I happened to pick up this book because of its catchy name “Rich Dad Poor Dad” plus its label that reads “What the rich educate their children about money, that poor and middle-class men don’t!” Possibly it had to do with my deeply depleted bank account and the fact that this book claimed to teach something about money that my parents didn’t have.
Robert T. Kiyosaki is writing this book and is a fourth-generation Japanese American. While serving in the Marine Corps as a helicopter gunship pilot at the time of the Vietnam War, he then took a job with Xerox Corporation as a salesman and that’s when he invested in real estate and a few other commodities and eventually started a company that brought nylon and velcro wallets on the market. Mr. Robert now runs a business and educational company, known as Cashflow Technologies, Inc.
Ralph H. Kiyosaki, Robert’s father, was the manager of Education for the state of Hawaii. He too was a highly educated man from Stanford University and is referred to in this book as “Poor Dad”. The man referred to as “rich dad” is a neighbor who has never done Eight Degrees owned warehouses, a construction company, a chain store, and three restaurants. While “Poor Dad” advised Robert to work hard in education so he can earn money, “Rich Dad” has taught Robert how money can be invested with the intention that it is not subject to nine to five job restrictions.
The book has all the different lessons about money, that Robert’s adviser, “Rich Dad”, has taught him. “Rich dad” was very wealthy and educated Robert on how one can get rich and stay rich. The contrast in the attitudes of the rich and the middle class towards money is further reinforced by the teachings of “Poor Dad”, who have typical middle class ideas about money. But “poor dad” earned enough to pay taxes and own a home of his own, despite being highly educated and working for the government.
Mr. Robert says that his main reason behind this book was to teach financial education to people who are not blessed with a “Rich Dad” to enlighten us on how to invest our money correctly. He also argues that this education system makes us financially useless and allows rich corporations and the government to use us for money due to a lack of money education. He presents a lot of valuable knowledge about money management, which he got from his “rich dad”, as well as from his personal knowledge.