Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!

Ok, let's skip the fact that by Kiyosaki's own admission, both dads were to a great extent fabricated.

Let's skip the fact that many of the experiences in this book were either embellished or outright fabricated.

Let's skip the fact that much of what he speaks of is in generalities without specific details.

What remains are pleasant-sounding platitudes, lacking in the real-life specifics that most people need. To say that "The poor work for their money, while the rich have their moeny work for them" sounds nice, but is of very little help to someone lacking a compass.

About the only thing that I agree with Kiyosaki on is the fact that our schools (at all levels) lack any kind of personal finance educational curriculum. This is an absolute travesty, but understandable when you consider that our nation is running record budget deficits. When debt is a way of life, people tend to accept it as a given in their own situation.

I've known several people who are devotees of this book series. None (as in zero) have made a discernable difference in their lives. Most are also devotees of MLMs such as Amway, Quixtar and MonaVie...the common thread here being the desire to succeed (which is admirable), but the unwillingness to get the degree, the job and put in the time. Another Kiyosaki theme of "Become a real estate investor!" sounds great on paper, but without the education and training can potentially be a disaster. No one book (or series like this) can prepare someone for an entire career.

If you want to learn how to handle money, try Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey or Lou Rukeyser. The fact that this series is a bestseller, does NOT necessarily mean the series has merit. It simply means that there is a market for baseless hope and optimism. I am sure Kiyosaki is laughing all the way to the bank.

This book was a real eye opener. I knew allot of the advice but hadn't thought of it in the way the author told us. Great helpful book.

What ppl don't understand is that you're never supposed to actually take things you read in books like this literally. If he says a certain investment is smart, or he made money a certain way, do your research and see if its right for you. Just like any book, the specific examples used are not as important as the message behind the book. I read all the criticisms of Robert Kiyosaki online, (just google him and the word scam). But to me its not about him, whether or not he has this or that, its about the fact that I his message is one that resonates with me.

I'm a business student in college and I really learned a lot from this book, not just about money, but about life in general. People don't know this book is more about life and how you choose to live: a slave or free. Many of the things he's saying, "don't work all your life like your parents, ect."are all things I have thought about, but this book really articulated the ideas well and re-affirmed it.

Don't buy this book if you literally want to learn to get rich, what you will get from this book is a good sense of the mindset you must be in to be rich. Its about being ambitious and thinking Rich, securing yourself financially so you can be free and do what you want. Would def recommend this to every and anyone, period. The bad reviews come from ppl who take the words literally and try to follow his instructions, go for the message, not the details.

Kiyosaki's book does have some strengths, but also sends some mixed signals and has a lot of plain bad advice. Overall, the book is a bad choice.

The good:
- The story is interesting enough and certainly captures one's attention.
- The motivational part. It does make you think about your financial life.

The mixed:
- "Leaving the Rat Race" -- spend less, invest more: excellent and much needed advice. Unfortunately, Kiyosaki's own bad example follows. He brags about his Rolex, luxury cars and such. Given the amount of time that he seems to spend promoting his stuff, maybe Kiyosaki himself is in the Rat Race -- albeit in a golden, roomier cage.
- "Work to learn, not for the money". Again, good advice followed by bad examples. Learning at work is usually by DOING, not by being around or watching other people do. So, the Xerox case is fine, but all the others are just foolish.
- "Assets and liabilities". Dubious "redefinitions": something that doesn't put money in your pocket can still be an asset (if it saves you money that would otherwise be spent -- say, a house...).

The bad:
- The whole "traditional education is bad for you" approach. No, it isn't. Harvard costs what it costs for a reason. The reason is more money for YOU down the road.
- "Pay yourself first". Bad idea. If you're on a positive cash flow, it makes no difference. If you're not, it makes you incur in debt and thus INTEREST, which is a nice way to throw away money for zero added value.
- Risk isn't always good, as Kiyosaki implies. The strategies discussed in the book are very unsound and will work only on a bullish market (if any).
- Insider trading and tax evasion are illegal, period.

And the naked, cruel truth that RDPD DOES NOT SAY:
(because it isn't "best-seller material")
- According to Kiyosaki's theory, all you have to do is "wake up the financial genius within you". In reality, there are two honest ways of making money in this world:
1) WORKING. Ok, say you were lucky enough to have a truly great idea or talent. You still would have to work -- don't Steve Jobs, Madonna or Shaquille O'Neal work? Then again, not everybody will be THIS lucky -- and in this case, you are much better off being a highly paid EDUCATED worker. Just the opposite of what RDPD says. By the way, making money from real estate or IPOs or starting your own business will require a lot of work and knowledge, too. Even more than a white collar job.
2) CAPITAL GAINS. Dividends and interest. Kiyosaki is right that it is possible to live on them. What he doesn't say is that it will take a TON of cash to make a decent living within manageable risk levels. And you must HAVE money to BEGIN WITH -- which means inherit it (but then you would not be reading RDPD, would you?) or, more likely, work and SAVE A LOT.
Consider a 3% yearly interest rate above inflation, which is what low-work/low-risk will get. In order to have $5000/month BEFORE TAXES -- not exactly a high roller lifestyle -- you would need $2 million.
Even somebody investing at 8% above inflation (and, may I add, 8% ON THE LONG RUN isn't that easy to achieve), starting from scratch and saving 50% of whatever comes in -- a very rigid discipline -- would take 33 years before being able to live on passive income. Make that a quarter, which is still above the savings level of most Americans, and you got 47 years.
Don't believe me? Open up Excel or Calc and type:
=NPER(8%;1;0;-12/8%)
=NPER(8%;1;0;-36/8%)
Still don't get it? Stop reading RPDP and go STUDY real, not fairy tale, economy.

I've read countless books on personal finance and creating wealth, but I must say Kiyosaki's is one of the better ones. Most finance books are pure finance and potential suggestions. They miss what precludes any great change in your life, and where most fail at; stepping back from your life as an employee and creating the proper mindset to get rich, (or achieve whatever financial goals you have). In other words, if you're head isn't in the right place from the beginning, the discipline and tools will not be enough to get you there. He feels that the single most important quality to achieve success is in the philosophy. How the wealthy think is what makes them different from the average worker or those just getting by.

People who grind it out for the man day in day out need a complete brain makeover before they can see the forest for the trees. Kiyosaki had two father figures, a poor one (his real dad) and a rich one. His poor dad offer this worldview to his son; "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. 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.

Great book for its simplicity, original approach and value.