I first reported on Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad Poor Dad" back in 2015. I wrote about its "six timeless money lessons."
Nearly a decade later I found myself reporting on the same book, as multiple financially independent investors I'd interviewed described reading it as a life-changing experience. Perhaps the lessons really are timeless.
After writing about what other people thought about Kiyosaki's text, I wanted to form my own opinion. Sure, I'd reported on it and knew the basic concepts — a home is not an asset, how much money you keep is more important than how much you make, etc. — but I hadn't read it. Not from the perspective of an investor, at least, and not with intentionality.
So, why now — nine years after originally reporting on it?
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It was part curiosity — why exactly is it cited as one of the greatest personal finance books of all time? — part assignment (I recently started reviewing popular money books) and part convenience: "Rich Dad Poor Dad" was gifted to me a few years back and happened to already occupy my bookshelf.
Kiyosaki originally self-published the book in 1997. What's become a cult classic was turned down by "every book publisher," he writes in the intro.
It's told through the lens of nine-year-old Kiyosaki. He's ambitious, has an impressive vocabulary for a grade schooler, and, after being left out of a beach trip because he's considered a "poor kid," decides he wants to learn how to get rich. He and his best friend Mike embark on a quest to do just that. They approach Mike's dad, who Kiyosaki refers to as his "rich dad," and he agrees to teach the friends about money: how to earn it, how to keep it, and how to grow it.
There's a lot of advice, much of it contrary to popular opinion, packed between the iconic purple dust jacket, but here are my three main takeaways.
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1. Financial education is everything. Kiyosaki introduces his two father figures on page one of the introduction. His biological dad, whom he refers to as "poor dad," finished undergrad in less than two years, earned a Ph.D., and studied at prestigious schools like Stanford, while his "rich dad" never finished eighth grade. His poor dad earned a substantial income but always struggled financially; his rich dad became one of the wealthiest individuals in Hawaii primarily by running businesses.
Financial education levels the playing field. While rich dad wasn't educated in the traditional sense, he understood money — and agreed to pass on that understanding to Mike and Kiyosaki.
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Talk about money at the dinner table — with your kids, kids' friends, nieces and nephews, and grandkids — because most teachers in the classroom don't. The earlier you start building the financial education muscle, the better.
2. The way you think about money matters. A memorable lesson from rich dad is to never think or say, "I can't afford it." Instead, ask yourself, "How can I afford it?" The former, according to rich dad, will "shut down your brain" and create a "lazy mind," while the latter forces you to be solutions-oriented and get creative.
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How you think about money is just as important as how you manage your money.
3. It gets you fired up. This isn't your typical personal finance book. Kiyosaki isn't going to walk you through debt-payoff steps, explain a credit score, or recommend index funds to buy. He gives you a taste of how he built his wealth and retired at age 47 (real estate and small-cap stocks), but he doesn't tell you what to do. Instead, he inspires you to think differently, question standard money advice, take risks, make mistakes, and learn from those mistakes.
He is adamant that "life is the best teacher of all" and convinced that "reading and lectures are the least effective ways to learn." I couldn't help but note the irony, but he's right: A book can inspire you and fire you up — and this one does — but we, the readers, ultimately have to channel that energy into action.
