Rich Dad's Guide to Investing : What the Rich Invest in, That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!

by Kiyosaki, Robert T.; Lechter, Sharon L.

• ISBN13: 9780446677462
• ISBN10: 0446677469
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-06-01
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Summary

The rich are different from the rest of us, if for no other reason than U.S. tax and securities laws allow them to invest in ways that keep us from catching up to them. That's why 90 percent of all corporate shares of stock are owned by 10 percent of the people. Kiyosaki believes it's possible for anyone to move up into that 10 percent, but it takes a different view of investing than most people have: it takes a plan to be a successful investor. And a plan is more than simply buying and selling, or collecting "assets" that bring in no cash and are thus more akin to liabilities. The way most people invest, "they might as well be pushing a wheelbarrow in a circle," he writes. A plan is "mechanical, automatic, and boring," a formula for success that has worked historically for most of those who've used it. Kiyosaki's "rich dad" (actually, the father of his best friend) tells him the simplest analogy is the game Monopoly: buy four green houses, trade them for one red hotel, and repeat until you become rich. The overall message of Rich Dad's Guide to Investing is that this is an abundant world, full of opportunity for the sophisticated investor. However, it sometimes takes a while to find this point. Much of the book is told in dialogues between young Kiyosaki and his rich dad, and these conversations can ramble. There are rewards for the careful reader--for example, in the middle of a section on the basic rules of investing, Kiyosaki's rich dad compares investor education to toilet training: difficult at first but eventually automatic. But getting to these inspired metaphors means wading through a lot of repetitive dialogue. It's a bit ironic that someone who advocates investor discipline should show so little as a writer. But by the end of the book, even the rambling starts to make sense. By the hundredth time you read that the rich don't work for money, and that you don't need money to make money, both concepts start to make sense. It still looks difficult to apply these ideas, but Rich Dad's Guide to Investing certainly makes the case that they'll work for anyone bold and smart enough to practice them. --Lou Schuler

Table of Contents

Introduction
Phase One Are You Mentally Prepared to Be an Investor?	13	(164)
What Should I Invest In?	15	(14)
Pouring a Foundation of Wealth	29	(8)
Investor Lesson #1 The Choice	37	(4)
Investor Lesson #2 What Kind of World Do You See?	41	(6)
Investor Lesson #3 Why Investing Is Confusing	47	(6)
Investor Lesson #4 Investing Is a Plan, Not a Product or Procedure	53	(6)
Investor Lesson #5 Are You Planning to Be Rich or Are You Planning to Be Poor?	59	(6)
Investor Lesson #6 Getting Rich Is Automatic...If You Have a Good Plan and Stick to It	65	(8)
Investor Lesson #7 How Can You find the Plan That Is Right for You?	73	(6)
Investor Lesson #8 Decide Now What You Want to Be When You Grow Up	79	(6)
Investor Lesson #9 Each Plan Has a Price	85	(6)
Investor Lesson #10 Why Investing Isn't Risky	91	(4)
Investor Lesson #11 On Which Side of the Table Do You Want To Sit?	95	(8)
Investor Lesson #12 The Basic Rules of Investing	103	(14)
Investor Lesson #13 Reduce Risk Through Financial Literacy	117	(16)
Investor Lesson #14 Financial Literacy Made Simple	133	(18)
Investor Lesson #15 The Magic of Mistakes	151	(8)
Investor Lesson #16 What Is the Price of Becoming Rich?	159	(8)
The 90/10 Riddle	167	(10)
Phase Two What Type of Investor Do You Want to Become?	177	(70)
Solving the 90/10 Riddle	179	(4)
Rich Dad's Categories of Investors	183	(6)
The Accredited Investor	189	(4)
The Qualified Investor	193	(14)
The Sophisticated Investor	207	(12)
The Inside Investor	219	(6)
The Ultimate Investor	225	(4)
How to Get Rich Quick	229	(10)
Keep Your Day Job and Still Become Rich	239	(4)
The Entrepreneurial Spirit	243	(4)
Phase Three How Do You Build a Strong Business?	247	(50)
Why Build a Business?	249	(4)
The B-I Triangle	253	(14)
Cash Flow Management	267	(4)
Communicatio's Management	271	(8)
Systems Management	279	(6)
Legal Management	285	(4)
Product Management	289	(8)
Phase Four Who Is a Sophisticated Investor?	297	(78)
How a Sophisticated Investor Thinks	299	(14)
Analyzing Investments	313	(10)
The Ultimate Investor	323	(20)
Are You the Next Billionaire?	343	(20)
Why Do Rich People Go Bankrupt?	363	(12)
Phase Five Giving It Back	375	(10)
Are You Prepared to Give Back?	377	(8)
In Conclusion Why It Does Not Take Money to Make Money...Anymore	385