| I have recently embarked on a huge project of | | | | S quadrant with a practice of my own. I enjoyed |
| purchasing raw land and moving myself and the | | | | the freedom of having my own practice and I |
| horses into the country so I can ride and advance | | | | stayed very busy. After 17 yeas in practice I |
| my horsemanship. I thought I had my income | | | | came to realize that, as much as I loved working |
| managed to make this move but shifts have | | | | on other people's horses, I really missed riding and |
| happened in the economy that have caused me | | | | spending time with my own horses. The challenge |
| to step back and regroup. As I have looked into | | | | was finding a way to cut back my working hours |
| my future I has also looked back to the past 28 | | | | and still have a continuous stream of income. I |
| years--at the financial decisions I have made along | | | | had again invested in raw land and was building |
| the way that have affected me and my horses. | | | | some equity in it but it was not generating |
| In 1998 I read 2 books that totally changed my | | | | income. |
| life. One was "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and other was | | | | At this point, after reading the Kiyosaki books, I |
| "Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial | | | | was looking for a way into the B quadrant. I |
| Freedom," both by Robert Kiyosaki. In "Rich Dad, | | | | began looking at ways to work with the internet |
| Poor Dad" Kiyosaki looks at belief systems about | | | | an a friend introduced me to network marketing. |
| money, and in "Cashflow Quadrant" he goes into | | | | At first these ventures just took more money |
| detail about the different kinds of income. His | | | | and time, with little return, but I resisted the |
| quadrants are E for employee, S for | | | | temptation to give up and return to working |
| self-employed, B for business, and I for | | | | more hours. Over a period of 5 to 10 years I |
| investment. While one quadrant is not better than | | | | was gradually able to create residual, consistent |
| another, it is important to match your income | | | | income from my network marketing business to |
| quadrant with your life goals to avoid frustration. | | | | cut back on my working hours and still have the |
| In the E quadrant it is possible to earn a very high | | | | income to meet expenses. I was also able to cut |
| income but you give up your choice of when to | | | | back on my overhead as I downsized my |
| have free time. Most of the time, your work | | | | practice. Now that I was learning how to leverage |
| hours and vacation time are determined by your | | | | my time I wanted to leverage my money by |
| boss. | | | | moving into I quadrant. |
| In the S quadrant, you have more freedom to | | | | I began to set aside money for retirement in a |
| set your hours because you are your own boss | | | | SEP account, but due to my late start I did not |
| but any time you take off means that no income | | | | feel I could count on increase from this account |
| is generated, so you are still trading your time for | | | | to provide for a secure future. I attempted to do |
| money. To have more time you have to have | | | | some stock trading but did not have the discipline |
| less money, and vice versa. | | | | to learn a system and stick with it. I decided to |
| In the B quadrant, you buy or create a business | | | | focus on real estate and I built an office to rent |
| that brings in income without you having to be | | | | on the raw land on which I had been making |
| constantly present. Generally you are leveraging | | | | payments. Instead of renting the office space I |
| your time by creating something once that can | | | | ended up selling the land, which gave me cash to |
| be sold repeatedly or your leverage the time of | | | | invest in other rental property as well as the land |
| others by having employees. | | | | in Fischer, where I am now moving. |
| In the I quadrant you leverage your money to | | | | I share my story because I meet so many other |
| bring you income. Examples of investments | | | | horse lovers who, like me, were never given a |
| include real estate and the stock market. In the B | | | | financial education. No financial system is perfect. I |
| and I quadrants you can have income and time | | | | did not count on fuel and feed costs doubling in |
| freedom, but you often have to work hard with | | | | the last five years, or taxes on my rental |
| no immediate return to launch a business, and the | | | | property going up 400% even as its value |
| investment of money generally involves some | | | | dropped, but at least now I feel I can make wise |
| risk of losing it. | | | | choices instead of simply working harder and |
| Here's how the quadrants have manifested in my | | | | hoping I will have enough money to make things |
| life. I graduated from vet school in 1980 and | | | | work. |
| began working for another veterinarian. After | | | | If you find yourself staring out of your office |
| putting myself through school, having a | | | | window wishing you were riding, thinking about |
| $1000-per-month salary seemed like a fortune. | | | | reading the Kiyosaki books. I wish I had known |
| Even though I worked hard I was not a very | | | | about them and read them much earlier. Even |
| good employee. I had my own ideas of how I | | | | with minimal time and money you can get into |
| wanted to do things and I wasn't good with | | | | the B quadrant with a business such as network |
| details like showing up to work on time. After five | | | | marketing. More importantly, you can expect to |
| years with a decline in the horse market, I was | | | | see results in as little as six months to a year. |
| fired and I found myself without a job. | | | | With some shifts in your belief systems and |
| Luckily, I had invested part of my salary in a | | | | working smarter instead of harder you can afford |
| piece of raw land so I sold it and moved into the | | | | to have both your horse and the time to ride! |