Reading for the Recession??? (Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert T. Kiyosaki)

Member Name: bondgirlk8

Product:	Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert T. Kiyosaki
Date:	29/01/09 (204 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to read, complex made simple, enlighting, shows you everything you need to know

Disadvantages: Will not implement it for you - it is not a 'get rich quick' fix

I'm not driven my money. I am not a materialistic person and I have no urge to surround myself with possessions. I do, however, value time. I value time so highly that I happily turn down better paid jobs that would affect the amount of time I have available.

I know in my heart that, by not having to spend so many hours working, having money does buy you time. I also know I have bills to pay to stay alive. I would love to be able to invest more (both in terms of time and money) in performing arts training but can afford neither the money nor the time. So, like most people, I am forced to admit to myself that, at least to some extent, I must be driven by money.

I secretly have a dream of building a little evil empire and freeing myself permanently from financial burdens and the need to work for a living; freeing my time allowing me to work for love (performing arts and writing) rather than for money (office job). In my opinion, deep down, most of us secretly want this, even if it only ever manifests itself in terms of dreaming about winning the lottery.

I first became aware of the book 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' about five years ago and have wanted to read it ever since. This week, thanks to some birthday book tokens I still had knocking around, I finally did.


CONCEPT OF THE BOOK

Personal finance, money management and financial knowledge are boring, dry subjects that we never really get taught. We somehow are meant to 'just know'. And do we? NO!
We're rubbish, and almost of us are in debt (oh, mortgages count by the way). The aim of this book is to fill the gap and provide us with the education we never got. Arguably the most important/relevant education there is in terms of preparation for the real world.

It teaches us this in a simple way, following the lessons Kiyosaki learnt as a child and as he grew up. It is written in clear, straightforward language which is easy and enjoyable to read. (Yes, I really said that, it is an enjoyable read.) It is framed by the story of how Kiyosaki learnt what he knows, went on to make his own fortune and developed teaching methods to pass the wisdom on to others.

The 'Rich Dad' and 'Poor Dad' of the title refer to two men who were influential in Kiyosaki's life as he grew up.

'Poor Dad' is Kiyosaki's real father, a highly educated man who encouraged his son to 'go to school, work hard and get good grades so you can become a well paid employee of a secure organisation'. He's not really "poor", but is unlikely to ever be "rich".

'Rich Dad' is Kiyosaki's best friend's father, a school drop out at the age of 13 with no qualifications to his name. He advocated a different kind of learning and his advice was to OWN the corporation, not work for it. Rich Dad went on to become one of the richest men in the State of Hawaii.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Summarised from the information in the book:

Robert Kiyosaki was born and raised in Hawaii. After high school, he was educated in New York before joining the U.S. Marine Corps and going to Vietnam as an officer and helicopter gunship pilot.

In 1977 he founded a company which brought the first nylon and Velcro wallets to the market, which grew into a multi-million dollar worldwide product.

In 1985 he co-founded an international education company that operated in seven countries, teaching business and investing to thousands of graduates.

He retired at the age of 47.

His business is real estate and developing small cap companies, but his passion is teaching (he will explain to you the difference between your business and your career if you read the book). He teaches classes ranging from investing for high returns and low risk; to teaching your children to be rich; to starting companies and selling them. However, he has one clear message: Awaken the Financial Genius that lies within you - it's waiting to come out.


WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK

I'm tempted to say 'everyone'. It contains valuable lessons that all of us can learn from and identify with, sadly perhaps even more so given the current economic climate. This book was written long before the 'credit crunch' but it condemns the levels of debt and warns against the dangers of the 'have it now, pay later' attitude of modern society, correctly predicting where it will land us. It is odd to read this just as the official announcements of recession are made.

Although many of the ideas will be too radical for some, the underlying message is clear, simple and thought provoking. It holds a mirror up to your life, perhaps helping you see a little clearer where you are headed and what you can do now to build for your future. Of course the problem is, once you look into that mirror, you can never un-look!

The book also demonstrates how simple it really is and that in truth, if we took the time to observe the way that markets work, we could all do it - educated or not. The question is...do you dare?


WHO SHOULD NOT READ THIS BOOK

Anyone who is looking for a 'get rich quick' style scam may well be disappointed. Not only will this book not help you do that it will, on the whole, advocate against it in favour of better developing your own financial knowledge and observational skills. As Kiyosaki mentions in the book, risk without knowledge is just gambling. He does NOT encourage this.

Anyone who expects all the hard work to be done for them: It is not a step-by-step guide to making your millions (e.g. first, buy this share, then invest £100 in that). If this is your criteria, you may have to pinpoint which element interests you and you would be better off seeking out an alternative book focused on that subject (the stock market, or property portfolio building for instance). That said, this book may still be useful in providing inspiration, identifying your area of interest and understanding what further reading will suit your own personal needs. The book strongly recommends building your own 'Financial IQ' and investing in your own financial education (not necessarily in the academic sense) and development.

Anyone who is panicking about the recession and needs some help budgeting, saving and cutting back. Other than the very obvious (keep your expenses down) this book will not help you. What it MAY do is help you understand how to use the climate to your advantage (i.e. the best time to buy is when the price is low) but this is probably far too long term for your needs. If this is you, you would be better off checking out a website such as www.moneysavingexpert.com for much more focused and specific advice.


RELUCTANT TO GIVE IT A TRY?

I can understand why reading such a book could be daunting, given the concepts it deals with are considered to be 'complex' and describes entrepreneurs, what they do and how they do it - people that we generally perceive to be highly intelligent. Written by most people, this WOULD be a daunting book that would go over the heads of the majority of people who tried to read it. This is not the case with this book, trust me, it isn't. Here's why:

You really don't need ANY financial background to be able to read this book.

Complex ideas are made incredibly simple, often using pictures and diagrams. (He teaches in the way Rich Dad taught him. Some of these lessons took place when he was as young as 9, hence it is delivered in a way even a child could grasp.)

There aren't really any numbers in this book, and you don't need a 'numbers brain' to read, understand and enjoy the book. Where numbers are used, the are round, simple, for illustrative purposes only, and primary school level (e.g. I bought a house from a bankruptcy office for $20,000 which I then sold immediately for $60,000 making $40,000 profit for a few hours work).

It is a good 'story' and can't fail to get you thinking. If provides a brilliant argument against many of the beliefs our society has regarding money, lifestyles and the education system. It challenges and debates making for an interesting read.

Though it is too late to help in the current situation, surely most of us would want to know what we can do to feel a bit more secure next time a recession comes around. If nothing else we learn that economic cycles repeat themselves and it will get better.


MY OPINION

I'll be honest, during the first couple of chapters my opinion kept shifting and it took a while for it to settle down and for me to decide I liked it. I was never going to not finish it; it was too engaging for that; I just couldn't decide if it was helpful or annoying.

Having now formed my opinion, I can definitely state that I liked it. I also hope to learn and perhaps implement where I can. I at least feel like I understand my situation better and can perhaps avoid some traps before I fall right into them.

There were, however, a few little things that bugged me early on. I have since, pretty much without exception, changed my mind. These were the could-have-been issues:

Eyes of a child?
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The book kicks off with 9 year old Kiyosaki asking his (real) dad how to get rich. He is told he needs to learn to make money, which Kiyosaki takes literally. His dad then suggests he ask Mike's Dad (Rich Dad), a man who on the surface does not appear to be 'rich' - he is not surrounded by the stereotypical trademarks such as Porsches and boats. From there on we are let into conversations between Kiyosaki, Mike and Rich Dad.

It is at this point I stopped believing it. The words may be simple but they did not sound to me like the kind of questions a 9 year old would realistically ask. I struggled a bit here as I felt I needed to believe in it in order to learn from it. I later realised that it isn't really meant to be realistic, it is just a framework to make it interesting and provide background. It isn't realistic because a) it is written by a grown-up for grown-ups; and b) it is put into short conversations to make it concise and simple to understand but is actually based on years of discussions, questions and learning-by-doing. When I realised this I made peace with it, could believe it again, and moved on.

Smug Dad?
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Another side-effect of the format was that, again during the first few chapters, every now and again I would find myself thinking "Well, now that's a bit smug" or "yes, but some of us don't have those 'opportunities'". Only later did I get the 'you make your own opportunities' idea. I also stopped finding it smug when I realised the point wasn't 'Ooooooooh, check out me 'n' ma Dads' but more 'You CAN do it, it IS easy - look -see? - just think about it'. It is also designed to challenge the 'right opportunities' type theories and it does this very well.

Laboured?
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A few points did seem a bit laboured and occasionally I found myself thinking 'if I read that same sentence one more time....' The point, however, is that the repetition is there for good reason. It is in part mantra, and in part to reinforce common errors. By hearing them over and over you both understand them and learn to recognise them. I think this means that when you hear them in real life the alarm bells (or opportunity bells in some cases) start ringing.

As I mentioned above, I did get past all of these issues and in the end found it both enjoyable and informative and I hope that I have learnt something.


So will I get rich??? No. I'm far too risk averse and don't have enough drive for money to educate myself to the right levels and in the ways required. However, I will question things more, I will plan better, and I will have the courage to go against age old beliefs if I believe it is the right thing to do. My eyes will stay open. I may not be 'rich' but will manage much better, recognise true assets and liabilities, make an informed decision (perhaps choosing to be rich isn't the right one for everyone) and hopefully avoid falling into too many of the traps of life too deeply.


CRITICISM

This book has received some criticism claiming that, inspirational though it may be, the book has no real substance or real ideas. Whilst I understand that criticism, I would also suggest that those critics need to consider what it is they are actually asking for and have a think about whether or not that could realistically be achieved in a book. Of course it can't. How can a book advise exactly where to put your money, what and when to buy or sell, or where to invest? Markets fluctuate at an incomprehensible speed and financial situations or climates along with them. No book showing the Road to Riches could churn out editions at the speed required to keep up. Individual perceptions of risk and personal circumstances also affect choices, meaning there can be no fail-safe guide through something which is so often based on 'feeling' which can only be developed through personal experience. No one can tell you what the gaps in the market are - if they knew them, they would exploit them, not publish them so that every reader might fill that gap.

There are some things you can't learn from a book, you can only learn by doing it and, to some degree, natural instinct - though I do think this can be developed or improved. What a book can do, however, is point you in the direction of the skills you need to learn and develop, inspire you, and teach you how to open your eyes. In my opinion, this book does all three.

I would suggest that those that claim 'no substance' are merely disappointed that there ARE no quick fix solutions (the book even points out that those that get 'quick fixes', such as lottery winners, fail to manage it and end up financially even worse than before they 'won'). They are disappointed that the message is independent life long learning and developing a deep understanding of what money is, how it works and its phenomenal power (both for you, or against you depending on how you deal with it).

This book is the first rung on your own personal ladder that only you can take alone. The critics don't want that; they want it on a plate. I guess that is why he is the rich one.


Thanks for reading

© BondgirlK8 - January 2009

Summary: How much do you REALLY want to be rich?