Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki

I’m going to start with Rich Dad Poor Dad, because it one of my all-time favourite books. A lot of books have the ability to change your life, and after you finish this book you will change the way you view money.

I picked up a used copy of this book (at my local bargain bookstore BMV) years ago, way before Robert Kiyosaki had built his multi-million dollar franchise around the title. For those of you who don’t know Robert Kiyosaki, he is a real-estate millionaire. Who had acquired enough money by the time he was in his mid 40’s to retire rich, but decided instead to share his knowledge of building wealth with the world.

Is this a book about real-estate, no, this book is a primer on how money works written in layman’s terms. You don’t need to be a financial whiz, to appreciate Robert Kiyosaki’s common-sense approach to explain how money works, or better yet how money can work for you so you don’t have to work so hard for it.

Robert Kiyosaki re-counts stories and lessons from his childhood in Hawaii where he tells you about growing up with his two dads, his biological father who was traditionally educated in academia, who had a secure job and a limited financial education, and the other, his friend’s dad who was a successful entrepreneur.

It’s the story of his life mixed with financial wisdom. The lessons he learned along the way, in failed businesses, being a marine, getting a financial education after leaving school, and the many things he did before settling into real estate. There are many nuggets of useful wisdom that he passes onto the reader. I found myself nodding my head constantly throughout the whole book, it’s definitely a page-turner, you won’t be able to put it down.

It all started with a game he created called Cash-flow 101 to teach people about money. He has since penned many more books in the franchise too many too name here, but you can’t miss’em in your local bookstore. As I said earlier this is not a real-estate book, though he does currently offer a get rich workshop, where you can sign up for around $500 to become one of his real estate lambs (I know because I attended the free seminar - no I didn’t sign up). Just check your local paper.

Some of you may say that Robert Kiyosaki is not the only real-estate/financial guru out there touting secrets of financial success. Why do I recommend him? There is no special reason, only that I happen to like his style, and he has obviously built a level of success that many of us only dream about.

I’m sure many of you have already had your financial mindset changed by reading this book, for those of you who haven’t, pick it up and let me know what you think.