A bestselling book by Robert Kiyosaki, which according to him, contains all secrets of the success of rich people. First (self-)published in 1997.
The title comes from Robert's (supposedly authentic) childhood experiences, and how he had two dads: A "poor dad", his biological father,note a teacher who broke his back working his whole life and died poor, and a "rich dad", who was his best friend's father and a shrewd businessman who owned several stores, a construction company and restaurants in addition of teaching him everything he knows about how to become rich.
This book provides examples of:
- An Aesop: This personal finance book aims to educate readers about wealth creation and the ways to reach financial independence. The "morals" boil down to:
- The significance of financial literacy (especially because schools don't provide it) and how it can empower individuals to make better financial decisions.
- Distinguishing between assets (investments that generate income) and liabilities (expenses that drain income).
- Your house is a liability, not an asset. The reason is that it doesn't generate income. Instead, it creates ongoing expenses, such as mortgage payments, maintenance costs, and property taxes.
- Accumulating income-generating assets instead of liabilities to build wealth.
- Ditching the "Rat Race" — the conventional path of working for a company, while devising alternative wealth-building strategies.
- The rich are good at reading numbers (accounting), making money with money (investing), understanding markets, and knowing the law (to avoid taxes).
- Taking calculated risks, instead of avoiding risk entirely, can help individuals step out of their comfort zones to seize opportunities for financial growth.
- Cultivating a "wealthy" mindset and adopting habits of wealthy individuals (e.g., lifelong learning, adapting to change, and seeking financial opportunities).
- Artistic License – Economics: The book repeats the assertion that "since increasing one's income makes you pay more to the government in taxes, then it's a bad idea to increase your taxable income". (If this is to be interpreted as anything but a philosophical anti-government attitude, it is based on a common misconception about how progressive tax rates work — if you earn enough for your income tax rate to increase from 30% to 40%, say, the new 40% rate is applied only to the amount you earn above the threshold. The amount you earn below the threshold will still only be taxed at 30%.)
- Both Sides Have a Point: Robert's opinion of both dads' political views. However, he noted that when it came to financial matters, at least in the US context, Rich Dad's observations made more sense.
- Didn't Think This Through: Although he didn't write it down explicitly, the reader gets the impression that Robert had this at the back of his mind when his father announced his decision to run against his boss in an election.note
- For that matter, Robert thinks that many, if not most, of his father's decisions in financial matters amount to this.
- Exact Words:
- At first, when young Robert and his best friend, Mike, try get into the task of "making money", they first make an elaborate plan for manufacturing (counterfeit) coins. Fortunately, both dads straighten them out.
- More subtly, once Rich Dad's identity is known, the sentence "They (both dads) sort of looked alike, though not of the same ethnic makeup." becomes this.note
- Again on Rich Dad, once you know his identity, Robert's description of what he does also becomes this. Stores, a construction company and restaurants are all legitimate sidelines to a hotelier.
- Good Fortune from God: This is a twist to this trope: the source of Bob Kiyosaki's wealth is never positively identified.
- Multiple-Choice Past: His own accounts of what he did and when he did them are contradictory if not mysterious.
- School Is for Losers: Probably not the intended message of the book, but it downplays education like in the introduction where it mentions the names of several billionaires who were school dropouts; it also mentions that higher education is becoming more and more expensive and that it is much better to buy investments to get an income.
- Self-Made Man: Robert describes both himself and his "rich dad" as this.
- Trickster Mentor: The "rich dad", when after Robert and Mike ask him about how to make money, he hires them as helpers in his shop and makes them work long hours while paying them a pittance. When Robert and Mike get fed up with this and tell him that he is wasting their time, the "rich dad" congratulates them for the first lesson learned.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: For a long time, Robert never revealed the identity of his "rich dad", other than saying that he was his childhood's best friend's father, which is odd considering how prominently he features in the book. He has zig-zagged between saying that he is a real person, a composite of several people, and "Is Harry Potter real?"
- With the passage of time, the trope eventually evolved into Roman à Clef. In May 2016, 19 years after the book was first published, Robert finally revealed the identities of both "Rich Dad" and "Mike": Richard Wassman Kimi, a Hawaiian hoteliernote and his son, Alan. Alan explained that his father had requested that Robert keep his identity confidential (to the point of signing a confidentiality agreement). Robert also recalled an anecdote whereby some of Richard's staff (two managers) actually quit after reading his book, which obviously annoyed Richard.note
- Young Entrepreneur: Robert and Mike start a comic book rental business after learning the first lesson of the "rich dad". Although they ended up shutting down the business, they've learned how to make money work for them instead of working for money.
