Shannon's Diary

Review of Midas Touch by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki

2011-12-21T08:00:00.001-08:00

I have bought many of Robert Kiyosaki's books and I have great respect for him, however, I have found that many parts of his latest books are the repeat of his earlier books. It seems he has run out of new ideas and in this book he also repeated many of his cash flow quadrants and BI triangle stuff.

Individually, Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki are both good writers, but when they come together to work on a same book, the result is not great. The good news is that I still have learnt some new things from this book.

The Midas Touch Five Fingers Represent:

The Thumb: Strength of Character, ability to turning bad luck into good luck.

The Index Finger: F.O.C.U.S, focus on what is really important and what you really want.

The Middle Finger: Establish a strong brand. A product or service without a strong brand is a commodity.

The Ring Finger: Relationships, every business is a people business; you need great partners, you should be a great leader to inspire your employees and need to be responsible for your customers.

The Little Finger: Little Things That Count. There are huge difference between little things that count and thinking small.

With Midas Touch you can turn your small business into a large B quadrant business.

Review of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker – Think Rich to Get Rich

2011-11-30T10:17:00.001-08:00

This is a book that the author heavily advertises his Millionaire Mind Intensive and other seminars, however, he points out 17 Wealth Files that can inspire many people.

Wealth File #1: Rich people believe “I create my life.” Poor people believe “Life happens to me.”

Wealth File #2: Rich people play the money game to win. Poor people play the money game to not lose.

Wealth File #3: Rich people are committed to being rich. Poor people want to be rich.

Wealth File #4: Rich people think big. Poor people think small.

Wealth File #5: Rich people focus on opportunities. Poor people focus on obstacles.

Wealth File #6: Rich people admire other rich and successful people. Poor people resent rich and successful people.

Wealth File #7: Rich people associate with positive, successful people. Poor people associate with negative or unsuccessful people.

Wealth File #8: Rich People are willing to promote themselves and their value. Poor people think negatively about selling and promotion.

Wealth File #9: Rich people are bigger than their problems. Poor people are smaller than their problems.

Wealth File #10: Rich people are excellent receivers. Poor people are poor receivers.

Wealth File #11: Rich people choose to get paid based on results. Poor people choose to get paid based on time.

Wealth File #12: Rich people think “both.” Poor people think “either/or.”

Rich people live in a world of abundance. Poor people live in a world of limitations. Do you want money or a close relationship with your family? Both! Do you want to focus on business or have fund and play? Both! Poor people always choose one, rich people choose both.

Wealth File #13: Rich people focus on their net worth. Poor people focus on their working income.

Wealth File #14: Rich people manager their money well. Poor people mismanage their money well.

Wealth File #15: Rich people have their money work hard for them. Poor people work hard for their money.

Wealth File #16: Rich people act in spite of fear. Poor people let fear stop them.

Wealth File #17: Rich people constantly learn and grow. Poor people think they already know.

Training and managing your own mind is one of the most important skills you could ever own, in terms of both happiness and success.

Review of Unfair Advantage by Robert Kiyosaki

2011-09-30T08:29:00.001-07:00

This is the latest book published by the New York Time's best selling author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad Robert Kiyosaki. He states that year 2010 was the best year for his entire life, despite the fact that it is the worst year for millions of people around the world.

During the last few years, millions of people have lost their jobs, trillions of dollars have wiped off from the global stock markets and people's pension pots have been shrank by half. Then why Robert Kiyosaki and the rich are becoming richer and richer , while the poor is becoming poorer and poorer? Why even some of the middle class have fallen into the poor class?

Robert Kiyosaki states that this is because he has superior financial education than most people. He has made his fortune during the bad times, while millions around world are struggling. He can see opportunities as a real capitalist, while others only see the danger. He decided to write this book not to brag about his good fortune, but to financially educate people, as brag is never cool, especially about money.

He summarises the unfair advantages he has over the majority of other people as follow:

Unfair Advantage No.1: Knowledge. Why accumulating assets and focus on cash flow are more important than having a job. The problem is that many people do not distinguish assets from liabilities, and have no idea about their cash flow and balance sheets.

Unfair Advantage No.2: Taxes. The rich uses Limited Companies, Limited Partnerships and Corporations to legally pay less taxes. For employees there is nothing they can do to pay less tax.

Unfair Advantage No.3: Debt. Today debt is money, currency is no longer money. Central banks are printing trillions of fake money globally and inflation is higher than ever. It is silly to save money, where the interest rates are less than the inflation. Lean how to invest your money wisely and increase your financial IQ to use good debt to become rich.

Unfair Advantage No.4: Risk. Investing is not risky, financially uneducated is risky! The higher your financial IQ, the lower your risk and the higher your Return On Investment.

Unfair Advantage No.5: Compensation.

Law of Compensation 1: Reciprocity, Give and you shall receive.

Law of Compensation 2: Lean to give more.

Law of Compensation 3: Leverage the power of compounding financial education.

Robert Kiyosaki did mention all of the above topics in his previous books, but he uses new examples, concepts and stories to emphasise that why financial education is more important than ever!

Review of 7 Strategies for Wealth and Happiness By Jim Rohn

2011-08-06T05:04:00.000-07:00

The author, Jim Rohn's strategies for becoming wealthy and happy:

Strategy 1, Unleash the Power of Goals. Goal setting is very important in order to achieve what you want in your life.

Strategy 2, Seek Knowledge. This is the path to wisdom.

Strategy 3, Learn How to Change. Changer yourself through personal development.

Strategy 4, Control Your Finances. Strive to achieve your financial freedom.

Strategy 5, Master Time. We are know time is money, learn how to manage your time in a smart way.

Strategy 6, Surround Yourself with Winners. Decide who do you want to spend your time with and who do you want to dissociate with.

Strategy 7, Learn the Art of Living Well.

Happy Chinese New Year 2011! Guo Nian Hao, Gong Xi Fa Cai, Celebrating the Year of the Rabbit

2011-02-03T09:35:00.000-08:00

Today is 1 January 2011(western calendar: 3 February 2011), according to the Chinese lunar calendar, the year of the rabbit starts from today.

The date for the Chinese New Year is different every year if you are using a western calendar, but normally falls between January and February.

The Chinese New Year is also the time for family reunion, and it is the Chinese equivalent of Christmas celebrations in western countries.

The Chinese New Year is also called Spring Festival and it is the biggest day for celebration in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, North Korea and Singapore. Chinese New Year is also one of the five major celebration days in Malaysia.

The Rabbit Years:

Years 1891, 1903, 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023, 2035, 2047, 2059, 2071, 2083, 2095, 2107...

Characters of People Born in the Year of the Rabbit:

It is said that people who are born in the year of the rabbit are the luckiest of all among the 12 Chinese zodiac animals. People born in the Year of the Rabbit are articulate, talented, and ambitious. They are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste. Rabbit people are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky.

They are fond of gossip but are tactful and generally kind. Rabbit people seldom lose their temper. They are clever at business and being conscientious, never back out of a contract.

They would make good gamblers for they have the uncanny gift of choosing the right thing. However, they seldom gamble, as they are conservative and wise. They are most compatible with those born in the years of the Sheep, Pig, and Dog.

Chinese New Year Customs

Before the New Year, families clean their homes, this is to clear all the bad things out so they can start a new and fresh year. They also hang New Year scrolls on the gates and main doors, these are normally written in Chinese with golden or black colours on a red background. On New Year's eve from 8PM to midnight, most Chinese people watch the Spring Festival gala on TV, which is a mixture of performances by various Chinese artists, pop stars, dancers and magicians. Children's performances are also very popular.

At around midnight of Chinese New Year's eve, people eat dumplings so that they will be prosperous and have a good year ahead. Combined with this are beautiful and colourful fireworks in the dark sky and the very loud noise of firecrackers to announce the arrival of the Chinese New Year.

On the day of the Chinese New Year, the younger generation will visit the older generation to say "Chun Jie Hao", "Guo Nian Hao", (Happy New Year) and have lunch and dinner together. As it is the biggest family reunion, the best food and delicacies are eaten on this day. Traditionally they include a fish dish, as the pronunciation of fish in Chinese is “Yu” and this sounds similar to the Chinese word for “Abundance”.

Red is the luckiest colour in China and the number eight - “Ba” is also considered the most lucky. This pronunciation is similar to the word “Fa” - “Make Fortune”. In China, people spend fortune to buy number plates, phone and mobile phone numbers ending in eight, the more eight in it the better.

When children say “Guo Nian Hao” “Happy Chinese New Year” to their grand parents, parents and relatives, they get money in a red envelope, which is called “Ya Sui Qian” - red evelope. In Western countries children tend to get presents on Christmas day, but Chinese children get money in red envelopes that they can use on toys if they want.

People tend to wear new clothes both inside and outside on the day, especially children, to symbolise a fresh and clean start. If you were born in the year of the animal which is celebrating, for example if you were born in the year of the rabbit, then you would wear red underwear on Chinese New Year's day for prosperity and good luck.

I wish everyone Chun Jie Hao (Happy Chinese New Year), Tu Nian Da Ji (Wishing You
Good Luck in the Rabbit Year) and Gong Xi Fa Cai (Wishing You Good Fortune in the New Year)!

Review of Own Your Own Corporation by the Rich Dad's Advisor Garrett Sutton

2011-01-07T09:33:00.000-08:00

When you are starting a new company, there are several entities to choose from. Currently in the USA, there are six entities available for the entrepreneurs to choose. The Rich Dad's advisor, Garrett Sutton , the corporate attorney explains which are the bad entities, which are the good entities to choose and explains the reasons behind these.

To succeed in business, to protect your assets and to limit your liabilities, you will want to select one of the good entities. Each good entities has its own advantages and disadvantages and has its own specific use. Each one of these good entities is utilized by the rich and the knowledgeable in their business and personal financial affairs.

1. Sole Proprietorship. Garrett Sutton says Sole Proprietorship is a Bad Entity, as this provides no asset protection for the owner. One lawsuit against your business, and your house, savings, and personal assets can all be lost.

2. General Partnership. Garrett Sutton says General Partner is a Bad Entity, as this provides no asset protection for the owner. The reason is exactly the same as the above.

3. Limited Partnership (LP). This is a Good Entity. A limited partnership is similar to a general partnership with the exception that it has two types of partners.

The first type is a general partner who is responsible for managing the partnership. A Corporation or an Limited Liability Company can be formed to serve as a general partner of a Limited Partnerships to limit the liability.

The second type is a limited partner; by definition, he or she is limited to the contribution of capital to the partnership and may not become actively involved in the business of the partnership.

4. Limited Liability Company(LLC). This is a Good Entity to use in certain situation as it provides the limited liability protection of a corporation and the flow-through taxation of a partnership.

There are two more features that make LLC unique:

1) Flexible management structure

2) Flexible allocation of profit and loss

5. S Corporation. This is a Good Entity to use in certain situation, but only limited to the US citizens. S corporation has eligibility requirements; a corporation organised must be in any U.S state, but not from outside the U.S. The shareholders, which is limited to 75 people, should all be U.S. Individuals.

6. C Corporation. This is a Good Entity. We have leant that one entity size does not fit all business scenarios. However, in terms of maximizing deductions and taking advantage of the tax laws for fringe and other benefits, nothing beats C corporation.

This book also discusses about how to use Nevada Corporation (USA) to take maximum advantages and the benefits of multiple corporation strategies. It also lays out step by step strategies to form four of the above good entities, how to raise money, deal with all of the employee issues and how to protect your entity names etc.

Many people do not aware that there are good entities and bad entities when they are forming companies. This is a great book to get insights on different entities and choose one or more of entities to maximize the benefits and take advantages of the various tax laws.

Review of Rich Dad's Conspiracy of the Rich, The 8 New Rules of Money by Robert Kiyosaki

2010-08-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

This book is the result of the author, Robert Kiyosaki 's life time research. He believes that the US government is controlled by the multinational corporations, which is controlled by the rich people. The rich want us to “Go to school, study hard, get a degree and find a good job.”- the Poor Dad's philosophy.

The rich want us to become good employees, so we can work hard for them. Then the government can get paid in the form of tax and our pensions are invested in the stock markets by purchasing the shares of multinational corporations, which makes the rich becoming even richer.

Robert Kiyosaki emphasize that financial education is more than important ever in this information age and he states that the rules of money has been changed.

New Rule of Money #1: Money is knowledge

Today, you do not need money to make money, all you need is good knowledge. The information age has created many young billionaires more than ever before. This includes the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates; the founders of Google Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the founder of Yahoo, Jerry Yang etc.

New Rule of Money #2: Learn How to Use Debt

Most people regard debt is bad or evil, they do not realise that there is good debt and bad debt. The rich knows how to use good debt to leverage the banks and other people's money (OPM) to make them richer and richer.

An investment property that brings you monthly positive cash flow is good debt as you leverage the bank's money as a form of mortgage, usually 70%- 85% loan to the property value. Initial Public Offering (IPO) is a good example of using OPM by the corporations.

Robert Kiyosaki says that today debt is money; if you are poor, one of the reasons is that you do not have enough good debt.

New Rule of Money #3: Learn to Control Cash Flow

If you want to financial freedom and one day become rich, then you need to learn how to read numbers and need to know how to control your personal cash flow and monitor the global flow of jobs, people and money.

New Rule of Money #4: Prepare for Bad Times and You will Only Know Good Times

By increasing your financial IQ, you will be able to see the future better and therefore you can prepare for the worst.

New Rule of Money #5: The Need for Speed

Today, we are operating digital money, we can transact money online at the speed of light. Many people are struggling financially because they are simply too slow- they cannot make money faster than the banks are printing.

New Rule of Money #6: Learn the Language of Money

Rich dad said when it comes to money 90/10 rule applies. 90% of the world's wealth is controlled by 10% of the population. Most people are financially struggling because they have never been taught the language of money.

By learning the words of money you have a better chance not to be fooled by the false prophets of money - save money, buy a house, get out of debt and invest for the long term in well-diversified portfolio of mutual funds.

Inflation is rising fast and the banks are printing money even faster! If you saved £100 last year, then it is only worth £94 this year.

New Rule of Money #7: Life is a Team Sport, Choose Your Team Carefully

In this world, no one has achieved great wealth without the help, collaboration and assistance of others.

New Rule of Money #8: Since Money is Becoming Worth-less and Less, Learn to Print Your Own Money

Today, the world is in a crisis of financial ignorance and incompetence. Our wealth is being legally stolen via taxes, debt, inflation, and retirement accounts. Since it is the lack of financial education that got us into this crisis, it is financial education can lead us out.

Robert Kiyosaki believes that we have been financially brain washed and the rich have been benefiting most. It is time for us to increase our financial education by learning the language of money.

Learn to create, build and buy your own assets and the secret of success is to sell. The rich always have the products and services that they can sell to you, while the majority of the middle and poor classes often have nothing to sell.

Ask yourself now: "Do I have any products or services to sell to make any profits?" Remember you can not sell your jobs!

The more people you serve the richer you will become!

Review of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

2010-07-26T09:30:00.000-07:00

I read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in March 2007, however I loved it so much that I decided to write a review about it this year. This wonderful book is very inspirational and summarises the 7 habits you need as follows:

Habit 1: Be Proactive. The difference between people who exercise initiative and those who don't is a 5000-plus percent difference in effectiveness. It takes initiative to develop the Seven Habits and each depends on the development of a person's proactive muscles.

Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind. Imagine that you are attending your own funeral, you saw your family, friends and colleagues were there. What would you like them to say about you? What character, contributions and achievements would you want people to remember about you?

This habit has reminded me the of story of how the Nobel Prize was founded. Alfred Nobel was a chemist, engineer and inventor. He amassed a fortune during his lifetime mostly through his 355 inventions including dynamite.

In 1888, when he was 55 years old, one day he had the very unpleasant surprise of reading his own obituary, titled “The Merchant of Death is Dead” from a French newspaper. He was remembered as the inventor of dynamite, which was used in wars and explosions to kill lots of people. In fact, it was his brother Ludvig who had died, the newspaper made a mistake.

Alfred Nobel was greatly disturbed and disappointed with what he read and concerned with how he would be remembered. This inspired him to change his will, he died at the age of 63. His last will requested that his fortune be used to create a series of prizes for those who confer “The Greatest Benefit on Mankind” in physics, chemistry, peace, physiology or medicine, literature and economic sciences. In June 1900, four years after Alfred Nobel's death, the Nobel Foundation was founded and since then it has become the most prestigious award in the world.

Habit 3: Put First Things First. Prioritise the things that are in line with your goals and commit your time and effort to these things. If you prioritise things then you will get done the most important things first.

Learn to manage your time, delegate responsibilities, organise your next week's roles and goals by writing them down and commit yourself with action.

Habit 4 : Think Win/Win. Stephen Covey states that “Win/Win is a frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions. Win/Win means that agreements or solutions are mutually beneficial, mutually satisfying. With a Win/Win solution, all parties feel good about the decision and feel committed to the action plan.”

Habit 5: See First to Understand, Then to be Understood. “Although it is risky and hard, seek first to understand, or diagnose before you prescribe, is a correct principle manifest in many areas of life.”

Habit 6: Synergize. It is the principle of creative cooperation and can catalyse, unify and unleash the greatest power within people.

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw. “It is presenting and enhancing the greatest asset you have – you. It is renewing the four dimensions of your nature – physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional.”

1) The Physical Dimension. This includes getting sufficient nutrition by eating the right foods,

Getting sufficient rest and relaxation is an important part of stress management.

Regular exercise can increase your energy level and therefore can increase your efficiency and effectiveness.

2) Spiritual Dimension. This includes value clarification and commitment, study and meditation.

3) The Mental Dimension. Reading, visualizing, planning and writing.

4) The Social and Emotional Dimension. This includes service, empathy, synergy and intrinsic security.

I often go through these 7 Habits so I can continuously improve myself to be a highly effective and efficient person.

The Adventurous Journey of Climbing the Famous, Dangerous and Precipitous Phoenix Mountain in China Part1 of 3

2010-06-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

There are over 30 mountains that are called Phoenix Mountain (Feng Huang Shan) in China. The one that I climbed is one of the most famous Phoenix Mountains and is named as one of the important national tourist attractions in China. It is also one of the four most famous mountains in Liaoning province, China, which is situated in the north-east of the country.

The dragon and the phoenix are two of the most auspicious animals or birds in China, however they only exist in legends. The dragon is the symbol for men and the phoenix is the symbol for women. During ancient times, the emperors wore robes decorated with dragons to symbolise the ultimate power. The Chinese regard themselves as the offspring of dragons (Long De Chuan Ren).

The Chinese stick pictures of a dragon and a phoenix together with Xi (happiness) on a red background on walls and windows during their wedding to show the perfect match and symbolise an auspicious start to their lives together.

As you probably already know, red is the most lucky colour in China, followed by gold. During ancient times, gold was used as currency to exchange goods and therefore symbolises prosperity.

Phoenix mountain is situated near Phoenix city, about 57 kilometres from Dandong city, which neighbours North Korea, the two countries are separated by the Ya Lu river. It is called Phoenix mountain as the bumpiness and precipitous cliffs look like a phoenix has opened her wings. Unfortunately I did not know this at that time and did not observe this fact while I was climbing.

Phoenix Mountain is famous for its spectacular scenery, astonishing rocks and cliffs, bumpy and precipitous mountains, caves, streams, classic temples, stone sculptures, natural wonders and rare plants. It is just like a beautiful and massive Chinese oil painting.

Phoenix Mountain is the most dangerous mountain I have ever climbed in my life. I am not a big fan of mountain climbing, especially dangerous mountains. Before climbing the mountain I actually did not know how dangerous it would be and If I knew the truth I may have decided not to take the “risk of my life”.

The mountain is famous for its unevenness and its sheer drops, and it could take around three or four days, if you want to climb over the compete route to see most of the sights. Neither the tour guides or the pamphlets emphasized how dangerous the mountain could be and there was not any warning that this mountain is not suitable for everyone to climb, especially older people.

It all happened when we ran out of good places to visit in Dandong city and my husband suddenly said he read about Phoenix Mountain from the internet and told me that we should climb this mountain and it would be good fun.

When I was at senior high school and university I had classmates from Phoenix city, they told me some scary stories about Phoenix mountain. I heard some people got injured and some even fell off from the cliff and died while climbing the mountain. It made my hair stand on end and therefore, I never had any interest in climbing this mountain to risk my life, even though it is only a few hours bus journey from my parents home. However, my husband was really keen to climb the mountain, and at that time I forgot about the horror stories that I heard from my classmates.

It was beautiful weather in the middle of April. Normally at this time the area should be full of cherry blossoms and green trees, but for the year of 2010, the spring had been delayed almost a month. The mountain looked quite bare for this season and there were very few tourists too. We hired a mini bus, which took around 10 minutes to bring us from the gate to the climbing base...

To be Continued.

The Adventurous Journey of Climbing the Famous, Dangerous and Precipitous Phoenix Mountain in China Part2 of 3

2010-05-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

The phoenix mountain's sights are divided into four major areas; the most famous site is the west side where the most famous sites such as Lao Niu Bei. (Old Cow's Back) are concentrated. We decided to climb the mountain along this route. The climbing base has vendors and small shops that you can buy special gifts for your families and friends. You can also buy some snacks, water, food, and gloves to prepare for your mountain climbing.

Along the way to the climbing journey there are also small Buddhist and Dao temples and pavilions that you can visit. For example Zi Yang Guan (for good fortune), Bi Xia Gong (for parents and grand parents to pray or make wishes for their children and grand children) or Guan Yin Ge (for safety and happiness and other wishes), Dou Mu Gong.

These temples were built in Ming and Qing Dynasty with more than 300 - 400 years of history. There are bigger temples in a different route , but we did not have enough time to visit everything.

Every 28 April, in the Chinese calendar (around end of May in western calendar) is the day for Mountain Gatherings for the phoenix mountain. It is the busiest time of the year; the Buddhists and people from all around the country visit here on this day. It is also full of energetic mountain climbers who want to enjoy the festival atmosphere here.

You can burn scents, pray, make wishes or donate money in the temples and pavilions. It is heard that some wishes made here did come true. Maybe these stories have added more to the mysterious atmosphere of this majestic mountain; the mountain attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors per year and has become a very popular tourist destination.

After visiting these classic temples and pavilions we also passed the Phoenix Cave – Feng Huang Dong. During the summer time, it has a beautiful waterfall, but when we visited there it was frozen solid and we could only see ice. It was too slippery to walk inside, so we decided to go ahead with our climbing.

After passing Guan Yin Pavillion, the mountain stairs became very steep. The stairs were carved into the cliffs and it looked 90 degrees to me. Luckily there are steel rails that you can hold. It was my first time to climb such a precipitous mountain, and I could feel that my legs were shaking. .

We then came to Ju Xian Tai (Immortal Assembly Base), where you can make wishes for your parents' health and long life. If you are a couple, you can also purchase a lock, carve your names on it and then tie it up on a chain with hundreds of other locks along the cliff to lock your love. This symbolises eternal love and ensures you will have 100 years of harmonious and happy marriage together (Bai Nian Hao He).

We passed Shuang Long Bei (Two Dragon's Back), Jing Jun Feng (General Cliff), Tu Er Feng ( Rabbit's Ear Cliff) and Luo Han Feng (Luo Han Cliff). The cliffs are very steep and sharp and the paths are very narrow and dangerous. We often used the steel rails to keep ourselves from falling off the cliff and to prevent us slipping where there was some ice on the steps.

Some paths are so narrow that we had to squeeze to go through. We both thought that these narrow paths are probably not suitable for very overweight people to go through but on some parts, if you do turn back it will be very inconvenient as the path is so narrow and there are usually other people following behind as it is one direction only.

Most of the snow and ice had been melted, but some areas were wet and slippery. Luckily it was a dry and sunny day, but I really do not recommend anyone to climb these mountain just after it has rained and especially not while it is raining. It was really hard work, we had to climb up and down the cliffs many times to move forward. The rocks and steel rails that we were relying on to climb were very cold in the shade and we often regretted not purchasing gloves earlier, we would have if we had known how cold the steel rails could be.

When we started we were accompanied by a young Chinese couple. When the cliffs became sharper and more dangerous to climb we could see that the young lady had fear all over her face, and we saw them give up climbing.

Along the way, we also met four young Chinese men and women while climbing the General Cliff, we could see one guy, who was a bit overweight was struggling. They said “Hello” to my husband, and were very curious about him. After all there are very few foreign visitors in this city, and to see a Lao Wai (foreigner) climb the mountain is quite rare. Soon we saw that they changed their direction and went back down the mountain, towards where we had started climbing.

There was a vendor selling some food such as tea, preserved eggs (traditional Chinese way of boiling eggs), sausages, bread, water and soft drinks there. The price is three or four times more more expensive compared to the supermarkets. They are supplying the food for urgent needs, as you cannot afford to be hungry, thirsty and tired to have this long and dangerous mountain journey.

If you do not want to pay the high prices, it is recommended to bring your own food and water. Not too much, as you will feel it heavy to carry it around, but it is definitely necessary, especially water. You do become hungry after climbing up and down of the cliffs and you need to pump up your energy.

When we arrived at the front of a dangerous looking cliff with 90 degrees of steps to climb, we saw another Chinese couple climbing down the stairs nervously. They told us that the famous Old Cow's Back is just ahead, but they decided not to climb it and going down using the cable car.

The lady told us that her husband wanted to climb this famous Old Cow's Back for a while, however, when they arrived there, by just looking at the cliff, her husband became very nervous and therefore they changed their minds and decided not to climb it. She told me that after the Old Cow's Back, there will be a place called Jian Yan (Arrow's Eye), where we can take the walking path to come down the mountain. It was very useful advice to us.

We took pictures before climbing the Old Cow's Back to prove we were there. The reason it is called Old Cow's Back is that this part of the mountain look like what it is called after. Imagine that you were walking on the top of a cow's back and that “cow” is not two meters, but around 800 meters tall. You have to walk through her narrow back vertebra bone, and under your immediate feet is a deep valley. I am sure you would be pretty scared too.

We started to climb the sharp stairs of the very narrow Old Cow's Back. My husband and I were walking on the very top of this legendary mountain. It was one of the most nerve racking experiences I have ever had in my life. The steel rails that we were holding to move forward up the steps were built by drilling the steel sticks into the rock. While I was looking at them, I thought that it was probably drilled a long time ago and therefore it might have become loose over the years and I could fall off the cliff at any time.

I really thought I could die at that time, the deep valley, more than 800 meters below, was just under my feet; my hair stood up and I was sweating heavily despite the fact it was very cold on top of the mountain. I was very nervous, so I could not bear to look back to check how my husband was doing, but just concentrated on moving my shaking legs and arms steadily, carefully and firmly in silence. There was a long silence between us until we came down the cliff, my husband finally laughed nervously and told me that it was a very special experience, though he was brave enough to take pictures on the way.

To be Continued.

The Adventurous Journey of Climbing the Famous, Dangerous and Precipitous Phoenix Mountain in China Part3 of 3

2010-04-26T09:26:00.000-07:00

I completely understand why there are so many of the people who wish to climb this Phoenix Mountain, especially this Old Cow's Back, have changed their minds when they saw what it involved . I am also very surprised no pamphlets or that staff do not warned tourists of the level of risks and dangers involved in climbing this mountain. You definitely need some courage and braveness to climb this mountain, and I do not recommend it for someone who has a fear of heights. Climbing this mountain is definitely not for everyone.

The daytime was short and it was getting dark, we did not have much time to have a break. We almost drank up all of our two bottles of water and all the food and fruit. It would be a big problem if we got stuck there; it was in the middle of nowhere, and there was nobody around to ask for help.

It will take too long and be too dangerous for us to go back the way we climbed, so the only option was to get to Arrow's Eye as soon as possible. If we got back too late we also had the risk of missing the last bus going back to Dandong city, where we were staying in a hotel. We were tired, hungry and had run out of water, but could not afford to take a break so we speeded up.

There were more steep cliffs to climb; we passed tight and precipitous stairs, which is called Bu Bu Jin in Chinese and then came to the Tiger Mouth cliff. Around here, we saw three Chinese guys climbing as well, we soon passed them, but later we saw them going back the way we climbed. We could not believe it, are they going to climb back that Old Cow's Back again? My goodness! I could not believe they were doing it.

After that we saw a road marking pointing toward Arrow's Eye and we felt much relieved. It is told that in Tang Dynasty a general shoot out his arrow towards this mountain, and opened up a hole. That's where the name is came from. We took some pictures, as we were told by a tourist on the way that you cannot say that you have climbed the Phoenix Mountain, if you have not climbed to Arrow's Eye. It is the second highest cliff within the Phoenix Mountain.

Climbing to Arrow's Eye really needed determination, courage, braveness and good attitude to climb many cliffs, rocks, steep and narrow stairs to reach here. I definitely have to say, the Phoenix Mountain is not suitable for everyone to climb, it is dangerous and adventurous with many risks involved. As you have read above, there are many people who gave up climbing along the way, but we made it! Yeah!!!

It was getting darker, and we had a last bus to catch, we started to walk down the mountain in a hurry. Even though we wanted to continue the rest of the mountain climbing journey, it was too late; as it is very dangerous to climb the mountains when it is dark, there is no lighting along the way. You'd be better to come back the next day.

The coming down path was on the shady side and therefore it was still covered with snow. As it was slippery, we had to be extra cautious, but it was so much faster and easier than climbing the bumpy and breath taking stairs. There is a small stream beside the path, but it still covered in snow and ice. When we arrived in the main road in the middle of the mountain, we took a taxi and were dropped off outside the gate. Soon the last bus arrived, it was the bus we took to go there in the morning. The driver, his assistant and ourselves were all amazed, what perfect timing!

In May 1996, I climbed Tai Shan (Tai Mountain, one of the five most famous mountains in China) in Shandong province. My sister, a friend and I arrived there in the evening and we climbed it over night without sleeping. The mountain has paths and is quite easy to climb and is not as dangerous as the phoenix mountain that you have to climb the steep rock stairs and cliffs. It was not too far away from the town Qu Fu, where Confucius was born and lived. We visited his tomb, which is one of the famous tourist attractions in China as he is regarded as the ancestor of the Chinese. We also visited surrounding cities and towns including Jinan city.

It was very special experience for my husband and m to climb the Phoenix Mountain, and while it was breath taking and nerve racking we also observed the amazing beauty of the mountain. I am sure it would look more spectacular if you visit it in late spring, summer and autumn, but we still enjoyed it. During the winter time, it becomes absolutely bare, due to snow and icy conditions.

If you want to climb any mountains, please make sure you wear comfortable clothes and

shoes (no high heels please), and make sure you bring water, food and some money as well. You will always become hungry when you are climbing the mountain, and you need to keep up your energy. A rucksack is very convenient to carry things around. Normally, the temperature in the mountains is much lower than in the cities, and therefore it is wise to bring warmer clothes in case you catch cold.
The End

Review of The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko

2010-03-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

The book “Millionaire Next Door” was published in 1996, since then it has surprised many of the people who have read it, and I was certainly not an exception.

Just like you , I was surprised to read that in the USA, many millionaire-like people, who live in big houses in posh areas, drive luxury European or sports cars, wear very expensive suits and clothes, go on luxury foreign holidays and send their children to private schools are not necessarily multi-millionaires. These people may be affluent, but they tend to have lower net worth and their lifestyles are based on hyper-consumption.

This book revealed that most millionaires are ordinary looking people who could be living next door to you and they are frugal, frugal, frugal. Most of these types of millionaires are self employed business owners, who started their businesses with nothing. You would not easily recognise these people as multi-millionaires as they dress just like you, shop in the same stores where you shop and they drive second hand cars.

Many self made millionaires are frugal and price sensitive to products and services for their own consumption. However, they are not price sensitive when it comes to purchasing investment advice, accounting, tax and legal advice and services. In those cases they place a premium on quality. Also, they are not frugal at all when it comes to buying products and services for their children and grand children.

Despite the fact that most millionaires made their fortunes and accumulated their wealth as entrepreneurs and being self employed they go on to send their children to universities and encourage them to become professionals such as doctors, attorneys, engineers and accountants.

For these offspring, money is not their top priority, instead, their social status and respect from their peers are much more important. They tend to become affluent, but rarely become millionaires and have relatively low net worth. They end up having very high consumption lifestyle as described in the second paragraph.

The research also found that adult children who receive significant Economic Outpatient Care(EOC) from their wealthy parents such as cash and expensive gifts tend not to accumulate significant wealth.

The research also found that if you are self employed you are more likely to become affluent compared to employees, however, most business owners are not millionaires and will never come close to becoming wealthy.

This finding reminds me of Robert Kiyosaki’s cash flow quadrants, I believe that if you want to become a millionaire you must change your quadrant from left quadrant, self employed to the right quadrants of the business owner and investor.

This book recommends that in order to become a millionaire you should be frugal and live well below your means to accumulate wealth. However, Robert Kiyosaki, the author of best selling personal finance book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” says that it is a criminal thing to encourage people to live well below their means.

Instead, Robert Kiyosaki encourages people to increase their financial IQ by learning so they can increase their earning abilities to earn more and control their expenditures to accumulate wealth. He encourages people to live well above their means rather than being frugal all the time. Honestly, I could not agree more with Robert Kiyosaki.

This book was very educational and I did learn a lot from various aspects, however I also like to reserve my point of view regarding how we should live our lives.

Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Chinese New Year! It's a Double Celebration for Love and the Year of the Tiger!

2010-02-14T08:46:00.000-08:00

Just like many other women, I expect to receive a bunch of beautiful red roses on Valentines day and fortunately I receive them every year since I met my husband. Red roses are a symbol of love and that's why receiving these roses on this special day makes a woman feel so special.

Love is the most powerful and positive human emotion and it deserves to have a special day for celebration. I cannot imagine a Valentine's day without these gorgeous roses from my husband. Every time I receive these roses I always tell my husband “I Love You” from my heart. Maybe this is what encourages him to buy me special roses every year.

Roses are one of my favourite flowers and I have plenty of them in my back garden during the summer time. They are various in colour, style and fragrance and I just love them. It's winter time now and I have no flowers blossoming in my garden at the moment and therefore these gorgeous roses make me feel even more loved, happy and cheerful.

Today is also the Chinese New Year, the most important festival to Chinese and Koreans. According to the Chinese lunar horoscope, this year is the year of the tiger. People born in this year are brave, competitive and have good leadership skills.

It is Chinese tradition to eat dumplings on Chinese New Year's Eve and watch the Spring Festival Celebration Party broadcast by CCTV, which I did. I bought dumplings from a local Chinese super market and watched the show in London using satellite TV.

The show is very Chinese, with mass production and bright colours, especially the red costumes. The colour red and the number 8 are considered to be very lucky in China and therefore the party started at 8 o'clock on New Year's Eve, and there was plenty of red during the show. Remember, the Chinese Olympics Opening Ceremony was held at 8pm on 8th of August 2008! (08/08/08)

It's also a Chinese tradition to gather together with family and relatives during the festival season. If we are long distance away we call each other and exchange greetings such as “Guo Nian Hao!” “Chun Jie Hao” (Happy New Year” “Gong Xi Fa Cai” “Wish You Good Fortune” just after midnight on New Year's Eve. I was trying to call my parents in China, but as the lines are too busy I could not get through, so I had to wait until today.

I spoke to my mum, dad, brother, sister, sister in law and my nephew and greeted all of them with“Guo Nian Hao!” My parents house seems very busy with lots of family members and relatives celebrating the festival together.

It is not the Chinese traditional custom to celebrate Valentine's Day or Christmas. However, with globalization and more and more Chinese learning English, younger generations tend to celebrate these western festivals. And of course the business people take advantage of this and do massive marketing and celebrating with glorious decorations during the Christmas time and shops are busy selling red roses and chocolates before Valentines day.

The younger Chinese generation regard this as trendy. I do not think there is anything wrong with this. I even advised my brother to buy a bunch of red roses for my sister-in-law today. I think it is good to have an excuse to celebrate special days to bring more happiness, celebration and love to our journey, as we all know that life is not a bed of roses.

Spring festival is still the biggest festival for me, even though I can't feel any festival mood in London today. It's a double celebration today; my husband and I decided to have a romantic walk in a park and have booked our romantic dinner at our favourite Korean restaurant.

So what will the world be remembered for today? I had a bet with my husband that today the Google logo would be an image with half for celebrating the Valentine's Day and half for the Chinese Spring Festival; my husband's bet was that it would be Valentine's day only. However, neither of us won the bet, the Google image was for the winter Olympics at Vancouver 2010?!

I really believe that with more love the world would be a better place.

Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Spring Festival!

With lots of

Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill; Proven Steps to Riches, Money Secrets & the Law of Success

2010-01-18T10:25:00.000-08:00

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill is one of my favourite books and it is one of the all time best-selling personal financial books in the world. I read this book in March 2007 and have decided to read it again this year. I love it so much that I decided to write a review of it on my blog so I can come back and remind myself of the main points and be inspired any time, anywhere in the world. I rated this book five stars at Amazon.

I know some people have read this book more than 10 times and some even more! It's amazing to see how popular this book is. This book seeks to inspire people to remember the motto “I am the master of my fate and the captain of my soul!” It has guided and helped millions of people who are searching for definite goals and purposes in their life and who want to become rich. Napoleon Hill's question to you is “What genius lies asleep in your brain?”

What do you want most in your life? Is it money, fame, power, contentment, happiness or love?

This book is based on over 25 years of research in collaboration with more than 500 of America's distinguished and most successful men of great wealth in the industrial age. These people include Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and John Rockefeller.

Napoleon Hill interviewed some of these men who began from scratch. These wealthy men have explained the money making philosophy of their thoughts, ideas and organised plans. They revealed the source and secrets of their riches to the author and that was how this book was born.

1. Desire, the Starting Point of All Achievement. You need to fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire, then determine what you intend to give in return. You need to have a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire and then create a definite plan. Make a statement for the above and then read your written statement aloud twice a day; once when you are getting up in the morning and once before you go to the bed.

2. Faith, Visualization of and Belief in Attainment of Desire. Faith is one of the most powerful positive emotions and can remove limiting beliefs. If you develop your faith, riches will begin in the form of thought.

3. Auto – Suggestion, The Medium for Influencing the Subconscious Mind. Please repeat the statement of your first step loudly every day with emotion or feeling and visualise being in possession of your desired money.

4. Specialized Knowledge, Personal Experiences or Observations. The book concludes that knowledge is only potential power and will not attract money, unless it is organised and directed through practical plans of action to the definite end of accumulation of money.

5. Imagination, the Workshop of the Mind. An idea or an imagination with action can be turned into reality.

6. Organized Planning, the Crystallisation of Desire into Action. One of the big reasons that millions of people go through life in misery or poverty is because they lack a sound and intelligent plan through which to accumulate fortune.

7. Decision, the Mastery of Procrastination. The author found that most of these successful people had the habit of reaching decisions quickly and of changing these decisions slowly when they need to be changed.

8. Persistence, the Sustained Effort Necessary to Induce Faith. In real life lack of persistence and the habit of quitting when we are encountered by temporary defeat are the most common reasons for failure. The reason Thomas Edison was successful was because he did not quit even though he “failed” 10,000 times before he successfully invented the light bulb. Have you persisted in trying 10,000 times when you failed to do something? When defeat comes, re-examine your plan and rebuild it to sail toward your goal.

9. Power of the Master Mind, the Driving Force. Working with a “Master Mind” group is key to success. No individual can achieve great success on his/her own without the coordination of knowledge and efforts from others.

10. The Mystery of Sex Transmutation. Sexual desire is the most powerful of human desires. The desire for sexual contact is so strong and impelling that men freely run the risk of life and reputation to indulge it. Research shows that most men who are very successful and have achieved outstanding achievements are highly sexed men who got their energy and inspiration from the women they love.

11. The Subconscious Mind, the Connecting Link. There are seven very powerful positive emotions such as desire, faith, love, sex, enthusiasm, romance and hope. Our mind should be injected with these positive emotions to dominate and overcome the most negative emotions such as fear, jealousy, hatred, revenge, greed, superstition and anger.

12. The Brain, A broadcasting and Receiving station for Thought.

13. The Sixth Sense, the Door to the Temple of Wisdom. Most people have not developed this function, however, it has proved to work very well for some of these 500 successful people.

From the research the author found that riches when they come in huge quantities, are never the result of hard work! Riches come, in response to definite demands, based on the application of definite principles, and not by chance or luck. That is why this book is titled as “Think and Grow Rich”, but not as “Work Hard and Grow Rich”.

There are six basic fears for every one of us and fear of poverty is the strongest one. Recent research also shows that it is not a terrorist attack that people fear most, but it is the fear of running out of money when they are retired.

This book is about money, and some people argue that riches should not be measured only in money. However, MOST people would say “Give me all the money I want, and then I will find everything I need.” Money is power and it talks! That's why Think and Grow Rich still remains one of the best selling personal financial books of all time!

Rich Dad Poor Dad, If You are not Rich, Find out Why and Learn Robert Kiyosaki's Secrets to Wealth

2009-12-21T12:57:00.000-08:00

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, is one of the best books I have ever read in my life. It was a New York Times best seller and the most famous book by the author. The first time I read it was in May 2008, I read it again this year and even decided to write a review to remind me of the golden rules of the rich.

I started to read the Rich Dad series in 2007 with Rich Dad's Cash Flow Quadrants, since then I have bought 14 books from the Rich Dad's series and his advisor's books. Personally I do not like to read the same book twice, but Rich Dad books are exceptional, I have read many of them twice, and every time I read it I always pick up something new or spot something I did not realise at first reading or have already forgotten. I am a big fan of Rich Dad and I rated this book five stars at Amazon.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad book is very inspirational and one of the best mindset books you can ever read; he combined stories and also used simple English to make it easy to understand. There are lots of people in this world who are much richer than Robert Kiyosaki, however, there are not many people willing to share the secrets of the rich and teach you how to build wealth. I truly admire and respect Robert Kiyosaki's generosity and courage to share his wealth secrets with the world and his determination to educate people for their financial intelligence and the well-being of humanity.

Robert Kiyosaki had two dads; one rich one and one poor one. The poor dad was his real dad; he was highly educated with a PH.D, and once was the head of state education of Hawaii, however he struggled financially for his entire life. Rich dad was Robert Kiyosaki's best friend's dad who started mentoring him when he was a child and had a massive influence on his life and wealth building.

Rich dad never finished the eighth grade, however, he owned substantial real estates, investments and he owned businesses and later became one of the richest men in Hawaii. Rich dad died leaving tens of million of dollars to his family, charities and his church , while his poor dad left bills to be paid. Robert Kiyosaki's decision to listen and follow his rich dad's guide and advice has ultimately made him rich and shaped who he finally became.

Poor dad often said “The love of money is the root of all evil”, while rich dad said “The lack of money is the root of all evil.” Poor dad often said to Robert Kiyosaki “Go to school, study hard, get a degree and find a good job”; he believed in hard work and loyalty. However, Rich dad often said to Robert Kiyosaki “Mind your own business”, “Invest and build your own assets and create jobs”; he believed in working smart and always said work to learn rather than work for money. Poor dad believed his house was his biggest asset, while rich dad taught Robert Kiyosaki your house is a liability to you and an asset to your bank.

As you can see Robert Kiyosaki's Rich dad had a completely different mindset compared to his poor dad, that's why they saw the world and money in a different way. Most of us are too familiar with poor dad's philosophy and that is why most of us are not rich. Robert Kiyosaki said our mindset is our most important asset and that is why it's very important for us to financially educate ourselves first in order to become rich.

Lesson # 1 The Rich Don't Work for Money, They have Their Money Work for them. When Robert Kiyosaki was nine years old, he already had a strong desire to get rich. His best friend Mike and himself then decided to ask Mike's dad to teach them how to become rich and their journey began. At first they worked for 10 cents per hour for rich dad and then later they worked for him for free. Rich dad told them “The poor and middle class work for money, but the rich have money work for them.”

Lesson #2 Why Teach Financial Literacy? Rich Dad said the most important and only rule in getting rich is that you must know the difference between an asset and a liability and buy assets.
He said that most people struggle financially because they do not know the difference between an asset and a liability. The rich acquire assets and the poor and middle class acquire liabilities, but they think they are assets. To simplify, an asset is something that puts money in your pocket, and a liability is something that takes money out of your pocket.

Rich dad also said that in order to get rich, we have to read and understand numbers and he drew diagrams of the cash flow pattern of an asset and of a liability. Most people do not get financially ahead, because they do not understand cash flow, and do not know how to have their money work for them. Rich dad said in order to be rich and maintain your wealth, you must know how to read numbers and be financially literate in words as well as in numbers.

Lesson # 3 Mind Your Own Business. This means to build and keep your asset column strong.

Lesson #4 The History of Taxes and the Power of Corporations. Tax is the biggest secret of the rich, this is because the rich use their corporations to earn, spend and then pay taxes, while middle and poor class people earn, pay taxes and then spend. According to rich dad, tax is the single biggest expense for most people, however, the rich know about and use the tax laws to become richer and richer.

Lesson #5 The Rich Invent Money. Financial intelligence requires various skills including the ability to read numbers, understand the investment strategy of money making money, the supply and demand of the market and the laws and regulations. Opportunities are everywhere, but if you do not develop your financial intelligence you will not able to identify them.

Lesson#6 Work to Learn – Don't Work for Money. Rich dad said do not specialise in one thing, but learn a lot of different things, what he means is that you should generalise in order to learn all the different aspects of a business. Rich dad also advised Robert Kiyosaki that he must work to learn skills not work for money.

Rich Dad books have had a life changing impact on me and this book is no different. Like his Poor Dad, I believed in excellent education, getting a good job and then climbing the corporate ladder. I thought the only way to get rich was to get promoted to higher positions in a big corporation or run my own company. Until I read Rich Dad's book series, I had no idea that the chances of getting rich just being an employee are very slim and I realised what was wrong with the way I thought.

As Rich Dad said whether you like it or not the laws are written by the rich and for the rich, if you want to get rich you must use the same laws that the rich use. I did not know that tax laws are one of the biggest reasons why the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Even at business school, I learned nothing about money, investment and wealth management.

After reading his book, I realised that I need to acquire and create assets and learn to make my money work for me. This book has completely changed my mindset and helped me to think outside the box. As it is such a brilliant book I also bought it for other members of my family and have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone.

Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: Learn Robert Kiyosaki Ways to Invest, Build Assets to Create Wealth

2009-11-21T12:55:00.000-08:00

Robert Kiyosaki is the most influential person in financial education in the world, he educates people to become multi-millionaires and to be rich. Money working for money is the philosophy of the rich and wealthy and that's how all the greatest wealth has been created. Rich Dad's Guide to Investing is another excellent book regarding this subject and I rated this book five stars at Amazon.

If you have read Rich Dad books you are aware of his famous four cash flow quadrants; Left Quadrant: E: Employees and S: Self Employed; Right Quadrant: B: Business Owners and I: Investors. Robert Kiyosaki says that the right quadrant is the area of wealth where all the wealthiest people are operating from. In order to become truly wealthy it is necessary to create assets, (own businesses) build a system as a business owner and acquire assets ( as investor) with your business.

He says that most investors never get very rich as they invest individually rather than investing as a business. Rich Dad said his business buys assets with pre-tax dollars, while private investors buy assets with after-tax dollars. Rich Dad said we need knowledge and experience to become an insider investor to be able to invest in where the rich invest in which is not available to the middle and poor classes.

When it comes to money and investing you have the following three choices 1) To be secure, 2) To be comfortable 3) To be rich. Rich Dad says that when it comes to money the 90/10 rule applies and this is due to the fact that 90% of people choose comfort and security over being rich. Rich dad said there are only two kinds of money problems; one problem is not enough money. The other problem is too much money, which type of money problem do you want?

Investing is confusing as it is a very large subject and what most people call investing is not really investing. It is very important to write down your financial plan and be clear what you really want in your life and where you are going. If you have a good plan and stick to it, all you need is a little discipline and do not be obsessed with get rich quick schemes. Rich Dad said investing is not risky, being financially uneducated is risky. You need to take control over yourself and need to be financially educated and gain experience to become a successful insider investor.

If you want to be a rich investor you need to learn how to read financial statements. Rich dad said “ The income statement and balance sheet are like a magic carpet”. The best investment opportunities come from understanding accounting, the tax code, business law and corporate law, in these invisible realms where the real investors shop for the biggest investment bargains.

How to Build a Strong Business? According to Rich Dad, the B-I (Business owner and Investor) Triangle is the key to great wealth. This comprises of the mission, the team, leadership, cash flow communications, systems and legal management and product.

Rich Dad said that product is the least important part of the B-I triangle. I personally disagree with this; if we look at some of the most respected and successful corporations in the world such as Microsoft, Google, Sony, Apple, Samsung, LG, Mercedes, BMW they produce some of the best and most exclusive products in the world.

Rich Dad mentioned about McDonalds hamburgers that we can make better hamburgers than them, but no one is as successful as McDonalds. However, as the founder of McDonalds, Ray Kroc said, his company is in real estate business not the hamburger business. McDonalds and Coca Cola have been successful, but personally I hardly ever eat in McDonalds or drink coke as those foods are associated with junk food that causes obesity and general health problems to the public.

The ultimate investors create assets that are worth billions dollars, people such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have made their fortunes in the traditional way like Ford and Rockefeller did. They built companies and sold shares in their companies to the public, they worked hard to become selling shareholders rather than buying shareholders. In other words, by being selling shareholders, they printed (invented) their own money – legally; this is the biggest secret of the ultra rich and the ultimate formula for wealth!

Rich dad believed in giving back and he knew the most important law of money “Give and you shall receive”. He was a generous man who donated his money to churches, his favourite charities and even after his death his foundation has continued to earn and donate money to good causes.

Rich Dad's Guide to Investing concludes that You Do Not Need Money to Make Money! Rich Dad said “ You can choose to live in a world of not enough money or too much money. That choice is up to you.”

There are lots of people in this world who are much richer than Robert Kiyosaki, however not many of them share the secrets of how they became rich or teach you how to create wealth. I gained great information about wealth building for just the cost of this book; this is another wonderful book that I will recommend to my family and friends and I truly respect Robert Kiyosaki's generosity and willingness to share many of his valuable lessons, knowledge and secrets with the world.

Richest Man in Babylon, Learn the Secrets of Rich and the Laws of Wealth Building Part One of Three

2009-10-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

This is one of the best money books I have ever read, and a golden book that you must read if you want to become rich. I am very surprised and amazed the legendary city of Babylon had such a wise man who had extremely valuable ideas about wealth creation, money making ideas, property investment and other investment ideas in such an ancient time.

The richest man in Babylon city was called Arkad, he was famed for his great wealth, liberality and generosity. One day, his poor friends who had the same masters and played together when they were young came to his house and asked him the SECRET of becoming rich.

His poor friends could not understand why they all worked hard, but Arkand turned out to be the richest man in Babylon enjoying many luxuries, while they were barely able to make ends meet. Arkad replied that they had failed to learn the laws that govern the building of wealth or else they did not observe them. Arkad agreed to tell them the secret of wealth and started with the following story...

Like most people and as with his poor friends, when he started out Arkad was a broken young man. He was a labourer who worked hard to carve clay tablets to make a living. However when he was young he realised the power of wealth and all the good things, happiness and possibilities that wealth could bring to him. So he declared to himself that he would claim his share of the good things of life, rather than stand by and enviously watching others enjoy.

This strong DESIRE for great wealth separated him from his poor friends. If you have Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, you know that desire is the first and one of the thirteen steps to riches. In real life the main reason many people never become rich is that they never seek and desire wealth in the first place.

As Arkad desired wealth, when opportunity arrived he grabbed it immediately. One day the rich money lender came to the shop and asked Arkad to complete his task within two days. However it was a lot of work and he could not finish it on time. When the rich money lender came back he was angry, however Arkad asked him the secret of becoming rich in return for a quick completion, the next day. So they made a deal; when the rich money lender came back again the next day the task was completed as Arkad worked hard over night.

Arkad was quite disappointed when the rich money lender told him the secret. Because he only said A PART OF ALL YOU EARN IS YOURS TO KEEP! In another word is PAY YOURSELF FIRST! He asked Arkad to pay himself first no matter how little he earns and it should not be less than one tenth of his income. Your expenses are other people's income and it is foolish to pay others first and leave yourself with nothing.

The rich money lender also advised Arkad what you save also must earn for you in order to acquire great abundance. This is the idea of save and invest; if you just save and do not invest your money wisely, you are unlikely to become rich. This is the wealth philosophy of money making money.

Richest Man in Babylon, Learn the Secrets of Rich and the Laws of Wealth Building Part Two of Three

2009-09-29T07:26:00.000-07:00

After the rich money lender became Arkad's mentor, he worked hard, resisted the temptation of spending and paid himself 10% of all his earnings. Then he gave his saved money to a bricker to buy jewellery from overseas so he could sell these for higher price in Babylon. A year later, when the rich money lender came to the shop he enquired about Arkad's progress. Arkad told him the story, but his mentor said to him his savings would be gone.

Arkad was told that he should not trust the knowledge of a brick maker about jewels, but instead should have gone to a jewellery merchant. You must invest your money with someone who is competent and experienced in their field in order to make your money multiply. It happened exactly as the rich money lender said, the brick maker was sold coloured glass instead of jewels and Arkad lost all his savings. However he did not give up, as his mentor had taught, he planted another wealth seed.

When the rich money lender returned a year later, Arkad was doing quite well, he lent his saved money to a trusted shield maker and got regular rental fees. However, he then spent this money on fine wine, food and clothes, his mentor said, he should acquire a army of golden slaves first, and then he can enjoy many rich banquets without regret.

Two years later when the rich money lender returned, he was satisfied with Arkad's progress. Arkad followed his instructions to learn to live on less money, then sought advice from wise men who were competent through their own experience and learned to make gold work for him. The rich money lender told Arkad that he was competent and fit for a responsible position and asked him to look after his lands as his sons were only think of spending. The rich money lender made Arkad his parter and as Arkad mastered the three laws of handling wealth he prospered. When his mentor died Arkad inherited shares he left for him.

Arkad's poor friends were puzzled and asked if the secret was that simple and all men did it, how would there be enough wealth to go around. Arkad replied “Wealth grows wherever men exert energy” “wealth grows in magical ways, no man can ever predict its limits”. He advised his poor friends to say themselves everyday A PART OF ALL YOU EARN IS YOURS TO KEEP!

When the king of Babylon realised that most of the city's wealth was concentrated with just a few wealthy people and most of his citizens were poor he invited The Richest Man in Babylon– Arkad, to teach his secret of acquiring wealth to all his citizens. Generous Arkad was happy to teach his secret and he taught his knowledge to a school of teachers, so that they could teach to the rest of the citizens. The following are the SEVEN REMEDIES FOR A LEAN PURSE that he taught to the people of Babylon:

Remedy 1: Start fattening your purse.

Remedy 2: Control your expenditures.

Remedy 3: Make your gold multiply.

Remedy 4: Guard your treasures from loss

Remedy 5: Make your home a profitable investment

Remedy 6: Ensure a future income.

Remedy 7: Increase your ability to earn.

At the end Arkad encouraged his students that there is more gold in Babylon, than they can dream of and there is abundance for all and encouraged them to take action to acquire them. Action will lead you forward to the success you desire and men of action are favoured by good luck.

Richest Man in Babylon, Learn the Secrets of Rich and the Laws of Wealth Building Part Three of Three

2009-08-01T07:27:00.000-07:00

The Five Laws of Gold

1.Gold comes gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by not less than one-tenth of his earnings to create an estate for his future and that of his family.

2.Gold labours diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds profitable employment for it, multiplying as the flocks of the field.

3.Gold clings to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling.

4.Gold slips away from the man who invests it in businesses or purposes with which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in its keep.

5.Gold flees the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who follows the alluring advice of tricksters and schemes or who trusts it to his own inexperience and romantic desire in investment.

After reading this book, it reminded me of Rich Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, I have read most of the Rich Dad book series and realised he followed and mastered the laws of handling wealth. In one of the books from his Rich Dad, he recommended us to read “The Richest Man in Babylon” and asked us to Pay Yourself First!

Robert Kiyosaki also followed Arkad's Seven Remedies for a Lean Purse. When he was broke, he still paid himself first and used his savings invested in property and own businesses. He also advised us to control our expenses and advised us not to buy DooDads. He also advised us that savers are the losers and we must turn our earned income into passive or portfolio income, let your gold multiply.

In his book Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ he wrote we should focus on making more money and on increasing our financial IQ to increase our earning abilities and ensure future passive income; he also wrote about how we can protect our money.

Robert Kiyosaki knows about the Five Laws of Gold as he advised us that we must take advice from wise and competent experts rather than listening to hot tips and free advice from family, friends and relatives. He uses competent stock brokers who make him rich, but not poor. I still remember his “Bentley Account”, how he bought his Bentley car without reducing a single cent from his bank account.

Robert Kiyosaki also advised us to invest to win, not lose or break even or be obsessed with get rich quick schemes. Like Arkad, the Richest Man in Babylon, Rich Dad, Robert Kiyosaki is a great example of someone who has mastered the law of wealth and the golden rules of becoming rich!

I really enjoyed reading this book, and I rated it five stars at Amazon. I'm personally following the recommendations made by The Richest Man in Babylon - pay myself first and invest my savings so that my money works hard for me and I always keep in mind the Five Laws of Gold.

After reading the Rich Dad's Series, I have decided to make Rich Dad, Robert Kiyosaki my mentor, (a wise man who is competent in his field for helping you to become rich) because his books have changed my mindset and have been a tremendous influence in my life.

I strongly recommend you to read The Richest Man in Babylon the book that can change your life and you will find out the laws of wealth and gold to find a richer and more fulfilling life.

Top Gardening Tips2, Learn How to Do Flower, Lawn & Plant Gardening to Maintain A Blossoming Garden

2009-07-30T04:46:00.000-07:00

Continued from part one
2. Feed Plant Food : give plant food once in every one or two weeks from spring to summer,; this is very important. Flowers are like humans, they need nutrition to grow and produce buds during the flowering season. If you do this they tend to flower longer, bigger with more flowers and that helps keep your garden more colourful. I use Miracle-Gro LiquaFeed All Purpose Plant Food from B&Q and the results are very good. Please make sure that you feed different plant the right food, for example - acid lovers such as Hydrangea.

3. Spray: If the leaves become yellow and full of holes, you need to buy some spray to kill the bugs and other insects. Yellow bugs loves lilies and they love to make lots of holes on your lily's leaves.

4.I use various treatments to kill slugs, snails and ants: Sprinkle some slug pellets or ant-killing tablets or power around your plant to keep them away from your flowers and plants. Slugs especially like Dahlia type plants and ants love Peony buds. Ant also like to farm Aphids, keeping away the bugs predators and helping them to spread.

5.Take off any dead flowers and leaves: when the flowers are finished, cut them off, this helps new buds to come out and saves the nutrition for new ones.

6.For Peonies and lilies: In late autumn cut off all the leaves when they are dry and dying and only leave the roots. It will help the roots come back strongly next spring.

7. Flower baskets and pots: they need more care than garden plants,as the nutrition from the basket soil is limited. You need to water them at least once a day and need to take off the dead buds regularly. In very hot weather you must increase the watering to stop them drying out. You can buy special soils that better at retaining moisture.

8.Lawns: To have a green, thick and weed-free lawn, you need to buy Lawn Feeder that kills weeds and gives the lawn the nutrition it needs to grow.

1.Spread evenly out just before any rain, so it can be very well soaked with rain. Repeat this 4- 5 times a year from spring to summer and you will have a fabulous and lovely lawn.

2.Make sure you buy quite good quality, once we bought both a cheap one and an expensive one from B&Q, we tested the cheap product on one half of the lawn and the expensive one on the other half, and interestingly we had very different results. Where the expensive lawn feeder was spread had longer,thicker grass and a healthier looking lawn compared to the patchy and shorter lawn where the cheap product was spread.

3.Make sure you cut your grass regularly to have a thicker lawn. When it's a hot summer's day make sure not to cut it too short, unless you have a water feeder, otherwise the roots will get burnt. Make sure not to cut it too short during the winter time, in case frost kills the roots.

It sounds like a lot of work, but it will spread out over the year and you won't feel that it's very much work when you see the results of your labour. If you love gardening it's an enjoyment to work in the garden admiring your beautiful flowers and breathing fresh air. Remember with your care and attention you will be rewarded with a longer lasting, more glamorous garden that helps you to improve your living environment, health and quality of life.

If you are interested in organic vegetable gardening please Click Here!

Check My YouTube Video Shannon's Beautiful Garden

The end.

Top Gardening Tips1, Learn How to Grow & Maintain A Beautiful, Healthy & Long Lasting Rose Garden

2009-07-30T04:14:00.000-07:00

When I was born I was an ugly duckling, my mother wished for me to grow up and become a beautiful swan and therefore gave me a name called Yanhua. I have both Chinese and Korean connections and in both languages this name means beautiful flower. When I first came to Ireland and the UK, lots of people were curious to know the meaning of my name. This name is difficult to pronounce and remember for most westerners, so they call me by my English name - Shannon.

I may have grown up to be a beautiful swan (Sorry, for not being modest!) compared to an ugly duck, however, maybe because of my name, Yanhua, I have fallen in love with flowers and I feel that I have a special connection with flowers. Whether they are indoor plants in my house or in the front and back gardens, they tend to do very well. Of course the main reason is that I pay special attention and care to them and I feel they can feel it too. As a reward, my flowers tend to blossom longer, are bigger with more flowers and are healthier; all of that provides me with a beautiful garden and green living space.

Flowers and plants are just like any relationships in your life; if you pay special attention, care and put efforts to them they will reward you handsomely, but if you ignore them they tend to die or do poorly. The following tips are from many years of my own experience that worked well in my gardening:

1.Roses: I have 22 different types of roses in my garden, they are absolutely beautiful and it's one of my favourites. They flower many times from May to late autumn and I love its variety, fragrances and different styles. I have Silver Jubilee, Paul's Scarlet, the climbing rose, Special Anniversary, Twist, Arthur Bell, Remember Me, Jackie Carter, David Austin and many more...

1).You can prune your roses in late autumn after flowering is over, but I have found March to be the best month for pruning roses. Make sure you cut the rose bush down to 6- 8 inches from the rose union. If the bush is too tall, the nutrition tends not to go up high and therefore the plant will produce less flowers. It also looks ugly as a tall bush with just a few flowers on top of it. Make sure that you cut off branches from the inner side of the bush, so air can circulate. Also cut off any suckers that do not produce any buds.

2). Feed Plant Food
regularly (follow the instructions on the fertiliser container) to keep up nutrition from spring to late summer. This helps your roses flower bigger, longer and produce more buds.

3).Rose Clear: roses attract lots of greenfly and the leaves can get spots and fungus. Rose Clear (an insecticide and fungicide) is an excellent solution to all of these problems and it works really well.

4). After the flower's are finished, make sure you cut them off regularly, known as dead-heading, this will help new buds coming up and the nutrition won't be wasted on producing seeds. This is very important to keep a long lasting rose garden.

If you are interested in organic vegetable gardening please Click Here!

Check My YouTube Video Shannon's Beautiful Garden

To be continued.

A Fun Day at the Blackwater Country Show in Essex

2009-07-24T01:26:00.000-07:00

It was on Sunday, 14 June 2009, the Blackwater Country Show in Essex was held not too far away from where I live. It was a warm, sunny early summer's day; my husband and I were eager to go out to get some fresh air. So it was the perfect event for us to enjoy the weekend.

When we drove there, there were already thousands of people enjoying the show. The fair is an annual charitable event to raise money to support Essex Air Ambulance and therefore the cost of the tickets and a percentage of anything bought within the event is then contributed to our local Air Ambulance service.

There were 26 events and shows as well as many stands of local people who were selling home made stuff. There is a big lake within the venue and people were enjoying some sailing and taking steam boat trips . There was a stall selling roast hog in a bun, sheepdog display, Newfoundland dog demo, Olde English Battle re-enactment, Falconry Demonstrations, Clydesdales horses and much more. The sheepdogs were even used to round up ducks and turkeys!!

Owls: for as little as 50p I was able to hold an Owl on my arm for a few minutes and was able to stroke her.

Archery: We also tried archery, shooting a swine flu rubber pig with a white mask on. There was also a large rubber dinosaur to shoot at but the pig looked more dangerous!!! I didn't get to try to the clay pigeon shooting as the queue was too big.

It was a really fun day, and a great day out for a family. We could see there were lots of children and both adults and children enjoyed the day. I also felt happy as all the money we were spending helped contribute to our local community for a better life.

Meeting Multi-Millionaire Internet Marketing Gurus, Learning about Work from Home Online Business

2009-07-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

I attended the Internet Marketing - Traffic Generation Summit weekend seminar on 26 – 28 June 2009 at the Hilton Hotel London. There were 15 speakers over three days, most of them started with nothing or were deeply in debt and some had even gone bankrupt. Their stories were truly inspiring and I also have gained lots of knowledge and skills about internet marketing and traffic generation.

I have found one thing in common among them, they all work from home, but most of them have become multi -millionaires. Despite the recession the internet market is still growing massively. Our world is changing rapidly, the traditional way of doing business is no longer as competitive as on-line business due to higher costs.

If you want to work from the comfort of your own home then mastering the internet is the way to go. It does not matter what industry you are in, understanding and mastering the internet will give you the edge for your business as the internet marketing is the unbeatable future growth trend. The truth is that the internet has produced more millionaires and billionaires than any other industries.

Most of the speakers were quite good, but I have found the following courses are suitable for my on-line business. I decided to sign up with their courses to learn and leverage their expertise.

Armand Morin (USA): He is one of the most successful internet marketing gurus in the world; he started his internet business in 1996 and has made more than $76million so far. Last year he made more than $20million in earnings comfortably beating many of the hot Hollywood stars. Many internet gurus go to his seminars to learn from him. Even though he is earning this massive revenue, he is still working from home and only has seven employees who are also all working from home.

Alex Goad (Canada): Five years ago he was broke and deeply in debt. He used to live in a small flat, he started his home-run internet business in his run down kitchen with just a computer and an internet connection. He created the Sniper Method for quick cash hits and as a passive income generator. Through his webinars, I have learned a lot about Search Engine Optimizations and about using word press features to your advantage, the course is quite productive.

Ewen Chia (Singapore): I singed up with his course a few days later at the Success Resources seminar. He is regarded world's no.1 super affiliate. I liked his presentation, he emphasized his step by step system and simplicity. His software can generate you instant websites as many as you want.

It cost me a small fortune to sign up with their courses, however as Robert Kiyosaki said, my brain is my most important asset and investing in myself is the best investment I can ever make. This is because I am the only person that can change my life and my financial future.

Arkad, “The Richest Man In Babylon” had Five Laws of Gold, one of them is that in order to increase your gold you must take advice of men wise and competent in its handling. All of them also attended seminars and read books to gain the necessary skills and knowledge and it’s a great idea to leverage their experience to my advantage. I'm really exited about this new opportunity to learn from the world's top experts in their field.

Rich Dad – Robert Kiyosaki, My Ultimate Wealth Creation Mentor Part Three of Three

2009-06-08T01:01:00.000-07:00

Then how about the stock market? The stock market has slumped and millions have lost more than half of their pensions last year! Did you know that we can make money when stocks go up as well as down, you may have heard of Hedge Fund companies. George Soros, the billionaire investor and author made more than $1billion in 2008, (the year of the worst recession since the great depression in 1930s) while other prestigious companies went bankrupt? Some people may have heard of black Monday on October 1987, the day of the stock market crash, but it was one of the best days for some professional traders like James B. Rogers, who made millions on a single day.

How about businesses? Microsoft was started during a recession and has become one of the most successful companies to date. Facebook was valued at $10billion in 2009 compared to $3.8 billion in 2008, an increase in value of 263%, compare this to the industrial giants, two of the “Big Three”- Chrysler and General Motors recently filed for bankruptcy. So it is entirely up to you to decide whether you want to see opportunities or disaster.

I also found discipline and self belief are very important to keep my goals and visions alive in this global recession and to keep my spirit up when we have all the negative media coverage. I can honestly say this recession has slowed me down and I have encountered obstacles and problems on the way. However it is too naïve to expect everything to go smoothly, just as you expected and planned. It's also helpful to read inspirational books and go to seminars to keep your spirit up.

Along the way I have also read books from the following people who have inspired me and gave me valuable knowledge. Brian Tracy, Anthony Robbins, Robert Allen, Napoleon Hill, George Clason and many more. Their wisdom, knowledge and courage often inspires me towards my goals and dreams. Life is not a bed of roses and these books act like torches to brighten my road.

It's also a good idea to attend seminars to meet like minded people. I love to attend wealth creation, personal development and business seminars, as this helps me to learn how to leverage other people's money, experience and knowledge. In addition to property seminars, I have also attended many other paid and free seminars and met and listened to millionaires from all different backgrounds many of whom started with nothing or were deeply in debt. Their stories are inspiring and I have also gained the necessary skills and knowledge that will benefit my personal development.

In addition to property investment, I'm also developing my internet business and improving my trading skills. I love and am passionate about what I do and I know these are also important success factors whatever you do. I'm also still proud of my MBA, because it has given me so much confidence and the knowledge that I gained from this course has given me an edge that will be very useful for running my businesses.

The good news is that we can operate in several cash flow quadrants at the same time to generate multiple streams of income. As Rich Dad said, every one one of us has the potential to become rich. You do not need money to become rich, but your brain, your most important asset, can make you rich. It is not how much resources you have, it is your resourcefulness that makes all the difference.

Since the time that I wrote down my goals to become financially free and become a millionaire, I also wrote down my financial plan, as without a plan my goals would be destined to fail. Opportunities are everywhere and our determination to succeed is the most important factor. I will never give up my dream, I will continuously take action and learn more by attending seminars and by reading books that increase my financial IQ and effectiveness. Persistence and positive attitude are other important character traits and I believe the law of attraction.

The end

I'm interested in sharing your stories of Rich Dad and perhaps any of your life stories... Shannon

Rich Dad – Robert Kiyosaki, My Ultimate Wealth Creation Mentor Part Two of Three

2009-06-07T07:44:00.000-07:00

Brian Tracy, one of world's most inspirational speaker and author once said that every one of us should write down a goal to become a millionaire and he claims it has become even easier due to the internet and technology development. He also said that if you want to become a lawyer you study law, if you want to become an accountant you study accounting and if you want to become a millionaire you should study money and rich people. So why not study rich and successful people, who have already been there?

Personally, I believe Robert Kiyosaki is the best financial educator in the world, Robert and his books have inspired and influenced millions of people around the globe and helped them become rich. I decided to make him my mentor, despite the fact I have never met or spoke to him in my life. They say if you want to be rich, just copy the formula used by rich people, so I decided to copy his formula for my journey. All his books are written based on his own experience of building his multimillion fortune, he went broke several times, once even ending up homeless, but he never gave up and went on to build his own businesses, invested in real estate and other businesses.

So what else have I learned from him? Well, just read what he said,
“Your house is a liability to you not an asset”,
“Investing is not risky, being uneducated (referring to financial education) is risky”,
Poor Dad said: “Go to school, get a degree, find a good job and save for retirement” Rich Dad said: “Build your assets and invest wisely, the most important words in business are cash flow and leverage; your brain is your most important asset”,
“It does not take money to make money”,
“People who want to become millionaires go to seminars and people who want to become good employees go to universities”,
“JOB stands for Just Over Broke”,
“Mind your own business, people stay poor or in the middle class because they mind other people's business rather than minding their own”,
The importance of cash flow quadrants and which quadrants you want to generate your cash from and a lot more...

I know it takes time to build wealth, as Robert and his wife took almost 9 years to retire financially free, but I believe this can be a lot shorter due to advances in internet, technology and because you can learn and leverage other people's success, experience and knowledge to your advantage. I knew just reading his books would not be enough and I needed to take action as this is the dividing line between winners and losers. I have taken my important first step by reading his books and I have also attended paid seminars to educate myself. I decided to invest in property and purchased my first investment property in late 2007; I am buying more properties this year. I love the Chinese saying “A journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step.”

For some people it sounds crazy, my God! The average property price has dropped more than 20% since the peak price in 2007! For some people this is a great opportunity, for other people this is a disaster. Remember the Chinese word crisis is comprised of danger (危) and opportunity( 机), winners see the opportunities while losers see disaster. Rich dad said recession is a window of opportunity to increase your property portfolio and his fortunes were made because of this. We may all have the experience where something happened to you that you at first thought was a disaster but as time went by actually later turned out be one of the luckiest thing ever happened to you in your life.

The truth is that the professional property investors never purchase properties at market value, but below market value of between 10%- 40% or even more. In property you make money when you buy, not when you sell. Rich dad taught me that we should purchase an investment property for monthly positive cash flow, but not rely on capital growth. Any capital growth should be treated as a bonus. This will help you to do well regardless of up and down markets. I listened to his advice and it has paid off, one of my buy to let properties has a monthly rental income that covers 675% of my mortgage, the lender only requires 125%, the current recession has helped me to generate bigger cash flow as the Bank of England base rate has decreased to a record low of 0.5%

While amateurs and financially uneducated property investors go bust or get into deep trouble in the current down-turn, the true property investors thrive and are quietly increasing their property portfolio. Most of these amateurs either bought properties at market or over-market values or with negative cash flow each month as they expected the market to continue to go up for capital growth. Warren Buffet, the most successful billionaire investor once said, “when the tide goes out, you will find out who has been swimming naked.”

Everything has a cycle, a boom won't last forever and neither does a bust, the key is to understand the cycle and use this to your advantage. When the vast majority of the public wake up and are trying to jump in to buy properties, the professionals are already way ahead of the game. So how do we spot opportunities and see the future? History repeats itself and we all can learn from history, others and our own previous experience by financially educating ourselves.

To be continued...
I'm interested in sharing your stories of Rich Dad and perhaps any of your life stories... Shannon

Rich Dad – Robert Kiyosaki, My Ultimate Wealth Creation Mentor, Part One of Three

2009-06-07T06:32:00.000-07:00

I first listened to Rich Dad, Poor Dad 2: Cash Flow Quadrant - Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom(rated 5 stars by readers in Amazon) by Robert Kiyosaki in early 2007 and then bought his New York Times best seller, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Since then I have read and listened to 12 Rich Dad or his advisor's books and CDs and I will be buying more of his books in the future. Despite the fact that I have spent less than £80 on his books the value that I got from his books is definitely and massively more than what I paid for my Master of Business Administration (MBA) course, which cost me around £8,000 in 2002.

The value that I got from his inspirational books is tremendous and priceless; he taught be how to think outside the box and completely changed my mindset. My MBA taught me nothing about money and investment, while Robert Kiyosaki's books taught me everything about wealth, money and the power of leverage. I have learned the truth about the rich, why the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. I realised that unless I change my cash flow quadrants, just being an employee will never be enough for me and I would never be able to achieve what I really wanted in my life.

I found the golden key to my financial freedom, wealth and success and the lifestyle that I have been dreaming of from the Rich Dad books. I learned that we are all capable of and deserve more than what employers are paying us and the truth is your employer will never pay you the worth of your real capability. Most people retire poor because they do not have the knowledge and necessary financial education to secure their financial future. I always thought becoming financially free and being rich was impossible for me, it sounded and felt like a goal that was too out of reach for me. Rich Dad taught me that everything is possible and I, not my boss, needed to secure my own financial future and I must certainly not depend on the government to look after me when I retire. Our financial future is on our hands, we should control our own destiny, but not by others.

I also realised if I want to be rich and successful I would have to do things differently from the crowd as if you do the same thing as most people do then you end up getting what most people have. The truth is only 1% of people retire rich and the remaining 99% retire poor (relative to the rich) after working hard their entire lives. Why? Rich Dad gave me the answer to this question. I agree with multi-millionaire Bradley Sugars, he said “ the difference in your income from today compared to in 5 years are the people you meet and the books you read”.

Most of us grow up in a society and family background that encourages you to go to university, get a good degree and then find a good job as the best way to secure your financial future; a typical Poor Dad's obsolete idea according to Rich Dad. That's why I did my MBA, but the Rich Dad series told me a different story. Before reading his books I never knew why I was struggling and been unable to achieve my dream lifestyle, despite the fact I was working extremely hard, received one of the highest academic qualifications and am able to speak four important languages fluently.

At school our intelligence is measured by our grades and degrees, but in real life our success is measured by our financial status. Who is crazy enough to argue that they are more successful than Bill Gates, the richest man on this planet but who is also a Harvard university drop out? Can you imagine our life without the all the software of Windows.

In fact, some of the most successful businessmen are people who have never gotten a university degree, including multi-billionaire Sir Richard Branson, the computer billionaire Michael Dell who was a University of Texas drop out and the celebrity millionaire- Sir Alan Sugar. They are some of the most successful business owners and investors in the world; before reading all the Rich Dad books I had no real clue as to how they could become so rich and successful. According to Rich Dad's cash flow quadrants (left quadrants: employee, self employed; right quadrants: business owner, investor) these people are all operating from the right quadrants.

To be continued...
I'm interested in sharing your stories of Rich Dad and perhaps any of your life stories... Shannon

Visit Hampton Court Palace, Gardens in London UK and Learn the History of Henry 8th and His Wives

2009-05-30T07:16:00.001-07:00

After visiting Hever Castle, we decided to visit Surrey, one of the wealthiest regions in the UK. Hampton Court Palace is located within M25 in Surrey next to the River Thames to the south west of London.

I googled and found out that Hampton Court Palace is a good place to visit; The English King Henry VIII (1491- 1547)was crowned there and it was his residential Palace where his six wives lived 500 years ago. So why not continue our journey to find out a little bit more about the history of this controversial king...

The Palace architecture looks magnificent and impressive from the outside with classic design and you can see that even the chimneys were uniquely carved. The Palace is surrounded by several very well maintained gardens, both large and small and each with its own characteristics and purposes. There are fountains, ponds, flowers, trees, lawns and even the river Thames flows around the Palace. There is also a maze that claims to be the most famous in Europe, children and adults were really enjoying it.

Inside, it's not the most glorious and best maintained Apartments, however you will be very impressed with the classic wall and ceiling paintings, pictures and antiques.It seems Henry's Women's Apartments were most popular, because there were such a long queue waiting to get in we decided to give up on that part. Maybe they were trying to find out Henry 8^th secrets to attract women?...

Obviously the English King Hentry 8^th love stories and his marriages with six wives have been huge interests to the public and getting lots of attention from the tourists. Henry 8^th was a very controversial King due to his marriages, he had struggles with the Catholic churches and the Pope from Vatican in Rome.

There was also some activities where people dressed in Royal clothes to entertain the audience. If you want to see the whole Hampton Court Palace and gardens you'd be advised to start your day early. We were not impressed by the audio guides as it confused us and the signs telling you where each section started are not very well posted. However we loved different styles of gardens as these are uniquely designed and tells its own stories.

As with Hever castle there was some falconry. They would line a load of kids up in two long lines and then get the falcon to fly low from one end to the other between the two lines. There was also a famous astronomical clock in the main courtyard but we did not know which part of the audio had its history.

It was another historic place to visit and we enjoyed the gardens as well as the Palace, we brought our own picnic and had a good lie down to enjoy the fabulous sunshine and beautiful gardens. This was another memorable day and money well spent.

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Visit the Historic Hever Castle in Kent UK, the Garden of England and Enjoy the Spectacular Gardens

2009-05-28T03:36:00.000-07:00

It was a bank holiday weekend in the UK and the weather was beautiful and sunny. My husband and I decided to visit Tonbridge Castle in Kent as we couldn't bear to waste such a marvellous day staying inside. Kent is called the Garden of England and as we were admiring the beautiful country scenery while we were driving we could understand how it got this title.

When we drove to a roundabout in Kent just off the M25, our satellite navigation system started to act up and we got lost. We drove around the same area again and again at least three times and then we suddenly found a sign pointing the direction to Hever Castle. We decided to give up on our original plan and visit Hever Castle instead.

It was almost 4 o'clock in the afternoon, but there was still a big queue of people to get into the castle, it seems the castle is very popular and it was open till 6pm. The castle is set in beautiful and spectacular surroundings and has many gardens, fountains and beautiful water features as well as a small maze and a moat.

By visiting the Castle we learned that Henry VIII(1491- 1547) , the king of England's second wife's family as well as his fourth wife lived there before (obviously not all at the same time). Henry VIII is popularly known for his political struggles with Rome and is infamous for his ruthlessness and six marriages. He divorced his first wife, beheaded his second wife, his third wife died, he divorced his fourth wife, beheaded the fifth wife and the sixth wife survived.

We then visited the Italian Garden, which was awarded Garden of the Year in 1995. It's a spectacular garden with ponds, exotic plants and flowers, fountains and Roman classic architecture. The garden was followed by an island and a large fabulous lake where you can hire a boat for some romantic rowing. There is also a section where you could try your hand at some archery but we were too late for that so go early if you want to practice being Robin Hood.

We were so glad that we got lost and had this mysterious tour to Hever Castle that we had never planned to visit or even heard of. We had a fantastic day and as we were quite late to arrive, we were not able to see all the sites, we are planning to visit there again when more of the rose bushes should be in bloom. We were also fascinated about the lake, and as my husband use to be in a rowing team during his college time, he of course wants to show off his boating skills to me!

It is definitely recommendable to friends, families,or anyone who simply wants to escape to the countryside for fresh air, enjoy walking through some beautiful gardens and along the lake side to enjoy a fabulous weekend. It is also suitable for overseas visitors who want to visit an historical site and to enjoy the spectacular English countryside.

Meeting Dolf De Roos, the Multi Millionaire Property Investor in London (21 May Thursday)

2009-05-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

I went to the Property Investors Network (PIN) in London last night in the Cumberland Hotel in Marble Arch. This is a monthly meeting hosted by Simon Zutshi who owns a multi-million property portfolio and internet businesses as well as providing property seminars and mentoring courses in the UK. Dolf De Roos is one of the world's most successful multi-millionaire property investors and is a Rich Dad (Robert Kiyosaki) advisor. He was invited to give a short presentation . He is also a famous author having published 14 books including the New York Times best seller Real Estate Riches, this is one of the best property books that I have ever read. I was so excited, as this was my first time meeting him.

Dolf is a world class speaker, he also speaks at the Trump University which was founded by Donald Trump. Even though his speech was short (one and a quarter hours) I found it interesting and fascinating. You can tell he is a very experienced and serious investor, but he was also very witty and told some jokes that were relevant and made everyone laugh. It was a fantastic evening and I can safely say that my money and time were well spent; I was inspired by his positive attitude considering the current global financial meltdown.

Dolf claimed that now is the best time to purchase properties and he believes that property is still the best investment vehicle.....ever, because YOU WORK ONCE AND GET PAID FOREVER. He said we can still make money in the up and down market as long as we get a good deal in the first place with a positive cash flow each month. He predicted that UK property prices will go up for the following reasons:

The UK population is still growing, he suggested to invest in the areas that have potential population growth.
Inflation, is another major factor that drives house prices up.

He advised us to research and invest in the areas that will have higher growth than the national average and also said that properties near the sea, water fronts or beside lakes have proved to have consistently better growth potential. For commercial property he advised us to invest in an empty property having already lined up tenants beforehand who are ready to move in. Then with the tenants moved in, the value of your property could double or treble, this is a much better option compared to tenanted commercial properties which are very expensive.

I have found that most highly successful business people always have one thing in common; when most people panic and get scared, that is when they see opportunities. Did you know that in Chinese the character for “crisis” comprises of danger (危) and opportunities(机). Take some recent examples: Warren Buffett, the most successful investor and second richest man after Bill Gates on this planet has never been so busy. Since last year he has acquired more companies than he did in 2007 which is when everywhere was booming. Donald Trump, the celebrity billionaire recently purchased a prestigious golf course for cash near the capital in Washington DC, citing that he would never have been able to buy it 2 years ago, because it was not available.

After the presentation I got Dolf 's signature on my copy of his book that I purchased last year, he wrote “Shannon, Successful Investing! Dolf De Roos”, I also took a few pictures with him, so check them out! What a fantastic and productive evening!!!

If you are interested in getting property bargains and making profits in the current down turn, please also check out the following links that may help you.

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