‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ Robert Kiyosaki says this is ‘the only rule’ for getting and staying rich (2024)

FAQs

What is the summary of Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki? ›

Brief summary

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki is a personal finance book that emphasizes the importance of financial education, teaches how to make money work for you, and challenges traditional beliefs about money.

The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.

Kiyosaki hammers home the point that the rich don't simply work for money – they acquire income-producing assets. He focuses on building businesses and developing real estate. This provides more control over income rather than relying on an employer. Real estate can be bought and leveraged to produce rental income.

Kiyosaki's philosophy about money is simple: You don't need to have a high income to become rich. Instead, he says, the key to building wealth lies in two things: Building a portfolio of passive income-generating assets. Minimizing debt5.

“People who lack internal fortitude often become victims of those who have self- discipline.” “The easy road often becomes hard, and the hard road often becomes easy.” “In today's fast-changing world, it's not so much what you know anymore that counts, because often what you know is old. It is how fast you learn.

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!, by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. Warner Business Books, 2000.

He used to believe that excessive money is a bad thing and that people have to do something unethical to earn large sums of money. Also, he believed that money could only be earned only through labor. This is the reason why he would often try to negotiate better terms on his wages.

Why does Robert Kiyosaki say a house is not an asset? ›

“Instead of putting money in your pocket, it takes money out of your pocket in the form of a mortgage, utility payments, taxes, maintenance, and more,” said Kiyosaki on his Rich Dad Poor Dad blog. “That is the simple definition of a liability.” When looking at technical definitions, an asset puts money in your pocket.

Very simply, the rich don't work for money, they make money work for them. Working to add more assets is much different than working for a paycheck. For instance, adding assets doesn't require working longer or harder. In fact, the higher your financial IQ, the less you have to work to acquire high-quality assets.

Instead of saving cash, he saves gold and converts his earnings into silver and gold. This strategy, according to Kiyosaki, has led to an accumulation $1.2 billion in debt, an amount he admits to. He says he is in debt because “if I go bust, the bank goes bust.

His primary income sources are book sales, speaking engagements, real estate, precious metals, cryptocurrency investments, financial education programs, and business ventures. He founded Rich Global LLC in 1977, a conglomerate specializing in manufacturing, retail operations, and financial education.

Kiyosaki believes that traditional education systems fail to provide individuals with the financial intelligence to thrive in the real world. He advocates for self-education in financial matters and emphasizes understanding concepts such as assets, liabilities, cash flow, and investing.

Lesson 1: The Rich Don't Work for Money

“The poor and the middle class work for money. The rich have money work for them.” Life pushes everyone around. Some people figure out how to learn from being pushed around.

In lesson 4 of “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” the author discusses the concept of “work to learn, not to earn.” He argues that many people focus too much on earning a high salary and not enough on learning valuable skills and gaining knowledge.

When it comes to reading a book, especially one about the topic of financial literacy, it is very easy to be intimidated away from reading the book. One of the great things about Rich Dad Poor Dad is its ability to present ideas in easily accessible ways.