Rich Dad, Poor Dad Abridged

Rating:
Summary: I can't believe I read the whole thing...
Review: Robert Kiyosaki is a charlatan and a quack who has built a franchise selling false hope to those who can least afford it. As a CPA, Sharon Lechter should be ashamed of herself and possibly have her license revoked. I do however agree with Kiyosaki on one thing-- he is a terrible writer (pg 132).

Rating:
Summary: Rich Dad's Advice = Sell Bad Advice
Review: Kiyosaki is a con artist preying on the weaknesses of underachievers. His sell is closely aligned with the pitch given by network or multilevel marketing businesses (e.g. Amway, Primerica). Education isn't important! You don't have to be smart! You can hire smart people to make decisions for you! I strongly suspect that his product (Rich Dad) was targeted at the network marketing crowd, but it could be cause or affect. According to SmartMoney, his book suffered dismal sales initially until Amway adopted its themes.

I have also listened to his 12 CD "get rich quick" program and it is clear to me how Kiyosaki made his millions. He has made several unsuccessful attempts at businesses selling different products. Eventually he came up with a board game (Cashflow Quadrant) to "educate" people how to "leave the rat race". "Rich Dad Poor Dad" was written in an attempt to market the game and give credibility to the advice given. The "Rich Dad" was a fabrication, a made up character because Kiyosaki had no financial credibility at the time he wrote the book. The book became a best-seller, and since that time his company has refocused on leveraging the Rich Dad theme, spinning off dozens of books and numerous seminars. All you have to do a search on his name and you will see dozens of products. If his advice of making money work for you is so powerful, why is Kiyosaki still pumping out muliple books and seminars each year? He claims he is following a higher cause to educate the public. His higher cause is to make more money for himself.

Rating:
Summary: Thinking straight about money
Review: When Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki was recommended to me by some friends, I was immediately skeptical. I tend to think that typical books about money have several problems. They seem to imply that money is the cure to most or all of life's problems. They promote making money as if money is the ultimate goal in life. Or they promote a very narrow method of making money, which, it is assumed, is the best method for everybody. None of these problems exist in Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

Kiyosaki's main point is to teach people a mindset that helps them get out of the "Rat Race." People in the rat race have a nice, comfortable job that earns them a nice income that pays all their bills. They adjust their lifestyle to the level of their income. Debt keeps them from having much money left over, but when there is some, they put it in a nice, secure (low interest) mutual fund. They keep up but don't move forward. Chapter one introduces the concept hinted at in the title. Kiyosaki had two father figures, a poor one (his real dad) and a rich one. His poor dad promoted the idea: "Study hard so you can find a good company to work for." For him, talk of money was bad. Risk was bad. He argued that one's company is responsible to make sure all his needs were met. Finding the best job with the best company that offered the best benefits, to him, was best. His rich dad, on the other hand, encouraged talking about money around the dinner table, to teach the children how to think. He encouraged managing risk, rather than avoiding it. He argued against reliance upon an employer and for "total financial self-reliance" (16). Of course, Kiyosaki's book promotes the mindset of his rich dad.

The book breaks down into six main lessons, which help the reader understand the mindset rather than a method. Lesson #1 is "The Rich Don't Work for Money." Though that may sound startling at first, his point is simple. Rather than spending one's life working for an employer (and making him money); rather than always being at the mercy of the job market, the economy and one's skills; a person must find ways to make his money work for him. When a person depends entirely on an employer, he is not prepared for unforeseen events. It is here that he introduces his repeated theme that money itself is not the most important thing in life. Lesson #2, probably the most contrary to the status quo, simply encourages financial education. Most people stay in the rat race because they do not understand the basic concepts of managing money. The most basic (but unfortunately most rarely understood) financial rule is the necessity of understanding the difference between an asset and a liability. Something is truly an asset only when it puts money into your pocket. A liability takes money. Thus, your house is not an asset. Naturally, "the rich acquire assets and the poor and middle class acquire liabilities" (60). The missing element in the education of even most educated "is not how to make money, but how to spend money" (67). Thus, more money is not the solution. Financial intelligence is. He ends the chapter with a brilliant observation concerning the definition of wealth. "Wealth is a person's ability to survive so many number of days forward... or if I stopped working today, how long could I survive? ... Wealth is the measure of the cash flow from the asset column compared with the expense column" (80). Someone is truly wealthy only when his income from his assets matches his expenses from his liabilities.

Lesson #3 is "Mind Your Own Business," which encourages people not to spend all their time working for an employer. Rather, everyone must take the time to work for himself. Kiyosaki says, "Keep your daytime job, but start buying real assets, not liabilities or personal effects that have no real value once you get them home" (89). Thus, he also encourages delayed gratification. Lesson #4 outlines the tax benefits of owning your assets within a corporation. The main advantage is that one can spend the income before it gets taxed, rather than after. An employee can spend his money only after the government gets its share. A corporation pays taxes only on income that is left over after expenses have been paid. Lesson #5 is oddly called "The Rich Invent Money" and promotes using the imagination to generate ways to make money. There is not single best way. Within certain guidelines assets can generate income many different ways. Finally, Lesson #6 repeats an appeal he makes repeatedly throughout the book: "Work to Learn - Don't Work for Money." In this chapter, Kiyosaki exposes the danger of overspecialization. Rather, a person must continually work to make his knowledge as broad as possible.

To close, Kiyosaki makes suggestions about how to begin. First, he combats the five main reasons people stay in their current life-style: fear, cynicism, laziness, bad habits, and arrogance. He then gives ten steps to begin this new mindset. I will mention just one. He says, "Pay yourself first" (172). By this, he means that people need to set a portion aside from their income every month to put toward assets, and they need to take that portion before all the other bills are paid. Rather than promoting irresponsibility, he encourages self-discipline. The key is simple: "Don't get into large debt positions that you have to pay for. Keep your expenses low. Build up assets first" (176). For most people, this book is needed for one of the biggest paradigm shifts they could make. It contains the truths necessary to escape rat race for now and for generations to come.

Rating:
Summary: It is a great book
Review: It is an interesting book. The name of the book ¡§Rich Dad Poor Dad¡¨ has already drawn my attention when shopping the book store. It is different from other investment books. It will also challenge the way you look at life, education, business ownership and money in general. Mr. Kiyosaki discusses his own life and offers a lot of good advice. This book has the ability to motivate you to consider having your own business, and have money work for you versus always working for money.

Rating:
Summary: Starting Point for a New Life
Review: This is a fantastic book. It's not the last book you'll ever read on how to build your personal wealth. But it will re-position and re-focus your thinking like no other book I've read. "Rich Dad" is the father of the author's childhood friend, and "Poor Dad", is not only the author's own father, but you'll eventually discover that he was the governor of Hawaii. The author's point is that a lifetime of watching both fathers work and build their futures left him realizing that the benevolent and loving "Poor Dad" was ultimately left with relatively little financially, while the "Rich Dad" spent a lifetime doing unconventional things that positioned him extremely well. The author brilliantly shares how he learned the carefully taught lessons of his "Rich Dad", and changed his thinking to realize, for example, (a) your house is not an asset, (b) only assets that produce income are truly "assets" - such as rental property, small businesses, etc., (c) income earned by employees is fully taxed, but that same income earned by a business is not, (d) and much more. I get the impression that Kiyosaki was probably an early student of the "no money down" real estate types, since it appears that his early success was related to real estate. But this is not a real estate book - it's much more, a solid foundation for building solid wealth. The biggest lesson of this book: learn to fully understand balance sheets. Not that this book will TEACH you to understand them, it won't. But it will convince you, in a conversational and engaging manner, why this and so many other fundamental thought processes work for the rich, and how so many Real People don't even know about them.

Rating:
Summary: How poor was that dad
Review: Although I think it might make financial sense; no, I won't teach any kid that way. There's still more than money to be thaught. I don't know how the real (poor) dad would fill reading his own son's masterpiece...
I think you might better off reading something more human with books like "Personal Finance for Dummies". And treasure the great things in life, like teaching your kids...

Rating:
Summary: An excellent overview of the entrepreneurial attitude
Review: Mr. Kiyosaki does much more than discuss techniques for making money. He teaches philosophy and attitude lessons. The reader learns about the sacrifices, risks, behavior, beliefs, and energy related to success and wealth.

He provides examples of wealth-building processes such as investing in real estate and/or starting your own business. He gives many examples from his own career. He doesn't get down to providing specifics about how to do it. He more or less offers a big-picture approach.

I found the book helpful.

Rating:
Summary: Great Advice
Review: Mr. Kiyosaki will challenge the way you look at life, education, business ownership and money in general. He discusses his own life and offers a lot of good advice. This book has the ability to motivate you to consider having your own business, and have money work for you versus always working for money.

Kenneth McGhee - Author
Eleven Leadership Tips For Supervisors

Rating:
Summary: The best personal finance program available
Review: Rich Dad Poor Dad is undoubtably the best financial book ever written. However, it is only for those who are willing to change.

I contend that it only takes three things to make this program work:

1) You must have a white hot burning desire.
2) You must be willing to do a few daily disciplines.
3) You must be teachable and willing to let go of old idealogy.

Many people have a feeble wish, not a white hot desire. They are not willing to pullthemselves away from the tv set, the internet or whatever (how much money is that making you or more importantly, how many people are you helping with those disciplines?) And many people are NOT teachable, they want to hold on to old dogma taught to them traditionally by parents and other early mentors so when something like Rich Dad comes along, they dismiss it because it doesn't coincide with what their early teachers told them. Of course it never occurs to these people that those early teachers were never rich.

Rich Dad has a great program. Follow these three keys. Read the book or listen to the tape or both and get to work.

You'll be glad you did!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY RICH DAD!

Rating:
Summary: Happy Valentines Day Rich Dad!
Review: Following the principles in Rich Dad Poor Dad has changed my life in under one year. This advice really works! I wholheartily recommend Rich Dad Poor Dad evenif it is the only personal finance book you ever read.

Rich Dad Poor Dad is not a great book, it is an outstandingly great book. It is the one book that you must have.

Thanks again Robert T. and Happy Valentines Day!