If I Had to Start Over With $10,000 — Here's EXACTLY What I'd Do

0:00Hey, Chicagoland. Wayfair's Black Friday in July sale is coming to the Wayfair Store. From July 23rd through 27th, you can score up to 80 % off everything home in person. Like up to 80 % off area rugs, up to 60 % off outdoor furniture, and up to 60 % off mattresses. Take home the small stuff that day and get the big stuff shipped fast and free right to your door. Shop the sale July 23rd through 27th at the Wayfair Store at Edens Plaza in Wilmette. Wayfair, every style, every home. I'm 79 years old. If I lost everything and someone handed me$10 ,000, I would not invest it. Not one dollar. Because it's a mistake almost everyone makes with their first$10 ,000.

0:44A question your financial advisor prays you never ask. And one skill my rich dad said would make me rich. He was right. The market can't teach you this. School won't. I will. This is the Rich Dad Radio Show, the good news and bad news about money. Here's Robert Kiyosaki.

1:08Welcome to the Rich Dad Radio Show, the good and bad about money. This is Robert Kiyosaki, and today is just you and me. And we're talking about what the rich are teaching their kids about money. I'm 79 years old. if I lost everything today, every business, every property, every ounce of gold, and someone handed me$10 ,000, I would not invest it, not$1. And people get angry when I say this. They say, Robert, you teach investing. What do you mean you wouldn't invest it? Think about it. $10 ,000 in the wrong hands disappears. $10 ,000 in the right hands becomes freedom. Same money, different hands.

1:56Today I'm going to tell you exactly what I would do, step by step. But first I have to show you the mistake, the one almost everyone makes, because you're probably making it right now. Here's what most people do when they get their hands on$10 ,000. They rush. They get a little money and immediately try to turn it into more money. They buy a stock somebody mentioned. They buy a crypto their neighbor bragged about. They hand it to a stranger in a nice suit. Without understanding how money actually works, that's the mistake. Not the stock, not the crypto, the rush. My rich dad said, it's not how much money you make, it's how much money you keep and how hard it works for you.

2:44Let me say this again. It's not how much you make, it's how much you keep. School never taught you that. School taught you to work for money, get the grades, get the job, get the paycheck. Nobody taught you what to do with the money once you had it. That was not an accident. So before I invested a single dollar of that$10 ,000, I would invest in my financial education, a book, a seminar, time with someone who has already done what I want to do, a mentor. And this is where people get confused. They say, Robert, I already have a financial advisor. I didn't say advisor. I said mentor. There is a difference.

3:32And that difference is costing you more money than any market crash ever will. Most people go their whole lives without learning it. They sit across the desk from the person in the nice suit, nodding, signing, trusting, and they never ask the one question that would change everything. I'm going to give you that question in a moment. The mistake is the rush. The fix is the mind. Here's the difference. An advisor tells you how a mentor has actually done it. That's it. That's the whole lesson. but most people never hear it. Think about it. Your financial advisor, has your financial advisor ever built a business, ever bought an apartment building, ever raised capital for a deal, or do they have a job, a salary, a quota?

4:28Here's the problem. Most advisors are salespeople, good people, nice people, but they get paid to sell you products, mutual funds, annuities, Whatever the company upstairs tells them to move this month. A mentor sells you nothing. A mentor has scars. A mentor has lost money and made it back. A mentor can look at your deal and say, I made that exact mistake in 1985. Here's what it costs me. You cannot buy that in a prospectus. So the question, the one question most people never ask the person handling their money, Have you actually done what you're telling me to do? Ask it. Watch their face. That's why the first piece of my$10 ,000 goes to finding a mentor.

5:20Books written by people who did it. Seminars taught by people who did it. A seat at the table with people who did it. And then the second piece. I would take that money and buy one skill. not a degree, not a certification, one skill. And it is not the skill you think it is. My rich dad drilled it into me when I was young and it made me rich. One skill. We'll be right back. When we return, the mistake is behind us. You know the difference between an advisor and a mentor now. You know the question to ask. But the next part is where the money starts. The one skill my rich dad told me to learn. The reason he said work to learn, not to earn.

6:06And why that one skill turns$10 ,000 into an income you control. Your paycheck can't do that. Don't go anywhere. I've got a neighbor, retired guy, smart guy. For years, he's been telling me about this business he wants to start. He's got the idea. He's got the plan. He's even got the name picked out, but he never launches. You know why? the setup which website builder which domain company which email tool he'd open five tabs burn three hours and have nothing to show for it so the business stayed in his head where it made him exactly zero dollars last week he finally launched i asked him how he said robert i didn't build a website i had a conversation he went to hostinger and just told their ai what he wanted plain english minutes later the first version of his website was done and here's a part i like the The domain, the hosting, the business email, all of it.

7:02One place, one account. No duct tape, no tech guy, and it costs less than what most people waste on coffee. So I can't afford it won't work here. Rich Dad taught me, the poor say I can't. The rich ask, how can I? Here's how. Go to Hostinger.com slash Rich Dad 20 and use code Rich Dad 20 for 20 % off. That's hostinger.com slash richdad20. The people who changed their financial future aren't the ones who almost did something. Go now. It's a great first step. Welcome back. Let's see, when we left, we had put our mistake behind us, and I promised to tell you about the one skill my rich dad told me to learn.

7:47You know the mistake now. You know the mentor question. Now, the one skill. When I was young, my rich dad gave me an instruction that sounded crazy. He said, when you are young, work to learn, not to earn. Work to learn, not to earn. My poor dad said the opposite. Take the safest job, take the biggest paycheck, climb the ladder. Two dads, two instructions. One made me rich. So here's a skill I would buy with my$10 ,000. The ability to sell. Sales, marketing, communication. The skill of putting a deal in front of a human being and having them say yes. And people hate this answer. They say, Robert, I'm not a salesperson.

8:33Selling is beneath me. Think about it. Every dollar that has ever moved into your life, somebody sold something. The employee sells their time. The doctor sells their expertise. The company sells a product that pays your wage. The poor are afraid of selling, the rich master it. Because here's what selling really is. It's not pushing junk on strangers, it's the skill of generating income, not a salary, not a wage. A salary is income somebody gives you and can take away. Income from a skill is income you control. The$10 ,000 cannot multiply until the mind behind it knows what it is doing. Let me say this again.

9:18The money cannot multiply until the mind can. And once you can sell, something bigger opens up. Something that makes people really angry when I say it. My rich dad taught me the rich do not work for money, but he taught me something else too, something almost nobody talks about. The rich don't use their own money either. Sit with that. not their labor, not their savings, then whose? Everybody thinks the barrier to real estate is money. I'd invest, Robert, but I don't have the down payment. You've said it, I've heard it 10 ,000 times. Here's the problem, the barrier is not money. The barrier is not knowing how to find money.

10:06There's a difference. And it's a difference between waiting your whole life and starting this year. Most people take their$10 ,000 and start saving toward a down payment, nickel by nickel, year after year, while prices climb faster than the savings ever could. That's cool thinking. Work hard, save up, wait your turn. Investor thinking is different. I would not save toward a down payment. I would use a$10 ,000 to learn how to find deals. Deals so good that other people want to fund them. because here's what my rich dad knew. A great deal finds its own money. Let me say that again, slowly. A great deal finds its own money.

10:55A mediocre deal cannot be saved by any amount of capital. But a great deal? Investors line up. Partners appear. Capital chases it. Real estate investing is not about how much money you have. It is about how well you understand the deal. And in a moment, I'm going to show you exactly what that looks like, how the money actually shows up. But first, a warning. Because none of this matters, the mentor, the skill, the deals, none of it, if you can't protect that$10 ,000 from the two things that destroy it first. Not the market, not inflation, not a crash. Something much closer to home. Two things you carry with you into every financial decision you will ever make.

11:47They've already cost you money. You just didn't see them do it. Two things. We'll be right back. You just heard it, a great deal finds its own money. Most people will hear that and shrug. A few of you just sat up straight. When we return exactly how the money finds the deal. Finding investors, structuring partnerships, presenting a deal people want to fund, and then the two things that destroy$10 ,000 faster than any market crash. You're carrying both of them right now. Stay with me. I've got a neighbor, retired guy, smart guy. For years, he's been telling me about this business he wants to start.

12:31He's got the idea, he's got the plan. He's even got the name picked out, but he never launches. You know why? The setup. Which website builder? Which domain company? Which email tool? He'd open five tabs, burn three hours, and have nothing to show for it. So the business stayed in his head where it made him exactly zero dollars. Last week, he finally launched. I asked him how. He said, Robert, I didn't build a website. I had a conversation. He went to Hostinger and just told their AI what he wanted, plain English. Minutes later, the first version of his website was done. And here's a part I like.

13:06The domain, the hosting, the business email, all of it, one place, one account. No duct tape, no tech guy, and it costs less than what most people waste on coffee. So I can't afford it, won't work here. Rich Dad taught me, the poor say I can't. The rich ask, how can I? Here's how. Go to hostinger.com slash richdad20 and use code richdad20 for 20 % off. That's hostinger.com slash richdad20. The people who changed their financial future aren't the ones who almost did something. Go now. It's a great first step Okay, welcome back. Let's get to it and exactly how money finds deals Because a great deal finds its own money.

13:53That's where we left off Now I'll show you how the money actually shows up Most people think raising capital is begging going hat in hand to a bank groveling for a loan wrong Raising capital is a skill and with$10 ,000 I would buy that skill before I ever bought a property. Here's what that education looks like. How to analyze cash flow so you know a good deal from a bad one in minutes, not months. How to find undervalued properties, the ones everyone else drives past. How to find investors, the people sitting on capital looking for someone they trust. How to structure partnerships so everybody wins and everybody's protected.

14:41How to present a deal so clearly, so completely, that the person with money leans across the table and says, how much do you need? That last one is why the selling skill came first. See how it stacks? The mentor teaches you. The skill lets you communicate. The deal brings the money. And people say, Robert, why would a rich investor give me their money? Because rich investors have a problem. They have capital and no time. No time to hunt deals. No time to walk properties. No time to run numbers. You have time. They have money. That's not charity. That's a partnership. The person who finds a deal is just as valuable as a person who funds it.

15:28My rich dad built his empire knowing that. So here's the lesson, compressed. Learn how deals work. Become the person who finds the deals. The money will find you. Not might, will. Because capital is always hunting for a great deal. And a great deal is always hunting for capital. Your job is to stand in the middle. That's the position. Now, the warning I promised. Before I tell you the two things that destroy$10 ,000, dollars, faster than any crash, I have to show you the four words that opened the door for them. Four words. I can't afford it. You've said them. Your parents said them. Their parents said them.

16:16My poor dad said them constantly. My rich dad forbade them in his house. Forbade them like profanity because here's what those four words actually do. I can't afford it shuts your brain down. The moment you see it your mind stops working. No thinking required. Case closed. And it doesn't stop there. Those words produce helplessness. Helplessness produces sadness and sadness left alone long enough becomes depression. Four words, that's the price. My rich dad required four different words. How can I afford it? Same situation, same bank account, completely different brain. How can I afford it opens your mind up.

17:07It forces thinking. It puts your brain to work, hunting for answers, hunting for possibilities. One phrase is a period, the other is a question mark. The poor say, I can't afford it and stop there. Done, finished, off the hook. The rich ask, how can I afford it? And the brain goes to work finding the answer. That's the difference. Everything I've told you today, the mentor, the selling skill, the deals that fund themselves, every single one of those doors is locked to the person who says, I can't afford it. And everyone opens to the person who asks, How? But here's a question nobody asks. Why do people say those four words?

17:51What's underneath them? That's the two things. And now you're ready to hear them. Fear and greed. Those are the two things. The two emotions that destroy more fortunes than every market crash in history combined. mind. Here's how they work on your$10 ,000. Fear of losing the money makes you never invest it. It sits in savings, safe, while inflation eats it alive year after year. Fear doesn't protect your money. Fear just picks a slower way to lose it. And greed. Greed makes you take stupid risks. The hot tip, the sure thing, the coin your neighbor swears will go up forever. Greed hands your money to strangers and calls it a strategy.

18:49Fear keeps you out of good deals. Greed puts you into bad ones. Both losing, both yours. And here's what almost nobody understands. Fear and greed are not money problems. They are ignorance problems. The less you understand how money works, the more those two emotions control your decisions. The more you understand, the quieter they get. My rich dad said, it's not the smart who get ahead, it's the bold. And boldness is not recklessness. Boldness is what fear turns into when knowledge shows up. The educated investor sees a market crash and feels opportunity. The ignorant investor sees the same crash and feels terror.

19:36Same event, different education. So the cure for fear is financial education. The cure for greed is financial education. Two diseases, one cure. That's why the$10 ,000 goes into the mind first. Not because education is nice, because education is armor. The market can't destroy money, the emotions already protect. Let me say this again. Fear and greed feed on ignorance. Starve them. So now you have the whole answer. I'm 79 years old,$10 ,000, starting over. I would not touch the stock market. I would not buy the coin. I would not hand it to the suit behind the desk. I would put it into the one asset nobody can crash, nobody can tax away, nobody can steal.

20:29My mind. A mentor who has done it, not an advisor who talks about it. One skill that generates income I control. The knowledge to find deals so good the money comes hunting for me. Four words that open the brain instead of closing it. And the education that starves fear and greed before they eat the money. That's the plan. Every piece of it points at the same target. People hear$10 ,000 and say it's not enough. Not enough to invest. Not enough to matter. Wrong. $10 ,000 is not a small amount. It is the beginning of the financial education nobody gave you in school and they were never going to give it to you.

21:20That's why you're here. The poor invest money they don't understand. The rich understand money before they invested. That's the difference. The first investment is always in your mind, the one thing they can't take away. Thank you for your time. Thank you for caring about your future. Thank you for understanding that you are the only one who cares about taking care of you. Take care.

22:00Thank you.

22:33This podcast is a presentation of Rich Dad Media Network.