord with many. If you lived through the 1960s, as they did, you
might have also been influenced by the hippie era in which financial success was
not a goal. Actually, the opposite situation was the ultimate quest: Live free,
forget about money, and do your own thing. Focusing on the future was
regarded as a waste of time.
Ed and Terry are refreshingly honest about their past view of money. Like a
lot of people of their generation, they played into the mood of the times and
scorned financial matters. What they earned, they spent. Planning for the future
just wasn’t a consideration (at least not until their son, Jake, whose story also
appears in this book, was born).
When they realized that they needed a financial plan, they began to explore
different options. Some worked, some didn’t. But they didn’t give up. They
continued to learn because they wanted to find a way to financial freedom.
Eventually they saw that investing in real estate offered them excellent
opportunities to do that. You’ll see what they did and how they did it and follow
the small steps they took that led to even bigger and bigger ones.
If you’re a baby boomer who has lost touch with his or her finances and
thinks it’s too late to get on a new track, read what the Colmans have to say. It’s
never too late to change your mind about becoming wealthy—especially when
you have found the means to help you do it.
But if you’re in your thirties, facing big debt, and very worried about whether
financial security will ever be yours, read Tracey Rodriguez’s story. Like many
people forced to declare bankruptcy, Tracey and her husband were in a difficult
predicament. Hard workers, they were nonetheless forced into a tough financial
situation. For them, financial security is now rooted in owning businesses, which
were also inspired by the CASHFLOW game deal cards.
Perhaps you’re in your fifties, and believe that creating cashflow investments
isn’t for you. I’ve heard people in this age group say negative things like, “It’s
too late for me,” “I’m too tired to do that,” and “I’m too old to change.” If
that’s what you believe, then read what Cecilia Morrison has to say about
changing perspective. For Cecilia, and her husband, George, retirement will be
funded by steady cashflow because a deal card from CASHFLOW motivated her
to make new investments.
How Ed and Terry, Tracey and Cecilia have taken control of their financial
lives are stories of coming to terms with reality and making choices. The
decisions they have made—and continue to make—are exciting. As these people
achieve financial security, they are winners as they play the game of life.