About 3 years ago, I was talking with one of my favorite students, CJ (she can really talk). CJ mentions this board game about cash flow and this author, Robert Kiyosaki. She highly recommended his book, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”.
Frankly I had never heard of the guy but liked the concepts that she was telling me on the phone. Now understand, CJ has turned me onto quite a few authors and she always seems find out about new authors and info before they really catch on with the general public.
I had no idea how big this guy was going to get in the next few years.
Robert Kiyosaki is now probably the biggest business author out there. Yes, there are quite a few people that sell quite a few books but he has like 6 titles that have sold a million copies each. That is pretty damn impressive. Especially since it is just over the last few years.
His main concept (to break it down in half a page) has to do with his biological Dad (poor Dad) teaching him to go to college, get a job and pay the bills. His friend’s Dad (rich Dad) talked to him about starting a business, getting investments going and making sure the government doesn’t get half of what you make (legally). This was a great concept and a wonderful story for the stuff that he teaches.
I read two of his books and I can say, without a doubt, that his info (conceptually) has made me more money then anything that I have ever read. Sure, a few Marlon Sanders or Jonathan Mizel ideas has made me a quick $2,000 but the stuff I did after reading a Robert Kiyosaki idea are going to make me money over the next 30 years. His stuff is that powerful.
He taught me that a lot of the stuff at Mazu I was doing was making me self- employed and not a business owner. I want to own a business. Sure, I am going to have to work to make money but some of the new projects that we are working on are going to make me money and I have done very little of the work. I came up with a new business idea, put up the money and managed everything but I have truly done very little of the work. This might make me $10,000 a month on the front-end and $20,000 a month on the backend, at least for the next 10 years. Not bad for a $14.95 book.
Does this mean that Robert Kiyosaki is a true guru and I would like to follow him around and eat his table scraps (Yes! Oh, sorry, NO). He isn’t perfect and I have two small gripes about his stuff. VERY small gripes.
#1 small gripe: He makes a big deal out of saying that assets create income and liabilities suck income. Using this logic he calls your house a liability because it costs you money to upkeep it, pay for it and it doesn’t spin off any income. I agree with this theory (in principle) but I think he needs to expand on this idea.
Example: Let’s say I have a $100,000 Ferrari in my garage. It is a collectors item and I could sell it at any time for $100,000 if I chose to. I have to pay for insurance and upkeep but I don’t drive it as it too valuable. As it sits there, it is actually going up in value as it gets older but stays in great shape. Just because it doesn’t directly spin off income and costs me money, Robert Kiyosaki calls this a liability. I say “BS”. I can borrow money against it and/or sell it whenever I want.
I know part of the reason that he has this argument is to get people’s attention
He probably just needs to say that there are assets, income producing assets and liabilities. Your money you owe on your house is a liability. The equity is an asset. A business you own that pays you $10,000 a month (for doing little) is an income producing asset.
If you go to message boards about Robert, this is probably the subject that is most debated among his students.
#2 small gripe: Robert made a lot of his money in real estate and a lot of people don’t have interest in real estate. His materials are still great but real estate just isn’t my thing. I wish he had more info about stocks etc.
