I had two fathers, a rich one and a poor one. One was highly educated and intelligent; he had a Ph.D. and completed four years of undergraduate work in less than two years. He then went on to Stanford University, the University of Chicago, and Northwestern University to do his advanced studies, all on full financial scholarships. The other father never finished the eighth grade.
The opening of the first chapter situates the construct of the book as well as explaining the title. From this point forward, financial advice is delivered dualistically through the perspective of the father who sees the world through the lends of the rich and the father who understands things about the real world of most people that the other can never really know. That is not to suggest, however, that the rich father is always delivering bad advice the poor father good. Or vice versa.
As part of your overall financial strategy, we strongly recommend owning your own corporation wrapped around your assets.
One of the central premises of the book is that corporations benefit the wealthy as a means of getting wealthier. Important to this premise is that contrary to widespread opinion among those who are not wealthy, corporations are not just for the rich. While incorporating is not inexpensive and without complications and risk, the suggestion is that it is the least risky path to becoming wealthy enough to ever actually enjoy all the benefits of incorporation.
“There is gold everywhere. Most people are not trained to see it.”
The quote is from an unidentified miner and is specifically applies to why the miner was also so confident he would strike a mine. The thesis is then immediately expanded upon by the authors to apply to personal knowledge of finding gold in the real estate market that would never be seen by most people simply because they are not trained. Since the “topic” of the book is financial advice as educational lessons, the point of the quote is quite simple: learn what you need to know to the see the gold. Whatever form that gold takes.
My poor dad would also say, "I'm not interested in money," or "Money doesn't matter." My rich dad always said, "Money is power."
This is a good example of how “my two dads” approach is treated. Readers need not worry that the book is merely a litany of “my rich dad said this” but “my poor dad always said,” however. While the book has come under withering criticism from some quarters, the one thing it studiously avoids is becoming an educational tract for adults written in a style more appropriate for children. Kiyosaki does place much of what he knows about financial management within the context of being taught alternative perspectives about the same subject from two paternalistic backgrounds, but not in any sort of overbearing way. The burden of what he is teaching readers has been placed upon what he has done with the opinions and facts passed down from the previous generations.
