On a trip to the bookstore with my daughter, I came across Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad and decided to read it. As a person who works from home, I have been introduced to the book a million and a half times on websites and/or emails. But here it was, in the flesh, so to speak, screaming at me to pick it up and buy it. It was as if my real life world had collided with the virtual one. What had been a familiar Photoshop icon was now a real-life book and headed for the checkout line.
The caption reads: “What the rich teach their kids about money that the poor and middle class don’t!” I wanted to know, so I started reading…
When Kiyosaki refers to Poor Dad, he is talking about his biological father. The man had a higher education and earned a Ph.D. As the book progresses, she refers to him as his polite father. Actually, he wasn’t exactly poor; he just didn’t make the kind of cake that Kiyosaki does. He was an educator and a strong believer in the “old school” mentality, “Study hard and get good grades and you will find a well paying job with good benefits.”
Rich Dad is actually his childhood friend’s father who takes Kiyosaki under his wing at a young age. Rich Dad had an eighth grade education and became one of the richest men in Hawaii, mainly because he was good with money, which is what he taught young Robert.
Kiyosaki outlines these monetary principles using examples with simplified, integrated balance sheets and income statements (sometimes called profit and loss or profit and loss statements).
Throughout his young life, Robert Kiyosaki is faced with the conflict of which father he should emulate. It was a battle of academics against entrepreneurship. He eventually hedged his bets and got a proper education, but his decision to be an entrepreneur was made at the age of nine under the influence of Rich Dad.
Personally, I found the book motivating and it rejuvenated the entrepreneurial spirit in me, which is refreshing. I thought I was buying a book to better manage my finances when in reality (real and virtual world) I found something that inspired me to fight harder for financial independence. It was money well spent.