Shadowing Practice: Become Financially Free - Learn English Speaking with Video

Financial independence.

It means you have the money you need to live the life you want without a job,

without depending on a paycheck.

Financial freedom.

Financial freedom means you have financial independence plus extra, right? And abundance.

And abundance means more than enough.

It means you can live your dream life without a job.

Travel the world, live wherever you want to live.

Live the kind of life you dream of for your family and yourself.

That's the topic today, financial independence, and financial freedom.

This is a new series I'm doing called Train Your English Ears.

Train Your English Ears.

The idea of this is that I'm just going to talk about topics, any topic, probably any topic except English.

And I'm just going to talk about topics and I'm not planning out the topics.

I'm not being careful how I speak.

I'm going to talk naturally, probably more quickly than normal.

And this is an opportunity for you to get listening practice, listening to lots of different topics.

Because in real life, we don't just talk about English learning or language learning, right?

And you talk about a lot of different things.

So train your English ears.

This comes from my audio podcast.

In my audio podcast, I did a series called Walk and Talks.

I would get a recorder and I'd just go outside

and start walking for like an hour and just talk about anything that popped into my head.

Very casual, very natural English about all kinds of different topics.

Some big, some small.

And people loved it.

Lots and lots and lots of people love it and they keep telling me do more walk and talks.

So I'm going to do that.

Right now I'm in Japan.

I can't really do the walk and talks very well where I'm living right now.

But I plan, when we go back in the summer to America, I'll start doing walk and talks again.

But I'm going to do them on video too.

So I'm going to get a little selfie stick

and I'll just walk around our big yard there and talk and give you a chance to train your English ears.

So let's get to our topic.

Our topic is inspired by this game.

If you're watching on video, you can see it.

This game is called Cash Flow for Kids.

It comes from the Rich Dad Poor Dad Company, which is Robert Kiyosaki's company.

He wrote the book, Rich Dad Poor Dad.

And it says on the cover of this game,

give your children a financial head start by raising their financial IQ and having lots of family fun too.

So the reason I'm talking about this game today is because I started playing it with my children, especially with my daughter and also my wife.

We played it as a family together.

My son played too.

And it's a great game.

It is a great game.

It's based on the teachings, the ideas, the principles that you find in Robert Kiyosaki's books.

The two books I recommend of his are Rich Dad, Poor Dad, which is the basic book.

And then he has one called Cash Flow Quadrant, which is also excellent.

I recommend reading both those books.

I did a book club on Rich Dad Poor Dad.

You can find it on my go to my YouTube channel, go to the playlist that's for the book club and you can find in there Rich Dad Poor Dad.

If you want to get the general idea of the book, I recommend you buy the book.

It's really good.

But also get Cash Flow Quadrant because it's it's it's a good second book that they go together.

And Robert Kiyosaki, you know, he he calls it leaving the rat race, leaving the rat race the rat race in english is uh it's an idiom

and it just means that the rat race is

when you're working a job right

because you just you go to work to make money

and then you take your money

and you pay your bills your rent your your phone your power bills everything

and then you you have just a tiny bit of food

you have a little tiny bit left over then you got to go to work again to pay the bills, go to work, pay the bills, go to work, pay the bills.

It's like a rat on one of those, you know, those little wheels, those exercise wheels for rats or mice or hamsters.

So that's the image when we say rat race in English.

It's a negative term.

And it means you're just working, working, working just to pay bills.

And you have no real independence and no freedom.

And you are totally dependent on your job, right?

Because if you lose that job, then you can't pay the bills and then massive stress.

And then you have huge pressure, huge stress to go out and find another job.

Right.

So this is the rat race.

And Kiyosaki's books are about teaching you how to leave the rat race.

How to become financially independent.

Financial means money.

Independent means you rely on yourself.

You're not depending on, in this case, you're not depending on a company or a boss to give you a paycheck.

So financial independence, it's a great dream.

It was a dream of mine for many years.

I always hated working in jobs.

Hated it from the moment I got my first job at a fast food restaurant when I was a teenager.

Right up until my last job, I hated the idea of working for other people.

I just hated the idea that, you know, it felt just like school to me.

They tell you when you have to come, you have to come at this time and you can leave at this time.

And you can take your lunch break at this time

and you only have this much time for lunch and all these rules.

And I just it was miserable.

I wanted to have more time.

For me, it was about time.

I don't really care about luxury and and and, you know, lots of money.

You know, I don't care about having a giant house or expensive cars or any of that stuff.

Some people like that stuff, it's fine.

But for me, I didn't care about any of that.

I still don't.

But what I do care about is time, time, time.

Having my time every day to do what I wanted to do.

100

To spend with people I want to be with.

101

Of course, right now, that means especially my family.

102

When I was younger, that meant my friends.

103

And I wanted to...

104

I didn't want to just be at some job that was boring.

105

40 hours a week or more.

106

right?

107

So financial independence, it was a big dream of mine.

108

And, you know, I tell you, I, I didn't, I didn't read Rich Dad, Poor Dad when I was young, when I was in my 20s and my 30s, even.

109

I became financially independent at age 38.

110

But I hadn't, I didn't read Rich Dad, Poor Dad during most of that time.

111

I just knew I hated jobs.

112

And I wanted to be free.

113

And I didn't, I really had no idea how to do it.

114

And I had to just try lots of different things and I suffered.

115

And many of you know that I lived in my car.

116

And then later in my, I lived in my car, a small car with my dog for one summer as an experiment.

117

Why did I do that?

118

I did that so I wouldn't have to pay rent.

119

Because first I thought, oh, I need to make a lot of money.

120

That's what most people think.

121

To become financially independent.

122

I got to become rich.

123

I got to become rich, right?

124

Make a ton of money.

125

So I tried some, I tried multi-level marketing.

126

I tried a couple different business things.

127

And I quickly realized that that's really hard.

128

It's not easy to make a lot of money, okay?

129

So I tried that strategy when I was young and it didn't really work for me.

130

And in fact, I totally failed.

131

And I was always broke and miserable.

132

So then influenced by my favorite American writer, Henry David Thoreau, and his book Walden,

133

probably my favorite American book, from an American writer, I decided, well, you know what?

134

Okay, maybe I'll do the opposite.

135

Instead of focusing on making lots of money, I'll focus on spending less, less, less spending almost nothing,

136

living a super simple life.

137

That's what the book Walden is about.

138

And that was written before the American Civil War.

139

So, like, I don't know.

140

I can't remember the exact date.

141

1850s, 1840s, something like that.

142

and Thoreau's whole point was people become slaves because they want more, more, more they want to live in these big houses

143

and spend all this money but if you just live super simply you can be free so he famously,

144

he just no, it was easier then he just went into the woods

145

and built himself with almost no money at all he built this little cabin and he lived in the woods.

146

I can't remember how long, but just to show that he could do it, that he could live super simply.

147

Now at that time, you could just do that.

148

Now it's a little harder, but I decided, okay, well, maybe I should try Thoreau's method.

149

And I decided what's the biggest expense I have in my life?

150

What's the thing that makes me most dependent on a job, on a paycheck, right?

151

What am I spending the most money on every month? and I looked at my checkbook and it was rent.

152

Rent, renting an apartment.

153

So I thought, okay, how can I reduce rent?

154

So reducing rent means living in a cheap apartment.

155

The problem is with that, is that certainly in the United States,

156

that means you usually will end up living in a bad neighborhood with lots of crime.

157

It's dangerous.

158

Lots of bad people around, drugs and i didn't want

159

that that's no good right it's not worth saving money for

160

that so i thought oh what could i do

161

and then i thought well i already have a car i

162

have to have a car in america we need cars to get around

163

so i thought what if i lived in my car then i can completely eliminate rent

164

and my power bill my electric bill and

165

so i started doing all this research about it and And I did it the first summer.

166

I did it.

167

I did it in a little car, a Toyota Corolla with my dog.

168

I had a piece of plywood, flatwood and went across the passenger seat.

169

And when I slept, my nose was about, you know, I don't know, two inches.

170

What's that?

171

Five, six centimeters from the roof of the car.

172

And I lived the whole summer living in the car with my dog.

173

And honestly, it was great.

174

It was great.

175

And because I had no rent and I'd saved a little money from a job I had, I spent the whole summer with no job.

176

I just lived in my car, paying no rent.

177

I had some savings from my job that I quit.

178

And I already had a job in the fall, actually in Japan.

179

So I knew I was going off to Japan.

180

And I thought, well, I'm going to have a three-month summer vacation like when I was in school before.

181

when I was younger.

182

And it was fantastic.

183

It was the first time I had such a long break since I was in my 20s.

184

And I was free and I just did whatever I wanted to do.

185

And I thought, this is the life.

186

This is what financial independence feels like.

187

I didn't have a lot of money.

188

I had to live super cheaply.

189

And that experience, at that point, I really decided I must become financially independent.

190

And even if I have to live in a car, the rest of my life, I'll do it.

191

Because I'm not going to live like a rat anymore, right?

192

No more rat race for me.

193

And so from that point on, I went off to Japan and I had a, you know, worked and saved a bit of money there for a while.

194

And then after that, I really never worked another full-time job again.

195

Like when I came back to America, after Japan, I lived in a van and that

196

and then i lived for a whole year with my dog in a van it was more comfortable

197

because the van obviously is a little larger

198

and i set it up nicer and i learned from my experience before

199

so for a whole year i lived and i had no rent

200

because i had no rent i i still had to get

201

it had to work make some money to eat right pay

202

for the car the gas uh it was an old car so there was There was no loan, no debt, but I still had to pay for my food and gas and things.

203

So I, but I just worked part time.

204

I can't remember.

205

It was less than 20 hours a week.

206

And again, I had plenty of time then to do anything I wanted to do.

207

It was this, a year of freedom.

208

And that, those two experiences, more than anything, they gave me such an emotional motivation and to become financially independent.

209

Now, eventually I did read Rich Dad, Poor Dad and started to get clear on some of the strategies and understanding of how to do that.

210

So let's talk about this game because I think this is a great game.

211

Obviously, I want my children to learn this.

212

I don't want my children to go through what I did.

213

I'd like them to have financial independence

214

or at least understand the idea of it and know what to do right when they're young

215

so that they can build the same kind of financial independence.

216

Here's the board for the game.

217

So it's quite simple.

218

There's an adult version of this game.

219

My wife and I played it.

220

It's very good.

221

The adult version is a little like Monopoly, but better.

222

It's better because it actually, the point of the game is to teach you the ideas of how to become financially free.

223

And so there's this little circle.

224

And each kid, each person, you play it with your kids, right?

225

So adults should play it too.

226

And you just start.

227

And then you just end up going around this board.

228

and then they land on different things.

229

The green ones are assets and they get little asset cards up here.

230

And then the red ones are expenses.

231

So when you land on a red space, you have to draw an expense card.

232

And then the sunshine card is just kind of like a good luck, a good luck space and some, you know.

233

And so what happens is you play with money

234

and the point of the game is to leave the rat race the rat race, right?

235

So every player, you start, you're working a job and you have a salary.

236

To win the game, you have to get enough income from assets to pay all of your expenses, right?

237

So you start the game, you have a salary and you have expenses.

238

So your expenses are like rent, food, right?

239

There's a certain amount of expenses, each player.

240

Everyone starts with the same expenses and the same income from a job salary.

241

And every time you go around the circle, there's like a money sign and that you get your salary every time and you pay your expenses.

242

You keep going around.

243

Right.

244

So that that's why it's a circle.

245

It's the rat race.

246

You're in the rat race.

247

But as you land on the green spaces, those are called assets.

248

What's an asset?

249

An asset is an investment or a business.

250

Right.

251

Something that is not a salary.

252

You're not depending on someone else to give you a paycheck.

253

And the most important thing is you don't have to use your time.

254

Obviously, if you start a business, you might have to spend a lot of time for a while.

255

But eventually, a business can become, I don't know if you want to call it passive income, but kind of, right?

256

You can hire managers, you can hire employees, you can create systems so that you don't need to be working at the job every day.

257

But it's still making you money.

258

Right?

259

So those are called assets.

260

And the point of the game is you get enough assets, so now all your expenses are paid by assets instead of your salary.

261

And when that happens, you can quit your job and you win the game.

262

Right?

263

So that's called financial independence.

264

Right?

265

It's great.

266

And so by playing this game with your kids, it's a fun game like Monopoly, but a little easier.

267

Well, maybe not easier, but similar.

268

You're teaching your kids these concepts.

269

And they also learn the vocabulary.

270

They learn vocabulary like asset, liability, expenses, income, salary, passive income.

271

Right.

272

And then more importantly, they learn the general idea of, okay, what is financial independence?

273

Financial independence is when you don't need to work a job anymore.

274

You can pay for your expenses, whatever they are, rent, food, whatever it is.

275

You can pay for that from investments, including businesses.

276

It could be stocks.

277

It could be real estate.

278

It could be a business or businesses, right?

279

Those are the big three main kinds.

280

And once you have that income coming from assets, you quit your job.

281

Yes.

282

And that's financial freedom.

283

And I'll tell you, it is a great day.

284

If you're not financially independent now, that's financial independence.

285

Actually, I kind of use financial independence and financial freedom a little differently.

286

Financial independence, I see, is step one.

287

And that's where you, whatever your expenses, however you are living, you no longer need a job.

288

So I was 38 when I became almost at 38 or 39.

289

Actually, I started this business when I was 38, but I didn't really quit.

290

I quit my job at age 39 about six months later and never had a job again.

291

And yeah, that was a fantastic day.

292

Let me tell you, really great day.

293

Because, you know, we know in the world right now, right?

294

This insane war.

295

That oil prices shooting up, gas prices shooting up.

296

Fertilizer prices shooting up.

297

A whole lot of other things, right?

298

So we know expenses are going to shoot up.

299

The cost of everything is going to go higher and higher and higher.

300

The most scary, I think, is food.

301

The price of food is going to go higher and higher.

302

And in many parts of the world, maybe all parts of the world, we're going to have possibly food shortages.

303

This is not going to be over in just a few months.

304

Right?

305

A lot of people think this is by design.

306

It's planned.

307

This is what they want.

308

but regardless it's the truth

309

things are going to get more and more and more expensive and if you are depending on a job it's scary

310

very scary because we also know that all these companies are using AI as a reason to cut jobs cut jobs,

311

cut jobs everywhere.

312

And they're not going to raise salaries to cover increased expenses.

313

So it's very frightening.

314

Of course, it's frightening for everybody, but especially if you're depending on a salary.

315

And here's the other part.

316

When you depend on a salary, right, when you're in the rat race,

317

you're stuck financially, money, but you are often or usually stuck also in one place, right?

318

Because most people have a job.

319

They have to live where the job is.

320

If you have a job in India, in Mumbai, well, you got to live in Mumbai.

321

That's where your job is.

322

And it's not so easy just to pick up and go somewhere else, right?

323

And again, for me, I think that especially in this kind of crisis situation,

324

this is another important benefit of being financially independent.

325

When you're financially independent, it means you also don't have to be in one place all the time.

326

And that can be very helpful.

327

For example, during all the pandemic stuff that happened, we were able, my family and I,

328

were able to stay in Japan during that time, which I think it certainly was one of the best countries to be in.

329

They didn't really have any tough or difficult rules.

330

Right.

331

There were I walked around with no mask.

332

Most almost everybody wore a mask, but there was no law about it.

333

So I walked I would be on the subway.

334

I'd be the only person with no mask and everywhere I went, no mask.

335

But I never had any problems.

336

And so, you know, that time was terrible, but there was no pressure to do anything.

337

We could just continue living our lives pretty normally through that whole thing.

338

And we could do that because of financial independence.

339

We could choose where we wanted to be.

340

You know, it's the same idea that with all the financial problems that are coming,

341

very soon with gas, oil, fertilizer, everything.

342

It can be very, very powerful to be able to move when you need to.

343

Like if your country or your city is having a huge amount of problems,

344

isn't it nice if you could just pick up and leave, go somewhere else because you don't need a job in that location.

345

So you could go pick a different city or maybe even a different country

346

to live in for a while during the crisis, where you and your family can be more safe.

347

That is another big advantage of financial independence.

348

So I think it's very important to, of course, teach yourself these ideas and principles and work towards becoming financially independent.

349

And very important to teach your children.

350

So get this game.

351

It's a great game, cash flow for kids.

352

Highly recommend it.

353

Play it with your family.

354

Play it with your husband or wife so they understand the concepts and the ideas.

355

And play it with your children so they grow up with this knowledge because they don't get it in school.

356

I mean, think about it.

357

The most important things in life are not taught in school.

358

Right?

359

And I'm just talking practically.

360

First of all, you know, morality and spirituality.

361

Right?

362

God.

363

Goodness.

364

Evil.

365

Not taught in school.

366

Money.

367

In our modern world, money, finances.

368

Nothing useful taught in school about that.

369

Health and fitness.

370

Right?

371

If you're not healthy, it becomes probably the most important thing in your life is to get healthy again.

372

Not taught in schools.

373

Relationships.

374

Right?

375

Like how to have a good family, how to have good relationships, good marriages, good friendships.

376

Not taught in school.

377

These are the most important things in life.

378

The things that will decide your happiness.

379

How good your life is.

380

None of them are taught in school.

381

And in fact, you learn a lot of things in school that will make these things more difficult.

382

So, teach your kids this.

383

By all means, teach your kids.

384

Now, some people might be thinking, oh, you know, financial independence, it seems so far away, so difficult.

385

But, you know, going back, looking at my own example, my life, you can think of it in steps, right?

386

It's not just you're totally in the rat race, you're a slave, or you're totally free.

387

There are actually steps in between.

388

And those steps in between can still be a big improvement to your life.

389

You can be partially independent.

390

Partially means part.

391

Not 100%, but maybe 50%.

392

Right?

393

So I mentioned that when I came back from Japan, I never worked another full-time job again.

394

I only worked part-time.

395

In fact, I decided that.

396

I made a vow to myself.

397

I will never work a full-time job again.

398

Never.

399

And I never did after that.

400

I only worked maximum 20 hours per week.

401

And that was a huge improvement to my life happiness and enjoyment.

402

I still had to do some work, but there's a huge difference between working 40 hours a week and working 20 hours a week.

403

Obviously, it's half, but 20 hours a week doesn't feel that bad, right?

404

Especially if you're used to working full time and you cut to half time.

405

I still felt like I had a lot of free time it was a huge, huge improvement in my life.

406

I was able to really start living again and enjoying my life again.

407

And of course, I did it by eliminating rent.

408

And I was not, because I wasn't making much.

409

If you don't make much, then you got to cut your expenses a lot, right?

410

And I was a social worker.

411

Social workers don't get paid much.

412

And I was an English teacher.

413

English teachers don't get paid much.

414

So I had like a couple jobs actually.

415

I taught English at night to some immigrants, mostly people from South America.

416

And that was like a few hours in the evenings.

417

And then the daytime I worked lunch, I delivered sandwiches in my car to people who ordered kind of like pizza delivery, but instead it was like sandwich delivery.

418

And those were my two jobs.

419

And total was less than 20 hours a week.

420

And my dog drove around with me and then in between i had

421

so much free time you know i would after i after

422

doing the sandwich delivery job in between my jobs i just

423

went to the park i went for runs in the woods

424

went for long hikes on trails sat in coffee shops read

425

books ate at local restaurants saw friends it was very nice it was it felt like i was alive again

426

so you can think of that for yourself too

427

that it's possible to have part independence you don't don't you

428

don't need to wait until you're 100 independent you could do it part way like for example

429

so a lot of people do freelancing where they get partial independence it means they're not working a paycheck.

430

They're still having to work, right?

431

So there's like, you know, websites like Upwork and there's others where people, they're kind of working for themselves now.

432

They're still, you know, need to get jobs, but they kind of have a lot more independence and freedom.

433

They can decide, you know, when they want to work, how many jobs to take, how much do they want to try to charge.

434

And I've used this.

435

I use these kind of websites when I need some work done.

436

And I'll hire freelancers to do different things.

437

And, you know, these people, they have a lot of advantages.

438

They can live anywhere they want because most of them are doing some kind of computer work.

439

So, you know, if they want to, they could go live on a beach in Thailand.

440

And as long as they have a good internet connection

441

or oh something just fell oh there's a light let me turn it off

442

they could you know or live in you know chiang mai thailand

443

or they could go live uh you know anywhere inexpensive around the world

444

and do their work from there and then not have to work too much

445

right and have that kind of freedom so it's nice

446

and they can also work whatever hours they want a lot of them

447

if they're just working on projects you know

448

if they prefer to work in the evenings

449

or they prefer to work mornings they can they can arrange their schedule

450

so they do have a lot more independence a lot more freedom

451

which is really fantastic and that's the whole point in my mind

452

so this is the first stage i recommend that you do it

453

do whatever you can to start make a plan to become

454

more financially independent just more maybe you're just working a full-time job now

455

and you have to do it but all right cut your expenses start saving money

456

and then following robert kiyosaki's ideas and plan start buying and buying assets, right?

457

Things that will give you some income.

458

So, you know, if you wanted to, you could do stocks, for example.

459

Now, the thing with stocks I recommend because playing the stock market is dangerous.

460

If you think you're going to, you know, like gambling, oh, buy low and sell high.

461

I don't recommend that for most people unless you really know what you're doing

462

or you have a lot of money you can just play with.

463

But I recommend instead, think of it more as investing for income.

464

So stocks, a lot of stocks, most stocks, some more than others, give what are called dividends.

465

It's like interest, similar to interest.

466

So for example, you buy a stock for $100 and then maybe every year you get 3% extra right?

467

It's called a dividend.

468

They pay you 3%.

469

So you make $3 a year from that.

470

When you do that, you don't have to worry.

471

Dividends can change.

472

They can go up and down.

473

Yes, but at least you have an income.

474

So if the stock drops by half, it drops down to 50.

475

Instead of worrying, oh my God, now it's 50.

476

Is it still paying you that interest, that dividend it's not really interest but it's similar right?

477

If you're still getting the income every year from it well

478

then it's still an asset it's still giving you something you're not really worried

479

so much about it going up

480

or going down you're just focused more on the income it gives you each month or each year right?

481

I think that's a better way for most people to think about stocks because otherwise it's very tricky and dangerous.

482

You can't beat the stock market because it's mostly corrupt and fraud and the people at the top are manipulating everything.

483

So I don't recommend trying to beat the system because it's against you.

484

But if you can find the high,

485

stable, relatively stable, long-term stocks that pay decent dividends and don't worry too much about the up and downs every year.

486

It's a better way to think about it.

487

And then another kind of asset you can save up for and try to buy is real estate.

488

This takes a little more effort and learning to learn how to do it well, but a lot of people do this.

489

A lot of just normal middle-class people become financially independent using real estate.

490

and that's where you maybe you buy an old house, you fix it up, and then you rent it to somebody.

491

And now you've got the rent coming from them every month.

492

You're getting an income from them.

493

Obviously, you have to make sure you don't pay too much for the house

494

and you get enough for rent so that you're actually making money, not losing money.

495

But, you know, you get the idea.

496

You become a landlord, a real estate owner.

497

You can do this with houses.

498

You can start with smaller, cheaper houses.

499

You can do, when you get more money, you can do apartment buildings, you know, all that kind of stuff.

500

And again, what's the main idea?

501

That the asset, the thing you buy, gives you income, right?

502

That every month or every quarter or every year, it's giving you more, giving you some money, right?

503

The stocks, the dividends, that's the income.

504

It's giving you money, income, every year.

505

The real estate is giving you rent, right?

506

Income every month.

507

So you get the idea, right?

508

And then, of course, a business is another kind of asset.

509

And you could start, you know, a big, expensive, complicated, difficult business.

510

But I recommend you could also just start little small things.

511

Like some people do vending machines, right?

512

They just sell drinks out of a machine.

513

And they buy the machine from the company and they put it somewhere, right?

514

And then, obviously, when people buy the drinks, then you get money from that.

515

You buy the Cokes or the Pepsis or the water, whatever goes in there, and then you charge a little more, and then it makes some money.

516

And you get every whatever week or month, you go around and you collect the money out of the machine and put more drinks into it.

517

Just as an example, right?

518

So that would be a kind of a smaller business that would give you, again, some kind of income.

519

And eventually you could pay somebody to go around.

520

And if you start getting a bunch of machines, you could hire someone to do this and track it to make sure they're not stealing money and all that.

521

But then you don't have to do it yourself, right?

522

So that's another kind of asset that gives you, again, it gives you an income, this time from a business.

523

that you don't have to actually work a job.

524

So just start doing that.

525

Because even if you, let's say you start saving money and investing

526

and you get enough assets to pay one-third of your expenses.

527

That means you're one-third more free, one-third more independent.

528

It's still great.

529

Like what if your rent was paid by your investments every month instead of having to use your paycheck?

530

Well, now guess what?

531

Now you can your paycheck.

532

You have more extra money.

533

You can buy even more assets if you want to.

534

Right.

535

And every month, every year, you get a little more independent, a little more free.

536

It also gives you that kind of emergency backup.

537

What if your town has a big food shortage?

538

Right.

539

Or the prices just go crazy.

540

Well, if you have enough from your investments, enough financial independence, even if it's just half,

541

maybe it still gives you enough money to take your family and move somewhere where things are better.

542

Because you at least have some income as you get started again in the new place.

543

Gives you a little bit more safety, a little bit more mobility, right? means the ability to move.

544

A little more freedom, a little more security.

545

So think of it that way, that it's a step.

546

25% financial independence is better than zero.

547

And then 50% is even better.

548

And then 75%.

549

And then finally, totally financial free, you can quit your job.

550

And then this next step after that that I discussed, I call financial freedom, which you don't have a job anymore.

551

But now instead of just making enough to pay your basic expenses, now your assets, your investments,

552

your business or businesses are making a lot of extra, plenty of extra.

553

You can pay all your expenses plus every month you've got extra money.

554

So that means a lot more security because now you're paying all your expenses,

555

you don't need a job and you've got extra money so you can buy more assets which will give you more income.

556

this is the this is what Robert Kiyosaki describes as the rich dad strategy we can take

557

that extra money

558

and you know just play with it have that's where people you know that's where people go

559

and they buy a nicer house or they buy a nicer car

560

or they take vacations when I when I first started doing this

561

when I became financially independent free it's not just independent but free you know like about six, seven months after I started my business,

562

you know, I, what I did is for a few years, my wife and I, we went to all these like seminars.

563

We went to Tony Robbins seminars live and we, and we also traveled a lot.

564

We went to, we went scuba diving in, um, Roatan, which is Honduras.

565

And we went down to Guatemala.

566

We traveled all through Asia, We traveled in Europe and yeah, we had a great time.

567

It was nice.

568

We were doing kind of budget travel, but, you know, we had the financial freedom because we could just move around and took some of that extra money.

569

Most of it I saved.

570

I just kept saving and buying assets.

571

But some of that extra I took and enjoyed it.

572

And you can do that, too.

573

And that's very nice as well. So that's it.

574

Financial independence, financial freedom.

575

Because, as I said, we all know things are going to get bad.

576

We saw this before, about six years ago, right?

577

And in the beginning, people were like, oh, I don't know, I don't know.

578

But we know that this time, be prepared.

579

Okay?

580

At the very least, prices are going to shoot up.

581

They're already doing it.

582

It's just begun.

583

And already prices are shooting up and that is going to continue.

584

So be prepared and, you know, work towards this financial independence as much as you can.

585

Even 10% financial independence is still better than zero.

586

And then teach your children about this too. So important.

587

Teach your children, have them grow up learning this because, you know, like I didn't learn anything about money when I was a kid or a teenager or a young adult.

588

nothing nobody taught me anything

589

right the school certainly taught me nothing you know all I

590

got from my parents was oh yeah get a good job

591

and you know and then make lots of money as a you'll be great

592

and then you keep that job for your whole life

593

which doesn't work that's kind of their 1950s attitude that they had which we all know is not the real world now.

594

Nobody keeps, almost nobody, goes to work at one company and stays in the company their whole life and then

595

retires from the same company.

596

Even my dad didn't.

597

He gave me that advice as a young man, but he couldn't do it.

598

He still got cut from his company, IBM, when he was middle-aged.

599

so that world doesn't exist so I got zero advice I had no idea

600

right and then the little bit of advice I got you know from my parents was completely outdated and useless basically

601

so I had to figure it all out myself which was painful and took about 20 years

602

so I hope that you will teach your children I'm teaching my children so they don't need 20 years

603

they're going to need some time to develop this but at least

604

if they start at age 18 or 17 and they have this mentality they at least understand these ideas

605

well then maybe they only need 10 years and they become financially independent right?

606

instead of 20, 30 or never most people never Those people never become financially independent. So that's it.

607

That's my topic for today.

608

Financial independence, financial freedom.

609

As I said, it's fine if you...

610

You'll see on YouTube guys like,

611

I don't know, Hormozy and most of the guys who teach about money,

612

financial independence, businesses, marketing, all that stuff.

613

It's very common that they focus on the material things.

614

So you'll see lots of them, especially go to their websites, Grant Cardone is like this.

615

They always have these pictures of themselves standing in front of a private jet.

616

Sometimes maybe that's their private jet.

617

Sometimes it might not be.

618

They might just rent it for an hour and do a photo shoot around it, right?

619

Or in it.

620

So do they really fly a private jet all the time everywhere they go?

621

Maybe not.

622

A lot of it can be marketing and trickery.

623

But even if they do, so what?

624

Private jet?

625

Yeah, great.

626

I'd love to fly on private jets all the time

627

and avoid all the lines and stuff at the airport

628

but you know is it necessary for really having a great life definitely not okay

629

or same thing with the big expensive cars would it be

630

nice to have a ferrari i mean for me i don't care i'm not into cars at all

631

so no i don't even want one i could buy a ferrari

632

but i don't want one like i don't even there's no point

633

so but you know you'll see

634

that too they'll be they'll have on their website all these guys that have these expensive cars or they're riding in limos.

635

No, look, you don't need any of that.

636

Those are not the real benefits of financial independence.

637

Those are not the real benefits of financial freedom.

638

Or you'll see them, they'll be in like some five-star hotel, right?

639

They'll take photos on their websites or they put on social media, all these five-star hotels.

640

Again, first of all, five-star hotels are massively overrated.

641

I've stayed in a few, going to seminars usually.

642

Sometimes they'll host them at some really nice hotel.

643

And to be honest, I've found that there's a point where when you start spending more money, like the quality even seems to drop.

644

I've been very disappointed in the few really expensive hotels I've stayed at.

645

Definitely, it's not worth the money at all.

646

You don't really get much extra benefit from all that money.

647

You really don't.

648

And they'll post pictures of themselves on a beach somewhere, and trying to give you this image of a luxury lifestyle.

649

But you don't need tons of money to go to the beach.

650

You can go to Thailand and go to the beach very cheaply. Or Guam.

651

We go to Guam.

652

Because it's near Japan.

653

Guam's not expensive.

654

and we can enjoy the beach and it's beautiful and gorgeous, right?

655

There are plenty of beaches around the world that are not super expensive.

656

So the point isn't to have tons of money

657

and to show everybody how great you are because it's all ego and pride.

658

All they're marketing with that is ego and pride, ego and pride, right?

659

Private jet, Lamborghini or Ferrari, five-star hotels.

660

Oh, look, I'm on the beach this super expensive beach resort.

661

That's just pride and ego trying to show, oh, I'm better than everybody else.

662

I have more.

663

It's meaningless.

664

It's nonsense.

665

And the problem is, if you believe all that, you get a really fake and wrong idea about financial independence and financial freedom.

666

Because to have all that stuff, yeah, you need lots and lots of money.

667

Millions and millions and millions of dollars if you're going to live like that all the time.

668

And so that can actually hurt people's motivation because they think, oh, my God, well, to be financially independent,

669

to be financially free, I need $20 million or some crazy amount.

670

But you don't need that because you don't need any of that stuff.

671

Depends where you live.

672

You don't even need a car.

673

So where we are now in Japan, where I am now in Osaka, we don't even have a car.

674

I don't own a car in Japan.

675

I have one in America because I must have one.

676

But in America, because we live in the countryside, I've got a cheap, old, used car.

677

I paid for it.

678

It's completely paid for.

679

So it's just a little SUV thing.

680

It's just a typical American car, which was cheap.

681

Okay?

682

So you don't need any of that.

683

Big, giant house.

684

Do you need a big, giant house?

685

No. I live in a tiny apartment here in Japan.

686

And in America, we have a tiny, tiny, tiny little house, even smaller than our apartment in Japan.

687

Unbelievably so.

688

Our total amount of rent we pay is between both places.

689

Even though we're keeping two places in two different countries, our total rent is less than most people pay for one place.

690

Because each place is so, so cheap and small, but still safe and clean.

691

right

692

so same thing traveling do you have to fly in a

693

private jet you can just do a budget airline right it's

694

no big deal right there's plenty of budget airlines again a

695

beach do you have to stay at some super resort to

696

go to the beach no you know there's i've stayed in

697

a lot of nice nice beaches in thailand little bungalows

698

that are very inexpensive very nice you can find those also in Cambodia,

699

Vietnam, I mean all around the world, right?

700

All through Latin America.

701

Even in the United States, there are places that are not so expensive.

702

Nice beach areas.

703

So you don't need that.

704

You need to eat at super nice restaurants.

705

No, you don't.

706

In fact, you can probably make better food yourself at home.

707

Or you can just eat at moderate restaurants.

708

Again, I found I've eaten at a few Michelin restaurants because I was curious.

709

And, you know, they're nice.

710

Of course, they're nice.

711

But honestly, I think better value I've gotten from just normal mid-range restaurants.

712

Right.

713

Just or even I've had some great food from street vendors in different places.

714

Very cheap.

715

So that's the good news.

716

The benefit of financial freedom is not all this ego and pride stuff.

717

You get to live your life again, your time.

718

The big one is time.

719

You have time to be with your family all the time.

720

If you have children, this is huge.

721

You can homeschool your kids easily, both parents at home.

722

You can travel.

723

If you love traveling, see the world.

724

open your mind to more of the world.

725

Like, I see the world very differently than most Americans because I've lived in other countries and traveled a whole lot.

726

So I see it very differently than people who just stuck in America getting the American propaganda all the time.

727

So the benefits, you don't need 20 million bucks, okay, 20 million dollars.

728

You don't need to live a big luxury lifestyle.

729

In fact, I don't recommend it.

730

I recommend the opposite.

731

Live a super simple lifestyle.

732

The way I became financially independent, my big focus was simplicity and living super cheaply.

733

When I became financially independent, my wife and I were living in a one-room, tiny apartment in San Francisco.

734

The cheapest rent I could find in San Francisco.

735

I never heard anyone say they had cheaper rent than we did.

736

We didn't even have a bathroom in our apartment.

737

We had to walk down the hall to use the bathroom.

738

We didn't have a kitchen in our apartment.

739

After I became financially independent, meaning I didn't need to work a job anymore, we stayed in the apartment for several years still.

740

and just save more money save save save and we traveled

741

and had some fun too

742

but we didn't just go immediately get like a much bigger place

743

and try to i didn't buy a nice car i didn't buy expensive clothes

744

and none of that continued to live very cheaply

745

and as we got more money we just saved saved saved

746

and we did yes we did enjoy it some with travel and things like that and seminars but

747

we continue to live quite simply.

748

So focus on those benefits, okay?

749

Because all that other material stuff is just trying to make other people...

750

You're just focused on what other people think.

751

You're just trying to get other people's opinions.

752

Oh, look at me, look at me.

753

Look, I got this super expensive car.

754

Look at this giant house I have.

755

I don't like those marketing guys on um on social media

756

like all those kind of posts they're always doing i just yeah

757

like i don't who cares it's not impressive it's not impressive at all

758

all right guys that's it so let me just remind you again the game

759

and some books so if you're interested in the game called cash flow for kids and it's made by the rich dad.

760

Let's see the name.

761

I forgot the company name on here somewhere.

762

Oh, it says Cashflow Technologies, which must be the company they use to make this game.

763

It sparks Nevada.

764

Hey, that's where my company is based.

765

All right, so Cashflow for Kids.

766

it's a really great game it's also good for adults they do have an adult version of that just called

767

what is it called?

768

I think it's just called Cashflow by Rich Dad

769

but I didn't do Cashflow game Rich Dad you can search

770

for it Cashflow for kids Cashflow game Rich Dad for adults

771

play the game it's a great way to start especially teaching

772

family members even adults these ideas get the book Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki and Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.

773

Watch my, go to my book club playlist and watch the book club I did, all the videos where I teach the book, Rich Dad Poor Dad.

774

And just start your plan now to become more financially free.

775

Remember it step by step, 10%, 20%, 30%.

776

Every step you take towards financial independence gives you great benefits, reduces your stress about money,

777

gives you more flexibility, more choices in life, especially to handle a crisis or big problems.

778

Okay, well, that's it then.

779

Lots of love to you.

780

See you next time.

781

I'll be back with another regular show soon.

782

Bye for now.

783

My book, effortless English.

784

Long to speak English Like a native For free

785

Get it now

📺 Same Channel

✨ Recommend Video

59 sentences

High-Level English Listening & SHADOWING Practice

en-USUniversity Students+2

310 sentences

If YOU Give Me 20 Minutes, You'll Become Financially Free

Business EnglishWorking Adults

122 sentences

How to Talk About Feelings in English: Belonging, Trust, and Connection

en-USUniversity Students+3

55 sentences

Advanced English Listening Practice - 1 - English Lesson at Fast, Native Speed - Laundry in Japan

en-USUniversity Students+2

395 sentences

Think In English With Me | Episode 1: Motivation

en-USHigh School Students+4

247 sentences

English Listening Practice - Inflation

University StudentsBusiness English+2

348 sentences

Real English Conversation: Advanced English Lesson

en-USUniversity Students+3

294 sentences

Why You’re Not Financially Free (Yet)

University StudentsBusiness English+1

468 sentences

English Podcast For Easy English Conversation | Are You Living Your Dreams | Learn English Fast

University StudentsBusiness English+2

245 sentences

Speaking English: How to Gain CONFIDENCE!

en-USUniversity Students+2

504 sentences

Getting Fluent In English By Yourself - Where To Actually Start

en-USUniversity Students+3

506 sentences

The Truth About Money || The Shocking Truth That Will Change Your Life || Improve Your English ✅

University StudentsBusiness English+2

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: Become Financially Free - Learn English Speaking with Video

Why You Are Weak

Effortless English Rule 2 Don't Study Grammar Rules!

Just Stop Trying to Speak English Perfectly

Fluent In 6 Months | The Secrets To Faster Success

Best Way For You To Speak English

What is the SECRET to making goals?

Steve Kaufman | Meeting and Chatting in Osaka

Iman's VIP Program Success Story

5 Career-Defining Questions: Unlock Your Dream Job! #shorts

Unlock Your Potential: Storytelling Beats Generic Answers #shorts

Effortless English Rule 7 Powerful English Speaking Stories

Your English Level | Don't Compare

Never Quit English

Master Job Interviews: Conquer Nervousness & Stress! #shorts

Effortless English Welcome

Effortless English Rule 1 English Phrases

Power English Course for Japanese

Think Like a Champion, Speak Like a Native (Book Club Part 2)

5 Interview Questions Decide Your Career

High-Level English Listening & SHADOWING Practice

If YOU Give Me 20 Minutes, You'll Become Financially Free

How to Talk About Feelings in English: Belonging, Trust, and Connection

Advanced English Listening Practice - 1 - English Lesson at Fast, Native Speed - Laundry in Japan

Think In English With Me | Episode 1: Motivation

English Listening Practice - Inflation

Real English Conversation: Advanced English Lesson

Why You’re Not Financially Free (Yet)

English Podcast For Easy English Conversation | Are You Living Your Dreams | Learn English Fast

Speaking English: How to Gain CONFIDENCE!

Getting Fluent In English By Yourself - Where To Actually Start

The Truth About Money || The Shocking Truth That Will Change Your Life || Improve Your English ✅

About This Lesson

Key Vocabulary & Phrases

Practice Tips

What is the Shadowing Technique?