Kim Kiyosaki, Successful Investor and New Author, Shares Her Insight on Real Estate Investing and Her New Book With The Investor Resource

To many, Kim Kiyosaki is the wife and business partner of Robert Kiyosaki, best-selling author of Rich Dad Poor Dad and nationally recognized investment mentor. What you might not know is, independently, Kim has been a successful businesswoman, entrepreneur, and real estate investor for over 20 years. Her real estate investment company buys, sells, and manages millions of dollars worth of property. A long time advocate and supporter of women?s involvement in the world of investing, Kim has recently released a new book, Rich Women, A book on investing for women. Because I Hate Being Told What To Do! Every woman interested in learning about investing should read this book. The Investor Resource recently had the opportunity to speak with Kim Kiyosaki about her book and real estate investing.

T.I.R.- Can you share with our readers why you wrote this book for women and why you saw a need for this kind of book in today?s market?

Kim- Sure, what happened is over the years when Robert would do his talks, we would travel together, [during which] I would go up on stage for 5 or 10 minutes. I would talk to women about investing and what I was doing. Then I would go to our break area and I would just be inundated by women asking so many questions. [They were] just so thirsty for some information. And what I found was, whether I was in Australia or New York or South Africa, the questions were all the same. It was the same issues, the same questions. I didn?t see any woman investor or any woman talking to women only about money and investing, so I saw a need there.

[Additionally,] what really got to me is when I saw an article in Time Magazine about pensions disappearing, and every case study was a woman. [Before] I thought [writing this book] was a good idea and [that it was] a nice idea that women start investing and that it was important for their freedom, but when I saw this article it just rocked me. All of a sudden it wasn?t just a good idea anymore, it was basically survival. And where I thought my parent?s generation was immune to this, it is hitting that generation now, today, because of pensions. So it lit a fire under me [to write this book].

Also, I really feel now that with what?s happening with the divorce rate, and 1 out of 2 marriages ending in divorce, more and more women are finding themselves the primary moneymaker for themselves. I just think that today, more than ever, women have to take control of their financial life and not depend on someone else to do it for them because that somebody else is, in many cases, not going to be there.

I see too many women as they get older are finding themselves on their own, not prepared, trying to figure out how they are going to survive financially because it wasn?t part of the plan, and the plan has changed.

T.I.R.- In the book you talk about being financially independent. What is the difference between your definition of being rich and being financially independent?

Kim- You don?t have to be rich to be financially independent, number one. Many people think that is what I am talking about. Amassing huge amounts of money so that you can live out the rest of your days. That is not what I am talking about. What financially independent means to me is if I have more money coming in through my investments than going out through my expenses (car, house, clothing, food), then you are financially independent. When you no long have to work for money.

The whole thing about being financially independent is not having to work for money. When you work on things you only want to work at. It?s about freedom.

It goes back to the Rich Dad philosophy. [Which she learned from Robert and what his Rich Dad taught him.] The whole philosophy is about cash flow. It is about acquiring assets that every month gives you cash flow. For me, my investment of choice is real estate. So my houses, my apartment building, my commercial buildings, after I collect the rents and I pay off the expenses and mortgages, at the end of the month there is a positive net profit, or positive cash flow.

T.I.R.- You mostly invest in real estate, and that is really how you started working toward financial freedom. Can you give our readers some advice on real estate investing?

Kim- For real estate you want to smart small. And I am a stickler for that. Whenever you are taking on any new investment, start small. Start with a single-family [home] up to a four units, small property and put a little money down.

I am not a flipper. I am not a fan of buying a property and hoping the property goes up in value and selling it. The reason being that it takes a lot of time to find a good property. So I would rather put my time and effort into finding a property that will give me cash flow every month than when I have to buy [a property], fix it up, sell it, and find the next property.

Real estate is in a crazy time. Most major cities in the U.S. and in the world are in the same situation with their real estate prices [being] so high. And there will be a turn eventually. I am waiting for that turn.

In today?s market, you have to look a little harder, get out there and network a more. Talk to a lot of people. A lot of times the deals you are going to find are in unusual places. They are not going to be listed properties necessarily. It might be that you are at a seminar or at an organization for investors and somebody says, ?You know, I am thinking about selling this property.? You are going to find it more that way.

Our last piece of property we found because a manager of a pottery shop told us about a beautiful piece of land that she thought was for sale, but couldn?t afford. We tracked it down and bought it.

Today, a lot of times it takes cold calling. I?ll get on the phone and say, ?You know, I like your property. Its one of ten properties I have identified that I would like to purchase. Are you interested? And 99 out of 100 times they are going to say no. But every once in a while somebody might say yes. So for people starting out it will take a little time a little effort.

The most important thing is to get some education behind you. Reading, seminars, audio, books, attend meetings, websites. They have a ton of information. And then start putting a little money down and get some real life experience and you will find that it is really, really fun.

T.I.R.- What advice can you give to help individuals, women especially, realize that fear of investing is not an excuse to get involved?

Kim- Especially when you are starting out, there will probably be fear. I was fearful of investing for the first 10 years. Every deal I did there was some level of fear. But the more education and more experience you get, reduces your fear. Every time you buy a property and are getting some cash flow, your confidence level rises. With every real estate investment, you learn something. Even with the mistakes. It is how we learn. I take the lessons from the mistake and put it toward the next property. There will most likely be fear if you have never done this before. I had it. The only thing that reduces the fear is education and real life experience. If you are not facing something you fear, you are not growing. I think I am going to be fearful for the rest of my life. The fear can be very healthy. You need to keep what that goal is you?re going towards. If you can keep that bigger vision out there, then the fear doesn?t seem so surmountable.

T.I.R.- What key steps can women (and men) take towards success in investing?

Kim: It is all about financial education and starting small, whatever it is. You have got to start doing it. You have got to get in the game.

Your first chance to read Kim?s new book, Rich Women, is at The Learning Annex, being help at the Georgia World Congress Center May 6 and 7. She will be a keynote speaker at the event. You can also order it at www.RichWoman.com. The book, directed toward women, gives readers in-depth reasons why investing is necessary for financial freedom and independence, how to get started, and how to become successful investors. The book will be in major bookstores starting in mid-May. A Podcast of this full interview, which explores more about real estate and her new book, will be posted on our website, www.TheInvestorResource.com, soon.