Page 38 - Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money

websites! The basic level of information required to succeed in the class
would be above my head.

My job in this book is to make financial information as simple as
possible. My job is to promote the financial understanding of some very
complex financial strategies. In this book, my promise to you is that I write
only about things I have done or am currently doing. As you know, there

are many teachers and authors who tell you what you should be doing, but
don’t do what they are advising. Many financial experts and teachers do not
really know if what they talk or write about actually works. In other words,
many people do not walk their talk.

For example, many financial experts advise saving money and investing
in a well-diversified portfolio of mutual funds. The problem with that
advice is most advisors don’t know if it will work over time. It sounds
good. It’s simple to do. It doesn’t require much financial intelligence to

follow this advice. My question is, “Will the advice work?” Will the
financial advisor guarantee you that this strategy will make you financially
secure? What if the dollar plunges to zero and wipes out your savings?
What if the stock market crashes as it did in 1929? Will a well-diversified

mutual fund portfolio survive a stock market panic and meltdown? What if
inflation goes through the roof because the purchasing power of the dollar
plunges and a quart of milk is $100? Could you afford it? What if the U.S.
government cannot pay the Social Security and Medicare costs of its

elderly?
I cringe whenever I hear a financial expert advising, “Save money and
invest in a well-diversified portfolio of mutual funds.” I want to ask that
expert, “Will you guarantee that this financial strategy will work? Will you

guarantee that this financial strategy will keep me and my family financially
secure for the rest of our lives?” If the financial advisor is honest, he has to
say, “No. I cannot guarantee that what I advise you to do with your money
will keep you financially secure.”

I too cannot guarantee that what I recommend will keep you and your
family financially secure in the future. There are simply too many changes
and surprises ahead. The world is changing too rapidly. The rules have
changed and are continuing to change. Expanding technology is turning

poor nations into financial powers, creating more rich people and more poor
people, and greater financial problems and opportunities.