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Did you know? According to the latest report published by a job bank, 38.2% of university students faced financial pressure, and 66.1% were worried about the rising cost of living, feeling that the allowance from their parents was no longer enough.
If you were going through similar struggles, then Rich Dad Poor Dad, the classic personal finance book, might have offered you some direction.
The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, used two contrasting “dads” as symbols to reveal the difference in how the wealthy and the average person approached money. The book pointed out: “Schools taught us how to be good employees, but they didn’t teach us how to manage money.” For college students just starting out financially, that statement came as a sobering wake-up call.
Money management had never been a privilege reserved for the rich—it was a subject everyone needed to learn. From savings accounts to fixed deposits, from stocks to mutual funds, and even credit card benefits, all these were parts of financial planning. Simply put, financial literacy taught you how to spend smarter, save faster, and grow your money more effectively.
A daily NT$60 drink added up to over NT$20,000 a year. What seemed like a small expense was actually a major leak in your finances. “Budgeting wasn’t about restriction—it was the beginning of gaining control over your money.” If you had started keeping track of your spending, you would have realized just how many unnecessary expenses crept in each month—and those small leaks were exactly where the financial gap between people began to form.
Many beginners treated investing as a shortcut to get rich overnight, only to end up losing money and becoming what the stock market called “chives”—easy targets. In truth, the key to investing wasn’t fast profits, but steady growth. Stocks, bonds, and ETFs might have sounded complicated, but with a bit of effort, anyone could have gone from a total beginner to a savvy investor.
Compound interest had been hailed as the “eighth wonder of the world,” and its power went far beyond what most people imagined. In simple terms, compound interest meant earning “interest on interest.” As your principal earned interest, that interest, in turn, earned more interest—causing your wealth to grow like a snowball. Instead of saving only when emergencies hit, it would have been far wiser to start putting aside a fixed amount each month early on. With time on our side as students, we had the greatest advantage. The earlier we began, the sooner we could witness the magic of compounding quietly building a financially free future for us.
We often naively believed that emergency funds were only necessary after entering the workforce. But in reality, university students needed to prepare even earlier. Having an emergency fund on hand drastically reduced psychological stress. We could make calm and deliberate choices, rather than being forced into compromises by financial pressure.
I used to believe that working hard after graduation would naturally lead to a stable life. However, the book reminded me that true financial security came from owning assets and generating passive income. This shift in perspective led me to re-evaluate my spending habits and approach to money. These seemingly insignificant habits were, in fact, quietly shaping our future—step by step. But only by starting early could we gain more freedom and choices later in life.
