Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - Robert Kiyosaki

elainevdw · 01-16-2007, 10:27 PM

I read and enjoyed Rich Dad, Poor Dad, too. I posted something about it here a few weeks ago and was surprised by some of the vehement responses!

People normally attack RDPD for accuracy. They say that Rich Dad never existed; neither did Poor Dad. Kiyosaki just made them up. And his career wasn't as idyllic as he made it out to be, either; he hit some rough spots that he doesn't talk about in his book.

What these people are forgetting is that RDPD carries a message that transcends the facts. I don't give a rip whether Rich Dad is Hawaiian entrepreneur John Doe, or whether he's Kiyosaki's labrador retriever. I don't care if Kiyosaki's childhood business was selling comic books or retrieving golf balls.

The impressive thing about RDPD is, when read as a parable, it inspires those of us who were raised with a very limiting, self-destructive view of money and how it works. That's why it doesn't matter who Rich Dad was. That's also why it doesn't matter what Kiyosaki's personal life was like. How inspirational would RDPD be if, midway between saying that YOU, with enough savvy, could make financial security a reality, he interrupts himself by saying, "By the way, even though I'm the author/expert on this subject, I couldn't even do that"?

It's also fun realizing that the whole Rich Dad series is yet another one of Kiyosaki's assets. He talks about ways of passively receiving income -- and yup, royalties on books and financial education games fit snugly into that category. As a writer, one of my favorite bits of RPDP is when he points out the difference between a best-writing author and a best-selling author. If he wrote RDPD with super accuracy, it wouldn't have sold. It's much more colorful and, heck, USEFUL, as a pseudo fictitious work.

So that's my take on the Kiyosaki debate. I wouldn't read his books for advice on how to invest in the stock market, but by god, Rich Dad Poor Dad made me understand money better.

01-16-2007, 10:27 PM	#15 (permalink)
elainevdw Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Reno/Tahoe, NV, USA Posts: 375	I read and enjoyed Rich Dad, Poor Dad, too. I posted something about it here a few weeks ago and was surprised by some of the vehement responses! People normally attack RDPD for accuracy. They say that Rich Dad never existed; neither did Poor Dad. Kiyosaki just made them up. And his career wasn't as idyllic as he made it out to be, either; he hit some rough spots that he doesn't talk about in his book. What these people are forgetting is that RDPD carries a message that transcends the facts. I don't give a rip whether Rich Dad is Hawaiian entrepreneur John Doe, or whether he's Kiyosaki's labrador retriever. I don't care if Kiyosaki's childhood business was selling comic books or retrieving golf balls. The impressive thing about RDPD is, when read as a parable, it inspires those of us who were raised with a very limiting, self-destructive view of money and how it works. That's why it doesn't matter who Rich Dad was. That's also why it doesn't matter what Kiyosaki's personal life was like. How inspirational would RDPD be if, midway between saying that YOU, with enough savvy, could make financial security a reality, he interrupts himself by saying, "By the way, even though I'm the author/expert on this subject, I couldn't even do that"? It's also fun realizing that the whole Rich Dad series is yet another one of Kiyosaki's assets. He talks about ways of passively receiving income -- and yup, royalties on books and financial education games fit snugly into that category. As a writer, one of my favorite bits of RPDP is when he points out the difference between a best-writing author and a best-selling author. If he wrote RDPD with super accuracy, it wouldn't have sold. It's much more colorful and, heck, USEFUL, as a pseudo fictitious work. So that's my take on the Kiyosaki debate. I wouldn't read his books for advice on how to invest in the stock market, but by god, Rich Dad Poor Dad made me understand money better. __________________ ~ Elaine.