Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Anyone read it and follow it?

[ClarabelleCowFan]

DH has been pouring over every single Robert Kiyosaki book he can get his hands on (mostly thru the library). There seems to be quite a bit of good information about real estate investments - a field DH and I plan to pursue within the next 2 years after our next move with the Army.

Kim Kiyosaki had a 2 hour show on PBS last night but we didn't get to watch the whole thing.

Has anyone else read this book or any of the Kiyosaki series and actually started investing?

 

[NY Disney fan]

I have read a few of his books (& heard him speak) and the man makes 90% of his money selling those purple books. He's a motivational speaker - that is all. If you have entrepenureal tendencies and a high tolerance for losing your money, er, I mean risk, then he is a great resource.

 

[Kay1]

DH has been pouring over every single Robert Kiyosaki book he can get his hands on (mostly thru the library). There seems to be quite a bit of good information about real estate investments - a field DH and I plan to pursue within the next 2 years after our next move with the Army.

Kim Kiyosaki had a 2 hour show on PBS last night but we didn't get to watch the whole thing.

Has anyone else read this book or any of the Kiyosaki series and actually started investing?

You should read his more current work. He has a column on Yahoo finance. He is not recommending real estate at this time so you shouldn't get too excited by those old books. Be very careful here! He now reocommends buying silver.

Go to Yahoo and read his recent columns if you like his style of inverstment.

 

[breezy1077]

I have read a few of his books (& heard him speak) and the man makes 90% of his money selling those purple books. He's a motivational speaker - that is all. If you have entrepenureal tendencies and a high tolerance for losing your money, er, I mean risk, then he is a great resource.

I agree! I thought his suggestions sounded good until I sent my husband to one of his free seminars. It was nothing more than a live info-mercial, and we've been bugged ever since with e-mail after e-mail. My husband came away from the experience very amused (we have decades of experience in sales) with the obvious (to him) sales techniques used. Just my opinion. Investing is not rocket science and with good (free) research anyone can do it. Key advice - buy low sell high

 

[jacobsmom]

I've read his books--and DH and my fave is Why We Want you to Be Rich by Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump. I'm not a big fan of Donald Trump, but the advice they have is really good and at this time is all coming true. They highly recommend home based businesses with educational support systems. We've taken that advice, but no real estate advice (although we have our house). I also like Robert Kiyosaki's business school book. Just a really good book.

 

[chalee94]

kiyosaki is most likely a complete fraud. read his stuff at your own risk.

more info.

 

[RayJay]

DH has been pouring over every single Robert Kiyosaki book he can get his hands on (mostly thru the library). There seems to be quite a bit of good information about real estate investments - a field DH and I plan to pursue within the next 2 years after our next move with the Army.

Kim Kiyosaki had a 2 hour show on PBS last night but we didn't get to watch the whole thing.

Has anyone else read this book or any of the Kiyosaki series and actually started investing?

Hey there Cowfan,

I read Kiyosaki's books years ago, he's OK, but I think he's more in for the book sales and seminars even more than Dave Ramsey.

He advocates buying property and being a landlord basically, getting rents (cashflow) he even has a game like monopoly named "CASHFLOW" Getting out of the RatRace.

His books are a good hook with his "Rich Dad Poor Dad" story, I must admit I read it in one night, but over time came to the reality of what he was preaching, his second book "Cashflow Quandrant" was good too.

Believe it or not Kiyosaki was the one who helped me fine Dave Ramsey and well the rest is history (that was many years ago) and alot of people don't care for Dave either.

Bottomline is just another tool to help you think about other aspects of finances, but I'd take him lightly.



Later
RayJay

 

[CJ's Mommy]

Do not get caught up with this guy!!! My DH did the same thing..read the books, went to the first FREE seminar, and then dropped $1000 for the next level seminar. (I was LIVID, btw! ) What do you think happened at that next seminar?? He was solicited to drop more than $10,000 for yet another, more comprehensive seminar. He didn't really learn anything either. It was always the promise of more "in depth training" at the next MORE EXPENSIVE seminar.

This is how he makes his money, he's a SCAM ARTIST!!!!

Kiyosaki has no conscience and plays on people's silly dreams of getting rich quick (my DH included!) There is no way to get rich quick....hard work is how you do it, in my humble opinion.

STAY AWAY!

 

[breezy1077]

Yup, sounds exactly like the seminar my husband attended.

 

[pearlieq]

I'm not a fan of this guy either. I've read his early works and I found them gimmicky, inflexible, and full of broad and inaccurate generalizations.

I think there's better, more sound advice to be had. This guy is too slick for my tastes, and way too wrapped up in one model of money management.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I've read quite a few of his books, and I do think he makes some really good points. I don't get the impression AT ALL that he is promoting "get rich quick." He talks a lot about the concept that if you want to be wealthy, you need to research and learn the skills of accumulating wealth - things that are not taught in schools. He doesn't teach those skills in his books, but he does stress that you need to learn them. If you want to invest in real estate, you need to research enough to know what properties are good investments, what is going on in the market, etc. If you want to have your own business (which he highly recommends), you need to do the research to make that succeed. I know this is common sense, but to me it is the opposite of "get rich quick" - he's telling people to take the time to learn how to become wealthier.

One point he makes that I think is true: it is very hard to become wealthy if you are an employee in a corporation or organization. In that situation, you basically get paid for your time -and you only have a limited amount of time you can put into working. Investments, businesses you own (but where others work), etc., allow you to earn money while you are doing something else, and that's why you have more opportunity to get rich.

One thing I must say I didn't like - he's quite critical of people who chose jobs like teaching, social work, nursing, etc. because it is very difficult for these people to become rich. (His father started out as a teacher, and he is quite negative about his father.) To me, that misses the point - many people value the meaning of their work (helping others) more than the money they might bring home.

Teresa

 

[TnTWalter]

I like a lot of the book EXCEPT for how he uses debt...there is a lot of RISK.

I believe he's about $14Million in debt although he has a high net worth but with market issues that would be scary.

I have read many financial books [library]. I think they are great resources but I wouldn't follow anything to the tee without really analyzing.

I loved The Millionaire Next Door and heard there's a new one out by the authors. There's also a great one by a Rabbi I need to get called Thou Shall Prosper. It's got great reviews on Amazon.


Good luck.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Thanks for all the input.

I had DH read this thread and he followed and read the links posted. Very interesting reading.

He is reading a variety of authors but has read several by Robert Kiyosaki so I was curious if this guy was really all he seemed to be.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Too funny; I just got the book out of the library this week. Picking up my large grain of salt to sit down and read it now

Since we are VERY risk averse and debt averse, I'm thinking this may not be the best book for me. If it touches the Dave Ramsey book, will they explode???

 

[smacky1]

I read rich dad poor dad a few years ago and after went to his website. He was suggesting then not investing in real estate and instead investing in gold.........I was just thinking this morning, with gold being where it is, how it might have paid off if I actually did it.

 

[Kay7979]

I think the most valuable lessons from the books come from changing people's outlooks on saving and investing. He makes the valid point that your house is not typically an "investment" as it costs you money and does not spin off income. The only way it MAY be an investment is capital appreciation, which as we all know, is currently running in reverse right now: real estate is going DOWN in value in many parts of the country. He makes the point that there are creative opportunities to make money in side businesses, and that a good savings plan that will eventually generate dividends or appreciate in value will put you on the road to greater financial independence.

I'm glad to hear he has recommended gold and silver as they have been an undervalued asset class for a couple decades, thanks to mal-investments in "paper" assets like stock in ill-fated dot.com businesses and over-leveraged bank and investment stocks like Bear Stearns that just went bust. People ignored the fact that gold has been "money" for thousands of years, while paper money currencies like the dollar are based on debt, and have nothing of real value backing them up except the government's ability to tax us. We have been investing in base and precious metals for years, and I expect them to go much higher in the next ferw years.