Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: Thanks Robert Kiyosaki for "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" - This is a great book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found the ideas made a very positive impact on me. He presents ideas about how to think in a different way which will help you become rich. People who already are rich may think his ideas are too simple or they have already heard it before. But while that may be true, I learned alot in reading this book.This book has created more clarity for me around money and how to increase my financial well-being. It has also helped me to see some errors that I have been making in my thinking and in the way I have been investing. This book has helped to create more choices for me. This book is packed with simple ideas that are gems of wisdom...I highly recommend this book to people who are looking for a new way of thinking about money and wealth! Another book I very highly recommend is "Working On Yourself Doesn't Work" by Ariel & Shya Kane. They present ideas and principles about how to be happy and have well-being and effectiveness. Their styles seem similar to me - simple straightforward and full of wisdom. Anyway, these are two of my favorite books. They are both classics on how to enrich your life!
Rating: 
Summary: Inspiring book, but keep in mind, there are no easy answers!
Review: Rich Dad, Poor Dad raises several important points about how (and why) individuals need to step back and take a fresh look at their perceptions on money, security, taxes and risk. HOWEVER, if you are looking for a quick fix, formula or easy answer to making money. This is not the book (nor should it be - if someone finds this magic, mythic book, please send me a copy!) Instead the book focuses on changing the traditional mindset when it comes to income (40+ hour work week for someone else no longer equates to financial security) and assets (is a pleasure boat, or a new car really an asset?) The book is plainly written so as to appeal to virtually any reading level and serves as more of an inspiration to make money rather than an explanation of how to make money.
Rating:
Summary: More than a good read!
Review: Mr. Kiyosaki is a great story teller. The book kept me interested all the way. If your looking for a book to tell you how to get rich though, then forget it. That is NOT his intention. No other person will ever have the same sircumstance that led to this man's success. In stead of giving you a formula he clearly states an axiom that is the theme of the book. People with money are looking for ways to make money. More clearly, that they look for ways to let their money make them money. According to Mr. K. that is the secret to success. That the tratitional mind set of "Work hard, get a good job, and you'll be taken care of," is what sets us all up for finacial dependance is also a key theme. He describes this as the trap that prevents many people from being finacially independent. He never once said that education is not important. On the contrary he states it is "The most important asset." What he does say is that the best education is had by doing. Get and read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Long-winded "GEM" of Wisdom
Review: I can't give credit to the author for being a talented writer (albeit it was his first book), but the information - as basic as it was - is absolutely worth the time to plow through the storyline. I finished the book in 3 days because I couldn't put it down - and I am NOT a fast reader by any means. (granted, the line spacing helped) Anyway - If you're considering this book, take the time to follow the story - don't just accept a summary given by someone else.
Rating:
Summary: Challenges you in the best way...
Review: A quick read; not too hard to understand, despite being full of wonderful new paradigms. It took me about four hours to finish. Like other reviews said, a lot of concepts and phrases are repeated over and over, but I think that's intentional - because when you STOP and think "didn't this guy already say this.... twice?" THAT is when the repeated concept sinks in. The first third was an odd read, rather drawn out, and I had to force myself to suspend belief that nine year olds say things like "Aren't you encouraging me to go to business school for my master's degree?" and "Can you tell me the difference between emotions thinking and the head thinking?" But despite the sometimes flawed delivery, the stunning and invaluable message was quite clear. Ultimately, the value of the information far outweighed sometimes lackluster "plot methods", shaky grammar and the occasional ramblings that didn't flow together well. I'd highly recommend the book nonetheless, as it accomplishes a true epiphany, one of my favorite life experiences, which is to learn something you weren't even aware was worth knowing. Before reading this book, if I had spent two hours trying to think of all the mental attitudes that differentiate the rich from the poor, I doubt few if any of my ideas would share a home with those in the pages of Rich Dad Poor Dad. As for providing specific reccomendations on where and how to invest, it doesn't really give any and isn't meant to. The book gives a knowledge foundation that is essential before even looking for your first investment. While the focus is on real estate, the most important concepts of the book can be applied to any investment - real estate is not my choice but his experiences with it sure make it sound compelling. One unexpected aspect I found was that you don't need to start with a lot of money to get the ball rolling - in fact you don't really need ANY! I thought I'd need way more "seed money" than I can afford but now I'm thinking just as Kiyosaki said over and over - "how can I afford it" instead of "I can't afford it". I'm going to read it again very soon. And probably again and again. And I'm definitely looking forward to reading (and playing) Cash Flow Quadrant. The very fact that the reviews here range from raving approval (the majority) all the way to "the worst book I've ever read" highlight the spectrum of attitudes and understanding of wealth and investment in today's society. It's unlikely that most readers that "got" what Kiyosaki was trying to convey hated the book - on the contrary they're probably like me, having adopted the ideas with vigor and have already taken action. Then again I imagine some understood it fully, yet still reject the concepts for any of a million reasons. But you need only one to reject the ideas and hence, stay poor. To be honest, I'm glad some people hate it, because we'll always need people to work for money, instead of having money work for them. They will put money in my pocket, or should I say, my asset column.
Rating:
Summary: HavingFun24-7.com
Review: If you have a family history of middle-class existence and want to break the cycle, read this book. I also recommend giving it as a graduation gift to all nephews and nieces. Spread the word. It is possible to retire young and enjoy life 24/7!
Rating: 
Summary: Lack substance, long-winded
Review: If you are looking for specifics on how to make money, you will be disappointed. This book tells you what to do, rather than how to go about doing it. Few of us need to be told that in order to become rich, we have to cultivate our 'Financial IQ' and invest wisely, etc, etc. This amounts to plain rhetoric, although the author is without doubt a brilliant marketeer who expertly packaged his otherwise commonsensical ideas and made use of a catchy title. I find it rather irritating to see the same few ideas being repeated so many times throughout the book, as if the readers are so dumb that they need reinforcements. I am amazed that such a hollow topic can take up close to 200 pages! Don't waste your time on this book. To me, this whole thing is just another fad.
Rating:
Summary: Great motivational book, with some flaws
Review: I found this book to be a great motivational teaching, a good kick-in-the-pants for those who are comfortable with their 9 to 5 jobs. Like others have said, there are probably a few embellishments to the story, but the premise of what he is saying is solid. What kept me from giving this book 5 stars is that it is flawed in some of the business concepts that it teaches. Kiyosaki does not have a business degree, and it shows. For example, he defines "assets" as "anything you own that generates income." That's not too bad, but a standard accounting definition would be "anything you own that has financial value". Conversely he defines liabilities as "anything you own that isn't generating money;" again, the concept of assets and liabilities in financial accounting does not consider income, which is totally different. Considering that the point of the book is for you to go out and make an impact in the business world, it might be important for you to have the terminology right when you talk to people. He also regards "corporations" as tax shelters; that's not quite right, either. Corporations get taxed, too, and you are taxed again on any money you take out of the corporation. Supposedly, his co-author, Sharon Lechter, is a CPA, so it's difficult to understand how such glaring errors could have made it into the book. Like any other motivational book, read it with a grain of salt, absorb it, take what you can use and discard the rest. If you are looking for a book to get you motivated about investing and wealth-building, then I think that this is a good one to have.
Rating: 
Summary: A Waste of Paper
Review: This book will not make you rich. This guy made a bunch of money in real estate by buying properties that increased in value, but he hints that many of those opportunities are gone or difficult to find. He says that you should own a business instead of working for someone else. This is good advice, but not worth buying the book. He says that you should not borrow heavily (home, auto, etc) since you're throwing money away. Again, good advice, but not worth buying the book. Beyond these, the book doesn't say much. It's a waste of paper, with a catchy title.
Rating:
Summary: Rich Author, Poor Author.
Review: Clearly, Robert Kiyosaki has struck a goldmine with his "Rich Dad" series of personal finance books. Millions buy them in the hope that they will learn something useful about acquiring (sp)wealth. To that end, I think that "Rich Dad Poor Dad" is only partly successful. Kiyosaki begins with the assumption that most people are financially ignorant. Therefore, the vast majority of the population produce children without the financial know-how to succeed in life. On this point the author is dead-on. In my family, money was simply not talked about. In the families of my Israeli friends, however, money and business are the primary topics of discussion at the dinner table and just about everywhere else. And these Israeli friends of mine are all well-off, owning businesses and real estate--none of them came to the U.S. with a nickel in their pockets. So, yes, it's true, all of us need to develop a certain mindset about money and success in order to make it to the top financially. Moreover, we need to do more to teach our children these principles as well. Where Kiyosaki falters in not in the "what" but in the "how". All through the book he is "begging the question". His reasoning goes something like this: If you want to be rich, start your own company, buy and sell real estate, and invest in good stocks. This is akin to telling someone that if they want to be a world-class athelete to "win the olympics, the heavyweight belt, and the world series." That's great, but how? And you will be asking the same questions as you read "Rich Dad". I can personally realate to much of the philosophy in "Rich Dad" as I was a high-school drop-out with a disdain for working for someone else. I started my own company at 24 and am still making my own living at 30. Far from rich, I would work for myself for minimum wage before working for someone else for $50,000 a year. The point of my relating all of this is that I agree with Kiyosaki's main thesis: most people have what I call a "job mentality" and need to snap out of it if they are ever to be successful. J. Paul Getty said that the only way for a young man to be rich was in a business of his own. He was right. Overall, Kiyosaki is a relatively poor author--thus the three stars. He meanders and belabors his main points to absurdity. It's hard to beleive some of the stories in the book. I am quite sure that the majority of them are fanciful embellishments. He points this out himself when he says, "I am not the best-writing author, but the bestselling author." Or something to that effect. Hey, at least he's honest and he's making a lot of money. Good for him. But he doesn't need your help so save your money for another book. I recommend "The Richest Man in Babylon." Much more readable, fun, and is considered a classic decades after it was written...
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