Re: Robert Kiyosaki
 

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Its painfully obvious that none/most of you have even bothered to read the [censored] book.

I think reading a book should be a pre-requisite to criticizing its contents.

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I read the book. I found it not only useless, but irritating in that it tried to come up with flashy sounding, pseudo-scientific concepts like the "cash flow quadrant" that are completely contentless.

Can you tell us one specific thing you learned from the book?

eastbay

Re: Robert Kiyosaki
 

I read 2-3 of his books including RDPD. FWIW I think his books are somewhere between "Learn Poker from the Pros" and WLLH, except remove every hand example. The best part of RDPD was the list of recommended books at the back.

Post deleted by Mat Sklansky
 

Re: Robert Kiyosaki
 

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How to generate passive income through real estate.

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like... what?

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Tons of other money saving, income producing tips and ideas.

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like... what?

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That rich people do not work hard, they have others work hard for them.

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????

After people read that, are they supposed to think, "Ahhh, I've got to get other people to work for me to get rich!! Now I know exactly what I have to go out and do to get more money!"

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The idea that a business could be an asset (if it does not require your time)

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????

What does that even mean?




Kiyosaki's books and TV specials are mostly filler and meaningless cliches that are designed to convince people to buy tickets to his expensive seminars ($2500 for two days) or his expensive collection of books ($545 for "Rich Dad's Ultimate Pack!"). That is all there is to his schtick.

Re: Robert Kiyosaki
 

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How to use corporations to save on your tax bill.



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Corporations don't necessarily save on your tax bill, in fact they actually will dramatically increase your tax bill if wrongly implemented. In RDPD he not only doesn't explain this, it seems clear he doesn't understand this. He also promotes tax fraud, telling you to write off things that are clearly not allowed.

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That rich people do not work hard, they have others work hard for them.


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I know a few rich people, and they work harder than any of their employees. That's how they got rich. Businesses don't run themselves. Passive real estate isn't really passive, you need to carefully pick and improve the right real estate and watch it like a hawk.

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The idea of buying luxury goods with passive income, not with earned income, is a better route to riches.


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Buying luxury goods is never a route to riches, no matter which income stream you choose to pay for them with. Luxury goods depreciate, reducing your net worth over time. Investments appreciate, increasing your net worth over time.

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The advice of not listening to scared people who work for the man. The advice that other people are going to tell you you are wrong or stupid for doing what you are doing.


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Of course, you are taking advice from a guy who made up "rich dad", most of his own personal history, and has shown no evidence he's built any successful business, other than the RDPD franchise.

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People told me that. For all intents and purposes I am retired at age 25. I'm laughing now, while they are still pumping 9-5's. Ship it. Kiyosaki rules.


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Why give Kiyosaki credit when you did the work? If you retired at 25, then you've proven to be a much smarter, better businessman than him.

There are many inspirational books that tell you how to become an entrepeneur, save your money and invest in good businesses in order to get rich or avoid the rat race. I'd recommend one that is more factual and useful than RDPD.

Re: Robert Kiyosaki
 

What was funny in his book is how he says someone who makes 30k has to pay 50% in taxes! Even people who make 300k in almost never have to pay this much. But I have to say his books are interesting stories, maybe that's why they sell so well.

Post deleted by Mat Sklansky
 

Re: Robert Kiyosaki
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
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Its painfully obvious that none/most of you have even bothered to read the [censored] book.

I think reading a book should be a pre-requisite to criticizing its contents.

[/ QUOTE ]

I read the book. I found it not only useless, but irritating in that it tried to come up with flashy sounding, pseudo-scientific concepts like the "cash flow quadrant" that are completely contentless.

Can you tell us one specific thing you learned from the book?

eastbay

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How to use corporations to save on your tax bill.


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Ok, fair enough. If you didn't know that there was such a thing as a business tax deduction, then you might learn something from the book. But it seems to me you'd really have to be living under a rock from birth to age 2x to not already be aware of that.

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How to generate passive income through real estate.

The idea that a business could be an asset (if it does not require your time).

That my car is not an asset (or at least not one worth investing in).


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Maybe you can explain to me, given the maintenance requirements and typical value over time of a car, how you could not have known that a car is not an investment except in very rare circumstances? I have a hard time believing that you think you didn't know this before reading the book.

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That rich people do not work hard, they have others work hard for them.


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I think that's unadulterated [censored], and it's nearing a precipice of evil, where the worth of another is measured solely in terms of how they can enrich you materially. Beware.

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The idea of buying luxury goods with passive income, not with earned income, is a better route to riches.


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Huh? That doesn't even say anything.



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edit: I'll add that i read this book almost immediately after graduating from college. my whole life i had dreamed of what salaried job i could get and how much money somebody else could pay me for working for them. this book turned that all on its head. it taught me that the true route to extreme riches is in working for somebody else only as long as you have to (however long that may be...for me it was one year, for others it may be 10 or 20, whatever) and then making your real money working for youself, and having your money work for you.

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I don't think people are ignorant of the fact that entrepreneurship has potentially unlimited rewards, but many choose what they think is a safer route, and decide not to make "extreme riches" the goal of their life. I don't begrudge people who make those choices, it can be a reasonable trade-off depending on what one wants to do with their life.

If you want "extreme riches", then certainly working for BigCorp 9-5 is not the way to go. I just can't understand how that could be a revelation.

eastbay

Post deleted by Mat Sklansky
 

Re: Robert Kiyosaki
 

1. re: corporations/tax

What you called "the most valuable piece of advice from the book" turns out to be incorrect. Then you backtrack and say "His book is not an instruction manual for how to do it". This is the whole freaking point, his book is not an instruction manual, it is lame motivation fluff that tries to parade itself as serious financial advice so he can hawk his ripoff seminars and packages.

2. re: his advice on earning passive income and money saving tips

My entire point is that the book is devoid of specific useful examples on how do to this. I asked you what they were, and instead of listing them, you said "if you read the book you'd know." That made me lol. Seriously, if they exist, please list them.

3. "Ever hard the adage, 'those who can, do. those who can't, teach'? He's a damned good teacher. Whether he can/does on his own or not is really irrelevant to me."

Do you not care at all that his "rich dad" character and apparently most of his personal history is fiction? The only thing worse than anecdotal evidence is made up anecdotal evidence.

4. DC's point about giving too much credit to Kiyosaki is totally correct. You did all the work and creative thinking, he did none.

5. This point: "Kiyosaki's books and TV specials are mostly filler and meaningless cliches that are designed to convince people to buy tickets to his expensive seminars ($2500 for two days) or his expensive collection of books ($545 for "Rich Dad's Ultimate Pack!"). That is all there is to his schtick."

still stands. His whole RDPD franchise is a ripoff.