Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About MoneyThat the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!

STILL WANT MORE? HERE ARE
SOME TO DO’S
Many people may not be satisfied with my 10 steps. They see them
more as philosophies than actions. I think understanding the philosophy is
just as important as the action. There are many people who want to do
instead of think, and then there are people who think but do not do. I would
say that I am both. I love new ideas, and I love action.
So for those who want a to-do list on how to get started, I will share
with you some of the things I do, in abbreviated form.
• Stop doing what you’re doing. In other words, take a break and
assess what is working and what is not working. The definition of
insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a
different result. Stop doing what is not working, and look for
something new.
• Look for new ideas. For new investing ideas, I go to bookstores and
search for books on different and unique subjects. I call them
formulas. I buy how-to books on formulas I know nothing about.
For example, in the bookstore I found the book The 16 Percent
Solution by Joel Moskowitz. I bought the book and read it and the
next Thursday, I did exactly as the book said. Most people do not
take action, or they let someone talk them out of whatever new
formula they are studying. My neighbor told me why 16 percent
would not work. I did not listen to him because he’s never done it.
• Find someone who has done what you want to do. Take them to
lunch and ask them for tips and tricks of the trade. As for 16 percent

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tax-lien certificates, I went to the county tax office and found the
government employee who worked in that office. I found out that
she, too, invested in the tax liens. Immediately, I invited her to
lunch. She was thrilled to tell me everything she knew and how to
do it. After lunch, she spent all afternoon showing me everything.
By the next day, I found two great properties with her help that have
been accruing interest at 16 percent ever since. It took a day to read
the book, a day to take action, an hour for lunch, and a day to
acquire two great deals.
• Take classes, read, and attend seminars. I search newspapers and the
Internet for new and interesting classes, many of which are free or
inexpensive. I also attend and pay for expensive seminars on what I
want to learn. I am wealthy and free from needing a job simply
because of the courses I took. I have friends who did not take those
classes who told me I was wasting my money, and yet they’re still at
the same job.
• Make lots of offers. When I want a piece of real estate, I look at
many properties and generally write an offer. If you don’t know
what the right offer is, neither do I. That is the job of the real estate
agent. They make the offers. I do as little work as possible.
A friend wanted me to show her how to buy apartment houses. So one
Saturday she, her agent, and I went and looked at six apartment houses.
Four were dogs, but two were good. I said to write offers on all six, offering
half of what the owners asked for. She and the agent nearly had heart
attacks. They thought it was rude, and would offend the sellers, but I really
don’t think the agent wanted to work that hard. So they did nothing and
went on looking for a better deal.
No offers were ever made, and that person is still looking for the right
deal at the right price. Well, you don’t know what the right price is until you
have a second party who wants to deal. Most sellers ask too much. It is rare
that a seller asks a price that is less than something is worth.
Moral of the story: Make offers. People who are not investors have no
idea what it feels like to try to sell something. I have had a piece of real

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estate that I wanted to sell for months. I would have welcomed any offer.
They could have offered me 10 pigs, and I would have been happy—not at
the offer, but just because someone was interested. I would have countered,
maybe for a pig farm in exchange. But that’s how the game works. The
game of buying and selling is fun. Keep that in mind. It’s fun and only a
game. Make offers. Someone might say yes.
I always make offers with escape clauses. In real estate, I make an offer
with language that details “subject-to” contingencies, such as the approval
of a business partner. Never specify who the business partner is. Most
people don’t know that my partner is my cat. If they accept the offer, and I
don’t want the deal, I call home and speak to my cat. I make this ridiculous
statement to illustrate how absurdly easy and simple the game is. So many
people make things too difficult and take it too seriously.
• Finding a good deal, the right business, the right people, the right
investors, or whatever is just like dating. You must go to the market
and talk to a lot of people, make a lot of offers, counteroffers,
negotiate, reject, and accept. I know single people who sit at home
and wait for the phone to ring, but it’s better to go to the market,
even if it’s only the supermarket. Search, offer, reject, negotiate, and
accept are all parts of the process of almost everything in life.
• Jog, walk, or drive a certain area once a month for 10 minutes. I
have found some of my best real estate investments doing this. I will
jog a certain neighborhood for a year and look for change. For there
to be profit in a deal, there must be two elements: a bargain and
change. There are lots of bargains, but it’s change that turns a
bargain into a profitable opportunity. So when I jog, I jog a
neighborhood I might like to invest in. It is the repetition that causes
me to notice slight differences. I notice real estate signs that are up
for a long time. That means the seller might be more agreeable to
deal. I watch for moving trucks going in or out. I stop and talk to the
drivers. I talk to the postal carriers. It’s amazing how much
information they acquire about an area. I find a bad area, especially
an area that the news has scared everyone away from. I drive it for
sometimes a year waiting for signs of some thing changing for the

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better. I talk to retailers, especially new ones, and find out why
they’re moving in. It takes only a few minutes a month, and I do it
while doing something else, like exercising, or going to and from
the store.
• Shop for bargains in all markets. Consumers will always be poor.
When the supermarket has a sale, say on toilet paper, the consumer
runs in and stocks up. But when the housing or stock market has a
sale, most often called a crash or correction, the same consumer
often runs away from it. When the supermarket raises its prices, the
consumer shops somewhere else. But when housing or the stock
market raise their prices, the same consumer often rushes in and
starts buying. Always remember: Profits are made in the buying, not
in the selling.
• Look in the right places. A neighbor bought a condominium for
$100,000. I bought the identical condo next door for $50,000. He
told me he’s waiting for the price to go up. I told him that profit is
made when you buy, not when you sell. He shopped with a real
estate broker who owns no property of her own. I shopped at the
foreclosure auction. I paid $500 for a class on how to do this.
My neighbor thought that the $500 for a real estate investment class
was too expensive. He said he could not afford the money, or the
time. So he waits for the price to go up.
• Look for people who want to buy first. Then look for someone who