Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad

Robert Kiyosaki has written an exceptional book titled Rich Dad Poor Dad. In this book, the #1 Personal Finance book of all time, Robert Kiyosaki shares the story of his two Dads: his real father, whom he calls his ‘poor dad,’ and the father of his best friend, the man who became his mentor and his ‘rich dad.’ One man was well educated and an employee all his life, the other’s education was “street smarts” over traditional classroom education and he took the path of entrepreneurship, a road that led him to become one of the wealthiest men in Hawaii. Robert’s poor dad struggled financially all his life, and these two dads—these very different points of view of money, investing, and employment—shaped Robert’s thinking about money. Robert has challenged and changed the way tens of millions of people, around the world, think about money and investing and he has become a global advocate for financial education and the path to financial freedom.

Below are a few paragraphs which will give you a brief insight into what the book is about. It is a must read and should be added to your personal development library. There is so much beneficial information in this book, it will transform your life by making you more financially aware so that you may attain financial freedom.

“Because I had two influential fathers I learned from both of them. I had to think about each dads advice, and in doing so, I gained valuable insight into the power and effect of one’s thoughts on one’s life. For example, one dad has a habit of saying, ‘I can’t afford it’. The other dad forbade those words to be used. He insisted I ask, ‘How can I afford it?’ One is a statement, and the other is a question. One lets you off the hook, and the other forces you to think.”

“If you learn life’s lessons, you will do well. If not, life will just continue to push you around. People do two things. Some just let life push them around. Others get angry and push back. But they push back against their boss, or their job, or their husband or wife. They do not know it’s life that’s pushing. Life pushes all of us around. Some people give up and others fight. A few learn the lesson and move on. They welcome life pushing them around. To these few people, it means they need and want to learn something. They learn and move on. Most quit, and a few like you fight.”

“Rich dad explained this point of view over and over, which I call lesson number one: The poor and the middle-class work for money. The rich have money work for them. On that bright Sunday morning, I learned a completely different point of view from what I had been taught by my poor dad. At the age of nine, I understood that both dads wanted me to learn. Both dads encouraged me to study, but not the same things. My highly educated dad recommended that I do what he did. ‘Son, I want you to study hard, get good grades, so you can find a safe, secure job with a big company. And make sure it has excellent benefits.’ My rich dad wanted me to learn how money works so I could make it work for me.”

“The middle class find themselves in a constant state of financial struggle. Their primary income is through their salary. As their wages increase, so do their taxes. their expenses tend to increase in proportion to their salary increase: hence, the phrase ‘The Rat Race’. They treat their home as their primary asset instead of investing in income-producing assets. This pattern of treating your home as an investment, and the philosophy that a pay raise means you can buy a larger home or spend more, is the foundation of today’s debt-ridden society. Increased spending throws families into greater debt and into more financial uncertainty.”

“A problem with school is that you often become what you study. So if you study cooking, you become a chef. If you study law, you become an attorney, and a study of auto mechanics makes you a mechanic. The mistake in becoming what you study is that too many people forget to mind their own business. They spend their lives minding someone else’s business and making that person rich. To become financially secure, a person needs to mind their own business. Your business revolves around your asset column, not your income column. The number one rule is to know the difference between an asset and a liability and to buy assets. The rich focus on their asset columns, while everyone else focuses on their income statements.”

“I recommend young people to seek work for what they will learn, more than what they will earn. Look down the road at what skills they want to acquire before choosing a specific profession and before getting trapped in the Rat Race. Once people are trapped in the lifelong process of bill-paying, they become like those little hamsters running around in those metal wheels. Their little legs are spinning furiously, the wheel is turning furiously, but come tomorrow morning, they’ll still be in the same cage. Great job.”