My name is Demond Johnson. I am 38 years old, and I work as a Youth Counselor with “At Risk” Youth here in Phoenix Az.
One day I was running a group with some of the kids I work with. One of them asked me if to run a group on how to make money? I told the young man that I would be happy to put a group together on the topic.
So, with that being said, I grabbed information from the Rich Dad Poor Dad series and started to put the information into a power point presentation called how “How to be Wealthy!”
After summarizing the information I ran across a video on YouTube, put out by Tim Sales called What the Wealthy Buy on Payday. This animated video gave an overview of the entire Rich Dad Poor Dad book in less than 9 minutes.
I showed my kids the video and they loved it. When I went to check for understanding the hands in the room were flying up and some kids were excitedly blurting out answers. I asked them the questions which will follow in a moment.
Once I asked a question, they gave their answer, and the presentation revealed if they were right. It was like being on some type TV game show or something. “Is that your Final Answer?”…If a kid did not answer correctly then everyone else in the room made sure he did.
My kids were working together as a team and eager to be in group. All I can say is… it was a good day. It was the kind of day that makes you remember your passion, and, why you do what you do.
Anyway, here are the questions I asked:
What are the 4 financial terms we need to know in order to discuss wealth?
What are the 3 classes of people we need to talk about?
What are the spending patterns of the 3 classes of people?
And, what is compounding?
These questions sparked conversation about how the kid’s families spent money or how they could actually apply the information.
This is where the problem started.
I am always telling the kids that they can be anything, have anything, and do anything they want, if they will simply put their minds to the task at hand.
I had just run a great group on “How to be Wealthy!” As I drove home that night, that positive happy feeling turned into an angry and hateful resentment. As I looked myself in the eyes through the rear view mirror all I could see was a hypocrite. I started thinking,” If I knew all this, How come I didn’t do all this?”
I am a husband, father, and counselor living paycheck to paycheck. I am struggling to pay my student loans, and the words “YOU ARE FIRED!” would destroy any illusion of safety that I have. With that thought in mind I started working to apply the information I had learned to my own life.
I now run a group with the kids that I work with, on Monday and Wednesday nights. We apply the information we learned about wealth to the stock market.
I have opened up a virtual account at www.optionsxpress.com where we learn and practice our skill in the markets without risk. Recently, I started to trade with real money. My goal in writing this article is to continue to learn principles of wealth and share those principles of wealth with others.
This experience caused a major shift in my Consciousness. I started thinking, if a group kids could be that inspired, that motivated, and that willing to work together as a team to learn how to be wealthy… Why couldn’t a group of positive like-minded people get together and do the same?
Let’s Eradicate Poverty by Building Wealth through Financial Education.
If you would like to receive a copy of the power point presentation or PDF (report), click here.
