Some weeks ago, we recommended the book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" to our users for weekend reading. This week, we would like to recommend book Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not! (Miniature Edition)
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This book is well-known in personal finance category. It's written by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. It advocates financial independence through investing, real estate, owning businesses, and the use of finance protection tactics.
Rich Dad Poor Dad is a life changing book that is why this incredible book has been a best seller now for over 8 years and is still in the top 20 of all books being sold right now. And this book has about 2400 reviews on Amazon right now.
Here are some helpful reviews:
Kiyosaki will tell you some things you don't want to hear. He is controversial. So is Donald Trump. Rich people are always controversial, but who are the people that make Kiyosaki and others controversial? Certaintly it's not the wealthy. The wealthy agree with Kiysosaki becuase that is how they became rich.
Kiyosaki tells us that a house is not an asset. I have to admit that I had a problem with that one myself. I a lways felt that real estate was the one safe have out there and like most, was taught by parents and other early mentors that a house is an asset. Then I got a house and found out that Kiyosaki is absolutely right and so were my mentors. A house is not an asset for the buyers, people like you and me but it certaintly is an asset for the banks, real estate agents, insurance people, the local government who wack you with high city taxes and so on.
The biggest problem is that many people think that a big house is a symbol of wealth. It is a symbol of wealth to the bank. Most people tyupically take out 30 year mortgages. How much do you think banks make on that while you are paying for the equalivent of three house payments over time?
Conventional wisdom tells us to get a great education and you'll get a great job. Well it started in the Clinton era and has been escalating ever since---downsizing. People who spent tons of $$$ on a college education, invested years in their jobs being servants to their employers and for what, to be downsized?
Summary from Wikipedia:
The book highlights the different attitudes to money, work and life of two men, and how they in turn influenced key decisions in Kiyosaki's life.Among some of the book's topics are:
- the value of financial intelligence
- that corporations spend first, then pay taxes, while individuals must pay taxes first
- that corporations are artificial entities that anyone can use, but the poor usually do not know how
According to Kiyosaki and Lechter, wealth is measured as the number of days the income from your assets will sustain you, and financial independence is achieved when your monthly income from assets exceeds your monthly expenses. Each dad had a different way of teaching his son.
And someone has a good summary about this book:
1. The poor and the middle class work for money. The rich have money work for them.
2. Rich people acquire assets. The poor and the middle class acquire liabilities, but they think they are assets. An asset is something that puts money in your pocket, a liability is something that takes money out of your pocket. The rich buy assets and the poor only have expenses.
3. Poor people buy liabilities to look rich. Rich people buy assets to get richer.
4. The rich get richer because they continue to do things that make them richer. The poor get poorer because they continue to do things that make them poorer.
5. Rich people learn how to manage risk. Poor people are afraid of risk.
6. An intelligent person surrounds himself with people who are more intelligent than he is.
7. Wealth is accurately measured by a person’s ability to survive so many number of days forward without working. Or stated another way: If you stopped working today, how long could you survive? Wealth is determined by Net Worth, NOT by income. You can have a huge income, but still be poor.
8. You can never be too rich.
9. Rich people buy luxuries last, while the poor and middle class buy them first. Assets buy luxuries.
10. Once a dollar goes into your asset column, never let it out. It becomes your employee. The best thing about money is that it works 24 hours a day.
11. A house is not an asset – it is a liability. It produces no income, only expenses. (Mortgage, Interest, Taxes, Insurance, Maintenance, Utilities, Furnishings). Don’t be “House Rich and Cash Poor”.
12. Building wealth is like planting a tree. You water it for years and then its roots grow deep enough that it takes care of itself. Then it provides you a nice shade to rest under and it takes care of you.
13. A true luxury is a reward for investing in and developing a real asset. Buy yourself nice luxuries but make sure you have earned them and can pay for them first.
14. Rich people invent money.
15. Great opportunities are not seen with your eyes but with your mind.
16. Many people are one skill away from great wealth.
17. Rich people talk about money and learn from other rich people. The poor do not.
18. Don’t let life or people push you around. Don’t quit. Fight!
19. Don’t blindy follow the “conventional wisdom”. Have the courage to “go against the flow”.
20. It’s not what you make that counts, but what you save and invest.
21. Don’t listen to poor or frightened people.
22. Master a formula and learn a new one.
23. Rich people take advantage of economic downturns. Rich people take advantage of opportunities.
24. Rich people don’t make excuses for their financial success or failure.
25. Mind your own business. Think of your household as your own business. Profit vs. Loss and Assets vs. Liabilities. It’s “You, Inc.”.
26. Advice for those of you in debt: If you find that you have dug yourself into a hole, STOP DIGGING!
27. He who has the gold makes the rules. The rich make the rules.
28. Money comes and goes, but if you have the education about how money works, you gain power over it and can begin building wealth. The reason positive thinking alone does not work is because most people went to school but never learned how money works, so they spend their lives working for money instead of having money work for them.
29. Don’t turn yourself into a slave to money and liabilities. Choose power and freedom.
30. You always want to make sure you’ll be cash-flow positive in any prospective real estate investment. Your rents collected should always, at minimum, cover your mortgage and expenses even while you’re building equity.
And each book has criticism too. John T. Reed, an outspoken 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."
Anyway, it is a well known book. After 5 busy working days, fetching a popular book and enjoy a quiet reading for 2 weekend days. That would be great!
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