Rich Dad Poor Dad Comes to Cebu

[binarypill]

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hitch22, nice post bro. i'm also curious about your offer of free financial education. i'd like some pointers from you, i hope you can accommodate me. these are my questions:

1. what specific topics will a good financial education tackle. i hope you can give me something a bit more concrete, not just the vague things that people throw around like "learn to live within your means", "budget your time", etc. etc. etc.

2. what should my focus be so that i can grow financially fairly quick. a little background, i'm an IT professional who can program, do web design and is currently teaching - and not really earning that much, to be honest.

3. where can i get this education and how much money would i be shelling out (a major point, in fact a deciding factor with a weight of 90%)

this is not a troll post, bro. i genuinely am looking for some guidance/suggestions. also, other posters, feel free to add your two cents (figuratively).

[hitch22]

hitch22, nice post bro. i'm also curious about your offer of free financial education. i'd like some pointers from you, i hope you can accommodate me. these are my questions:

1. what specific topics will a good financial education tackle. i hope you can give me something a bit more concrete, not just the vague things that people throw around like "learn to live within your means", "budget your time", etc. etc. etc.

2. what should my focus be so that i can grow financially fairly quick. a little background, i'm an IT professional who can program, do web design and is currently teaching - and not really earning that much, to be honest.

3. where can i get this education and how much money would i be shelling out (a major point, in fact a deciding factor with a weight of 90%)

this is not a troll post, bro. i genuinely am looking for some guidance/suggestions. also, other posters, feel free to add your two cents (figuratively).

I'm sorry but I think I should clarify what I mean when I said: "If you need to spend that much just to be told to get a financial education, I can do that for you FOR FREE! Get a financial education!"

I-translate na lang nako, para klaro....Kapila ra gud pag-ingon "Get a financial education".

People buy Kiyosaki's books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Rich Dad's Guide to Investing, etc. to get a financial education. Pero the books basically tell you to get a financial education. You read it all the way to the end just to be told to get a financial education. Why pay money for such advice? I can tell you to get a financial education...for free pa gyud! Do you get what I mean now?

Anyway, you really want to know my opinion? Here's what I think what "getting a financial education" means. Getting a financial education means learning about the different paper assets that are out there: Cash, CDs, Bonds, Stocks, Mutual Funds, and property (in the form of title deeds). I've heard investment advisers/planners telling me to allocate my money: e.g. 40% stocks, 40% bonds, 20% Cash. Anyone who wants to beat inflation does this. It's no secret. People in the US do this with their 401K. Cash - you already understand this. Bonds - just stick with government bonds para dili mapaso. Stocks, if you don't know how to read financial statements and can't be bothered to keep track of annual reports, you're better off letting fund managers do that part for you...pero you'll end up paying management fees, doc stamps, and a load (the cover charge) or whatever it's called now.

There are people out there who handle these things for a living. They're the experts. But the problem with experts like fund managers is that 90% of them can't beat the Index. Meaning, if you just buy the list of stocks from the index, you can outdo the experts and save yourself the hefty fees. That's not just my opinion...that's the same thing you'll read from legendary investors like Peter Lynch, Warren Buffett...or even the Motley Fools. Peter Lynch said something like this: "The best way to make money from stocks is to do your homework and trust your own judgment based on the facts you've studied...and hold that stock until the situation's changed for the worse for that company or if the price of the stock is way beyond what the fundamentals justify."

If you think network marketing is going to make you rich, then you reserve the right to act on your belief. Just do your own thinking. Don't even trust my opinion. I could be dead wrong

[nodols3]

You should give credit to the man (Robert kiyosaki) , He's an eye opener for me....

He opened my eyes to the world of business...

I don't care what others say.... ^_^

[binarypill]

@hitch22: ah, i see. sorry for misunderstanding your earlier post. in any case, your follow up post gave me a few ideas too. though, i'm guessing these options are beyond me. getting into stocks and bonds would probably require quite a lump sum of money. anyway, at least i have an idea what to do in case i every win the lottery.

[hitch22]

Like what the other gentleman said : "It's good to hear an opinion from the other side of things."

I know a lot of you guys are excited and have signed up for the talk/seminar by a genuine Kiyosaki disciple. So, hearing about a negative opinion would definitely feel like a cold shower. But that's alright. Just go ahead and attend the thing. Sometimes, a seminar could very well be your spark...toward wisdom.

For those of you who are wondering who Kiyosaki is, it's just right for you to find out first who Kiyosaki is (the good and the bad, of course) and what people are saying about his books and ideas.

Here are some useful links:
1. Wikipedia - Robert Kiyosaki
2. John T. Reed's Analysis of Robert Kiyosaki's Book
3. Rip off report - Robert Kiyosaki scam alert - filed in Queens, New York
4. Rip off report - Robert Kiyosaki scam alert - filed in Tampa, Florida
5. Wall Street Journal - Rich Men, Poor Advice: Their Book Is Hot, But Their Financial Tips Aren't
6. CNN - Kiyosaki mania
7. Hawaii Business - Robert Kiyosaki
8. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC News Network) - Who's getting rich off Rich Dad?

In that Who's getting rich off Rich Dad documentary, Erica Johnson asks Kiyosaki directly: what’s really going on? Are Canadians being lured by the Rich Dad name to spend money on weekend workshops that seem really designed to sell them more workshops? PLEASE HAVE A LOOK AT THE VIDEO CONTAINED IN THE Who's getting rich off Rich Dad? page.

Here's what a guy said about the Kiyosaki seminar from the CNN article Kiyosaki mania:

"Don't get me wrong. The guy was entertaining. He was hysterical," said Brown. "But when I left I thought, 'Boy that's the longest commercial I've ever heard.' A lot of it was selling his books. ... I heard someone ask him at the reception 'what about college plans for my kid?' and he sort of blew them off like, 'Go make a million and don't worry about it' kind of thing.

In They say they want you to be rich article in Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, here's what it said:

The Donald needs no introduction. Kiyosaki's success with "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" has spawned a franchise of books, games and speaking engagements. He's also made a PBS special, which is usually trotted out when public television stations need help from viewers like you.

Impressive resumes. Alas, unimpressive book. "Why We Want You to Be Rich" is a thinly veiled infomercial for more financial-advice products from Kiyosaki, Trump and their minions. They sell positive thinking and can-do haziness -- specific details cost extra.

From a feature article in Hawaii Business entitled Robert Kiyosaki, here's what the writer says about him:

It is difficult to get much more out of Kiyosaki, who is short on specifics and a master of ambiguity. He makes a loose reference to “being in the oil and gas, silver and gold, real estate, and publishing” industries, but, for the most part, trying to pry any specific information out of the reclusive Kiyosaki is like trying to get a straight answer out of a politician running for office.

That's the same reaction I had after reading Kiyosaki's books: short on specifics and a master of ambiguity.

"A responsible choice is an informed choice."--American philosopher

[nodols3]

Naka remember man pud ko aning Bill Gates, kadtong gi kiha siya ug monopolizing...
But Bill Gates is still Bill Gates, and Kiyosaki will still be Kiyosaki....A billionaire and a millionaire respectively....

Bad publicity and Good publicity...^_^

[hitch22]

Naka remember man pud ko aning Bill Gates, kadtong gi kiha siya ug monopolizing...
But Bill Gates is still Bill Gates, and Kiyosaki will still be Kiyosaki....A billionaire and a millionaire respectively....

Bad publicity and Good publicity...^_^

Salute! bilib jud ko sa imong die-hard stance. Gi-equate pa gyud si Kiyosaki kang Bill Gates!

There is no comparison to speak of. That's laughable. Kiyosaki is a scam artist, and his stories about Rich Dad or his father or his oil companies have been proven to be just pure lies. Bill Gates is a real software mogul. People benefit from his products immediately. Of course, there have been accusations by rival companies of monopolistic practices...but never for scams or fraudulent practices. Kiyosaki, on the other hand, got rich selling his books, seminars and his board games---all of which have been analyzed by business writers to be lacking in substance, misleading, and full of infomercials.

Again, PLEASE WATCH THE EXPOSE VIDEO FROM CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORP. : Who's getting rich off Rich Dad?

I'm sorry to say...Klaro kaayo scam artist para nako. Anyway, I'll leave you to your own devices. Do your own thinking. Research. Check the guy out. Check out the links I've provided in my previous post. Check their sources. And then make up your own mind. Just go ahead with your upcoming seminar and see how far Kiyosaki would take you to his "Promised Land." I'm sure Kiyosaki would be very proud of his soldier.


Again, para dili gyud malimtan...MUST WATCH: Who's getting rich off Rich Dad?

[nodols3]

Ok, since you quoted on my response, I have no other choice but clear things up for you, about my stance. Please don’t mind if I quoted your posts also.

1. Before you get carried away by his Japanese-sounding name, read his book first and judge it for yourself. To me, his signature book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, was a disappointment.

2. It had nothing new to say. He starts by pandering to the working-wounded's sentiments.

3. He knows that if these people had a choice, they'd leave their bosses behind and do something for themselves.

4. He jeers at the fact that the working man has to ask permission for just about anything he wants to do. He calls them "slaves to paycheck".

5. Then he turns his attack on schools, saying that schools are bad teachers for aspiring entrepreneurs. He gives the example of his poor, biological dad who was supposedly a scholastic achiever but who found himself near bankruptcy when he was about to retire.

6. And then he talks about his famous quadrant, obviously pointing to the E-quadrant (Entrepreneur) as the best way to go...with the caveat that this path is reserved for a special breed of people.

7. He'll tell you about the need to get a financial education, his Cash Flow board game being a good tool <wink> <wink> and why it doesn't take money to make money, and all that jazz.

8. What I found out about Robert Kiyosaki is that he used to be (and perhaps still is) an AMWAY guy...you know, those stubborn network marketing (or whatever name it's called nowadays) people who always want to show you how to make money in your spare time. In fact, Kiyosaki recommends network marketing for people who want to get some training in entrepreneurship. Yeah, yeah, there are people who got rich this way...but trust me you're not gonna be one of them. They'll tell you that you can get rich through recruiting.

9. But the most curious thing about all these network marketing talks is that they never fail to put up a firewall against criticisms. They'll warn you against reading about the negative publicity on network marketing. At this point, you have to wonder why they don't trust you to make your own judgment about the things you read. If you are as skeptical as I am, your BS alarm would start ringing like crazy at this point.

10. When you start researching on the web, you'll perhaps stumble upon this article from MSNBC: In pursuit of the almighty dollar. Read it and see its expose on the AMWAY-Quixtar scam.

Scam? And Robert used to be associated with it? And even recommending it? If you think the plot has thickened by now, I guess there's more to know about Robert and his methods. Check out this website: John T. Reed's analysis of Robert Kiyosaki's book.

11. After reading Rich Dad, you may be tempted to drop out of school and just follow Kiyosaki to the Promised Land. Don't. Finish your schooling. Don't be ashamed to take up a job if you don't see yourself as an entrepreneur. The only guy Kiyosaki is making rich is himself---selling his books, CDs, boardgames, and oh...his expensive, "hurry! limited time offer only!" talks.

12. If you need to spend that much just to be told to get a financial education, I can do that for you FOR FREE!

Get a financial education....but don't let Kiyosaki tell you that.

1. Firstly, his name doesn’t sound like Japanese, it is a Japanese name and he is Japanese, a third generation Japanese in fact, and yup, I’ve read some of his books, and it was NOT a disappointment for me. As what I’ve said it opened my once dead shut eyes to the world of business.

2. When I read his books, it had something NEW to say to ME, not you, not other people, but ME. Wounded sentiments doesn’t have to be wounded all the time, it needs healing.

3. Of course he offered me a choice, I didn’t have to leave my current job because I love working here, and yes I’ve read from one of his books saying “ I don’t have to leave my current job, do business part-time “, I still can remember it clearly.

4. Aren’t we all asking permission when we want to do something in the office? Especially when it involves crucial decisions? And how many of you here aren’t “ slaves to paycheck “? A lot of my friends and officemates are, just ask around, How many of your fellow officemates and friends aren’t waiting for their hard-earned paycheck, just to waste it all on “doodads” as what kiyosaki said?

How many of your friends borrow money from you or other people just to buy his/her brand spanking new cellphone?, I remember a friend who even call her cellphone an asset, and now I’m laughing at it.

Thanks to him I managed to save money to invest, with a fellow officemate who recommended Kiyosaki book’s to me, and now our business will be expanding by the end of the year.

5. Yup, his turning his attack on schools, where else can you get most of your education from? And how many people who are very educated even graduating with flying colors and are still “slaves to paycheck” and are trap in the rat-race?

In school, when we cooperate with other students, it’s called cheating, but in a corporation when we work together for a common cause it’s called teamwork, it’s a rhetorical phrase don’t and please don’t quote me on that.

To name a few people who either drop or didn’t finish schools but are millionaires or billionaires, Bill Gates, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Fred Trump etc….

6. Yup his famous quadrant, actually the E-Quadrant stands for Employee not Entrepreneur, did you really read his book? What he wants us readers of his books is the path to the B and I quadrant , B – Business (Big) , I – Investor (inside investor), he recommended it but not forced it to us. Since it is the best and proven way to become rich, a lot of time I hear people saying “ Walay madatu sa panarbaho” I believe it’s true, most of the time, right?

What you may be pointing as to “ his path “ “ which is reserved for a special breed of people” statement is, TRUE to highest degree, how many billionaires are there the now in the world? Forbes only counted around 1000 people, imagine that a handful thousand in a world composed of 6.8 billion people, that’s 6,825,700,000 in June 2010 counted by the United States Census Bureau. How many zeros was that again? And how many are billionaires? And just so you notice Kiyosaki is not a billionaire yet, his still a millionaire and that is why he is calling it “ his path” because he is striding in that path now. And boy! I sure wish to be walking on the path also.

7. Well the board game is one of the tools to get a financial education, Have you played the game yourself? If so how many times? Did you learn something from it?

If you ask me, I learned how to file my financial statement , I know now where to put and identify my assets and my liabilities, expenses and income on my financial statement, I now know how to spend my hard earned buck wisely, and not on those useless doodads. I learned more in just a few days by the board game, than in how many years, going to school. ( ayaw sad pag- ingon ha nga “ mao ra na ang imo nahibaloan sa school?” Or” wala diay mo tudlo-e pag file ug income statement sa school ninyo?” ) well, they may have thought me but it made more sense to me playing the board game, than in school doing those assignments, What I wanted to say is that, the board game is a very good tool for your steps to financial literacy, you don’t have to buy the game, you can borrow from a friend who has one, or you can go to clubs who has them. I believe it doesn’t cost that much if you don’t buy the game.

And the game is fun!

8. I salute your total negative backward thinking bro, now I’m beginning to think you haven’t really read his books, I don’t care which network marketing he is in now, he could be in a any network marketing company right now, but I remembered in one of his books recommending to spend some time learning to do marketing, what he pointed out right there is the “LEARNING” that you get from attending trainings in those entrepreneurship seminars, programs or whatever you want to call it. He went into network marketing as what he said “ just to overcome his shyness”. How can you get rich if you don’t even know how to sell? People advising other people on how to get a job, points to the importance of selling yourself when you’re on a job interview.

Just focus on what you will learn, not on how much money you will earn on those network marketing, your purpose could be to learn the system, marketing ways, how to approach people, how to convince people that your product has superior quality and of course you have to prove it. Anything just to make your product stand from all those competition.

And please check the covers of well known books, it says “best SELLING author “, get it? best SELLING not best WRITING author.

9. Mmhhh all those marketers.

10. Again bad publicity.

11. In Rich Dad, Poor Dad I don’t see any words explicitly saying to drop out of college, what a pity excuse that would be, hahaha, dropping out of college because Kiyosaki telling you to do so. But I do remember him telling “ DON’T drop out of school, do it as a PART TIME. “ please read his books again.

12. Thank you for telling me that, but I beg to differ on the Kiyosaki telling me what to do part, he can tell me things he wants to tell me, I would gladly hear his advises, but will have to spend some time deciding for my self if it can be applied feasibly and of course “ if it makes business sense – Warren Buffett“

Whew….With all those said, I would humbly ask you to read his books again, and weigh for yourself if it is worth the while discrediting his principles and his credibility.

You may have your ways and he has his, Bill Gates may have his ways, so does Warren Buffett and Donald Trump, but all this comes to earning money for us to be financially free, and enjoy the abundance of what life may offer to us.

I’ve read from Kiyosaki telling “Investing isn’t risky it’s you being unprepared that is risky”. So with Eliyahu M. Goldratt saying “ Luck is opportunity meets preparedness” so with Warren Buffett thinking that investing is predictable, you just have to do your homework, Donald Trump saying “ If something is going to affect you it is best that you know everything about it” , actually it was from his father Fred Trump, which he just restated a little bit.

I could go on and on about this but, we guys are just wasting OPT here, Kiyosaki’s Other People’s Time.

One thing is for certain, I believe on what those people told me, to be prepared.
Just because you read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, doesn’t mean you know everything about business that’s why I said he’s an eye opener, he opened my eyes to the business world, you don’t have to stop there.

Learn something everyday, do something productive, teach if given the chance that’s what Kiyosaki and Trump and so with other Billionaires out there are doing, don’t be swayed by those people with herd mentality, who keeps telling you to stick you your own kind.

Read books from Authors like : Robert Kiyosaki for starters, Donald Trump on real estates, Peter Lynch, George Soros, Warren Buffett and Benjamin Graham for stock market , Bloomberg, Goldratt if you are into manufacturing etc…etc..

“. Yeah, yeah, there are people who got rich this way...but trust me you're not gonna be one of them. “

I beg to differ on statements like these, this statement is down right negative, counterproductive, facing a brick wall kind of stuff , Instead, why not go for.

“ How can I be one them rich people? ” – R. Kiyosaki

This keeps your mind to be creative and think of possible ways, and it’s a good brain exercise too, it keeps your mind healthy and productive instead of halting it right there and then.

Brod, please don’t take it personally, and please don’t take me as being sacrilegious to Kiyosaki’s tenets, I did not say I have to die like a dim-wit soldier living up to his tenets.

I have other heroes and to look forward too, and I have my ways of judging each of them and Kiyosaki is only one of them.

No more of these, I won’t be answering any more of your post after this one.
Please respect my stance.

Thank you bro.

[rcdy]

Rich dad poor dad, I did like the book It was unique in its own way. And yes It was a good book for basic financial literacy, there are some point in the book that I'd like to argue maybe because we have different views.
The point is there were some thoughts in the book I don't agree with, topics were very broad. but It was a great book and I find it very useful.

[josephdc]

@hitch22:

I was getting excited about attending the seminar with my wife and then I read your comments...

I went to the link you provided by John T. Reed... I scanned the page... Boy, that's a lot of stuff to read! That deserves careful reading. But right now I don't have the time to read them all. Now, I'm hesitant about going to the seminar.

Like many people, I really loved Kiyosaki's book. It was also an eye-opener to me. It really fired me up. It was the book that really gave me an awareness about taking care of my financial life. However, if John Reed is right about everything he said about Kiyosaki, that's really terrible... I mean, I looked up to him as one of my role models...

But I don't really know much about personal finance, real estate or entrepreneurship (although we do have our own businesses).

Okay, if Robert Kiyosaki is not really a guy we should trust, can you recommend other gurus out there who are trustworthy, or whose advise on personal finance, real estate, business/ entrepreneurship are worth listening to? In other words, who are your personal gurus and what are your favorite personal finance, real estate, business/ entrepreneurship books?

Thanks!