Rich Dad Poor Dad

Rich Dad Poor Dad

Author	Robert Kiyosaki, Sharon L. Lechter
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Rich Dad Series
Genre	Self-help, personal finance, entrepreneurship, business, investing, economics
Publisher	Warner Books Ed
Publication date	April 1, 2000
Media type	Hardback and paperback
Pages	207
ISBN	0-446-67745-0
OCLC	43946801
Dewey Decimal	332.024 22
LC Class	HG179 .K565 2000

Rich Dad Poor Dad is a 1997 book written by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. Also see WikiSummaries of Rich Dad Poor Dad. It advocates the importance of financial literacy (financial education), financial independence and building wealth through investing in assets, real estate investing, starting and owning businesses, as well as increasing one's financial intelligence (financial IQ) to improve one's business and financial aptitude. Rich Dad Poor Dad is written in the style of a set of parables, ostensibly based on Kiyosaki's life.^[1]

Summary

The book is largely based on Kiyosaki's childhood upbringing and education in Hawaii. It highlights the different attitudes toward money, work, and life of two men (i.e. his titular "rich dad" and "poor dad"), and how they in turn influenced key decisions in Kiyosaki's life.

Among some of the book's topics are:

• Robert Kiyosaki's personal story, upbringing, and his business and investment ventures throughout his early adult life and into the late 1990s.
• Differentiation between assets and liabilities
• What the rich teach their kids about money that the poor and middle class do not
• The base definitions of income & expenses (profit and loss statement), assets & liabilities (balance sheet), cashflow = income - expenses (statement of cashflow) as the foundation of financial literacy and education, for example, the next point.
• The concept that your primary residence is not your asset, but the banks asset and your liability (assets put money in your pocket, liabilities take money out of your pocket, ie a mortgage takes money out of your pocket and puts it into the banks pocket).
• The value of financial intelligence and financial literacy
• How stronger business and financial skills, aptitude, and experience play a role in one's financial success
• The vitality of entrepreneurial and investment skills are both necessary and useful traits to prosper in a capitalistic society
• The importance of investing and entrepreneurship in taking control of one's financial future

Kiyosaki advocated his former mentor and American futurist, Dr. Buckminster Fuller's views on wealth, that wealth is measured by the number of days the income from your assets can sustain you, and financial independence is achieved when your monthly income from assets, that you don't physically work for, exceeds your monthly expenses.

Reception

Praise and support

Rich Dad Poor Dad has sold over 32 million copies^[2] in more than 51 languages across more than 109 countries been on the New York Times bestsellers list for over six years^[3] and received positive reviews from some critics.^[4] American talk show host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey endorsed the book on her show. Another celebrity supporter is actor Will Smith, who said he is teaching his son about financial responsibility by reading the book.^[5] PBS Public Television station KOCE, aired a 55 minute presentation of Robert Kiyosaki titled "Guide to Wealth" in 2006 which essentially summerises his Rich Dad Poor Dad book now available on youtube.com. PBS also honoured Robert Kiyosaki with an excellence in education award in 2005.^[6] President Donald Trump has read and praised the book and compared the book to his book Trump: The Art of the Deal, which served as an inspirational book to Kiyosaki.^[7] Trump later did a literary collaboration with Kiyosaki in 2006 called Why We Want You To Be Rich, Two Men One Message and a second book called Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich — And Why Most Don't in 2011.^[8] American fashion entrepreneur and investor Daymond John has called the book one of his favorites.^[9] American rapper Big K.R.I.T. made a song called "Rich Dad Poor Dad" though it had no connection to the book.^[10]

Criticism

John T. Reed, a critic of Robert Kiyosaki, says, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad contains much wrong advice, much bad advice, some dangerous advice, and virtually no good advice." He also states, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad is one of the dumbest financial advice books I have ever read. It contains many factual errors and numerous extremely unlikely accounts of events that supposedly occurred."^[11] Kiyosaki provided a rebuttal to some of Reed's statements.^[12] Slate reviewer Rob Walker called the book full of nonsense, and said that Kiyosaki's claims were often vague, the narrative "fablelike", and that much of the book was "self-help boilerplate", noting the predictable common features of such books were present in Rich Dad, Poor Dad. He also criticizes Kiyosaki's conclusions about Americans, American culture, and Kiyosaki's methods.^[1]

Publishing success

The book was originally self-published in 1997 before being picked up commercially to become a New York Times bestseller. It has since sold over 32 million copies and become a household name.^[13] In his audiobook Choose to be Rich, Kiyosaki said that every publisher turned him down, and Barnes & Noble refused to stock the book initially. He places his focus upon talk shows and radio show appearances, of which The Oprah Winfrey Show had the biggest influence on book sales.^[14]

References

Bibliography

• Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!, by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. Warner Business Books, 2000. ISBN 0-446-67745-0

External links

• Robert Kiyosaki's official website
• "Guide to Wealth" as aired by PBS public television channel KOCE in 2006
• Review: Rich Dad Poor Dad