Today, I am going to talk about a book called Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. Although the book may not sound very intriguing at first, it may as well be one of the most helpful you can read. What is it about, and why do I speak so kindly of it?
The book is about money. It uncovers the greatest secrets that the rich people teach their kids about. I was lucky enough to discover the book earlier in my life, but remember: it's never too late to begin your journey out of the Rat Race! But let's go in order.
The Rat Race in the book is the normal life of a middle class citizen. This citizen, he or she, pays off their mortgage and taxes monthly and works hard every day for a company. However, this person is always behind. They don't have much money left over for themselves or their kids - they have just enough to get by without starving or feeling very bad. Whenever this citizen gets a paycheck, they spend it on unnecessary luxuries. This is what the Rat Race feels like. You work hard all your life, making your employer rich. That doesn't sound very nice, does it?
The Rat Race is created because by the end of school kids aren't properly taught how to manage their money. The government trusts that the parents will teach them how to make and manage money. But how can middle-class parents teach their kids to be rich if they themselves aren't rich? It's like me teaching people how to speak Japanese though I have no idea how to do that. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is how we get people who think that investment and stock risks are never worth it, who think that the most important thing in the world is to climb the corporate ladder and who think that the evil rich and the salespeople are the ones to blame for everything. In the book, Kiyosaki talks about 6 lessons that his rich dad, the wealthy dad of his friend Mike, has taught him, and how they compare to the lessons his biological dad has taught him. Now, I agree, Kiyosaki didn't paint his dad in the best way possible. Calling your biological dad "poor dad" and "educated dad" throughout the book… I can't imagine my dad's reaction if I only mentioned him in the book by the nickname of "poor dad", and said how bad and wrong all of his financial lessons were to me.
The most important lesson in the book, in my opinion, is that the rich don't work for money. This is the ultimate lesson of the book. They outsmart money and make it work for them. They set up systems made of real estate, stocks, bonds and corporations. There is no point in blaming them or any other people in the finance businesses because they outsmart the system. We should all ask them what their secrets, tips and tricks are instead. The other lessons kind of had the same or similar point. I certainly recommend reading this book. It may not be the best book in finance out there, but it is a good place to start. A solid 7 out of 10.