Collection: Financial Literacy - #12 Kim Kiyosaki | Women, It's Time To Take Control
[Transcript]
KIM KIYOSAKI 00:00
When I married Robert, we got together, he had no money. And matter of fact we celebrated when we hit zero, that's how far down we were.
Roberts been talking about control and I love to encourage women into this world of investing because I think so many women today feel out of control when it comes to money, when it comes to their financial freedom and their financial lives.
And so, my passion is to educate and encourage women in the world of investing. And the reason why I'm so driven – kind of comes from an incident that happened many many years ago.
And what it was is, I was 14 years old and I remember coming home from school one day and I walked in, and there was my mom and her best friend in our dining room, and I walked in, and mom kind of signal me to no, leave them alone, leave them alone. And so I walked away into the kitchen and I listen to the conversation and my mom's friend was very distraught, she was crying, she was upset and it turned out that her husband was leaving her for a younger woman.
And she went on and on, they'd been married for 20 some years and kept listening. And then she said something that just really hit home to me. And she said, "You know, my marriage hasn't been good for many many years, but at least, I was financially taken care of." And my mom said, "Well, that's why you stayed?" She said, "I stayed because I didn't know how to take care of myself financially."
So, at 14 years old, I decided I was never going to be dependent on someone else for my financial well-being. And that was a decision and that's why I'm so driven now to encourage women into this game as well.
And so, when Robert talks about control, I really believe that it's time that women today take control of their financial lives. I think it's crucial, I don't think it's a luxury or a good idea anymore. I think it's something that has to happen.
And, you know, the times have changed and what worked for our mothers and our grandmothers is not necessarily going to work for us and our daughters and our granddaughters. And I came across some startling statistics recently that show how much times have changed.
For example, in the U.S. 47 percent of women over the age of 50 are single. Meaning, they are responsible for their financial well-being. And many of us have heard the divorce rate, one out of two, marriages ends in divorce. So if she was depending on Prince Charming to take care of her, well...
And who usually ends up with the children, the woman. So the woman is now responsible for herself and for her children, and the first year, after a divorce on average a woman standard of living drop 73%.
And for any of you that are concerned about your mother's or your grandmother's of the elderly living in poverty, three out of four women. But the amazing thing is 80% of those women were not poor when their husbands were alive.
So what the statistics are telling me is that as women, especially as we get older, we have not been prepared, we have not been educated to take care of ourselves financially. And now is the time to do that and it doesn't take a lot, it's really just through education and that's why I'm so happy to be part of this program on PBS because they're all about education.
And to get started in this world of investing, it takes education, start small, you know, make mistakes. You're going to make mistakes. Put a little money down. You'll be amazed at how smart you get when you put a little money down on an investment, your education goes through the roof.
So again it's just about education and just to let you know it's not rocket science, you know, I don't have a special degree, it doesn't take any special type of formal training.
When I started in investing, it was in 1989, and Robert came to me said, "It's time you start investing." And I'm like, I don't even know what the word means. And so he started to teach me what his Rich Dad taught him about investing.
And I went out and I'm stumbling along trying to figure it out. And finally, I came across this little two-bedroom one-bath house in a place called Portland, Oregon. And I signed the papers and I got the deal and I'm doing all my due diligence now and I'm checking it out to see if I'm going to do it or not.
And I'll tell you, I was scared to death. What if the tenant moves out? What if the plumbing breaks? What if I lose money? What if, what if, what if, what if...
I was scared to death and what happened is when it came time to close the papers – to sign the papers – my hand was shaking so bad like they couldn't even make up my signature. But the other thing that happened is my fist was so tightly clenched around my five thousand dollar check that I had to part with. That they never – They thought they'd never get it, but I did that deal and I went on to do the next deal and next deal, I kept learning and I kept learning as I went.
And what it came down to is today, I control millions of dollars worth of real estate and worth of property, but it all came down it started with little education and it started with that first step.
So, I just want to say again, I so encourage women in this game of investing, it's not difficult, it takes some time, it takes some effort, it takes some education. But the freedom for me, when I understood this game, my self-worth went up, my confidence went up. I knew for the first time that I could take care of myself, I didn't have to depend on Robert. I didn't need Robert, I wanted Robert, but I didn't need him. And that made a huge difference.
So one final statistic, only 20% – studies show that only 20% of baby boomer women will be financially secure in retirement. That means 80% of us will not. So again, I thank you for being at this PBS show because by being here you're getting yourself educated. And all it takes is education and some action. And you can be part of – easily, you can be part of that 20% who's securing control. Thank you.
(Source: https://youtu.be/0854UWAv8xA)
[YAPSS Takeaway]
Nothing is better than taking control of your own financial well-being.