Review of: Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Rich Dad Poor Dad – what the rich teach their kids about money that the poor and middle class do not! by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter, CPA published by Warner Business Books copyright 1998

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Summary:
Kiyosaki and Lechter combine forces to give the reader a motivational view into differences in child rearing between the rich and the middle class.

In the book, his real Dad (the Poor Dad) is a college instructor, living a middle class life. His real Dad encourages Richard to study hard, make good grades, go to college and get a nice professional job. In the book, his Rich Dad is his best friend’s Dad. The Rich Dad is a business owner who encourages both boys to learn how to make money via business endeavors.

The authors present several ‘lessons’, such as don’t work to earn, work to learn; use the money you already have instead of spending more time on another job to get more money; use business structures to derive tax efficiency for your operation (pay taxes on the net income, not the gross) and; profit is made when you buy, not when you sell.

If you have read Kiyosaki books, you know that most of them are primarily focused on psychology and motivation, not on actual techniques to make money. Strewn throughout the book are success stories and cheering sections to get the reader motivated to take action.

If you are a parent – trying to motivate or educate your children to be entrepeneurs, this book may not be the best one for you. Check out Young Bucks – How to Raise a Future Millionaire by Troy Dunn. There is a bit of a summary of it in our article: http://www.familymoneyvalues.com/index.php/educate/127-entrepreneurship/138-entrepreneurial-kids-teach-your-child-to-be-one

Read this book to understand and address:

• Kiyosaki’s preferred asset types
• The need to understand financial statements such as income and balance sheets
• Motivational stories to learn to act differently than you do today on financial decisions.

What I liked:

• Tips on getting started – such as choosing friends for their knowledge and the idea that when you are around knowledgeable (and rich) friends, opportunities pop out that you won’t see around others
• To-Do items in Chapter 10 – such as finding someone who has what you want or does what you want to do, taking them to lunch and learning from them
• The brevity of the book.

What I wished for:

• More specific pointers on techniques he used
• More focused information with less repetitio.
• More tips on how to make deals.

Favorite quotes:
“The poor and the middle class work for money. The rich have money work for them.” p 35

“There are rules of money that the rich play by, and rules that the other 95% of the population plays by. And the 95% learn those rules at home and in the schools.” Acknowledgments pages