The Essence of Rich Dad Poor Dad

Many people have been inspired by this book Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.

But I noticed something quite interesting.

10 people read the book, 1 or 2 will have their own interpretations - based on their own life story and personal experiences. The rest of the 8 or 9 persons will tend to gravitate towards the interpretations of others even though they have read the book themselves...

Which is weird when you think about it. But upon reflection again, it's perfectly normal. That's human group behaviour.

Essence of Rich Dad Poor Dad

Let me share my own interpretation.

To me, the whole essence of the book is found in Chapter 1.

If you have the book, you may want to re-read this chapter before reading further.

What's the essence?

It's all about the advantages of being a Business Owner right?

To Chinese readers, this is nothing new. There is a well-know Chinese saying that you don't get ahead working for others. 



Spinoffs and splinter groups

As with all Spiritual movements, sooner or later, spinoff and splinter groups will appear as more shepherds offer their own interpretations to the words of the founder. How else to be Indian Chief of your own flock?

Same goes for Rich Dad Poor Dad. 

I shall share 2 prominent spinoff groups I noticed.



Cult of Passive Income

This is quite popular in recent years. 

Makes a lot of sense.

Not everyone has the stomach and temperament to aspire to be Business Owners. Which brings up the question: Are entrepreneurs born or nurtured?

If you belong to the nurture camp, what's stopping you? Go for a course and there you go!

If you lean towards the born camp, either way, you feel better now.

90% of new business start-ups fail in the first 2 years you know? Exactly! 

That's why selling Passive Income is so much easier. Anyone and everyone can do it! (At least that's what the marketing sell says)

I don't know about you, if something can be done by anyone and everyone, the first thing that pops in my mind are "minimum wage" types of jobs...



Temple of Positive Cash Flow

Before Rich Dad Poor Dad, most have one interpretation of what counts as an asset. The brilliant contribution from Rich Dad Poor Dad is that it offered another interesting interpretation of asset that caught the imaginations of its many readers.

The problem is that some readers have swung their pendulum too much to the other side now.

To these readers, any asset that does not yield a positive cash flow is not an asset???

Huh?

Can you think of a great long term asset that has negative yield? You may want to ask or discuss with your parents or grandparents on this one. How?

Can you think of an asset that has no yield yet all empires and dynasties covet it throughout the ages? OK, you may need to know history. 

But if you are Asian, then you don't need history. It's part of our cultural DNA - Asia has been through so many wars, famine, and natural disasters that we even wear this asset on our bodies. 

 

Which quadrant is Robert Kiyosaki?

Do you listen to what others say or what others do?

Enough said.