MacGregor John - The Top 10 Reasons the Rich Go Broke

T HE TOP 10 REASONS THE RICH GO BROKE

Copyright 2020 JM International, LLC

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Published by Eleuthera Press, an imprint of RDA Press, LLC

RDA Press LLC
15170 N. Hayden Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
480-998-5400

First Eleuthra Press Edition: March 2020

ISBN: 978-1-947588-09-7

Printed in the United States of America

My sincere appreciation to everyone
who supported me on this wild journey.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Most importantly, thank you
to my late mom and my still-going-strong dad
for all your unconditional love and support.
You made this adventure possible.

The stories in this book are based on true stories with real individuals. Ive recreated events, locales, and conversations from my memories of them. To maintain anonymity, Ive changed the names of individuals, places, and dates. I have also changed identifying characteristics and details such as physical properties, occupations, and places of residence.

Learning from your mistakes is smart; learning from other peoples mistakes is genius.

Anonymous

I have always believed that mistakes are opportunities to learn. And the best mistakes are the ones other people make especially when you recognize them and learn from them.

I do not care for financial advisors.

If you have read any of my Rich Dad books, you already know that. Its not personal. I just dont believe that we get smarter by turning over decision-making responsibilities and control of our money to other people. And I have serious concerns about the financial industry as a whole its lack of transparency and the way it makes its money.

Most of the financial advisors I have met are decent people. But its important to know that their primary job is to sell you something. They are sales people. Very few have any real financial education or any interest in real financial education.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, when 401(k)s first came on the market, many people switched careers to become financial advisors.

Schoolteachers, car salespeople, real estate agents, waiters and waitresses, and insurance agents were all taking training programs to become financial advisors and in less than two months they were professional financial advisors ready to plan your financial future by selling you financial products.

In 1975, my day job was working for Xerox. At night, I was taking courses to become a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), an intensive, three-year program.

I did not complete the CFP program. I am happy I went as far as I did because I learned a lot. I did not complete the CFP program because I was more interested in real estate and in taking advanced real estate investment courses.

An important distinction and what I did learn was that financial advisors are like bookkeepers and that CFPs are like CPAs, Certified Public Accountants. This is an importance difference.

I am honored to write this Foreword for John MacGregors book, for a number of reasons:

Reason #1: I asked John to write this book. The Rich Dad series of books needs content and teaching from someone with Johns professional experience.

Reason #2: John is a Certified Financial Planner, but he is much more than a financial planner. He often instructs other CFPs and financial planners on this vital professional service.

Reason #3: I respect John. He is real and has dedicated his life to this important subject. He is a true professional and a student of his profession. Whenever I have a question on financial planning, he is my expert, my advisor on the very important world of financial planning.

Reason #4: Financial planning encompasses much more than just investing. Real financial planning is about life planning and estate planning. If you do not have plans in place, first your family has to deal with the mess you leave behind; second, if you leave anything behind, your family goes to war over your estate; and third, the government takes most of your estate, before your family gets anything.

Reason #5: Johns book is not a text book. Text books are boring. Johns book is a story book, a book of real-life, tragic financial horror stories real horror stories that did not have to happen. This book is about helping you avoid making critical mistakes that can devastate you and your familys life.

Reason #6: John is a close and dear friend. Like me, he was raised in Hawaii and we both played rugby for the Hawaii Harlequin Rugby Club, at different times of course, due to the differences in our ages.

Reason #7: Humans learn from mistakes. As Ive said: Sometimes the best mistakes are the mistakes of others, especially if we recognize them and use them as opportunities to learn. This book is essential for the financial library of anyone who is serious about their financial future.

These are the reasons why I asked John to write this book. John offers us a chance to learn from someone elses stupid mistakes, rather than make them ourselves and suffer the financial consequences.

Robert Kiyosaki

My name is John MacGregor and Ive circled the entire financial industry for the better part of my adult life. In my earlier years, growing up and through college, I was a landscaper and later in life I sat in a large high- rise office. Ive been on both sides of the financial line: the poor and the prosperous.

Ive worked with countless individuals through the years, from those struggling to find financial footing to those deemed well-off by general society. In my experience, the level of wealth or income didnt matter because, in fact,