CREATINGwealth through asset creation is a practical subject which is developed by living it. Several people have written e-mails to me over a number of weeks the column has been in existence and most of them are ardent disciples of Robert Kiyosaki and would also like me to pin my mast on him and serialise his strategies.

My personal opinion after reading a number of Kiyosaki’s books is that I agree with most of the principles he espouses on money and financial freedom, but the reality is that he is not a miracle worker and he does not walk on water.

I cannot take away from him that he is a great author who has written 15 books with combined sales of over 26 million copies. His teachings on the Cashflow Quadrant, assets and liabilities and generating a passive income are legendary and motivational.

It is, however, quite important to note that ultimately he has made most of his money as a writer and on speaking engagements on the subject matter not as an investor. Ultimately he is an artist, a wordsmith -- the Dambudzo Marechera of personal financial freedom and motivational literature.

The Rich Dad Poor Dad was his ultimate offering and much of the subsequent offerings are by and large a rehash of the original story contextualised to the reality of the period written.  I am a practical realist and my advice for the readers of these good books is to take whatever best works for your situation and apply it to achieve your personal goals.

I have not attempted to hide my admiration for Warren Buffet and his investment strategy in this column. Over the many years he has not spoken about building an investment portfolio but he has actually followed through and done it. He has made many mistakes like all of us but the financial scoreboard shows that he has largely been successful.

In my previous professional life, I was an analytical chemist so I tend to lean towards anyone who actually implements whatever hypothesis they postulate. Warren Buffet is a doer of the words he speaks about and he is a successful investor.

My own personal desire, particularly for the young members of Zimbabwean generations scattered across the globe, is for them to go beyond being just consumers of the written and spoken word but practical implementers. To borrow from Nike’s marketing lingo, I would advise them to go out there and “just do it”.

The greatest danger to building an investment culture and assets that would help develop income streams in the future is procrastination. It is a disease that also afflicted me in my much younger days.

My experience in my much younger days was that we were gregarious and liked to have a sense of community and belonging. While this was not inherently bad, it unfortunately framed a number of early bad financial decisions that we made. We spend a lot of time competing against each other but we set the standards too low and pat ourselves on the back for achieving mediocre results.

Back in the late 1980s and early 90s, the company car was the thing to have in Zimbabwe. When we entered the employment arena, the question was always when were they going to give you a company car? Those who had money back then understood this mentality very well. They knew once they gave you a car, they would have captured your aspirations and other companies which really wanted to own you added to this mix the company house.

I will never forget one key manager who was fired after many years of service and given less than 24 hours to vacate the premises. For the first time in his life, he had to ask where to get lifts from the industrial area in Harare to the city centre. The workers in the factory were rolling on the floor with laughter about this incident, and for years, he would remain a source of butt jokes to make the day go by in the work place.

Back then, we were too concerned about having an image of being successful than being actually successful. We became hostages of that image and even allowed it to suck us into debt with frivolous financial expenditures. The sorry reality was that the people we vigorously try to impress with this image were the ones to have the last laugh when everything came tumbling down on us.

The structural engineer who did our home in Harare and a family friend taught me some valuable lessons. One of them was that what constitutes the image of a house are the finishings. In fact, people who buy a house actually buy the finishings because that is what they perceive.

After graduating with a Masters degree from Wits in South Africa, he stayed in the dormitory town of Chitungwiza driving to work in his old corolla every day. Those who did not know or understand his plan used to feel sorrow for him and call him the guy who gives education a bad name. People were always questioning why he was not staying in the northern suburbs with other people. Meanwhile, he had been building a beautiful house with exquisite finishings in Borrowdale such that when we first set sight on the finished product, all we could say was: ‘Wow!’

The practical lesson we learnt was that he sacrificed a current image to build a product he wanted. Whatever investment strategy you take, it will cost you present day comfort to build a more secure and prosperous future. Do not postpone your personal finance strategy to when you think you can afford it.

If you are productive and have an income, then you should have a financial plan which creates something of your own in the future.

The evidence of successful financial education is not the knowledge gained or a demonstration of the knowledge gain. The best education comes from walking the talk. If your interest is in the stock market, go out there and actually buy some shares, if it is buying gold then put your own money to it.

Others may dream of farming or setting up their own manufacturing business and it is important to start somewhere. You will lose some money in some cases but the lessons you learn and what you become in the process will be invaluable. There is no better period to do it than now.