Robert Kiyosaki Celebrates 20 Years of Rich Dad Poor Dad

Recently I had the unique opportunity of doing a series of interviews with the author of one of the most successful financial book of all time. On my program, the Price of Business show, Robert Kiyosaki was on to celebrate the anniversary of his biggest selling financial book Rich Dad Poor Dad. Kiyosaki decided to do a series of interviews on my program. Kiyosaki is a long time friend of the show.

I did the special series of interviews with Kiyosaki to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his influential book, Rich Dad Poor Dad . He is celebrating that book with the release of two new books, they are Why the Rich are Getting Richer and More Important than Money (which he co-authored with several of his team of advisors).

In this series of interviews, Kiyosaki goes deep into why Rich Dad Poor Dad has had such an enormous impact, the problem of how easy it is to manipulate investments in the short run (what he refers to as paper investments), the importance of financial education, and so much more. Of particular interest are stories about Kiyosakis personal life, his moments of near financial ruin, and the attacks of financial and news writers against Kiyosakis work. Kiyosakis candor is extraordinary in the interviews.

I have been a radio host since 1992 and have done the Price of Business since 2001. As a result, it is often difficult for me to get excited about another interview, but I felt this was a very important series of interviews. I have done thousands of interviews over the years, but few have been with someone who has left such a significant impact on the lives of so many people. In addition, the interviews were profoundly personal. Kiyosaki talked about his homeless stage in pursuit of financial freedom and his relationship with President Donald Trump , with whom he co-authored a book.

I first became familiar with Kiyosakis works shortly after his influential work, Rich Dad Poor Dad , was published. Intellectually, it greatly impacted my thinking about money and how wealth is created. I was raised by Great Depression parents. They fostered a disdain for business and the people that owned them. They also had a great deal of fear about money, which they passed on to me. As a result, my opinions about wealth and poverty were often crippling my efforts to achieve financial freedom. Thus, I got these principles in my head, but not in my heart where it mattered. It took years before I began to apply them practically. This is, in fact, the reason why most New Rich and lifestyle design books do not work in my opinion, it is the reader, not the author, that is the problem.

Some of my favorite lessons from Kiyosaki, include:

• Never exchange time for money. Back when Rich Dad Poor Dad came out, this was a popular theme for him. It is really quite profound, when one thinks about it. He emphasized the importance of automation and hiring people to do ones work (very simple in the era of outsourcing we are in today), long before Tim Ferriss wrote his masterpiece on the subject (and also one of my favorite works on the New Rich), The Four Hour Work Week .
• Whatever you do, do your homework. Kiyosaki argues that education is imperative in pursuing financial success. He is typically not talking about what one gets in the classroom. Nor is he talking about trial and error (AKA the school of life). He argues that there are plenty of mentors available for the price of a book. For a small price you can learn from the best minds in finance. I know, in my own experience, that with every book I read on these topics, the more confident and competent I became. As in most things, confidence builds confidence and confidence grows competence. This is particularly true when it comes to business and finance.
• Beware of paper investments. The problem with many investment vehicles today is that they are easily manipulated. He argues that, unfortunately, these investments are the type that advisers love to promote. He suggests cash flow investments, such as Real Estate or businesses that provide continuous and residual income. Im a huge fan of these as well. In the world of shifty investment opportunities in which the person who sells the product makes money regardless of the returns, this makes sense.

Rich Dad Poor Dad remains one of my favorite financial books and I am never surprised when he comes up with a new one and that, too, is a huge success. Kiyosaki demystifies financial education and makes it accessible to everyone. For the open minded reader it is a game changer.