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Those who aspire toward riches should know that, in order to achieve their goals, they will need to abandon much of the conventional wisdom passed on to them by parents, teachers, and others. You may, however, already be on the right track- that is, if you were lucky enough to have a role model who knew what it really takes to become rich.

In the words of Robert Kiyosaki of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" fame, "It doesn't take money to make money. I often hear people say it takes money to make money. I disagree. We had no money when we started and we were also in debt. It also doesn't take a formal education."

Kiyosaki proceeded to cite the case of Bill Gates: the Microsoft mogul never actually graduated from college, but did that keep him from making his fortune?…

There seem to be two types of people in the world: office slaves who very nearly treat work as a religion and who are in danger of neglecting the very families for whom they work so hard to provide; and people who have adopted more of a slacker mentality, convincing themselves that money isn't important because they don't want to be slaves to the workaday world.

Robert Kiyosaki, author of the Rich Dad book series, has money and he doesn't agree. "Anyone who says money isn't important obviously has not been without it long," he says in his book "Cash Flow Quadrant."

He knows because he has been in both situations. For several weeks in 1985, he and his wife were so destitute, they were actually forced to live in their car, after which they moved into…

What exactly is it that separates the wealthy from the rest of us?  This is an essential question that isn't asked nearly often enough. On first considering the question, you may be tempted to give answers such as, "Having wealthy parents" or "Winning the lottery" or even "Working at a cushy, high-paying job." Indeed, anyone in any of the aforementioned circumstances can count his or herself among the very lucky.

The bad news for those lucky people is that being in those circumstances is no guarantee of wealth. In fact, according to Robert Kiyosaki, author of the Rich Dad book series, it isn't about how much money you bring in, but how much money you keep that determines how wealthy you are.

Kiyosaki's father, the so-called "Poor Dad," is a great example…

Now is a wonderful time to look for your next home! So many places are available at unusually low prices, and townhomes in Minnesota are no exception! Minnesota townhouses are a great option to think about if you are thinking about purchasing. What advantages do townhouses have over typical stand-alone houses? For starters, there's generally less exterior maintenance to worry about since two of your four walls are shared with neighbors and are interior. If you don't need much yard space you can find many townhomes that have minimal grass to mow, especially if you have a deck or patio. Sometimes the lawn-care is even included in your association fees and you don't have to worry about it at all! Many great extras are included in townhouse communities,…

Robert Kiyosaki, in his Rich Dad, Poor Dad books emphasize how much benefit one can reap from investing in property. Real estate investing, in addition to its tax benefits, allows you to multiply your wealth without doing anything. Sounds like a great deal, right? Most investors initially enter the business because of the idea that they can put their money to work making them more money, without doing any actual work.

Property investing success doesn't happen by accident, though; you first need to know the nature of the business. And what is real estate, anyways? Read on to gain a better understanding of real estate, and the different ways in which you can invest.

A parcel of land, and any buildings or structures that stand on it, constitutes "real…

Everywhere you go, you hear the same sad things: "The rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer." "There just isn't enough to go around." "It takes money to make money."  This can lead you to believe that there is some mystical force out there that regular people like you and me just can't tap into. If you subscribe to this way of thinking long enough, you may be tempted to say, "Since it takes money to make money and I have no money, then what hope is there for me?" There is plenty of hope, as long as you don't listen to the wrong people. Media naysayers are definitely the wrong people.

You may have heard discouraging words from the media regarding the plummeting values and rising prices of property investments.  Like many people, you…

It's true that nearly everyone dreams of becoming fabulously wealthy at some point in their lives. Why is it then, that hardly anyone actually goes out and makes their fortune?  The difference between those who become rich and those who do not is that the rich learn how money is made, and how they can make money work for them.

Easier said than done, right? Not really. There is so much literature on the bookshelves about how to do it, anyone can learn how. And that is the key. You have to learn. You have to educate yourself. If you think that there is simply too much material out there and you wouldn't know where to start, then you can stop worrying, because you're already making yourself financially smarter. Simply by visiting this…

Maybe the rich are often successful because they've been taught not to skimp on the basics. Many people , for instance, might make the assumption that successful property investors are just extremely lucky or that they have been born with an innate talent for investing.

That just is not true.

What the wealthy do differently from other people, and, indeed, what all successful real estate investors do, is prepare. The successful real estate investor does his homework.

The ABCs of Property Investing author Ken McElroy tells an anecdote about one of his clients, who became a client of McElroy's only after making a complete and utter disaster of his investment . Ken McElroy and his company manage properties for the owners. Ideally, a property owner hires a…