William Tan
William is a successful investor in Property and Stock Market, based in Malaysia. Coming from a middle class family where his parents worked as government servants, William was taught about the value of money since young.
Having graduated from America, William started his career with an American Multinational Company. As a corporate employee, William climbed the corporate ladder fast. He had a burning desire to make more money to provide a better lifestyle for his family.
As he rose in the corporate ranks, his salary rose as well. So did his expenses. As he earned more money from his job, he continued to spend more. Even when he was earning more than 5 figures per month, he was struggling to make ends meet. His savings was low but yet the bills kept coming. It was when his job was threatened that he realised that if he loses his job, he may lose everything that he had worked for.
Although he knew that he could easily move to another company, he knew that he was heavily reliant on his job and the need to work. So while working, William decided to pick up a skill set that will feed him and his family. He started learning how to trade the stock market and options market. He attended many courses and workshops to hone his trading skills.
His journey as a trader started in 2000. Profits were inconsistent and it was not enough to leave let go off his corporate position. He continued to focus on the process of trading and learning rather than on profits. Finally in 2003, William decided to leave the corporate world to be a full time trader.
As a full time trader, the pressure of making money was different. But he was able to make a good living through his trading profits. One day in 2004, William received a call from his Doctor after a medical test. He was diagnosed with a serious illness.
For the next 6 months, William was in and out of the hospital and he found it difficult to trade. His income took a dive but his bills continue to arrive. Banks continue to want payment (which is normal). During this time, William had to dig into his savings to pay the bills. When he fully recovered, he thought to himself that there must be a better way.
The turning point in William’s career is when a friend recommended a book “Rich Day, Poor Dad” for him to read. It made all the sense in the world to him. William realised that what he is doing is all wrong. William’s focus in his financial journey has always been in active income. Little effort was put into generating passive income.
For a start, William continued to trade to survive. But his focus has changed to passive income creation. After reading the book from Robert Kiyosaki, he started investing in properties in Malaysia. He bought properties like a man obsessed.
Unfortunately, his interpretation of the book was all wrong. He was deep into debts with even more bills to pay. He was under even more pressure to trade for profits in order to service his loan payments every month.
Finally, being tired of paying bills, he sold most of the properties at a loss after just 3 years of getting involved in properties. The future looked bleak and his hope for financial freedom slowly fading away. His only source of income is still coming from the stock market trading.
After 4 years reading the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” he decided to read it again, and again and again after his failed venture in properties. This time, the interpretation is different. He has a new perspective of the content that Robert Kiyosaki was trying to deliver. This time, after falling flat on his face, he finally understood the content.
From his failed property venture, William knew what had gone wrong. He understood the principles of investing much better now. And he began applying the principles into stock market. By this time, he knows the difference between trading and investing. By investing the right way, he began to see a consistent cash flow from the stock market. The next step William took was to venture back into the property market. This time, the approach is different. And it worked like a charm.
Today, having invested wisely, William has time freedom and has different streams of income from businesses, stock market, and properties using the simple principles that he had learned from this now very famous book, “Rich Dad Poor Dad.” William believes that making money is not difficult. He believes the key to having real financial freedom is when you make money with or without your involvement.
