Book review: Rich Dad's Retire Young Retire Rich by Robert Kiyosaki

Rich Dad’s Retire Young Retire Rich – Robert Kiyosaki

Synopsis:
Robert Kiyosaki is the author of the book Rich Dad Poor Dad (I have also reviewed his book Cashflow Quadrant). This is the fifth book he has released under the ‘rich dad’ brand. The basis of this book is explaining how he was able to start with nothing and retire nine years later financially free. The focus is on the different forms of leverage and how you can use them for your benefit. The main message is to expand your ‘context’ or your reality. The last section in the book discusses specific investments such as real estate, paper assets (shares, options) and businesses.
Like the other Rich Dad books, the author contrasts the things his ‘rich dad’ and his ‘poor dad’ have said to him in the past. The focus is on helping you understand that what you believe and say will ultimately determine what type of person you end up as (as in poor, middle class or rich). As the author would say ‘the words became flesh’.

What I gained from reading this book:
I gained so much from the Rich Dad Poor Dad book. Read through that review to see how important I feel it is. This is the third book of his that I have read. He has made some really good points in this book and other points I didn’t agree with. But I did gain from this book. The idea of expanding your context and opening your mind is a powerful one. While I was reading certain chapters I wasn’t too interested in what was being said but after I finished the book I began to notice the truth in the points he made. The examples he made of people not willing to open their mind to possibilities would fit some of my friends perfectly.
I already knew the points he made on shares and options (I studied them at university) so I didn’t learn anything new there but the explanations are well done. This book really does a good job at improving your ‘context’ as the author would say. In other words, it opens your mind to the possibilities of doing things that you would normally never consider.
Although I am not rich yet, I do feel that these books are helping me and improving my future prospects. This book doesn’t look at investment specifics because there are plenty of books on the topic. This book looks at helping you accept that it is possible to get rich (which many people including my friends don’t accept as a possibility).

Positives:
Introduces people to some basic concepts in shares, real estate and options. The conversational style of writing is easy to understand. The book can really help open your mind to possibilities that many people would never accept. The explanations on the different forms of leverage are very useful in real life.

Negatives:
Some people may not like the use of fairy tales to make points. Others may not like the repetition the author uses. Basically, if you did not like his other books, you won’t like this one. If you haven’t read his other books, I recommend Rich Dad Poor Dad over any others.

Recommended for: Those wanting to be rich or successful
I recommend this book for people who seriously want to be rich or successful one day. I say ‘seriously’ because I know many people who say they want to get rich but won’t do anything about it. If you don’t want to put effort in, this book won’t be useful to you. If on the other hand you really aim to put the effort in to try to get rich, this book (as well as his others) can really put things in perspective.

Genre: Investments and personal finance

Overall rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below:



Where to from here:
If you are interested in reading other books by Robert Kiyosaki, I have reviewed other ones here:
Rich Dad Poor Dad
Cashflow Quadrant
Why we want you to be rich by Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump

On the other hand, you may want to consider reading books looking at ways millionaires become rich:
The millionaire next door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko
Ten roads to riches by Ken Fisher

Book review: Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom by Robert Kiyosaki

Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad’s Guide to Financial Freedom – Robert Kiyosaki

Synopsis:
This book is the sequel to the Rich Dad Poor Dad book. It expands on the concepts and principles explained in the first book. The focus in this book is on the different ways people earn money and more importantly, the psychological mindset of the type of people in each area. The author splits up all ways to earn money into four ‘quadrants’. The quadrants are: Employee, Self-employed (or small business), Big business, and Investor. The author then looks at each quadrant and explains why the people in certain quadrants have an advantage over others. Differences in people within the quadrants are explained. The book concludes with steps to become financially successful.

What I gained from reading this book:
I gained so much from the first Rich Dad book and this book was great to expand my understanding on the concepts that the author discusses. Reading about all the different types of people and the different quadrants was a great way to take a look at myself and my personal situation. By the end of the book I had a clearer understanding of where I currently am (financially and psychologically) and where I want to be in the future. Just like the first book, there were great tips and advice that were never discussed in my University years studying finance and investments that I feel are so important for everybody.

Positives:
Expands on the valuable concepts in the first Rich Dad book and introduces new concepts. Great explanations on the different types of people and ways to earn money. This book can be a great tool to assessing your situation.
The concepts are very simple to understand which means anybody can read it. You don’t have to have studied accounting or finance before to understand the points the author makes.

Negatives:
If you did not like the first Rich Dad book, you probably won’t like this one either. If you haven’t read the first book, you probably won’t understand what this book is discussing. The author uses repetition as a teaching tool and some people may not like learning this way.

Recommended for: Everybody
Everybody who has read the first Rich Dad book should read this book to expand the understanding of the concepts explained. I recommend this book for everybody because having a basic understanding of cash flow can improve your personal finance situation.

Genre: Self help and personal finance.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below:



Where to from here:
If you are interested in reading other books by Robert Kiyosaki, I have reviewed other ones here:
Rich Dad Poor Dad
Retire Young Retire Rich
Why we want you to be rich by Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump

On the other hand, you may want to consider reading books looking at ways millionaires become rich:
The millionaire next door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko
Ten roads to riches by Ken Fisher

Book review: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

Rich Dad Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki

Synopsis:
The basis of this book is comparing the advice poor and middle class parents give their children to the advice rich parents give their children. The advice from the poor and middle class parents is along the lines of ‘go to school, get good grades and get a secure job’. The author suggests another path and shows why the conventional advice of getting a ‘secure job’ may not be good advice anymore.
The author uses his childhood experiences and compares advice he received from his real dad (his ‘poor dad’) and his friend’s dad (his ‘rich dad’).

What I gained from reading this book:
I am a Bachelor of Commerce graduate with majors in Finance, Economics and Commercial Law. Before I read this book I had already graduated and studied finance for quite some time. Throughout my finance studies my instincts always bothered me. Almost every finance lecture, I understood what the person was saying, but I knew that something was amiss with their advice. As soon as I started reading this book everything clicked. The author was discussing many of the same issues that bothered me. The number one point that bothered me like nothing else was that almost 100% of the financial planning students I talked to had never invested anything during their studies. The author of the book makes a similar point that ‘Wall street is the only place where people drive up in Rolls-Royces to get advice from people who take the subway’. It concerns me that many financial planning graduates who will eventually become financial planners and advise other people have never invested on their own.

This book was an eye-opener for me and it will be for many people. Even with my financial studies behind me, I have gained some valuable investing advice that my lecturers never discussed. I have kept in mind the concepts this book discusses and I believe it has positively impacted my investment returns more so than the advice from my third year ‘advanced investment’ units. Because of this book I was able to understand why much of the advice given by my finance lecturers is obsolete.

Positives:
Can open your mind to a different way of making a living other than the conventional 9-5 job. If you apply the way of thinking to your life you may find improvements in your finances.
It gives good explanations of simple situations and how they relate to income statements and balance sheets. This is great for people who know nothing about accounting. Teaches the basic principles of cash flow and why you should understand it.

Negatives:
I have read some negative reviews for this book* saying the advice it offers is dangerous. If you have no financial education and follow exactly what this book says, then yes it is dangerous (just like any financial advice). The author mentions many times that you must improve your financial education and I recommend the same. You shouldn’t buy a stock on a ‘hot tip’ without proper education or research, so don’t follow this advice without doing some extra research into personal finance.
Some people may not like this book because it doesn’t show ‘step-by-step’ instructions how to get rich. If you read this book looking for a formula to follow to get rich, you will be disappointed. Instead, read it with an open mind and consider the principles when you make financial decisions in the future.
There are some things written in this book that many people will not like to hear. For example: the author explains why a person’s house is not an asset. Try not to take offense with anything like this and understand why he says it.
These points aren’t really negatives because I don’t really have any negative things to say about this book. These points are warnings for people who could potentially be disappointed by certain aspects of the book. If you understand that this book is not a ‘formula to get rich’ and you keep an open mind to the concepts explained, you should find great value.

Recommended for: Everybody
I recommend this book for everybody because the concepts are so valuable once you properly understand them. Have a read of this book and continue improving your financial education by reading other books. Too many people neglect their personal finances and wonder why they struggle. By reading this book it can open your eyes to why people get stuck in financial problems and how to avoid them.
I found so much value in this book that I made sure every member of my family read it.

Genre: Personal finance

Overall rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Australians can buy the book by clicking the picture below

* There is a very popular negative review by John T. Reed that criticises every point the author makes and tries to explain why the book is terrible advice. It made me wonder why somebody would put so much effort into demolishing the book and its advice. Eventually I realised that the person did this to sell his own books (he has over 30) which he has links to on the same page. I wouldn’t take anything that person says seriously when you consider his main motive: ‘criticise the competition to sell my own books’.

Where to from here:
If you are interested in reading other books by Robert Kiyosaki, I have reviewed other ones here:
Cashflow Quadrant
Retire Young Retire Rich
Why we want you to be rich by Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump

On the other hand, you may want to consider reading books looking at ways millionaires become rich:
The millionaire next door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko
Ten roads to riches by Ken Fisher