Economics of perpetual poverty - R. Kiyosaky and the dude on the street

[paxmao]

I am not a great fan of Robert Kiyosaky, who many people will know for his best-seller "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", particularly when it comes to his continuous boostering of Real State as an investment and his simplistic approach to "good debt" and "bad debt", ignoring leverage and risks. However there is something to be said about the basic principles of poverty and "richness" that are the background of his discourse.

I recon that, at first, when I listened to his audios, a million years ago, me and my usual cynism just could not take it seriously at fist: it was yet another book about becoming "rich" (LOL), but at that time I had many hours of travelling per day and podcasts had not been invented, so I listened, just as I could be watching Star Wars Episode IV.

It soon became apparent this book was not about becoming rich, but rather about not being poor forever. For someone like me who has roots on a culture is (used to be?) conservative in the spending and risk averse, he was just stating the obvious: Do not spend more than you earn and f*kin* save a bit for the future. For gods' shake, you do not need 500 pages for that do you?

No, you just need a few lines:

a) Do not spend more than you earn.
b) If you are breaking (a) rule, do not use debt to finance stuff that you do not need and goes down in value. Yes, that's your car unless you use it for work and is adequately sized, that is you 54 inch TV and the subscription to Netflix.
c) If you get into debt, use it to finance you roof, not your swimming pool.

Please, add at will but this is pretty much it.

Oh, I think that I should add Warren Buffet's advice: use compound interest to your favour, not against you (see (b) & (c)).

[zanezane]

If R. Kiyosaki were to just get those lines and not create a book then how can he earn money? The reason that he created that book is to earn money and not to teach you the obvious, I mean it isn't really different as any writer who publishes a book, no matter how much you advertise that you want to help someone with your book, the root of reason for making that is always money. I would like to add another advice that I think that everyone should follow besides investing in crypto and that is to do your best to get your hands on index funds, they are the best way to earn money without actively managing it.

[davis196]

"Rich dad poor dad" was OK,but everything else Kiyosaki does just seems sketchy.
He is more like a conman rather than a legit writer.His books are more into the self-help niche,rather than actual guides about finance and economy.
Books about "how to become rich" are always funny to me,because there's no guaranteed formula,that will make anyone rich.
"Rich dad poor dad" was all about gaining more income generating assets and dumping the expense generating liabilities.I like that idea,but "spend less than you earn" is just common sense.Everyone with a brain and an IQ above 90 should know that without reading books.

[Hydrogen]

IIRC, Robert Kiyosaki's "GET RICH" methodology was accumulating assets while reducing liabilities, through creative financing and other generalized means. Which like OP said, doesn't amount to more than basic fundamentals like "make more money, spend less, save".

People normally want actionable and explicit advice they can execute without vagueness. Finance channels on youtube, podcasts on side hustles / making money today, offer better advice and information.

IMO dividend reinvestment plans (DRIP) are good. There are many documented success stories with DRIP in US stock markets. Buying bitcoin before its 3 to 4 year cycle another good move. Holding altcoins likely to be pumped eventually appears to be another worthwhile strategy. Prior to the pandemic buying items off the clearance rack of stores and reselling on ebay was a viable strategy for some. There are many different hustles and methods that can be effective. Without having to venture into the vague generalizations some traditional finance gurus are known for.

[crwth]

Hydrogen pretty much summed up what the book is all about but what's important to remember is that you need to be in control of your finance or let your finance control you by making you stressed with what you are going through. Paying up every debt should be the first, and investments come after. Ideally, you should also take care of the emergency funds that you should have.

What I like about Robert is that he is also invested in Crypto. I watched an interview in which he said it's digital gold. That's what made me respect him even more. I'm not sure if he had negative speculation before, but it's essential that he now invests in it. I'm happy for him for that.

Books can reinforce your principles already. If you already know what he is talking about, you should still take everything with an open mind to grow.

[aoluain]

"Rich dad poor dad" was OK,but everything else Kiyosaki does just seems sketchy.
He is more like a conman rather than a legit writer.His books are more into the self-help niche,rather than actual guides about finance and economy.
Books about "how to become rich" are always funny to me,because there's no guaranteed formula,that will make anyone rich.

Writing a book could certainly help, especially when it involves money.

"Rich dad poor dad" was all about gaining more income generating assets and dumping the expense generating liabilities.I like that idea,but "spend less than you earn" is just common sense.Everyone with a brain and an IQ above 90 should know that without reading books.

Not everyone practices this, actually the vast majority dont. We are all
bombarded with "buy me" adverts for stuff we dont actually need.

I never read the book but can I add the below?

Definition of Stupidity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Do something different - buy Bitcoin

[Poker Player]

I believe that all of us who have been interested in personal finance have read him.

In the end, of all the finance gurus I've read, I prefer Dave Ramsey by far. He gives you 7 steps that everyone who follows them goes from poor to rich.

Regarding Kiyosaky, although I recommend him as a first read for everyone, I think his plan would not work for most people although it may work for some. It is based on taking on as much debt as possible to acquire assets that give you cash flow by taking advantage of low rates, and thus minimizing tax payments.

But this 1) works in the US but not in many other countries because they do not have the same tax breaks and rates. In addition, although we all think that rates will remain low for a while, they can go up, and this leads me to

2)He underestimates the risk. His system, again, is very focused on the US and its bankruptcy system, which is not the same in all parts of the world.

3) It does not take into account one thing that Dave Ramsey does take into account: personal finance is mostly a matter of behavior (psychology) and not so much of rational knowledge. I don't think most people are prepared to follow his cash-flow game.

I also want to point out that his sentence: "your house is not an asset" is fine as a concept if you understand what he means, but I disagree. He applies the same for example to an S&P 500 fund preferring to buy options, which to me is straight up garbage.

But let's go to the house example: according to him it is not an asset because an asset puts money in your pocket while a liability takes money out of your pocket. And I say that as a general idea it is fine but it is wrong. Because if you have a $350,000 paid off house you can sell it and go to a $250,000 house, putting $100k in your pocket, or you can go rent. So it is clearly an asset, and the banks take it into account to give you a loan.

[Mauser]

I have read Rich Dad, Poor Dad in my English Class during High School. It's Amazing Book, I can also recommend it to anybody. His other good book I read "Cashflow Quadrant" was also pretty good. One thing that is different from back in the days to todays world is that real estate prices have risen a lot compared to today. The difference between the average salaries and the price of an average house or apartment increased a lot over the last 30 years. So the strategy of his Rich Dad, with buying hotels, and making a nice profit of the land while having a stable cash flow from the hotel is very hard to do these days.

Has anyone ever played the board game to the book?

[jrrsparkles]

Rich Dad vs Poor Dad is not actually a guide to become rich, its like a beginner book for a common fella to understand about money, debt and the investments. Because many people thinks that they can become rich someday when they are getting salary but it is not possible unless they become CEO of Google or big companies like that.

[Spaffin]

Rich Dad vs Poor Dad is not actually a guide to become rich, its like a beginner book for a common fella to understand about money, debt and the investments. Because many people thinks that they can become rich someday when they are getting salary but it is not possible unless they become CEO of Google or big companies like that.

I believe that wealth is a relative thing, because each person has their own framework for wealth. Someone lacks several hundreds of millions of dollars, while others will need tens of thousands of dollars for a quiet life. At least you can start your own small business and enjoy life.

[Silberman]

I am not a great fan of Robert Kiyosaky, who many people will know for his best-seller "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", particularly when it comes to his continuous boostering of Real State as an investment and his simplistic approach to "good debt" and "bad debt", ignoring leverage and risks. However there is something to be said about the basic principles of poverty and "richness" that are the background of his discourse.

I recon that, at first, when I listened to his audios, a million years ago, me and my usual cynism just could not take it seriously at fist: it was yet another book about becoming "rich" (LOL), but at that time I had many hours of travelling per day and podcasts had not been invented, so I listened, just as I could be watching Star Wars Episode IV.

It soon became apparent this book was not about becoming rich, but rather about not being poor forever. For someone like me who has roots on a culture is (used to be?) conservative in the spending and risk averse, he was just stating the obvious: Do not spend more than you earn and f*kin* save a bit for the future. For gods' shake, you do not need 500 pages for that do you?

No, you just need a few lines:

a) Do not spend more than you earn.
b) If you are breaking (a) rule, do not use debt to finance stuff that you do not need and goes down in value. Yes, that's your car unless you use it for work and is adequately sized, that is you 54 inch TV and the subscription to Netflix.
c) If you get into debt, use it to finance you roof, not your swimming pool.

Please, add at will but this is pretty much it.

Oh, I think that I should add Warren Buffet's advice: use compound interest to your favour, not against you (see (b) & (c)).

Probably the biggest misconception that I see in people is that when they ask a loan they think they are asking money to the bank when in reality they are asking a loan to their future selves, and we need to ask yourselves do we really think the economy is going to do well for 20 years straight? Can we keep our job for that long? Do you really want to work until you are 60 or 70 years old? Basically easy credit has warped their vision of money and they want everything now even when they do not have the money to pay for it, once you understand the credit you receive should either go towards something that helps your life significantly or something that helps you to increase your income it is easy to avoid the debt trap for all of those things which do not fit one of those two criteria.

[Xinarae*]

Kiyosaki and the boy on the street the rich father and the poor father It tells the story of a boy going from poor to rich. He has become rich by his own efforts many people take out a loan thinking about the future but it is not possible if they do not use enough money at present it has been proven that it is possible to deal with poverty with conventional interest based microfinance but it is impossible to reduce poverty. Ordinary poor peasant workers have become destitute by paying higher interest rates at a compounding rate the expectation of women's inclusion and empowerment in the micro credit scheme has made her a victim of family social and state self contradiction.

[Lorence.xD]

I believe that wealth is a relative thing, because each person has their own framework for wealth. Someone lacks several hundreds of millions of dollars, while others will need tens of thousands of dollars for a quiet life. At least you can start your own small business and enjoy life.

True wealth is a relative thing is not just money you know, mental wealth, physical wealth and social wealth counts I think. If wealth was just money then this world strayed from the truth a long time ago because people never chased what is their purpose anymore, they all just need to survive and make money to survive day by day. Those advices can work but if you don't have enough money to save, will you be able to escape out of poverty though?

[avikz]

No, you just need a few lines:

a) Do not spend more than you earn.
b) If you are breaking (a) rule, do not use debt to finance stuff that you do not need and goes down in value. Yes, that's your car unless you use it for work and is adequately sized, that is you 54 inch TV and the subscription to Netflix.
c) If you get into debt, use it to finance you roof, not your swimming pool.

Yes, that's all a man needs in their life and these are the basics! People often indulge themselves in debts for the things they don't need. I too had a similar fate back in 2010 when I first started my career. I had a good job and the bank where I used to have my salary account, offered me a credit card with good limit. The very next day, I had purchased a watch worth 15 grand in my local currency in EMI. I my country, credit cards used to charge 4% monthly interest at that time, so I ended up paying almost 7 grand in interest. So a watch which costs 15 grand in open market, I paid around 22 grand for that! But lessons learned so I have never went back to that route again ever.

But one thing I agree with the author, is about real estate investment! In metro cities, real estate is the only investment that will give a regular income and an inflation adjusted value for future. Things may be different for small towns but for metro cities, real estate is still a great investment!