Book Summary Preview : Rich Dad, Poor Dad

A true tale of two dads — one a highly educated professor, the other, an eighth grade dropout. Educated dad left his family with nothing, except maybe some unpaid bills. The dropout later became one of Hawaii’s richest men and left his son an empire. One dad would say, “I can’t afford it” while the other, asked, “How can I afford it?”

Rich dad teaches two boys priceless lessons on money, by making them learn through experience. The most important lesson of all is How to Use Your Mind and Time to create personal wealth. Free yourself from the proverbial “rat race”. Learn to spot opportunities, create solutions and “mind your own business”. Learn to make money work for you, and not be its slave.

Rich Dad’s Words of Wisdom

• You are what you Think.
• A job is a short-term solution to a long-term problem.
• A highly paid slave is still a slave.
• Why climb the corporate ladder when you can own the ladder?

Good Thinking:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost, from ‘The Road Not Taken’

Overview

There is a Need.

The rationale for teaching people financial literacy comes from the fact there is no real job security these days. Even after years of toil, the poor and middle class may find they do not have sufficient funds for their children’s college education, or their own retirement. Why work for a corporation, the government, and the bank all your life? Awaken your financial genius and gain financial independence and freedom!

Lesson 1: The Rich Don’t Work For Money

At age 9, Robert Kiyosaki and his best friend Mike asked Mike’s father (Rich Dad) to teach them how to make money. After 3 weeks of dusting cans in one of Rich Dad’s convenience stores at 10 cents a week, Kiyosaki was ready to quit. Rich Dad pointed out this is exactly what his employees sounded like. Some people quit a job because it doesn’t pay well. Others see it as an opportunity to learn something new.

Next Rich Dad put the two boys to work, this time for nothing. Doing this forced them to think up a source of income, a business scheme. The opportunity came to them upon noticing discarded comic books in the store. The first business plan was hatched. The boys opened a comic book library and employed Mike’s sister at 1$ a week to mind it. Soon they were earning $9.50 a week without having to physically run the library, while kids read as much comics as they could in two hours after school for only a few cents.

Lesson 2: Why Teach Financial Literacy?

They don’t teach this at school.

The growing gap between rich and poor is rooted in the antiquated educational system. The system trains people to be good employees, and not employers. The obsolete school system also fails to provide young people with basic financial skills rich people use to grow their wealth. Know your options and use this knowledge to build a formidable asset column.

In an age of instant millionaires it really isn’t about how much money you make, it’s about how much you keep, and how many generations you can keep it. . . . . . .