Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter

Rich Dad Poor Dad

Making life’s decision is not simple. To decide is to choose wisely. It is not just choosing what you want and what you like. It is choosing what is right. Making decision is about choosing which is better, the one that is more beneficial and the one that will make you happier. It is about deciding what you really want that will bring you satisfaction. One book that I have read about making decision in life is the Rich Dad Poor Dad. This book is written by Robert T. Kiyosaki. Robert Kiyosaki is an educator, entrepreneur and investor believing that financial education is an utmost important to thing to be learned. He writes and teaches concepts and ideas related to investing, managing money and finance, and economics.

This book Rich Dad Poor Dad, is about how to make the right decision in life by considering the knowledge in financial education. This all about managing finances and proper use of money. In this book, the author tells about his story about having two fathers: the poor dad who is his biological father, and the rich dad, the father of his childhood friend. Both of his fathers do believe that education is an important tool to in learning but they disagree on what they thought was important to learn. Kiyosaki’s biological father, whom he call his poor dad is highly educated and works in the government. This poor dad believes in what most of us do which is, to have a good education will help one person to find a good job in a good company to earn money. The rich dad, who has very little education is more financially stable. He encourages Kiyosaki to learn not only those things taught in school but also those things that will teach him how to be rich, and to understand the works of money and how to make it work for you. Both of his dads are influential and both of them strongly believed in education but they did not advice Kiyosaki the same thing. Kiyosaki was only nine years of age when he became conscious of the contrasting points of view that his two dads teaching him. It all started when he asked both of his dads the same question about becoming rich or making money, and his two dads answered him differently.

The contrasting views of Kiyosaki’s forced him to think, compare and choose for himself which of the advices he will accept or reject; and which of which will be more valuable in the long run of his life. Choosing and deciding to whom advice he will listen is difficult because it means rejecting the other. The differences of views about life that his two dads taught him made Kiyosaki more interested in learning and comparing what his two dads wanted him to learn. When Kiyosaki asked his biological father, the poor dad, to teach him how to make money, his poor dad told him that money does not matter to him. His poor dad does not think about being rich. He just want to have a good job that will help him earn money to pay bills. This is an opposite of what the rich dad always said that money is power. Kiyosaki reflected over the years and chose to listen to his rich dad instead of listening to his poor dad’s advices even to the behavior towards money. It was painful decision for him, but it helped him in decision making and in managing his life. The rich dad taught Kiyosaki the things that are not taught in school. He helped Kiyosaki understand how money works and how to handle money. Rich dad’s teachings on financial education made Kiyosaki learned that what is more powerful than money is financial education. To have a knowledge on managing finance and on how money works, one person may gain power over money and may begin building wealth. This is book is not saying that money or wealth is the most important thing in the world. This is about teaching how to manage finances and how important it is to be financially literate.

As I was reading this book, little by little I find it interesting. Questions, comparisons and differences about what a person may believe about managing finances started to build up in my mind. I came up with a thought on how could financial education could affect and influence me as a person and to the economy as a whole. As a person, first I learned that it is powerful to practice exercising our mind. We can exercise our mind by keeping it working thru thinking. Our mind is affected on how we think and on how we deal with things around us. Like on what Kiyosaki told in this book about the habit of his one dad in saying, “I can’t afford it.” Making a negative statement would stop our brain to think and to make ways to solve the quest. Automatically saying negative phrase limits the brain from working and is a sign of mental laziness. Question like “How can I afford it?” as one of the insights that Kiyosaki gained from his rich dad, forces our brain to think thus puts our mind to work. Our thoughts affects our behavior and our life. Financially speaking, when we practice proper mental exercise, we increase the capacity of our brain to think thus increases our chances for wealth. Another thing I learned from Kiyosaki and from his rich dad is about the importance of managing finances. Knowing how to manage our money affects our life and our decision making. Deciding and choosing to be happy is about being contented and satisfied with what we need, what we want and what we expect. To be happy and to be contented can be impossible to meet when one person does not have enough resources to afford his/her needs and wants. This is why financial education is important. Managing finances is not only beneficial to an individual. Since every individual plays important role in the economy, what is beneficial to one could be beneficial to others – to its surroundings, to other people and to the government. For example, a person who is a professional and a leader to an organization does not know how to manage finances. What could this bring to the company? How about in financial security? Will they be run out of money? Will they struggle in debts? A person who does not know how to use and manage finance may end up working hard in a company not for his happiness but to sustain his needs and pay his unpaid bills. Money is powerful but to be financially educated or financially literate is even more powerful.

Nowadays, we can see many people like me, busy in finding the right job and the right employer; making good at work; aiming for good compensation and saving money for the future. These are all about security. Yes, I want to be secured. I want to have enough money to buy my needs and wants; to travel; to explore; to give; to share; and to be satisfied and to be happy. But how can I achieve it? I have learned from this book, working for money is not helpful. It is not how much money that we make. It is how much money we keep. As what the rich teach their children, one way to make money is to make money work for you. It is to invest to things that are not liabilities but assets. An asset puts money in our pocket while liability takes away money out of our pocket. According to Kiyosaki, assets are those type of businesses that do not require our presence, these are the bonds, the stocks, real estate, or anything that generates income, anything that has value and do not depreciate, and anything that produces product or services ready to market. Investing to these assets causes a good return of investments. This is making your money to produce more and more. This is some of the advices that rich dad taught Kiyosaki. To let the money work for you. Once finance is properly managed there will be balance between the money or the income that the person is receiving and to his/her expenses thus results to financial stability.

Financial education cannot be learned in school and in any courses. It is learned thru our life’s experiences and to people who influence us. Learning about what makes the rich richer and the poor become poorer, had an impact to me. I have learned how important it is to manage finances especially on how to use my money. I may have had my own decision in life – to be successful and to be happy in my own ways. Whatever decision I made can be affected on the way I behave and act. My own view about money also have an effect on this. This is the reason why this book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, finds interesting to me. Through this book, I learned to consider the use of money and managing finances in making life’s decision. When money is used wisely and when finances is properly managed, one person will be able to achieve his/her needs especially those things that are intangible like happiness and satisfaction.