James’ Grade for Bob Kiyosaki: C

As part of our quest to be millionaires, Miel and I will periodically review finance gurus and give then a grade.

We have already reviewed Suze Orman. I don’t like her one bit, but Miel feels she has some merit.

My next review is Robert Kiyosaki. He is the author of the famous book: Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

This is Robert Kiyosaki’s most famous book. He has a number of other ones as well, but you’ll get the gist of his arguments if you work through this one. Kiyosaki’s basic argument is that when he was growing up in Hawaii, he had a mentor who was very wealthy. This wealthy ‘dad’ taught him to relate to money as if he were a rich person, e.g. to learn how to make and keep it.
He contrasts this with what his ‘poor dad’, or his natural father taught him. Kiyosaki says that his ‘poor dad’ taught him to get a job and work for money. He feels his ‘rich’ dad’s advice is better because it taught him a way to relate to money which helped him become the success he feels he is today.

I have a love/hate relationship with Kiyosaki.

What I like about him is:

1) He has encouraged hundreds of thousands to take financial control of their lives.
2) His philosophy of building assets makes good sense.
3) Kiyosaki is a bit of a contrarian, and his arguments are sometimes useful in helping one get persepective on what the mainstream financial media say.
4) He is from Hawaii, and Hawaii is pretty freakin’ cool.

What I don’t like about him is:

1) The factual inconsistencies in his biography. I think he makes stuff up about himself. I also suspect he exagerates the amount of his assets. I think this is worse in his later books.
2) His association with AMWAY. Pyramid schemes are unsound and associating with this philosphy suggests that he is more of an opportunist than a disinterested teacher.
3) He oversimplifies the process of making money. Making money is hard. Don’t ever think otherwise. If making money were easy, nobody would need Kiyosaki’s books.
4) His math is often just plain wrong. Click here for a good analysis of this point.

All in all, I give Kiyosaki a C. He is better than Suze Orman, but not as good as some others.

Best,

James