Reprint of original article posted on Zeromillion.com.

By Ryan P. Allis

There are many types of investors. There are traders and there are speculators. There are small-cap, mid-cap, and large cap investors. There are day traders and those that bet on the long term. There are those in mutual funds, those in public equities, and those investing in early-stage private companies.

In Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing author Robert Kiyosaki goes into the different levels of an investor. He notes that the most advantaged investors are those that are also business owners, for by building their business they are also investing, have more information than outside investors, are building an asset, and are learning everything they will need to know to invest in other companies.

In the book Kiyosaki lists thirteen characteristics of the ‘Average Investor’ and thirteen characteristics of a ‘Sophisticated Investor.’ I would encourage you to study the following chart in depth before you put any of your money into other companies.


AVERAGE INVESTOR

SOPHISTICATED INVESTOR

Only one financial statement

Multiple financial statements

Does not think of insurance as an investment. Uses words such as ‘diversify.’

Uses insurance as an investment product to hedge against exposed risk. Uses words such as ‘covered,’ ‘exposure’, and ‘hedge.’

Holds only paper assets, which includes cash and savings

Has both paper assets and hard assets such as real estate and precious metals.

Focuses on job security.

Focuses on financial freedom.

Focuses on professional education. Avoids making mistakes

Focuses on financial education. Understands mistakes are part of learning.

Thinks in good or bad, black or white, right or wrong.

Thinks in financial gray.

Looks are past indicators such as P/E ratios and Capitalization rates

Looks for future indicators – trends, pro formas, changes in management and products

Calls broker first and asks for investment advice or invests alone, asking no one for advice

Calls broker last—after consulting with plan and team of financial and legal advisors.

Seeks external security, such as job, company, government

Values personal self-confidence and independence

Makes money only when the market goes up

Uses things such as put and call options and short selling to make money no matter which direction the market goes

Buys when the stock price is increasing sells when the stock price is decreasing.

Buys at the bottom and sells at the top.

Source: Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing

About Ryan P. Allis

Ryan P. Allis, 20, is the author of Zero to One Million, a guide to building a company to $1 million in sales, and the founder of zeromillion.com. Ryan is also the CEO of Broadwick Corp., a provider of the permission-based email marketing software and CEO of Virante, Inc., a web marketing and search engine optimization firm. Ryan is an economics major at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he is a Blanchard Scholar. Learn more about Ryan.

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