Assets and Liabilities

I enjoy reading a lot and try to take away some useful information from everything that I read.

One of the biggest things that I have been able to get from Robert Kiyosaki and his books relate to his thoughts on assets and liabilities. He defines an asset as "something that puts money in your pocket" and a liability as "something that takes money from your pocket". I think this is a very useful way of looking at investments since cashflow is a major determinant of the financial health of any institution or individual.

So, when looking for my major assets, I see:
- Profession. Despite taking a majority of my time, the majority of my cashflow comes from this part of my life.
- Real estate investments. This is not always true since on occasion cashflow is negative due to repairs, vacancy, etc.
- Stock investments. Dividends can be a nice source of cashflow. Obviously, if I had more dividends, I could spend less time on the profession.
- This blog. It's not making much yet but as people read and click on ads, maybe.

For liabilities, I see:
- Housing and related expenses.
- Transportation and related expenses.
- Taxes...a major expense that I hate.
- Loans, both school and credit, etc.

So, part of the consideration for investing should be: Does this put money in my pocket?